The Move

So its been a while so where do I start!! Our trip out wow amazing...stopped to see Adam and Amanda in Provo which was so awesome to see them again. After that we stopped in Salt Lake and all I could think was WOW!!!! Wow it was beautiful! Wow the spirit! Wow! We can not wait to go back (preferably during the day without the dog)

Here's Zac and Alyssa by the temple. It was the best picture we could get given the hour. And why is it when you're planning to go on a trip (this time more than a trip really, anyway) and your totally excited but you just can't seem to leave on time, I mean really what is up with that! It was close to 10 I think by the time we got there. After leaving there we drove about 3 more hours stopped at a rest area just inside of Wyoming, I think, and napped there till about 4 am then started off again. This time I got to drive-yee haw! We stopped in another rest area in WY, had a giant statue of Abraham Lincoln's head-? weird. And it was freezing and raining, mind you we're still dressed for Vegas crazy maybe but it was August people. So here we are all brushing our teeth with bottled water with our heads sticking out the door-ew! But seriously not flip flop weather! So after that we kept on till we reached our house, we were to afraid to get out again, we arrived the following day about 9am.

And the second I walked in I thought oh no! Didn't care how awful packing was or how grueling the drive was, nope I said "get back in the car we're going back to Vegas". We didn't of course. Having not slept or showered in 2 1/2 days we were dirty and tired. So I realize we were crazy having purchased a house and never seen it, but hey we were desperate and figured this our best choice. But ya know how they say "a picture says a thousand words" well there was about a million and a half this one left out! The first day we got there immediately after showering we went to work. Home Depot here we come, ugh!

But on the upside we had the most unprecedented amount of support to unload our truck from members of our new ward. OH MY GOSH!!! There must have been 25+ people. We had babysitters to watch after our kids, people brought their kids to help and wives and all the guys and they just walked up and started unloading. Okay maybe over used this post but WOW!! That was amazing. I don't think I even met most of them that day. And neighbors poured out support with bringing veggies and fruits out for the whole crew and then cookies and bread from my wonderful sisters-gosh I love you ladies! We still have tons to unpack and though we have a basement and a shed I still can not get my truck into that 2 car garage-lol! Our neighborhood is great. Quiet, lots of kids, oh and yay sidewalks.

Oh yes I began homeschooling. Hmm do I love it. Don't know yet. Its only December, heehee. Most days go by I don't threaten my kids with public school, which they now have no desire to go back to yet. Homeschooling will be a treat as the weather continues to get colder and we won't have to go out in it, unless of course its to play in it:-). And homeschooling has given us the privledge of maintaing our Vegas time-unintentional but Chris works from midday to morning and its easier to just stay up late and sleep in. Chris started his new job in Oct and seems to like it okay. His hours are not the best but hey its a job-with benefits. I love being close to my mom and sister again and don't know how I would have gotten through those first couple weeks without them but I am terribly homesick for my girls in Vegas. To all you wonderful ladies that helped make such a profound difference in my life -Thank You and I miss you all! I'll send out more photos soon. It just started snowing the 1st of Dec and has been on and off since. Not much is sticking around yet but enough to get the kids all gitty about winter:)

Final Birthday Farewell

With our upcoming move we had a combined birthday party for the kids to bid farewell to their friends with one last hoorah! It was a great turn out with lots of fun in the sun; and lots of kids!
Apparently Alyssa didn't appreciate the serenades of her friends as they all sung "happy birthday".

...but aww isn't that cake cute!

Our lil Angel dog

Oh what a sad day it was....Got home after a fun filled evening with cub scouts to find our little dog Angel, who is 11 1/2, not looking so well. Didn't think to much of it she probably just ate too much of the kids scraps, nothing new for our dogs. Heck they've eaten everything from chocolate Slim Fast and Metabolife to designer shoes and gowns so why would cookies and chips create any issues- one would ask? But sadly only 6hrs after I got home that evening Angel's life was over. We still have no idea what caused her sudden death and poor Bear who lost his hearing over a year ago isn't really that aware of what goes on around him. It is funny though we had to remember to feed him since Angels passing, she was always the one telling us it was time to eat. We will miss our sweet Angel dog, having had her since she was 7weeks old she & Bear became part of our family just a couple months after Chris and I were married. Well I think we've had our fill of losses recently & of course the impending loss of Chris's job next month, hopefully we won't have to endure anymore for a while:-)

Career Day

Before the end of school the kids were able to dress up in the career they wanted to be "when they grow up". And Zachary chose to be a CIA ops agent complete with the badge and sassy sunglasses. While Alyssa went as a doctor, something she's often said she wanted to do. We worked hard on making their costumes with items on hand since it was the night before they were supposed to dress up and remembered that hadn't told me yet. But in the end their outfits turned out quite well with Zach in is church suit and a sheriff badge he'd gotten a few weeks earlier at a cub scout activity and his wallet made a perfect holder for his ID and sheriff star. Alyssa wore one of his church shirts as her "white coat" along with the pretend doc kit we had and a homemade hospital ID badge (my personal favorite part of the costume). It was perfect. And even more perfect all those Sunday clothes survived the day at school...whew!

The house is ours

Our month crunch to find and buy a house ended on Friday...a little over a month but we got a great house by our families so its all good! We don't intend on actually stepping into our new home till sometime in June, unless of course Chris's job comes to an end before then. So let the cleaning out begin. While all have not embraced our plan to be prepared for what is to come, to that I say "What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas". The kids can not wait to play in the snow next year and I can't wait to shop at Meijer's again - double coupon days again! Yay!!

Kids grow up too fast

I've heard it said time and time again "kids grow up so fast". It used to be me they were talking about, now its me talking about my kids. Zachary had a friend from school show up last week asking for him to play, first time we had one of those. Most times its scheduled playdates we drop off or the kids are dropped off at our doorstep. Anyway I don't know if its just me but I cannot allow my kids to be out front if I'm not there with them, so Zachary and his friend had to play inside or out back. Bonus of living in Las Vegas it was nice enough to play outside in February, without layers, so the kids played in the backyard for awhile. Some time passed and slowly Alyssa, Zachary and then his friend all came in. As they were all gathered around talking about Pokemon cards Alyssa came over and whispered to me "me and Zacharys' friend are like boyfriend and girlfriend"...my first reaction was AAAHHH!!! This was not supposed to start happening till like high school or for goodness sake middle school, not kindergarten. Then after I stopped freaking out and told her this is absolutely not your "boyfriend" she told me "well its okay if I just color a picture for him right?" I thought okay, but thats it! Then this very same day I asked Gaby if she needed her diaper changed, she walked off so I followed. She went into the bathroom-? Really I thought. So took off her diaper and put her on the potty. Of course nothing happened, but she is only 15mos old. Now although I started with Alyssa at 16mos I really had no intention on starting Gaby so soon. Now anytime someone mentions potty she goes into the bathroom and puts her little seat on the toilet and waits for help, but not very long-then she starts playing in the toilet, eehw!

Its days like these that make me realize how important it is to cherish every moment I have to spend with my children because they really do grow up too fast. Right mom?

House Hunting

Wow looking for houses is an exhausting task!!! Especially when your trying to purchase a home 2500 miles away and close within 30days....and you don't even have the house yet. The first 2 houses we considered were gone before we could even see them with a realtor. Then on our most recent choice we were outbid, day late dollar short (or a few dollars). Though I am so grateful to my mom and sister and now we've enlisted Chris's dad to go look at houses and take photos for us, without them the search would be impossible. So THANK YOU guys! Our search has spread throughout I think 7 counties now. So if anybody knows or sees someone with their house for sale (in MI) keep us in mind and let us know, we need all the help we can get. Our realtor Jeff has been fabulous trekking across all of southeast MI and dealing with the impossible standards of the type of house we're looking for in a budget that is inflexible. I am not an easy customer - I'm sure my aunt and mom can attest to that. Although I thought we were going to throw in the towel a few days ago but we are not going to give up quite that easy, at least thats what I keep trying to remind myself as a doze off at the computer at 1 am after being on realtor.com for 4 hours..my poor kids they think their parents are "realtor.com" junkies. Hopefully one day they'll understand;-) In the meantime we just keep pressing forward.

Sledding in Vegas. I bet my family in MI never imagined we'd be able to still participate in this fun family activity... Ha Ha! We just don't have to drive in it, get salt all over our cars, and sit in terrible traffic to get through it. Nope just a scenic drive up Kyle Canyon Rd for about 25mins and its snowy mountains and evergreen trees. The hardest part was trying to put the snowsuits on once we got there; it was way to warm to put them on before we left :-).

And now after being in Vegas for nearly 3yrs we are thinking about going back to MI; no we do not need a lobotomy.