The life of a kid...

Random picture...but something I have to document because he does it so willingly. Tom building some MASSIVE shelves in our new garage. I love that I married a cute, handyman.
The girls took the watercolors and painted each others toes.





Brooklyn painting "her house". She just LOVES to draw and paint.
Just hanging out in "their house". They spent a good hour in there just talking, playing and "sleeping".

Kenzie with her "bankie" and baby. Rarely are these 3 ever apart. Kenzie also always bites her blanket. She also bites towels and other blankets. I have holes in some of my towels because Kenzie just chews right through them. And yes, she still eats books.




We have now lived here for almost 3 weeks. The girls are LOVING that they can go outside and play all day long. There are 2 little girls next door that come knocking on the door every morning for the girls to play. It is really cute. Brooklyn always tells me that she needs to go see her friends and play. When they are outside they run through the sprinklers, paint, draw with sidewalk chalk, play in "their house", (I took our refrigerator box and put snacks in there. They call it their house and I have to knock to be able to come in) and ride bikes. They are in heaven!

Sneak peek

Here is our house. I stole the picture from the MLS. The house is in shambles and I still can't find the cord for the camera...so more pictures will have to wait. So, here is just the front. I have planted a tree and my strawberries near the formal living room window. This morning the girls and I took a break from unpacking and went on a walk with my sister, Brooke and then fed the ducks near the temple. What a nice break! Great idea, Brooke. I only wish I remembered to bring my camera. Well, back to unpacking boxes...we have waaaaay too much stuff. :)

We're here and loving it but...

We are officially Idahoans! The last week has been somewhat of a whirlwind! 2 weeks ago the movers came and moved us into OUR NEW HOME!!! Yes, it is officially ours. We closed on it last Friday. As soon as I can find the cord to hook up to our computer I will post pictures of it. We love it! As great as it is to be in Idaho...I miss Utah....home. It's funny, but I never really knew how good things were until they are no longer an integral part of my life. I know that moving here was the right choice for our family, but it still doesn't make it any easier. I told Tom that I just want to be planted. Stick me somewhere and let me call it home. I hate being uprooted. Hopefully, this is where I am planted. I just have to write a few things I miss about Utah:

I MISS:

-going walking every morning with my sweet friend Lindsey and Brooklyn and Kenzie's best friend, Brooklyn. Just this morning I wanted to go for a walk and find myself not as motivated because my buddy is 3 1/2 hours away! Lindsey is just one of those people who just gives and gives. I will miss her.
-living so close to Lou and Ben. It got to be a pretty common thing to have them over a lot and also to go camping and dutch oven with them. I will miss that a lot. I will just miss seeing them a lot more than I will here. Man, that is a hard one to swallow.
-living close to the Jacobsons. We really didn't see you guys much since you moved to Draper. Hopefully you will come to visit.
-the Stufflebeams. Our birthfamily is like family to us. The thought of leaving them was one thing that almost kept us from moving to Idaho. We will miss the late nights playing games, hanging out, and just being so close. We have such a good relationship with them that I know we will see them often.
-my great neighbors that lived across and on all sides of me. I was blessed. If I ever needed something, they were there. They were my friends too.
-swapping babysitting with Megan and Lindsey. I miss talking about parenting and gardens and just life with Megan. She has such a big heart and I will miss her. PLUS...I miss my time with just me! That was a major bonus and I hope to find someone soon who wants to swap.
-my ward. I loved that ward. I got to the point where I knew just about everyone in there and pretty well too. There are some amazing people there. You are loved Highlands Ward.
-the Larsens...Char, Char, Brian, Ume, Zachy, and Littles. You are one special family.
-the beautiful mountains and scenery...nothing like it.

It's funny how the things that meant the most were the people. Yes, we loved our home, but the people were the things that made it special.

Now that I am in Idaho...I have much to celebrate! Here are some reasons I am THRILLED to be here:

-I am soooo excited to be living near my sister...about 6 minutes, in fact. Brooklyn and Kenzie already ask where she is and when they can play with their 2 cousins. I am blessed to be near more family.
-I LOVE Tom's new work schedule. He works 4 days then he gets 4 days off! We are loving that he is home more!
-We have amazing neighbors already. The first day we were here we had 4 families from the neighborhood come over and get to know us. Our next door neighbor even mowed our lawn! (I was dreading having to mow almost a half acre with a push mower!)
-I don't have road rage anymore. In fact, I find myself actually enjoying myself when I am on the road. The drivers here are so nice. The drivers let you in when you put your blinker on, they don't cut me off, and I haven't seen the bird...not once! (I know, some of you are saying I may provoke some of the behavior, but I honestly notice a difference.)
-The people are genuinely nice. Utah's people are nice, but it is just different here. In the grocery store (on more than 1 occasion) they say excuse me and actually smile. Also, at the Redbox, people let me go to the front of the line to return a movie. That NEVER happened in Utah!
-Laura Stuff works just 2 minutes from where we live! So...looks like we still get a Stufflebeam near us. Lucky us :)
-We actually live on some land. We moved from .13 to .44 acres! I am loving it and SOOO overwhelmed with how much work that comes with owning 3x's the property.
-I am in Idaho...enough said. I am from Boise, so it feels like home. The potatoes are bigger, the air is cleaner, and I love it here.

Well, there you go.

Another Rite of Passage

Brooklyn can now officially ride a bike. We've been working with her since about April then we were at my sister, Brooke's, house a week ago she hopped on a bike and started riding it. Go Brooklyn! I was thrilled! The pictures above are when we tried to teach the girls back in April. Aren't the bikes so cute?!? When I went to visit my folks last December Grandpa surprised the girls with bikes! They were sooooo excited. All winter they kept wanting to take them out. So, when it got nice in April we took them out. Now we can't get them off of the bikes. Kenzie is pretty good at steering, but she hasn't quite got the pedaling down. She can go around 1 time then stops and looks around. She can't seem to stay focused. Brooklyn, on the other hand, is so focused on her feet that she isn't watching where she is going. She is just so determined to get it right and if it doesn't happen quickly she gets so frustrated. Both girls are just so different. Don't they look so big on bikes?!? Side note: The movers are coming TOMORROW! AHHHHH! It still hasn't really hit me that we are moving. Do you think that once all of our stuff is out of the house it will hit me? I sure hope so!

Goofy girls

Lately, Brooklyn and Kenzie have been taking all of their bedding from their rooms and having "nigh, nigh in tv room" They bring out all of their babies and tuck them in and then ask for a popcycle. I let them do it once and now that is what they always want to do. The picture with Kenzie and her cereal is priceless because she is always very determined and focused when she eats her cereal. Her tongue is out...like always...and she has to get that last piece of cereal. If you were to ask Kenzie what she wanted for dinner she would say cereal or nuggets. Brooklyn, on the other hand, would ask for corn, black beans, oranges, or popcorn. They have such big personalities and I just like to sit back and watch what they do.

On a different note, the movers are coming on Monday! Am I ready...NO WAY! Luckily, Tom is home for 4 days. He is always a lot of help. After a crazy process of house hunting, I think we found our home. It is 7 minutes from my sister's house and 6 minutes to Tom's vanpool. PLUS...we LOVE the house! BONUS! We've really struggled with finding a home in Idaho because the floor plans are really messed up. For example (sorry if any of you have a floorp plan like this) I don't like floor plans where you can see dishes/the kitchen right from the entrance. There were a lot of those. There were also floor plans where the laundry room was right off of the entrance or no eating area except for the dining room down the hallway. OR the house was beautiful and had great curb appeal and was draped in oak...oak cabinets, oak baseboards...etc. Idaho likes oak. So, we are excited about moving in. We put the offer in yesterday and are just negotiating price. I'll post pictures as soon as we have officially signed our lives away. I tend to get a little overzealous and then have to retract things that don't go through. It tends to happen more than I would like so I am staying reserved about this one. Idaho or BUST!

No words needed...

Little bakers

Kenzie
Brooklyn

I feel so overwhelmed! We have been so busy with this transition of moving to another state. I feel very blessed to have a sister and brother-in-law that have been gracious and generous enough to let us stay at their home while we house hunt and while Tom works there and not here. Never once have they complained. They have had open arms and make us feel so at home. I feel so truly blessed. I also have amazing friends who have offered to watch our girls for us or help in any way they can. I have really grown to love it here and I am now realizing how much I am going to miss it. I was caught up in the excitement of moving to my dream state and it never really hit me that we were moving. It just didn't seem real. Now that we have some renters for our home, the movers scheduled, Tom has started his new job, and a home in Idaho (keep your fingers crossed it goes through!) it now feels official that we are moving and I can't help but feel a heavy heart. And through it all my sweet kids have been great! Ya, they've had their moments, but they are carrying on their little shoulders the stress from their parents, not understanding what is going on, and having their little worlds becoming unfamiliar territory. So, for this post I felt it only fitting to show pictures of my girls helping me with some cooking. I have been trying to use up the frozen stuff in our freezer so I have been getting creative with my cooking and my girls are always on board to help. Brooklyn, especially, loves to be right there when I cook. I have two little keepers that I wouldn't trade the world for. So, with this transition I feel overwhelmed, but grateful too. Thanks to all again for your kind hearts. It has made this heavy heart, lightened.