Sharing our House

We love our new house in the country and we want others to see what we love about it. One of the reasons I moved here is that I hoped I would be more willing to invite people over. It is not a huge house, but I think the view is beautiful and peaceful. My kids have taken really well to the transition because the already knew the house so well, thanks to our good friends being the owners, and our other friends living right next door! I took a few weeks to move in and then it was time to say goodbye to friends from our old ward. (Well, hopefully it's not goodbye because we only live 2 miles away!) I had a luncheon for the girls I visit teach, a class party for my church class and Dallin had almost all the boys from his class over. It also happened to be the week I was teaching preschool! Whew, it makes me tired reading that, but it was a great week. Here are some pictures!

I participate in a co-op preschool where the parents take turns teaching the group of preschoolers. I have done this since Dallin was 3 years old, and I really do enjoy it. Plus it fits my pocketbook better than the other preschools! We order a curriculum online and then take our turn. The theme for this month was "Farm". There couldn't have been a more perfect theme for my house! I took the kids to feed the horses down the street. (Although Bryce is the only one who would feed the horse the carrot from his hand!) We also went to see our chickens. We had "pigs in a blanket" for lunch. It was a fun day!

My next day of preschool I was in charge of the field trip to the fire station. The captain was fantastic with the kids! I was very impressed!

I was sad to say goodbye to my church class. They are all the kids who are turning 8 and who were baptized this year. Dallin was in my class and I enjoyed teaching him and realizing how much he has learned from other teachers over the year. He was the first one to be baptized and then was able to go to most of the other baptisms. There is a special spirit that is there and it was a great reminder for him of how he felt at his own baptism. I decided that instead of just a class party, we would make it service oriented. They had great attitudes as they made cards for soldiers and did crafts with our Special Needs group at the YMCA. Emily was also able to do service as their class performed a Thanksgiving play at an assisted living center.

I have not really had playdates for Dallin since he got into first grade. As the kids got bigger, I just felt more and more claustrophobic in my old house and backyard. I was excited to have 9 boys over to play to see how it went! The only bad news was it was rainy and cold so they only played outside for a little bit. They had a blast playing video games and then after playing outside they all came in for hot chocolate! I hope to do more of this type of entertaining this summer!

There was a rumor going around that we were going to get snow (only happens every couple of years here) and I was really hoping the weathermen were right because I had good friends coming into town!! Luckily there was enough snow for a "snow day" and the kids had fun in the light dusting of snow that cancelled school for the day! It was the day before Thanksgiving break, so we were able to play all day with our friends, the Merrills! We hung out, made snowflakes, and then went swimming in the heated pool. We also went to Spaghetti Factory. We had a fun time and I am glad they came to visit!

Thanksgiving was spent with the Porters and the Williamsons! They didn't assign me much, so I was able to get away with just bringing pies from Costco. (Although at the last minute, I felt compelled to make a homemade banana cream pie, just like I remember from my Thanksgivings as a kid!) The kids were all playing happily in the basement, so we actually started dinner with just the adults. It was very enjoyable. Then the kids started joining us one by one. We ended the night with games and surprisingly, the kids and adults all played in the same room, and it was great! I miss being with family during the holidays, but I feel lucky to have such good friends to share the day with. I wish I had more pictures. Maybe Ranell or Karen will post more. I do have a picture of the 5 pies we ate between 3 families!

That night, we inherited 2 extra kids. Ranell and Brian went to Hawaii for a week, so we watched their 2 youngest children. (Don't worry- we will be getting away in the spring!) It didn't always go perfectly, but the kids got along pretty well, everyone slept at night, and we all survived! I think it was successful!! We even had a lot of fun in there!

Okay, that is all for now. :-)

The pictures are all of of order, but I need to go hang out with my family. There are more updates to come!