End of Summer...Start of School

One of our final summer activities was a hike to Jump Creek Canyon.  The girls love climbing mountains and now there are a few mountains around to climb.  

 It was a huge waterfall into a pool that you can swim in.  We saw lizards and poison ivy along our walk.  Luckily none of us were itchy after this trip and the girls are too slow to catch any kind of lizard.

 The sweet Lily and me.  She was a trooper but definitely wanted to be on the ground eating dirt and leaves.

 Bryan and Audrey.

 Of course most of their time was spent climbing up steep cliffs.  Luckily (depending on how you look at it) Bryan was there to help them out.  He mentioned that they may not be natural climbers.  I reminded him that they are only 4 and 6 and that they have me as a mother.  I go up good but I come down like an old lady.

 Getting ready to eat some rocks and sticks.  I am loving how her hair is growing in.  It's going to be curly.  Makes it so much easier to fix...and I have  few heads of hair to fix.

 Julia started school on Monday.  I love how she laid her clothes out the night before.  Audrey was giving the thumbs up but didn't really understand what it meant to have Julia gone ALL day.

 Here she is getting ready for bed.  Going to school here is an adjustment because it starts significantly earlier than our school in Ohio.  She has to be on the bus at 7:21AM for a 7:55AM start time.  Anyone who knows me knows I am not a morning person.  We have all had tired headaches this week but are adjusting.  To be honest I think Audrey has had the hardest time.  She is getting up with Julia and therefore is exhausted by bed time.  I think we'll get in a rhythm though and it really hasn't been as bad as I thought.  When I just have to get one child out the door it is actually really quick.  Sidenote:  Do you like the green stripes?  We painted them this past weekend.  It nearly ended our marriage (painting stripes is a pain!) but we are really excited with the results.

 All ready for school.  I am going to be honest.  I think 1st grade was harder for me than kindergarten.  I just can't stand that she is going to be away from me longer than she is with me.  I had anxiety the entire week up to this.  I didn't want to make her worry, but gosh dangit I just want her to stay home!  I had to stop myself from saying, "Julia, I just want you to stay home with me."  Audrey is completely lost without her and asks about twenty times a day when she is coming home.  That being said, I know this is such a great learning experience for her and I know she is going to make so many new friends.

Bryan drove her to school and even he was having a hard time.  Maybe it's moving to a new place but we are struggling with this all day school stuff.  He said it just killed him to leave her there.  But they have a big new playground and Julia ran off to play without looking back.  We sure do love her and are so proud of what a bright and sweet girl she is.  Her teacher is lucky to have her.

 
 She was pretty excited about having her own desk.  In kindergarten she had tables.  Her teacher is a first year teacher.  I remember that first year I taught like it was yesterday.  She seems so nice and I think it will be a good fit.

 Though Audrey has struggled not having her best friend home all day to play with I have enjoyed my one on one time with her.  We have had lots of good conversations this week and being the middle child I know she gets lost in the shuffle.  She is a great shopping buddy.

Audrey starts preschool next week and we went to her open house to meet her teachers.  We had to dress her up too and take pictures.  She had to do some dance moves because it makes the picture more awesome.

 I am so thrilled with her preschool and the teachers there.  It is so well organized and the teachers are so loving.  It is going to be a perfect fit for my sweet girl.  Audrey can be quiet and hesitant in new situations and I love the environment this preschool gives her.  I am so excited for her.  Even better, she has a friend from church in her class.

 Playing in the kitchen.  They even have a pet turtle in her class.  You should have seen her when Julia came home from school that day.  Audrey was bursting at the seems to tell her all about it.

 Bryan was on call the night before so he had a half day off of work.  We took Audrey out to lunch to celebrate starting preschool.  It was delicious too!  I am always excited when we find yummy places to eat at our new home.

 Lily got to come too.  She isn't going to know what to do when the girls are BOTH at school.  It will be quiet that's for sure.

 Lily is a full on crawler these days.  The zombie body drag is yesterday's news.  But with mobility comes owies.  She got a goose egg on her head this morning poor baby.

 Julia started soccer yesterday.  I thought she looked so cute in her little outfit.  I think she'll really enjoy it.  It was fun to watch her kick the ball, but it stresses me out!  I don't know why!  I was watching her and just saying a silent prayer that she'll do well, enjoy herself and won't be embarrassed or frustrated.  I need to chill, I know.  Seriously let the girl have fun.  Poor Julia being the first child.  Please be patient with your psycho mother.

Audrey starts dance in a couple of weeks and Julia starts piano next week.  We are going to be busy around here!

What We've Done

So we have been doing a few things since we've been here in Idaho.  

 We filled up the wading pools and spent lots of time with the hornets outside.  There are a lot of hornets here!  Oh well.  No stings yet.  The girls liked sticking their toes in the water drinking an ice cold drink.  Life doesn't get better than this.

 We also went to the church orchard to pick peaches for the church storehouse.  It is amazing to me how the church is so self-sufficient.  You should have seen these orchards!  So many trees and the peaches were HUGE.  The gave the number of peaches and the number of man hours in church this Sunday.  I can't remember what they were but they were really high.  We loved having a chance to serve.

 Audrey doing some picking.

 Lily hanging out in her stroller.  She was a trooper.  We were there for over two hours and she hardly made a noise.

 Bryan was in his element.  He picked peaches on his grandpas orchard as a boy.  He was the only one smart enough to wear long sleeves.  We were all itchy with the peach fuzz.  Julia thought she was going to lose her mind from the itch.  I can assure you that she was possibly being a little overly dramatic believe it or not.

 We could "glean" some of the mushy ones.  Luckily there were some overripe ones.  Best peaches ever.  SO SO yummy.

 Even Lily loved them.  How could you not!?

 Audrey posing in front of our hard work.

 Hey look!  Even I made a picture.  That Lily is not light in case you were wondering.

 We also made a trip to the Boise River walk.  It is so beautiful there and kind of reminds me of Columbus in a way.  Lots of trees.  There were so many people floating down the river.  We need to do that one of these days.  The girls would love it.

 Julia took a picture of us.  Audrey got a little cut off.

 We ended up walking farther than we should.  Bryan and I both regretted wearing flip flops.  Oh well, you live and learn.

 Since leaving Ohio I've had to find new exercise buddies.  I have to say their endurance is sub-par but their enthusiasm is fantastic.  We exercise in swimming suits by the way.  Why, don't you?

Our House

So our home is nowhere near being finished.  I have many empty walls and semi-furnished rooms.  It will definitely be a work in progress and I know much of it will be unfinished for awhile.  It has been fun getting it to where I want it to be and we really love it.  The location is perfect and it is the perfect size for our family.  Since there is so much of it that is not ready for pictures I thought I would share with you my very favorite parts of the house.  As I complete the rest I'll share more pictures.  

This is the outside of the home.  I even put a wreath up.  I know.  I'm crafty like that.

 This is.....drum roll please.......the GARAGE!  Many of you know that I have never in my married life ever had a garage before.  It's really warm outside so I haven't enjoyed it's full benefits yet, but I know I will.  It is fantastic having all the space, let me tell you.  That window right there peeks right into where my girls spend 60% of their day.  They love having the playroom up there because it doesn't smell like spiders like our basement in Ohio.  What do spiders smell like?

 The pantry.  You see all the empty space?  That's right.  I have room for empty space.  And the light turns on automatically when you walk into the pantry.  Lap of luxury right here my friends.

 Do you see the laundry room?  Do you see my room?  Do you see that they are literally three steps from each other and not two flights of stairs from each other?  Main floor laundry is where it's at.  I am LOVING it!  Does it mean the laundry gets done in a timely fashion?  Don't you judge me!  I just moved here.  I'll get to it when I get to it.

 King size bed and the bedspread I got a killer deal on.  I love it.  It makes me so happy every time I see it and I sleep like a dream.  I don't even know Bryan is in the bed it's so big!

 Do you see any kid's bath toys?  Do you see that there are two sinks?  Yes this bathroom is all mine, ALL MINE I tell you!  I do not have to share with three little girls any more.  I think I may have even gone to the bathroom uninterrupted once.  Maybe twice!  Gosh dangit you think you could use the commode in peace but those kids will find you every time.  Doesn't matter if you house is larger or not.

 This closet is heaven.  Sometimes I just stand there, marvel, shed a solitary tear, you get the idea.  It is the best closet ever.  I have room for everything.  Everything has a place.  There are even shelves for shoes.  I don't have to store things in the girls' closet or under the bed.  Bryan doesn't have to use plastic drawers any more.  

 This is my grandmother's old table.  I got new chairs and a bench for it and I love it.  I feel like a piece of her is with me and it makes me feel happy.  I know she was such an amazing, intelligent woman and I want my children to remember her legacy.  I love having this table in my home and it looks so beautiful, this picture doesn't even do it justice.  What I love even more is that just above it I get to look out into the backyard at the little ones playing.  Also when it is evening the sun sets in this window every night.  Such a pretty view.

 A yard!  We had a deck and a couple feet of grass behind us and I'm not sure my girls know what to do with all of this space.  Every once in a while Julia will say she misses our deck and the tree behind our old house.  It makes me laugh.  Julia!  You have room now!  run girl!  Run!  They really do love having the space and we have played lots of soccer and wiffle ball out here.

 There is even a great remote controlled valance shade thingy that comes down.

 This yard is huge!  Thankfully we found someone to mow it for SO cheap.  We thought we would just have someone mow it until we could get a riding mower but these people are SO cheap I don't think it's worth it.  Bryan has been hard at work fertilizing, watering and making plans for all this yard.  It is so pretty out there I can't even tell you.  To have space!

 Did I mention that I don't have to share a bathroom with my kids anymore?  Now their dang bath toys can just stay in the bath and I don't have to step on them when I take a shower.

 Another great thing is we don't have a garden, but so many people do that they bring the garden to you!  I don't even need to go to the grocery store!  I just go to church and it's sitting on a table there ready for me.  We have had to find lots and lots of uses for zuchinni.  That stuff must grow like crazy out here.  I'm not complaining!  We love all of it.

 What am I not necessarily loving?  This child has figured out complete mobility.  It may be in the form of a zombie body drag but it is mobility nonetheless.  She gets up on all fours ready to crawl but impatience gets the best of her and body drag it is.  She loves the cords so much.  What is is with the cords?!  Every kid I swear.  Look at that unruly hair and drool soaked shirt.

 Proof that she doesn't always look like a ragamuffin.

 She is such a funny girl.  She loves having her sisters around her and laughs and laughs at everything they do.  She also ADORES her daddy.  Every time he speaks to her she giggles.  We can't get enough of this Lily.

The Journey to Our New Home

I haven't been very good at taking pictures.  I think the stress of life has kept me from getting my camera out.  I vow to do better.  I probably should have taken a driving away from our home picture, or a final picture of empty rooms.  I didn't.  The summer is slipping away and I have so little time left.  But here are the few pictures I have of our journey from Ohio to Idaho with a little pit stop in Wyoming/Utah.

We flew to Utah and stayed with my parents for a couple of days.  We also got to go to Salem and see Tanner be baptized and spend time with Bryan's family but I took zero pictures.  Maybe I can make an online plea to Amanda to send me some!

 We played and played and played with cousins.  I love that my girls have such a wonderful relationship with their cousins on both sides of our family.  They adore them.  We swam in the Bear River, ate at Wally's and spent hours outside with squirt bottles.  Perfect summer days.

 The girls loved playing at Nana's house.  Julia insisted I take a picture of her animals that she created paper costumes for.

 We went to the fire pit and roasted marshmallows with my dad.  We sure do love him.

 Sticky fingers.

 Check out that cute marshmallow faced pose.

 I have felt particularly lucky during these stressful moving days to have such wonderful parents.  They have received a few tearful calls over the past month or so and have been so supportive.  I don't know what I would do without them.

 So this is a rather depressing picture, no?  As I arrived in Idaho in our new home we were anxiously awaiting the arrival of all of our stuff from Ohio.  Bryan's work offered a dollar amount for our move and we HAD to use it for moving or we would lose it.  So we figured we would ship all of our things, ship our cars and fly to our destination making the move as easy for us as possible.  Well we have now learned that having our things shipped may have not been such a great idea.

Our wonderful friends the Nye's were in town for just one day and were here visiting when the truck came.  I foolishly thought it would be a quick unload/set up and they would be gone.  Much to our surprise almost everything they packed was broken.  I will never forget sitting in our living room talking to our friends and having Bryan come in and telling me basically everything was broken.  Our flat screen t.v. was totally smashed.

 Furniture was not brought to us whole.

 And boxes were completely crushed.  Needless to say there are many more pictures like this being sent to insurance claims and many angry phone calls have been made.  Thankfully we didn't bring very much and you can't smash clothing and photo albums but it was still not the best way to start enjoying our new home.

 And to top it all off the very next day my wedding ring went missing.  I spent two days scouring the floors, drawers, every inch of this house.  I was crying, moping, sobbing and I'm pretty sure my girls thought I had completely lost it.  By some true miracle and tender mercy my little Audrey was picking up her room and found it there on the carpet a few days later.  I don't know how it got there!  I was so thankful to have this little baby back on my finger!

 So, stressful?  Yes.  But through it all I have SO so so very much to be grateful for.  We have a beautiful home that we absolutely love.  We love it even more than we remembered when we made an offer on it.  Bryan has an excellent job and is really enjoying it.  We actually get to spend a little bit more time with him as it is less busy than residency.  Bryan is also making more money which I am certainly not going to complain about.  And most of all we have these sweet little girls that are healthy, happy and doing very well.  I definitely could not ask for more.  We have enjoyed our new ward so far and have had so many neighbors dropping off treats, zuchinni (tons of it!) and other things.  We are blessed and though the stress levels have been off the charts I feel strongly that this is where we are meant to be and that things are going to be good.

There is a lake a mile or so from our house.  We went up there one evening.

 And we were so lucky to have Bryan's mom here.  She was so great to watch the girls while I took care of MANY things and it was so fun to have her here.  My girls adore her and she is a master with them.  This woman has a gift I tell you.

I didn't even know this lake had a beach!  We will have to come here more often.

 Lily was teething when we first got here and I was sure that I had broken her from all this moving.  Luckily she is back to her sweet and happy self.

 So stay tuned for some pictures of our new house and adventures we are having in Idaho.