A hopefully short recap as to what we've been up to.
Christmas eve, Jason's parents came down to give Katelyn her gifts for Christmas. We went out for Chinese for lunch while Jason was on duty. That evening, we went to church for a short service. After we got back to Powell, we went over to a Christmas get together the new chief of police was having with his family, that he invited the other officers too. It was actually kind of fun talking to and meeting some new people and meeting the chief's family. We really like Roy and his wife Kelly. They are such warm and down to earth people.
Christmas Day was a quiet affair. This is the first Christmas since we've been married that we actually had Christmas morning at home, on our own. We didn't venture to Manitoba or Billings, Montana for Christmas since Jason worked had to work the holiday. It was a quiet, simple affair. We spent a bit of money on Katelyn and that was about it. Katelyn and I spent the morning watching White Christmas and then Daddy came home for a couple of hours so she could open presents. Christmas is pretty low key for the department. If it's quiet not many calls, they say to go home and spend some time with the family. Since the other officer on duty was at home early in the morning with his girls, Jason could come later on while he covered for the two of them. I think that evening we went to our friends, the LaFollette's and had a get together with them since we all didn't have gatherings to go to. We did a white elephant gift exchange that is always interesting to see what people received from others.
New year's again was quiet. I'm thinking we went somewhere but i can't remember. I know Jason had to work nights that night as well and I missed the ball dropping in New York. I rang in the New Year reading in bed.
The 3rd of January was a stressful day. Jason had left the 2nd to go the police academy in Douglas, WY 5hrs away. The 3rd was his first day and I had an ultrasound in the afternoon. That morning, they had to do a physical test to pass in order to stay for the academy. He missed it by 2 sit ups. There is a whole lot more to it than just 2 sit-ups as to why he couldn't stay, but regardless for this entry, I'm keeping it short. So he called me as I'm outside the door to the hospital to tell me he's coming home. This just ruined the rest of my day. I was trying not to cry during my appointment. At this point, we thought he was out of a job, because with other agencies, if you can't pass the academy, you are out of a job. But because Powell does all their in-house training first and there is another academy that he could attend in April, they took him back and he is still working. So now, he's working out, like he was before he left, to pass the test again in April. We really wanted him to make it now, since I'm due in May and the academy is 3 months long. So do the math, he is gone during the weeks when I'm due. He can come home on the weekends, but it is still a 5 hr drive one way should something happen. But God's plan is not always our plan or timing. Maybe he was supposed to be here for the things that would come to happen in the following weeks, or it was for his own protection driving in the winter. We don't know, but we're trusting God that it was for a reason and he will pass again. It actually took him 2 times to pass the written test to even get into the pd. 2 seems to have significance for him, so maybe 2nd times the charm to pass it.
So after getting over that news, Jason's schedule has been busy, while mine is not. I'm busy keeping a very busy Katelyn busy during the day. She has more energy than I know what to do with sometimes, and living in a 1000sq ft house doesn't leave us any extra room to run and play like a basement would. The weather hasn't been terribly cold and with little snow, what do you do? Plus, we battle with keeping our little jacket even zipped to our chest, so going outside is more battle than pleasure. We did make it out twice this week already, so we're on the upswing. I can't wait for nicer weather.
Working for the pd has been exciting to say the least. Just after the new year, they had a huge drug bust in town, which Jason was involved in. Then there was a drug store burglary which he was called into in the wee hours of the morning and they ended up solving not long after. Last week, he was called in again to a hostage situation at a local motel, that didn't end well for the man wielding a gun. You can read up on that at www.powelltribune.com. Needless to say, Jason has pulled in a lot of overtime hours. Plus, their schedules have changed from 3 different shifts to 2-12hr shifts. 2 weeks 6am-6pm and 2 weeks 6pm-6am a month. They work more hours and have more days off in a row, usually 3-4 days off at a time. So it's different, but these guys are tight knit group which is great to be apart of. Jason's invited a few of them over for supper when I've made enough and they're on night shift. It's just nice for them to get a break on those long shifts.
Well, enjoy all the other posts I posted today. There are quite a few, but now I'm up to date.
She has not forgotten about this new popcorn technique. She'll sometimes ask for it and I should just give it to her as a healthy snack, but I just don't think about it when she asks.
