Catching Up!

I imported the pictures from my camera onto my computer today, and decided to do a quick catch up post with a little bit of what has been going on lately and a couple of other random pictures.

This summer went soooooo fast.  We were in transition the entire time, due to the timing of the sale of our house, moving, family reunions, and other travels.  We never really settled into a routine, and that made things hard on everyone.  I think for the first time ever, I have been completely ready to send the kids back to school, and they were ready to go.

Right before school started Jeremy and I and the two little boys took a quick trip to Laramie, Wyoming.  We drove up the fast way I-40 to I-25 to I-80, but on the way back we took the scenic route through Colorado.  It was sooo beautiful and we had such a good time.  Here are a few pictures from that trip.

We drove out to the Lincoln Monument, just outside Laramie.  It was pretty interesting, and is a cool sight as you are driving along I-80.

A little rest stop along I-70 in Colorado.

More scenery along I-70.  I had never driven this far on I-70 before and was shocked by how beautiful it is!!

Beautiful Ouray, Colorado.

More views in Ouray.

 We took the short hike to see these Box Canyon Falls in Ouray.  They were really cool.  Definitely worth seeing.

Another picture from our hike.

We took a little time to stop and enjoy the river in Durango.

Isn't it pretty?  We loved it, but of course we are from Arizona where we are pretty parched most of the year.

Now onto some random pictures.

I had to take a picture of this little lineup in our bathroom the other day.  Scenes like this are a common occurrence at our house, but when I saw this, I had the sudden thought that I had better take a picture.  My youngest is three and I have a feeling that the days of seeing these cute little scenes at our house are coming to a close. Sigh!!

Future awesome husbands in training!! The days of scenes like this are, thankfully, not coming to a close anytime soon at our house.

This is the view from the backyard at our apartments.  At our old house we had a lovely backyard view of our neighbor's house.  I have made no secret about the fact that I have had a hard time with leaving my house and squishing into our little rental property, but this is the one area where I believe I traded up.

This was the scene that greeted us in the backyard the other morning.  The boys love it!!!

Finally, the boys started school again yesterday.  I took a couple of quick pictures before we headed over to drop them off.

Jack started first grade.  His teacher is Mrs. Gillespie.  She is the same teacher that Dallin and Thomas had for first grade and they loved being in her class.  She is one of the nicest ladies of all time and I know that Jack will love being in her class too.  Sadly, she is retiring after this year, so my other boys will not get to have her as a teacher.

Thomas started third grade.  All of the second grade teachers moved up to third grade and kept their same classes, for the most part.  So, Thomas gets another year in Mrs. Birtcher's class.  He is sooo happy because he had a great year with her in second grade last year.

Dallin started fourth grade and moved over to the Intermediate School.  He used to visit that school a lot when he was little, since it is the school where his dad taught, but he was still a little nervous about starting there as a student.  He had a great first day yesterday and was looking forward to school this morning, so I think the nerves are gone.  His teacher is Mrs. Olsen.  I don't know her, since she started teaching there after Jeremy left, but we hear good things about her, so I think Dallin will have a good year there.

We had some fun travels this summer, and we are grateful that our house sold so quickly, but Summer - - I am not sorry to see you come to a close this year. We are looking forward to a good school year ahead (and hopefully a move to a larger home sooner rather than later.) ;)

The End of an Era

Yesterday, it was closing day on our old house.  We finished moving everything out and tidying up.  Then, we took the boys over for one last walk through the old place to say goodbye and give them a little bit of closure.  I have been feeling a little down since then.  Maybe because we are trying to cram our entire family into our tiny little rental property.  Maybe because now that we have everything out of the old house, I have a lot of work ahead of me trying to make it all fit .  Maybe it is because we still don't know whether we are building, buying, or moving out of Taylor altogether.  (I don't do too well if I don't have a plan.)  But, I think the real reason that I am down is because it is hard to say goodbye to a house that holds so many memories. We lived in that house for nine and a half years.  It was the home where I brought four of my five babies home from the hospital.  It was the home where they all learned to crawl, walk, and talk.  It was the home where I got to spend those quiet middle-of-the night moments that only mothers get with babies when they are nursing, cutting teeth, or sick.  It was the home where there were a lot of sibling fights, but even more laughter and play.

We put our blood, sweat, and tears into that house making it a pleasant, and pretty place to live. As I think about that house, I have so many sweet memories, like rocking my tiny babies; watching my little boys push their big dump trucks around and around the living room and kitchen in a big circle; cooking together in the kitchen; sending my boys off to preschool, and first days of school; waiting for the school bus to bring them home and talking about how their days went; homework; and Friday night pizza and movies.

It is really hard to say goodbye to a place that has been such an important part of our family for nearly a decade.  So, please indulge me as I share the last pictures I took of our little house.  These were taken during the moving process, so some rooms may seem a little sparse.  I know I took way too many pictures, but my mom has assured me that you tend to forget exactly how your house looked over the years, so I overdid it, getting every angle. ;)

Goodbye house. We will miss you!!

Utah Trip

I am a little slow in getting these pictures posted.  Life is still a little crazy around here and it is tough to find time to sit down and get a blog post up.

I am sharing some pictures from our recent trip to Utah.  I will be keeping commentary to a minimum and letting the pictures mostly speak for themselves.

Lake Powell on the way up.

Tad helping Grandpa Teichert mow the lawn.

Drake and Tad learning to skate at Grandma and Grandpa's house.

They boys at the newly renovated Monte L. Bean museum at BYU.  (This picture was snapped with my phone, so the quality stinks. Sorry.)

Drake on a hike just outside Bryce Canyon.

Jack in Bryce Canyon NP.

Dallin

Thomas

The boys at Capitol Reef NP.

The whole family at Capitol Reef.

This was a quick, but fun trip.  It was nice to see my family and some of my extended family again.  And, of course, I always love getting back for a visit to my home.  I miss all of you already!!

Busy, Busy, Busy

We have been sooooo busy this Summer.  I am going to try to sum up all that has been going on in this post, so you may need to get a snack if you are planning to read the whole thing. ;)

First of all - - we have moved!!!  No - not somewhere far away, or to a nice city (I wish), but just across town to our rental property.  We put our house on the market a few weeks ago, and it sold in four days.  We are really grateful, because not much has been selling around here, but it has made our move much more hurried than we had planned.  Our renters moved out of our little 1,000 square foot, two-bedroom duplex apartment, and we are currently trying to squish our family of seven, and all of our stuff into it.  To say that it has made me grouchy more often than not would be an understatement.  I have to keep reminding myself that this is only temporary and will open up bigger and better possibilities for us.  Cross your fingers for me that I can hold on, and say a little prayer that my family will still love me when we are finished living in these close quarters.

Okay, so now that the big news is out of the way, I will move onto the stuff that is a little more fun.

Jeremy had to attend the ASA conference again this year, so Dallin, Thomas, Jack and I tagged along for a little vacation.  Jeremy's sister, Emma, and her family took care of Drake and Tad while we were gone.  I am sooooo grateful.  It was nice to have a little time to just focus on my bigger boys for a change, and it was also nice not to have to stress about my little boys since we spent hours, and hours, and hours at the pools.

Thomas on the waterslide.

Dallin

Jack

The kids in the cold springs pool.  This water was icy cold.

I spent some time in the pools and even took a few trips down the water slide, but this was my favorite place to be, just chilling out and watching my kids have fun.  The evenings in Tucson were really beautiful.

We ate a lot on this trip. I think I gained about five pounds. This particular restaurant was 5 Guys Burgers.

We also finished up baseball season.  I have to admit, I am always glad when baseball season is over.  Between practices and multiple games each week, baseball keeps us much busier than I like to be.  This year was especially bad, since we were trying to start our move at the same time that games were going on.

Dallin at bat.

Dallin playing catcher.  I think this is still his favorite position, but he played mostly second base and some first base this year.

Thomas in the outfield.

Thomas at bat.

Dallin playing first base.

Dallin on base.

Jack at the ball park.  Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures of him in action on the field.

My three little ball players.

The boys also just finished up a session of swimming lessons.  They had fun and did really well.

Drake

The boys freezing after lessons, while I insist that they stand there so I can get a picture.

Dallin in the pool.  They are trying to get him to join the swim team, but he is not that interested, and the pool is a 25 minute drive, so I am just as glad.

Jack

Thomas

Well, that sums up the highlights of our Summer so far.  Next up - - a trip to Utah, and then back to finish up the move and close on our house.  Crazy!!!  And, if you have read this far, bless you.  You are a true friend!!