October

The fall was beautiful. We enjoyed a lot of nice weather. It seems it was about six months ago. A lot has happened in the last couple of months.

Landry went on a grasshopper hunt as part of his preschool field trip.

He caught one. It was catch and release so he had to leave it at the Nature Center.

We had a great time meeting up with our friends at Chuck E. Cheese.

We went on a hike to enjoy the fall leaves. Aunt Stacey, Aunt Sara and cousins Evan and Trayson joined in on the fun.

Kolby and Addie had to explore the river bottom.

Evan seemed to really enjoy the hike.

The whole gang.

The sisters...

Addie loves snails and she always seems to find one. We are not sure how she can find these tiny creatures.

Landry got a little tired.

Kolby wanted a little extra adventure.

Landry had two teeth mangled by a pool ball. The dentist had to pull them out. He is just tall enough to put his chin over the pool table. One wild pool ball did a lot of damage.

We enjoyed a few Utah State football games. Kolby was in heaven.

The kids at the Utah State Homecoming parade.

As per tradition, we ate at Village Inn with Grandma and Grandpa after the parade.

Landry loved sitting between these two guys.

We had a fun Halloween party with cousins.

It was nice to spend time with everyone.

We celebrated Halloween in Cedar City in the middle of moving to California. It was a great weekend. The kids carved pumpkins with their friends. It turns out pumpkin carving works the best when the children are left with the men to carve and the women go shopping. Everyone was happier.

These girls were jumping for joy at the site of the pumpkins. They had some serious Halloween spirit.

Our friends in Cedar City were very kind and let us stay with them while we moved. Landry and his best friend made a bed on the floor and were snuggled in for the night before we even knew what happened. They slept like this for three nights.

All the kids ready for the big night.

Just my brood. I was thrilled that Kolby and Addie decided to wear the same costume two years in a row.

Landry was in character while wearing his Power Ranger costume.

Fueling up!

November 21, 2010

Addie turned 8 in September. Her birthday came in the middle of a house hunting trip to Boise. You know... that two week period when we were planning on moving to Boise. We stopped to see Tyler's sister and her family in Burley on our way to Boise. We stayed overnight and had an enjoyable visit. Amber made Addie a delicious birthday breakfast.

Addie was able to open her presents with her cousins. She wanted a stuffed monkey for her birthday.

After spending a long day house hunting we continued to celebrate Addie's birthday by eating dinner at Red Robin and swimming in the hotel pool.

At the end of the month, she was baptized. It was a wonderful day.

Addie is a precious little girl.She is thoughtful and loving.

Creative and smart.

Adventurous and brave.

Addie is funny and playful.

She is a constant joy in our lives.

November 7, 2010

Recently, there have been a lot of changes in our life. Tyler started a job in Los Angeles at the beginning of October. The kids and I moved to Orange County with him last week. The entire move happened really fast. It was only two weeks from the time we decided to move to California with Tyler until we moved. Kolby begged every day this week to go to the beach. I tried to explain to him I was busy moving and could not make a beach trip. On Saturday, we agreed to take him so we could see our friends who live in Huntington Beach. Kolby was really mad when we made him get out of the water to go home (can you see the anger/tears in the picture above). Everyone was freezing except for him. He could not understand why we were cold when he was fine. The weather was warm when we left to go to the beach but by the time we got there (a half hour later) it had become quite chilly.

I was surprised any of the kids got in the water when it was that cold. They played for a long time in the waves and one by one they hit their hypothermia point. Landry was basically blue when he got out of the water. It took him a while to warm up.

We were supposed to move to Boise, Idaho but a week and a half before Tyler was going to start his job he was called about a better job in Los Angeles. Three days before Tyler was to start his job in Idaho he accepted the job in California.

I have always told Tyler that I would never live in California. There have always been a lot of job openings here and he has never applied because in my mind it was not even an option. Random circumstances came together and it was basically impossible to turn down the job.

We had unseasonable warm weather this week (until Saturday) with temperatures 90 plus. The kids cooled down and entertained themselves in our cold hot tub. They can not understand why we have not yet been to Disneyland. I am beginning to wonder if they think this move is a really long vacation or real life. They have some pretty high expectations about living here and all the fun things they are going to do.

I don't think the waterfall was meant to be a diving board. We had to put a stop to this stunt. Our neighborhood is nice and our backyard has a lot of beautiful trees and flowers. I told Tyler a move to California would require a house with a Spanish tile roof and a fruit tree in the yard. I did not think my wish would come true but it did! We have a lime tree so my diet coke will now always include a lime - yum! The neighbors have a pomegranate tree right next to the fence. I was thrilled when they invited me to take as many as I want whenever I want.

My landlord told me I look too young to have three kids. I appreciated that. He also told me he was surprised to find out people from Utah wanted to rent his house. He reported that people are moving out of California not to California. I told him I was as surprised as anyone to be moving to California.

I learned quickly that I have to concentrate at all times while driving. As soon as I put myself on cruise control or am distracted at all I get lost or honked at. The kids are always distracting so this makes driving a little difficult. By the end of the week they started being better behaved in the car because they got tired of getting lost and going on long detours. Also, any road that would be 30 to 35 mph in Utah is 40 to 45 mph in southern California.

Kolby turned to me after our host seated us at a restaurant and said, "I did not understand anything he just said". I told him not to worry about it because I had not understood most of what people had said to me the previous two days. Kolby was also a little confused when our landlord asked him if he went to private or public school.

Wish us luck! If you are in the neighborhood give us a call.

October 21, 2010

We ended the summer by attending the family carnival at Grandpa J's independent living center. The kids had fun and enjoyed eating generous amounts of their favorite treats.Addie and Landry were excited to go on the pony ride.

Addie did feel bad for the pony. She did not think it was fair that it had to give rides to so many kids.

The snow cones were consumed happily.

The children all had rainbow faces when we left.

Landry discovered corn on the cob this summer and it quickly became his favorite food. He was thrilled to have an unlimited supply at the carnival.

Of course, they all enjoyed the cotton candy more than anything else!