A New Beginning...

That's what I feel I have right now. In the last 3 weeks, I have run a marathon, packed, cleaned and moved an entire household of almost 10 years into another house of which I have unpacked and mostly organized! Whew! It has been busy, but suprisingly, it has not felt stressful or chaotic. There were a couple of days that I felt overwhelmed, but each time I was able to take a breath and just keep chipping away at it. I am very pleased with how well it has gone. A main reason it has been so smooth is because of this amazing woman:

Yep, it's my mom! Even though she looks like she could be my sister instead of my mom! When I found out I might be moving, I called her and asked if she would come out for a week. I knew that having her here would make things much, much easier, and I was so, so right! She was basically in charge of Bryce so that I could make a million trips over to the new house in the "country". It is only a mile and a half away, but it feels worlds apart, and I LOVE it! I wake up to deer running across my yard and I enjoy the quiet.

Here are a few pictures:

This is the view off our deck and the kids are playing in the leaves they spent all day raking!

We have been very lucky to live in such an amazing neighborhood for the last almost 10 years. They have been there for me in good times and bad and I hope they can say I have done this same. This was such a tough choice for us to make, but we have both always wanted to raise our kids with more space. I want my kids to run out in their own backyard. I want to have kids over to play and in our old house I just wasn't doing that as much as I would like. I love nature! I feel claustrophobic when I walk outside and see a fence 10 feet away. When we had our house on the market, neither Dallin nor Emily even wanted to look at the possible houses to buy. At the end of the summer, our good friends bought a house and were looking for someone to rent their house on 5 acres. We realized it was a perfect opportunity for us. Surprisingly, the kids were great sports about it because they already know the house. We ended up renting our house instead of selling it. We had a renter lined up, who then backed out. Luckily we found another great renter and it has been crazy fast since then! Many of my friends have helped us move and unpack and I am extremely grateful. I know it is what has made this process run as smooth as it has. A few of my friends and neighbors have joined us to play and I hope they will keep doing so. We want to share our home with others often!

While my mom was here we took a "break" for one morning and went on the preschool field trip to a beautiful pumpkin patch. There was a train ride out and a boat ride back. It was a perfect day to go! Not a cloud in the sky. I am glad I was able to enjoy that with my mom. She helped me with the packing also.

One of the nice things is we live next door to Suziepetunia and her cute family. We always talked about having a house in the country next door to each other, but I don't think we really thought it would happen. We have even been able to run together and we just meet in the middle of our houses! I have enjoyed chatting with her at her house as she creates fun school projects. Her kids play outside with mine and when they are done they are not afraid to say so. Bryce told Alice, "Go to your side." I thought it was cute and reminded me they will fend for themselves just fine!

Here are the chickens and we will be adding a few more tomorrow.

Here is my favorite chicken! This leads right into our Halloween pics. Bryce loved being a chicken. He was very cute with all the people who commented on his costume. He was very upset when Emily told him that roosters are boys and chickens are girls. Bryce has made the transition to this house very easily. He loves running around outside and is glad that all his toys and puzzles made it here. :-)

Here is another Halloween picture. We went to the trunk or treat with our good friends the McDuffies. We love spending time with them. I enjoyed seeing all the kids in costumes and my candy bowl with the hand that grabs was a hit! (only made a few kids cry...)
After a couple of days of rain, we had one dry day for trick or treating around Old Town. Even the donut shop gave out free donut holes. I love our little town! I enjoyed the time with my kiddos!

Another one of Bryce and Alice! They are a great pair.

Now onto Miss Emily. I love this picture of her and it captures her expression perfectly. She always has a smile on her face. She does her best and always wants to learn more. She will shower you with love and affection if you let her. The move has been the toughest on her because she loves the neighborhood. I know she will love it in the end, and she is already attached to the chickens! She is doing great in kindergarten. She turned 6 while my mom was here, so we will have more pictures about that shortly! I love this little girl!

Speaking of updating posts, I have so much more to write. Today is actually the 5 year anniversary of my first blog post! I wrote about being a chicken with my head cut off. One of the reasons I moved to the country was to slow down and really enjoy life. I am excited to have that chance. November is the Nablopomo, the challenge to write every day. I have decided I am going to use it to catch up this year. Then my Christmas present to myself is going to be to print out my blog books. This is my scrapbooking! So, feel free to check in often and say hello. It feels good to be back!

I will leave you with the Chicken Dance!

In my thoughts and prayers

I can't stop crying and reading facebook and blogs right now. I have been trying so hard to stay off the computer, and just live life instead, but I can't stop thinking about friends and family and feel so helpless right now. Here are the things I need prayers for:

1. My sister's father in law was just diagnosed with brain cancer, the same rare cancer my dad passed away from in November of 2007. Shelly has been such a rock for them, but I am hurting for all of them, especially Paul. To be faced with your own mortality has got to be so difficult. He is keeping a blog and reading his perspective sure helps me keep mine.

2. A childhood friend passed away this last week. He was 35 with 3 small kids and he just collapsed in his living room. I am so saddened by this and wish I could go to the funeral. I can't imagine what his wife is going through. Please pray for this family.

3. A good friend of mine's little boy is in surgery right now to have a tumor on his brain removed. He is 5 years old and a sweetheart. I am just aching for them right now. I want to do all I can to help them.

How can we hear about things like this and then get worked over the things in life that we don't have? Why do I let myself get caught up in things that don't matter? How can I truly focus on what's important and teach my kids the same? I have a lot of thinking to do. Right now, here are the things I am so grateful for:

1. A kind and forgiving husband who accepts me as I am and loves me anyway. He makes me want to be the best I can.

2. 3 healthy, sweet kids who each have their individual strengths and weaknesses. I just want to appreciate them for who they are.

3. Amazing family who have made me who I am.

4. Friends and neighbors who will do anything for us.

5. The gospel which teaches us about eternal life. I want to live so that I can be with my dad again. I miss him so much.

6. My health.

Well, there is so much more on my mind, but I have 8 kids running around my house right now. Please keep all these families in your thoughts and prayers too.

Quick Update

So, I was trying to take a break from blogging, but I still want to use this as my scrapbook (and my mom was asking for some new pictures!). So, here goes!!

Easter(Cont'd)

Mother's Day Weekend- I was lucky to have most of my family in town for Mother's Day. I signed us all up for a race (aren't I so nice?!) and we spent the rest of the weekend eating the calories we burned off. :-) We had a wonderful time together, even got to take out the boat! Thanks for visiting us everyone! I especially had fun having a baby in the house again (baby Owen!)

Beach- We were able to go on a campout with the scouts. After a weeks of rain, we were blessed with the only 2 dry days. It was gorgeous.

Last day of school- Emily had her end of the year preschool luau. I was so proud of her and loved hearing about how kind and helpful she is in class. She is ready for kindergarten!

Dallin had some fun end of the year activities. His teacher has been phenomenal. She is leaving the school to get her PhD and she will be greatly missed. The ceremony was very touching. She is one of those inspiring people who make you want to be a better person.

Geocaching- This is our new family hobby. After a couple of unsuccessful attempts, we met up with the Giles on Memorial Day and had a great time finding hidden treasures in our little town.

Bryce Bday- Bryce turned 3!! He was so excited! All he wanted to do was go on a roller coaster. Since no parks are open yet, we did the next best thing- went on a virtual roller coaster. :-) It was a good day and we loved celebrating Bryce. He is such a vibrant part of our family.

Summer has begun!! We started off the summer with a bang with a school trip to Safari Sam's! I am ready for a low key, fun summer!!

There is so much more! Over this 2 months, our house was on the market. We didn't end up selling it, but it has been a great learning experience. Someday I will post more about it!

Going Unplugged

I love reading blogs to see how my friends are doing and to feel connected to other adults. :-) However, sometimes it turns into blog hopping which ends up being unproductive and jealousy-inducing. (Jealousy of others' gifts and talents)

So, for now I am going back to posting on Sundays as a way of keeping in touch. Please keep reading and I will keep reading yours. (Just not as often!) I am also going off Facebook, except when I get messages.

We had a wonderful Easter with good friends. We continued an Easter brunch tradition that started 8 years ago, and had an Easter dinner that was fabulous! We feel so blessed to have such good friends. Big holidays always make me miss my family.

I don't have pics from today. (My camera is in the car. I am feeling lazy...but there are some cute ones, I promise!

Here are a few pics from Easter Egg hunt #1 last week. (There ended up being 5 altogether! That is another story for next week!) We rode our bikes to the Easter Egg Hunt. (Jeff stayed home to work on the house.) It was a benefit for a girl's family in Dallin's class whose father has brain cancer. They are such a sweet family and it is a cause that is close to heart. There was a fantastic turnout and the kids had a lot of fun. Bryce figured out the hunt right away and it was great watching him as if he were on a mission!

See ya next week!

Spring 2010

My main goal for this blog is to use it as my "scrapbook." Since I am not a scrapbooker (finally had to give myself permission to give up on that one!), I love knowing that somewhere I am documenting some of our adventures. Here is March in a nutshell:

I went on my first field trip with Dallin! I haven't been able to because of those 2 other children I take care of. :-) I enjoyed spending the day with Dallin and I had never been to the state capitol before.

Celebrated 2 sweet baby boys of my good friends Sarah and Molly. I will admit it is weird for Sarah to have a new baby and not me. (Alice and Bryce are 6 weeks apart!) That being said, I am coming to terms with our family being complete. So, I just love on other babies whenever I get the chance!

Here is the yard that Jeff and I have dreamed of having. The kitchen was awesome too! We would love to have a little bit of acreage to enjoy nature in our own backyard. We love our house and our neighborhood, but our backyard is not too big. We found this property and put an offer on it, but unfortunately they didn't accept our contingency. We have decided to move forward and sell our cute house, and then maybe we will find another property we love. It has been an emotional process, but I have truly enjoyed spending time thinking about what we want for our family. I love that Jeff and I are on the same page and have the same goals. What a blessing this is!

I felt very loved this year as I tried to quietly turn another year older. My kids reminded me every day that my birthday was coming up, and they decided that we should spend it at the beach. Our plan was to go whale watching and enjoy a sunny day at the beach, and it didn't quite happen like that. Our good friends and next door neighbors had told us to join them at the coast. We decided to stop by and say hello. Little did we know that the house they were staying at was on the edge of a cliff overlooking the ocean. It was a little bit of heaven for me! We hung out in the hot tub, the kids played games, we watched the BYU basketball game, and they even sent Jeff and I out to eat dinner by ourselves. It was a fantastic birthday!

We have been enjoying our spring break by staying local. We started it off by meeting up with friends at a park! There were friends from home, friends from blogging, and friends I just hadn't met in person yet. :-) I loved seeing my kids make new friends and just enjoy the beautiful weather.

We spent the rest of spring break playing, hiking, and a rainy day at JJ Jump. In the mornings, I let the kids relax and play Wii. I think it was a great staycation. There was a lot of emotional up and down, but it all made me appreciate my family and how grateful I am for my blessings.

Easter Egg Hunt pics to come! It is time for bed. Bryce has surgery to fix his broken tooth tomorrow. I really hope it all goes well.