Sunday Afternoon

We went for a little drive after church and enjoyed nature for a couple of hours.  It was heavenly...

Anndra's First Bike (and other fun)

What a big girl!  She's still trying to figure out how to keep the pedals turning, but she's very excited to be just like her big brothers on their bikes.

Here are some pics from the park last week. 

The chain ladder was a challenge for Lincoln:

But Parker got right up with no trouble:

Anndra & I as we're about to go down the slide together (and L waiting for his turn behind us):

Our girl still loves to run through the house (like a pony!).  She has a 'race track' that goes from entry to living room and through the dining room & kitchen and back to the entry again.  Here she goes:

And there she goes again:

Boys pretending to have Angry Bird heads:

Our New Home

The weather is amazing.  The neighbors are friendly.  The house is nearly perfect.  The church group is welcoming.  The town is easy to navigate.  The pace is slower.  How could we be anything but blissfully happy to be here???  Seriously.  We feel like we've landed in paradise.

A rainbow appeared over our home 2 minutes after we arrived.  A good omen!

View of our home from down the hill by the river.

Evening sunlight on the river.

Lincoln picking up rocks in the tall grass between our lawn and the river.

Grandma helping Anndra find rocks to throw in the river too.

I have to conclude this post with a few big THANK YOU's.  First, to Aunt Vicki for all her help.  She traveled to Florida with Debbie to attend Todd's graduation and to lend a hand with the move.  She also hosted a lovely dinner our first night in Utah.  The kids grew very fond of her during her time with us:

Second, to Todd & Diane (and their son Carter) for being the nicest friends ever and driving 7 hours from their home in Idaho to help unload the truck here in Montana... and missing some of their July 4th festivities to do it... and then driving all the way back the next day.  Even though it was brief, it was so good to be with you three:

Third, and most of all, to Debbie - who sacrificed two weeks of her time to be with us through every step of our move and who never complained (despite the heat!).  I don't know what we would have done without her.  Her assistance was on so many levels that it is hard to describe how much she did for us and how much we appreciate it.  Thanks, Mom!

Stopover in Utah

In the middle of our move, we had two days in Utah while we loaded a U-haul truck with items we've been storing in my mother-in-law's basement.  While Todd and I were busy working, the kids were playing with their cousins who also recently moved (back to UT from AL).  Thanks, Jess, for supervising all this good fun and taking pictures for us.  You're the best!

Goodbye Florida!

Running up and down the ramp - "The moving truck is here!"

When we came to Florida, Parker was 5, Lincoln was 5 months, and Anndra wasn't here yet.  Now look how big they are!

Parker climbed into the loaded truck to secure a strap that Todd couldn't reach.

The afternoon before the day we left, we had one last swim play-date with our dear friends at another dear friend's house - it was the perfect way to end our time in Florida, but sad to say goodbye.

That night was graduation (hooray for Todd!) and then the next day we got on a plane - whew! I still can't believe we got it all done in time.

Anndra pretending to read my book - silly girl.

"Shhh, Mommy! I'm reading, see?"

Todd and Lincoln sound asleep - moving is exhausting!  I'm not sure how Linc folded himself in half like that...

Legoland

Four days before our move, seven of us enjoyed a day at Legoland: me, my 3 kids, my mother-in-law, her sister, and Parker's best friend.  It was just before a tropical storm hit Florida, so we had some pretty intense rain for part of the day - but all the weather warnings also meant that the park was not crowded, which was nice.

In front of the WELCOME sign - dry and eager to get started.

Lincoln loved the joust ride.

Anndra took a great nap in the stroller despite the rainy drizzle - clutching a little stuffed pig Parker won for her at a carnival-style booth where you shoot a target with a water gun.

With Lincoln at 44 inches and Anndra at 39 inches, they were allowed on most of the rides - thank you Legoland!

Making the most of the wait - goofing around until the rides re-opened after the rain.

Hmm, can a shark made of legos bite??  Let's see...

The sun came out again for the last hour or so, but Linc didn't want to take off his poncho - he was sure it was going to rain again.

One of the few pics I got with our grown-ups in it. :)

 

Leaving the park at the end of the day - dry once again, tired, happy, best friends.