Finishing up May

We can start with Abby because she kind of rules our life.  14 months old and has lots of teeth, including her molars.  She loves several things.  All the booster seats at Grandmas.  LOVES suckers...great bribery to keep her happy and quiet.  She still loves naps.  And she can sign Bath Bath Bath... and loves them!

My college roommate, Joni or Jones,  came to visit from the south.  It is so nice to be able to chat and visit and have it feel like its been no time at all since you were apart.  

Ella loves to have her nails done.  and so for a late birthday present and for her friend Eliana's birthday I took them to get their nails done.  It was so much fun!

Tyler is pretty great.  He still loves to play the paino.  He has excelled so much in the last 11 months of lessons.  Abby wants to be with him all the time.  He is a great student.  His Spanish is really good.  I am so proud of him.   

And then theirs our house.  We LOVE it!  We had family home evening out side on night.  It was one of the first times we had been able to sit and enjoy ourselves since we moved in.  With a Dad that worked like crazy for 4 months we are thrilled May is over.

Our neighbors have horses that we love.  I took the picture of the rainbow the other day after it had stopped raining.  beautiful!

The kitchen is kind of the central place in our lives.  We are always in our right around it.  The kids love to peek over the top.  Abby is always on the stool getting into something.  We had a family dinner here and we all had room (we had cake pops for dessert. YUM!)  We babysat Angs kitty for her for a few days.  Abby's first word was dog because of Angs dog, and she quickly learned kitty too!

We have great neighbors who are so fun to play with.

But the best news was that school was finishing up.  No more driving to Sandy all the time.  No more waking up Abby from naps.  We went to Scheels and rode the ferris wheel to celebrate!

Great Grandma's Birthday Weekend

My Grandma and Grandpa Harston helped fund and make a family reunion happen every two years growing up.  It was great.  We would travel to a different place in the US every two years.  I always looked forward to those trips.  This year my Grandma Elaine turned 90 year so my parents planned a big party in her honor.  My dear cousin Scott came in town from St Louis with his daughter.  Scotts wife Faith is one of those kindred spirits I am glad crossed my life, even if I don't see her often.  Her daughter Monroe reminds me so much of her.  

During that busy weekend that Scott and Monroe were here, My sister candace took my kids and her's to Pocatello to see my nephew get baptized.  So Monroe didn't have anyone to play with but Abby.  She was a fantastic babysitter.  Darren borrowed a tractor from our neighbor.  He smoothed out my garden and didn't kill any of my fruit trees.

Then when my kids came home we enjoyed a great birthday celebration.  There were so many people there to celebrate my Grandma.  My Grandma said a lot of good things.  I wrote this down.... Life's an adventure.  Just go a head and be happy.  There's certainly a lot to be happy about.

My mom is a master entertainer.  She kept so many little kids happy.  Putting on skits and plays.  And including everyone.  

Heres to a fun weekend.  

MOVING IN!

April was move in month.  We had lots of things going on.  And lots of adjusting when it comes to driving in to Sandy three times a day to pick up and drop off kids at school.  I was so grateful for the friends and family who helped, stop by to make sure I wasn't buried in a box somewhere, and some brought a much needed meal to eat.  

My local sisters each spent several hours here.  When I was just walking around feeling over whelmed and not knowing where to start... they walked in and just starting putting things places.  My brother in law even came over on his spring break and put all the beds together so we could stop sleeping on mattresses on the floor and slew in beds!  

I remember several days in, sitting down and eating a meal.  soup. In my kitchen with the sun coming in.  Just a few minutes to breath!  Another day I was so tried I thought I might just fall over.  I asked Ella to do an art project or something and let me sleep for a few minutes.  an hour and a half later I woke up to a clean house.  She had cleaned almost the whole time.  

Another night Darren and I stayed up until midnight organizing and unpacking all the kitchen stuff.  My sisters had done so much already but this was us now, trying to arrange it for us.  As the clock struck midnight we slipped off to bed and felt good about our little kitchen.  We stayed awake many other nights until midnight building storage shelves.  Each little things making such a difference.  

We listened to conference on our computer.  I wondered why the kids would just cuddle up with their dad on Sunday and listen, but on Saturday they were clambering all over me to stay occupied

Abby seems to be growing up so fast right now.  I can see her mind thinking about things and growing.  She is a mover and a talker.  She likes to sit on the edge of the stop and read her siblings books.  Not the ones that I got for her, but the big kids books.  We also started to get Abby sleeping again this month.  We had to make some darkening window coverings for her room.  We still battle the sadness when I have to wake her up to get T and E from school.  Abby loves her new house.  She sat in the coat closet one day hiding.  And her balance and walking is great.  She signs lots of things and wants you to understand her.  Her favorite sign is Bath.  She wants a bath all the time!

The furniture has been moved 10 times.  But I think it is getting closer to being in a good place.  Now to hang some pictures.  

And our fireplace... or rock climbing wall.  Ella has tried it out a few times.