Moving on

This is the kids waving goodbye to the house.

We turned in the keys to the house this morning and said our goodbyes. It took forever to get everything out of that house-it's amazing what you aquire after living in one place for almost 4 years. We had many memories but are very excited to move on. Although, we will have to wait to get into our new home for about another week.

Moving

Things are going really great for us, busy, but great! We almost have everything moved out of our house. We close on Tuesday. But we can't get into our new place until June 6th. So we are just filling up a storage shed with all our stuff and living with Andy's and my parents for a week or two.
We got to go to a ward BBQ tonight and say goodbye to many of our friends; Maddie had a blast playing with her little friends.
Also today, I met a flooring guy through a friend and he is giving us a killer deal on carpet and hardwood floors for our new place. I am very excited. Before we move in we are going to paint to whole place and get hardwood floors in the hallway, kitchen and dinning area, and then carpet the rest of the home. I think it will look really nice when we get it all done. (I want to tile the bathrooms and laundry room but that will have to wait for now)
Andy is loving his new job and learning all the things he was hoping to. We feel very blessed each day for our new opportunities and for our little family.
We load up this computer tomorrow, so who knows when I'll get on it again. Everyone have a great Memorial Day weekend!

Salt Lake Trip

On Monday we were planning to go to Hogle Zoo and to visit my best friend, Carrol and her baby. Since the rain was nonstop, we went to Discovery Gateway instead. The kids loved it. They had a kid's life size house and kithchen, and supper market, a farm, a kid's rock wall, water play and experiments, storytime, and even an area designed for children 18 months and younger. Maddie spent most of her time in the house and at the suppermarket.

Later we went to Provo to see Carrol and her sweet baby Emily. They both look great and I can't wait to hold her again!

Race for Ability

This morning the four of us got to participate in a race to support people with disabilities (something very close to my heart). It was fun to do this race all together as a family. Maddie rode her bike while Andy and I ran and pushed Garen in the stroller. Maddie did awesome; she rode fast the whole way smiling and saying hi to all the people in their specially made bikes (depending on their disability). It was a beautiful morning and I enjoyed spending it doing something I love and being with my family!

My baby boy is growing up

The last couple days Garen has been walking everywhere! He loves it. He gets so excited-to the point that he goes to fast and lands flat on his face. But he just gets back up and walks some more. It's so cute-his balance is still really off, so he takes small little wobbly steps. He's so fun to watch. I can't believe he is almost one (June 11th)!

Friends

This morning my friend called and had a huge migraine headache, so I got to have her two boys for the morning. They played really well, but I didn't get the packing and cleaning done I had planned to do. But it just shows that the Lord blesses us when we stop putting ourselves first all the time. Later in the afternoon, another of my friends called and asked if the kids could come over and play while I get some things done. So the kids went and had a blast and I got my kitchen floor scrubbed and packed about 10 boxes.

Just as a side note-the reason I had to scrub my floor so well was because last night I found a snake right in the middle of the kitchen floor!!! I was walking in and almost stepped on it, then I screamed and scared both the kids. Maddie was crying and Garen wouldn't let me put him down and I didn't want the snake to crawl under the fridge or something. Andy was gone fishing so I grabbed my neighbor and he helped me get rid of it. How it got in, I have no idea.

Goodbye house #1, Hello house # 2

Our Country Manor Home with the back yard full of toys from all the neighbor kids.

We finally found a place to live! It's nothing fancy, but since we didn't know what we will be doing a year from now we bought a three bedroom condo in Smithfield. It's sad to see our first home go, but I'm excited for the change. It's been a good home with wonderful neighbors and a wonderful ward. We've had our fair share of trials in this house (flooding and more flooding, did I mention flooding) but I wouldn't take back one of them. Through each trial and each test of faith we have grown closer and have had many blessings right around the corner!

So we move on the 31st but we can't move into our new condo till June 4th-so Maddie won't have a house on her birthday (June 2nd). It looks like we will be camping for a few days and hauling our stuff along with us. (or we'll probably stay with Andy's family).

The House Hunt Continues

Everything is going well with the selling of our home, so it looks like we will be moving on May 31st. The only problem is we haven't found a place to live yet. Me and Andy both agreed on this nice condo. We made an offer yesterday but someone beat us to the punch. So we're back to square one. We have a whole list of houses to look at tonight. I hope we find something soon, we are running out of time. But I have faith that the right thing will come along-I just hope we don't have to live in a tent for a few weeks to find it. :)

Mother's Day Weekend

On Saturday we got to go to Pocotello for my nephew, Joseph, and my my brother, John's birthday party. It was fun to see a lot of my family there. After the party Me and my family went to Burley. We got to go to church with my parents and have a wonderful Mother's day dinner with them and my grandparents. Andy grilled the meat, but my mom prepared the rest of the delicious meal. I guess that's what mom's do-is make their own Mother's day dinner. I know I am so grateful for all my mom has done for me and now that I am a mom myself I realize really how much of her own time she gave up to help me. Mom's are great and I hope and pray that one day my kids will be able to say the same about me.

Happy Mother's Day to Me

Since we will be gone all weekend, Andy gave me my Mother's day gift early. A bike trailer, that can also be a two kid stroller. I've wanted one for awhile. Maddie is always riding her bike and wants me to ride too, and I had no where to put Garen. And somtimes we go on a long bike trail and Maddie gets tired, so now she can ride in the trailer with Garen on the long rides. I'm so excited! I'm going for a ride first thing in the morning. And hopefuly I don't bang them into anything, or give them to bumpy of a ride.

Happy Mother's day to all you Mothers out there!!!

Dinner at my house

Lunch with friends

I got to meet some friends at Chili's today with the intent to chat and eat instead we were completely out numbered by children. (Most of the friends all have 2+ kids) Instead of eating my lunch and having a conversation I was picking up salt shakers, menus, cups of the floor that Garen continued to chuck and reminding Maddie to be quiet as her and her friend laughed (extremely loud) at each other. I ended up taking most of our lunch home because Garen was ready to leave. So much for eating out and I'm sure the waitress loved us. At least I am blessed with two wonderful children even if they drive me a little crazy sometimes.

Lunch Time

Two-handed artist

We Love Grandma and Grandpa

On Friday and Saturday Maddie got to stay with Andy's Parents in Bear Lake. It gave me and Andy a little bit of a brake. On Saturday we actually got to take a nap together while Garen napped (before the throw up chain began). Then we all went out to Clarkston for dinner on Sunday (before Maddie got sick) The kids love playing out there, I just hope we didn't pass on this nasty virus to any of them.

And this weekend Maddie (and Me) are very excited about seeing Grandma Sue and Grandpa Paul. We get to celebrate Mother's Day with my mom and dad.:)

Crazy Couple of Days

The last few days have been full of great things as well as not so great things. On Saturday Garen got the flu and managed to throw up on just about everything. Then on Sunday Maddie decided to cover all the areas that Garen missed. She threw up for most the night, waking Garen up-who wasn't all the way better yet. I think I changed the kid's clothes and sheets about 6 times as well as doing about 6 loads of laundry. Then to top it all off I got sick on Monday morning.

The picture of Maddie is taken of her after running around the house with a saltine cracker and then tripping and digging it into her head. Now we call her crackerhead.

So now that we are all feeling better, we got some good news to cheer us up. Andy got a new job at Sports Authority(No more Wal-mart-yeah) and our offer on the house was excepted, so if all goes well we will be out of the house by June 1st! Now all we need to do is find a place to live and we are good to go.

SOLD!?

John Quincy Adams said, "Patience and perseverance have a magical effect before which difficulties disappear and obstacles vanish." I have never been much of a patient person. I expect things to get done quickly. I'm learning that that is not always what is best. We have had our house up for sale for about 7 months. We show it several times a week, which means I get to clean all the time and drag the kids out of the house with little notice. We have had two offers on the house that have fallen through, and we just got a new offer today (I'm crossing my fingers this one will go through). When Andy graduated in December I expected him to get a job right away and sale our house right away and move on to the next chapter in our live. But I realize now that maybe this chapter isn't over yet. My goal is to enjoy every second of everyday whether big exciting things are happening or not. Sometimes the small things are more important. Although I am anxious to know where our future lies, I am so grateful for all the learning opportunities I have right here in front of me.(I get to be challenged by working with Special Ed adults at Utah State University, and we have a wonderful ward with many good friends) Andy has had many interviews and a few job offers but nothing that has felt right. Through all his frustration (mostly with Wal-Mart) I admire his attitude; he says "I better figure out what the Lord still wants me to learn so we can move on and I can get a new job." We are a very blessed family and we have faith that great things are on their way.

Bath Time

Hopefully Maddie never decides to grow a mohawk but at least we know what she would look like.

Swimming

Maddie has passed off Level 1 in swimming lessons and will begin level 2 in June. She loves the water and is getting really good at swimming. I get the chance to take her to the pool every few weeks and she is so fun to swim with. She'll jump in on her own and swim a few feet to me. She is growing and learning so fast and I enjoy every minute of it!

A beatiful day to fly a kite!

Almost Walking

Garen stands for long periods of time and will take one step on his own. He just knows that crawling will get him there faster at this point. But I'm sure he'll be walking before we know it-and destroying all that is in his reach.

My Little Gymnast

Maddie has been in gymnastics for just over a year now. She loves it so much! She's only got a couple more routines to pass off before she moves up to the next level. Thanks to me, she's got the short stalky body for a gymnast. Her all time favorite event is the trampoline, but she does well in all of them. I'm excited to see where her gymnastics career will go as she gets older.

My Sleepy little boy.

Garen at 10 months old. He looks so comfortable, doesn't he?

Keeping Soccer in the Famly

Maddie's not old enough to play on a soccer team yet, but we go over to the soccer fields often. Maddie is getting pretty good at dribbling and scoring--Maddie and I play, while Garen eats the dirt clods and the grass(I try and stop him, but he usually manages to eat something disgusting).

Having Fun

These pictures are from a ward activity where Andy got first place in the pie eating contest (I came in second) and Madelyn and Andy won first place in the water balloon throwing contest. There were probably about 30 kids around Maddie's age there, so she had a blast-and Garen fell asleep.