The Great Wolf Lodge

After my trip with Mom, but before the kids and I left for Utah, we got our boxes into the house and decided that we needed a family vacation, so we went to the Great Wolf Lodge. It has a great indoor water park which was so fun. But it also has an amazing "Magic Wand" game. Magi Seth and Magi Ryan let Adam and I tag along as they took their wands and performed magic on their quests throughout the hotel. They talked received direction from the wizard at the talking trees and then found the princess's jewels and the colored crystals, collected gold coins from the treasure chests, and battled the evil goblin and terrifying dragon. Other than a scratched chin from the bottom of the water park, Seth came out unscathed. Ryan loved the waterslides even if it took a couple of minutes to decide she liked the really big one. Seth was fearless on all of them. Ryan loved the the musical puppet show that we are standing in front of. The kids can't wait to take their wands back and perform some more magic. I have to say I can't wait either!

Train in Pleasantville

We are in our new house as of Thursday. It is just walls and walkways of boxes, but I am getting through them as fast as possible. We went on a walk after church and dinner to see the train at the neighbor's house. We were told that Sunday after dinner, he lets the neighborhood kids ride on it. Yeah, that's right, our neighbor has a train that goes around his and his brother's house that we can all ride on. So on our walk through "Pleasantville" or "Leave it to Beaver" (depending on your generation), we met the rest of the entire street. We stopped to talk to Dee and her policeman husband and as the rest of the neighbors saw us, they all came over to say hi and call over anyone else around to make introductions. As we were visiting, the kids came running over to say Jeff, the train brother, said they could ride on it. So we spent the rest of the evening riding the train. The kids, of course, had a blast and I took a ride too. This is going to be our new Sunday evening activity with our neighbors. We really are blessed when we listen to the Spirit! I am so grateful the Lord helped us choose this home.

Cove Fort, Utah

Mom and I just stopped to visit Cove Fort. What an amazing place! We first watched a video about how it came to be. Brigham Young wrote a letter to President Hinkley’s grandfather who was almost finished settling Coalville that he needed him to go build a fort. Ira wasn’t much for writing and simply told the messenger to pass on the message that he would be there on the appointed day. He left his family and went by himself to begin work. What faith and courage! I hope I am that faithful and obedient when the Lord calls me! At the end, we heard President Hinkley speak and I forgot how much I miss him. I can’t wait to be with him again and feel his spirit and love. We looked at all the different rooms and there is such a spirit of family and hard work. It was amazing what that family could accomplish- the gardens, the milk from 30 cows (that was the 11 year old daughter’s job) and butter, the wash and feeding up to 30 people a day using her good silver and linens (which she then had to wash). The mom made at least five huge loaves of bread a day without a mixer. I wonder if I used my time more wisely what amazing things I could accomplish. Moving is always a great chance for a new start- I am going to use my time more wisely to accomplish more of what the Lord would have me do. I am also going to minimize and simplify my worldly possessions. I have too much that I don’t need and that simply brings disorder and chaos into our home. Cleanliness is next to Godliness. The house of God is a house of Order. Plus, it is such a beautiful place with trees and grass. The Lord’s places have such a peace about them. I want my home to be a place of peace and love for my family.

Jaime's in Sacramento

Friday- Mom and I left Jaime’s in Sacramento this morning. It was great seeing them again. Zackery was bigger but didn’t look too different, although he did act older. Shelby looked a lot older and her grown up room was adorable. I had never met Toby yet who is 20 months. He is the cutest little blond. We visited last night and had a fun time catching up. Hopefully, we can meet up with them in Astoria again.

Father's Day at the Dreaming Bear

... hope you have a "awesome" Father's Day!...

Seth made this for Daddy because I suggested making something creative for Father's Day. He made a picture of us at Swan Lake feeding the ducks and jump roping (they bought the jump ropes with their own money). It loooks just us! Our clothes, the big tree, the bench with the bread and cheerioes on it... The "lake" is made with toothpaste. That was all his idea because he wanted to be creative. I did suggest covering it with plastic wrap, but he was very involved. They love making pictures and present for Adam.

Ryan is making Daddy close his eyes so she can give him her present from church. (She loves the closing-eye-thing, even for little presents)

Happy 4th of July!

July 5, 2009 Yesterday, we slept in again. We have stayed on California time since we’ve been staying up so late each day and so the kids have been sleeping into 11 o’clock each morning. But we got up (still couldn’t go get our car- it needs new tires) and got breakfast/lunch at Dunkin’ Donuts, got some snacks for that night, went and looked at our house again (Ryan was happy we were living in the “firefly” house and they both found an awesome “fort” in the backyard bushes which will soon have a sign reading “if you are not a kid, then you cannot come in”, I’m hoping to encourage them to shorten it to “Kids only”) and then started our 4th of July celebration. Adam and I had our backpacks and all holding hands, we walked from the L’enfant to the Mall. We went to the National Museum of Natural History and saw the dinosaurs, the whales, the Hope Diamond and the gems, the lifecycle of ants and the butterflies. Ryan loved looking at everything, but Seth was just in awe. He couldn’t stop turning and noticing every single display. They especially liked the underwater creatures from long ago because they had just watched a National Geographic show about what the creatures might have been like last Sunday with Papa before dinner. I hope I can stay as excited about learning as they are. Adam was telling them that he used to come here when he was little. I mentioned that if Daddy ever has a day off of school, then the kids my have to take a day off of regular school to do learn a different way at the Smithsonian. I got “a look” from Adam but it had a smile with it, so I think he’ll be on board. He coming over to the “Dark Side” little by little (he’s already driven through two different places to get food for us). After the Smithsonian, we found a place on the grass, spread out our blankets (which we borrowed from our nice new landlords) and sat down to eat our dinner/snacks, play UNO and war, and wait 2 and a half hours for the fireworks. Even after all that, we still had about an hour to go, so we started to try and catch Teddy Grahams in our mouths which turned into tossing Teddy Grahams into each others’ mouths. I would toss them to Seth and when we missed, he would throw it back to me and try to “bounce it off my boobs like a trampoline”. Then we would drop them into Ryan’s mouth from as high as we could. That lasted almost the rest of the time and then we cuddled up for the fireworks. They were incredible! They all went off behind the Washington Memorial. It was beautiful. I loved the weeping willows and the gold fairy dust ones the best. Once, there were a couple of fairy dust ones at the same time and Ryan said, “There must be a bunch of fairies up there.) Seth had three favorites—“My first favorite was the giant green and red one, my second was the gold streaks and then purple dots at the end, and my third was the colorful one where all the dots were different colors.” Adam’s was the gold squiggly one. Ryan’s favorite were the ones that had the purple and pink dots at the end of the gold explosion. “My second one is…” This is where she trails off to watch Casper Meets Wendy with Seth. Rayn- “This is my favorite movie. Guess what, Mom, The Neverending Story and this are my favorite movies.” She’s gotten into the habit of calling me “Mom” instead of “Mama” like normal. Well, the fireworks were incredible and it was fun being with a bunch of Americas who love their country all ooh-ing and ahh-ing during the show and clapping and whistling at the end. There is something wonderful about being part of a group. Mob-mentality can be the negative side of it, but being together with the same mindset be a powerfully positive experience—teams, church, family, soldiers, America… We walked back to the hotel with one Seth and Ryan taking turns on Adam’s shoulders. There were a lot of people there! We saw a few more fireworks out the window, talked about our patriotism and that of Captain Moroni and Helaman (that’s where we are in the Book of Mormon), said prayers, gave hugs and kisses and went to bed. Happy Independence Day!

New house, New car!

July 5, 2009 We are heading to Grandpa Merrill’s house. We have a home, a car, a ward, and lots of blessings. We got here on Wednesday night and went looking for cars on Thursday, which turned into looking at houses. After five of them, with none of them being what we wanted, I was a little discouraged and a lot overwhelmed. I wasn’t crying yet from being tired, but I was close. I still didn’t feel good about getting a KIA Sedona instead of a Toyota and even with lowering our expectations because we were in a more expensive area, I still wasn’t happy with the houses we had seen. I said a prayer for comfort and help and about five minutes later my phone rang from one more owner. I was so grateful to the Lord. I figured the house was going to be great anyway, but to know the Lord was aware of me anThe d to have one more house looked at that night was a blessing. After being in the car all day, the kids were still being amazing taking turns picking movies to watch on the DVD player and being so nice to each other. We made it to the house in the NICEST neighborhood. The house didn’t have a garage or carport—bummer, but it was large and nice enough. There were some significant issues- no garage and no storage/closet space, but it felt good to be in a nice place. The owners were kind and seemed to like us. As we were getting ready to leave, Adam asked the kids if they wanted to get out and catch fireflies. It was perfect—catching fireflies under the big tree in the front yard. We drove down the block to the beautiful elementary school and around the corner to the community pool and tennis courts. It was very Pleasantville or if that’s too new, than Leave it to Beaver. Well, after seeing two more houses the next day, we were torn between this place with an ok house, but a great neighborhood and school and a great price, or the other home with a two car garage, a fun backyard into the woods, but an ok neighborhood and not a great school. My head was a mess! Adam and I discussed the options, but I couldn’t figure it out. There were more to see in the same “not great” school neighborhoods that afternoon, after driving the hour and a half to pick up our car. On the way back from not getting our car (it wasn’t ready yet), I said a prayer and talked to Mom for a bit. Then I talked to Lacee for awhile and told her all my dilemmas. I always need to talk through stuff with someone even if they haven’t seen the place or know the details. Mom is really good at pretending like she can understand when I describe paint choices or the layout of a room. But somehow talking it through to someone who can’t see it and explaining myself to someone from the beginning makes it all a little clearer. And then of course, the Spirit always lets me feel past my jumbles thoughts. The Spirit makes sense of all the little points I have made for myself, it connects the dots for me. Anyway, before we got out here I cared about not being house-poor (we wanted to stay within BAH), finding a great school for the kids, and being close enough so Adam could get home fairly quickly. I had already been preparing to downsize in house and realizing that it shouldn’t be that big of deal, that I could and should be able to do with less. Well, why couldn’t I have seen how obvious the choice was. Our house was in a great neighborhood, with a great school, closer to work with a beautiful commute (along the George Washington Parkway) and it was a few hundred dollars less than the others. Well, while talking (explaining/complaining to Lacee) it all started to become clear. I was making my own case and the Spirit started to comfirm it. Then I was definite and the Spirit told me I was right. I said goodbye to Lacee and before I called Adam (oh, we were in separate rental cars, on the way to return one of them), we were driving into DC and surround by all the amazing architecture and it was all magical and exciting. America is wonderful, we had a new home, I had an answers to my prayers, we had found it a car, everything was working out just perfectly and I was feeling the Spirit so strong. It is a great feeling, full of power and the love of God, being purely happy, joyful, peaceful! Adam called and I told him what I thought and he said that was fine with him. As always, he supports me when it comes to the family. We made it to the hotel and were just so happy with our life. We were starting again in a new place with a new home with our great family!

Saying goodbye at church

June 26- We said goodbye to everyone at church today. It was happy instead of sad. I get why Daddy says he wants us all to have a party at his funeral instead of moping around. There were a few tears from my new Relief Society President and my two babysitters, but mostly we did lots of hugs and laughing. I got all the ladies to come out to the front lawn for a group pictures. What great sisters! I was really happy here. But leaving on such a great note just makes me excited about the next place too. There are good people everywhere ready to love us and be loved and to make our lives better. I am having a hard time explaining in a paragraph our last four years here. How do I make the kids understand in the future how happy we were and what great people we shared our lives with. I trust that the Lord will make it alright someday—maybe our very own Godly home videos or really great memories or something. But I feel such joy in the Lord and his love to those of us on this island. We were blessed!

Almost there!

The house is packed and they are loading. We are all pretty excited about moving. Well, except Seth. Right now, he doesn’t want to move because he won’t be able to play soccer with John. But Ryan can’t wait to go to Grandma and Papa’s house. And Adam just told them that they will be able to go tubing and swimming in the pool everyday at Grandpa Merrill’s house. It’s going to be a great new vacation and move!
Adam and Ryan were playing in the front yard, and Adam tossed a leaf in her hair while she wasn’t looking. Without turning around, she said, “Daddy, that was you, I presume.”
When we walked into the hotel from church, Ryan went right around the door to the corner, and said, “No one look over here in this region.”

Movers are here!

June 16- The packers are here and the house is a sea of brown boxes.

We are at the Dreaming Bear Suites tonight waiting for the lasagna I made on Monday to cook. Ryan is drawing pictures and Seth is writing in his little journal.

We are showered fed and Seth is reading their new kitty book to Ryan. He is starting to slow down and slur his words because we think he is starting to fall asleep. Ryan is saying “Seth, what are you saying? You’re not reading everything…!” It is so cute the two of them cuddled on the mattress between the two beds hidden behind their book. Seth has become such a great reader. So far, the only word he has had trouble with is putting the emphasis on the wrong part of “domestic”. He’s starting to fall asleep again… hehehe… Adam and I are whispering and laughing at how funny they are. We do that a lot. Ryan has gotten to a new stage of lots of talking—funny, grown up talking. We are laughing at her all the time. She is so silly, funny. I’ll have to remember some specifics to write down.