Moving Day

We woke up very early and made the drive to Michigan.

We were sad to say goodbye to Kirksville.

Packing Day

 Ben meticulously packed the truck. We are getting pretty good at moving. 

This is our 7th time moving in 8 years.

 Little man: big truck.

 William loved the truck!

 It was a very hot day.

We had great help loading our home. We were so grateful for Ben's parents to come and work with us. Their help was so needed and appreciated.

Dad Bike Day @ school

It was a hot and humid day but these two attended Dad Bike Day @ Eliza's school. Eliza was counting down the days... she had her scooter in the back of the trailer and was so excited to ride with Dad. She kept asking if William was coming, and when I told her "No," she said, "Good." She felt very special.

First Fieldtrip: the wonder of childhood

Eliza had her first field trip with her school class where they got to ride on a bus. It was the most exciting thing for her, they went to the park by our home. I walked over with William to see the children's concert and Eliza. After the concert, I told Eliza it was time to walk home. Crocodile tears gathered in her eyes because she was so sad to not be able to ride on the bus back to school. My decision was easily made, and she ran along to the bus.  When I picked her up, Mrs. K told me she said as they rode the bus back to school, "I sure am enjoying this bus ride." Oh, Eliza- I love this age!

Grandma Care

 Grandma Care came to visit!

Pure joy for all.

 

We got to visit the Kansas City temple open house, beautiful.

I may have a horizontal stripe problem, evidence is showing.

 Fun days of shopping, quilting, finishing projects, pedicures, phones dropped in pedicure tubs, getting things done Carolyn-style (which means you get ALOT done) and just having fun hanging out. We miss her!

It was so hard to say good bye. Eliza had a total break down in the car, no idea where she gets that from. We love having visitors! Thanks for coming Mom!

Morning Dance

Mornings are happy times around here. 

Moments after this shot the Slinky became  a major hazardous weapon.

Easter Egg Hunt

The day before Easter was so very rainy. We had planned a large Easter Egg hunt for many children. It was pouring but we went forward. The clouds parted and it stopped raining for about 10 minutes, the sun even shined for a minute. It was fantastic.

Race Day

 It was a cold and rainy race day, Ben and Eliza both did great. 

Ben did swimmingly for sitting at a desk and studying 100% of the time- I think he placed 3rd in his age division. It was such a rainy morning that I kept missing him during the race, but watching him finish is always fun. The cold and rainy Saturday morning took me back to being a spectator of the Cornell crew team. I loved watching him race. 

I hope he has time again one day to row.

 These race day pictures of Eliza are so classic. She was again this year the smallest competitor. We signed her up weeks before and she asked nearly every day how long until the race.

Started and ended strong with a smile on her face.

February Hike

We have had some phenomenal weather days this winter, which has thankfully given us ample opportunities to be outside. A welcome relief after last winter.

Also newsy, Eliza has been wanting to wear jeans lately, under dresses of course. This is ending a year long strike against anything to due with pants.

Snow

We had a dusting of snow. The kids had to go outside, it took 15 min to get ready, but for about 7 minutes they had the time of their little lives. William is now full on tackling Eliza. We told her for months to play nice, pretty soon he would throttle her, and in pink boots he throttled her.

Christmas Tree Farm

  We were able to go to a Christmas tree farm near our home and pick a tree.

I loved the rows and rows of trees.

The owner ran a grocery store for 30 years, sold it and bought this property so in his words he could, "Make people happy by selling them an affordable Christmas tree. People around here can't afford to go out and spend a fortune. They deserve a tree too."

 It was an experience and I would love it to become a tradition. 

Eliza ran and ran playing peek a boo and looking for our tree.

 There was a darling little cottage on the property with an old stove, ornaments and candy handmade by Amish folks, and the owner's wife, a sweet woman who loves to chat.

Thanks for the pictures Chelsi!

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving was simple and beautiful this year. We loved celebrating with good friends, friends that feel like family. We are grateful for our blessings.

Oh, and I went black Friday shopping. When else can you say you drove to Iowa to go to Target? When you live in Kirksville you can. This was my first black Friday experience, it was awesome.

Fire station

I took the kids to the fire station again for a tour. Eliza loved when two of the firemen slid down the poles and she loved climbing on the fire engine all by herself. William was all about the leaves and the bright lights. {Last year}

Celebrate!

We really love our neighbors. We are nestled in our town home between two families. Both families are expecting newborns in the next few weeks, one actually has already delivered. We were able to celebrate the birth of one of the babies at our home. It was so fun to do something for my dear neighbor, who is the most "neighborly" person I know!

Nauvoo State Park

 Stake Conference was today and it is a commute. Two hours away to Nauvoo. But it was a beautiful morning and afternoon. This picture was not really as posed as it appears... Ben ran over after setting the camera timer. No time to act casual.:)

 After the session we had a picnic, a bit chilly, but a great Sunday afternoon together. Just for good measure, it does appear all peaches and cream from these pictures... but getting out the door on a Sunday morning by 7:30am showered, fed + packed for a day trip could leave anyone a bit grumpy. Let's just say it was  a long 2 hour drive and it was good we went to an uplifting meeting...

Mimi and Papa

 Mimi and Papa came to visit this weekend! It was a treat to have them and it means a lot since it is NOT easy getting to our town (3 hour drive to the airport). We did a lot in a short time and my favorite part was the farmer's market. Eliza loves riding her scooter at the market. Thanks for visiting!

Parade...

Went to the annual parade...

"Worse than '67"

Apparently this storm is "worse than '67" and it's still snowing. We're safe at home making the most of the deep snow but we also hope everyone is safe out there. We built a giant snow slide, had hot chocolate, and made cookies.

little tree

We decorated our little home and our little tree over Thanksgiving weekend. Eliza is the same height as our little tree. She beams when she sees twinkly lights, Santa, her "elf on the shelf," who she named "Blue," and anything sparkly. Our neighbors put up one of those giant blow up snowmen and I really thought Eliza was going to lose it she was so excited! It actually is outrageous, it is almost as tall as their little duplex. I am going to have to try to get a picture of her standing next to Mr. snowman.