Crazy Hair Day

From Blog Favorites Sept.Oct.

The second to last day of a week of dress up days at school for Drug Awareness, was crazy hair day. The girls came up with their own styles. I liked Sarah's it was basically just leaving it the way she woke up. Crazy hair day is a time saver! (o:

From Blog Favorites Sept.Oct.

Natalie wanted a ponytail right on top of her head.

From Blog Favorites Sept.Oct.

Angela had the cute idea to put forks in her hair. It turned out so fun.

From Blog Favorites Sept.Oct.

Crazy hair day also happened to be the first day we got snow in Utah!! Hooray! The girls were elated when they looked out the window. Natalie could not stop eating it. It is seriously one of her favorite foods now. I cannot get her to stop eating the stuff.

From Blog Favorites Sept.Oct.

The ride to school was extra pretty with the fresh snow on the trees.

What We Came For

From Blog Favorites Sept.Oct.

Here are a few pictures that show exactly what we came for. Why we made such a drastic decision to leave a good job, a beautiful place and amazing friends. We had a GOOD life in Oregon. The ONLY thing that would have made it any better is if we had family close by. We were very content, but always felt something missing having our families so far away. In the first few weeks we got to make up for lost time! The picture above is Angela with cousins Gracie and Anna at Carls Jr. after a fun lunch get together. Emily and Lisa and I met a couple times for lunch with the kids. They joked about how they never did this and now that we are settled into a routine, we honestly haven't done it much since, but the point is that we CAN. (o:

From Blog Favorites Sept.Oct.

Great Grandma T. (my grandma) invited us over for dinner to help out while we were living in the hotel. It was a wonderful dinner complete with the coolest little sherbet ice creams from Costco. Grandma is a big Costco fan too. (o: After dinner and nice conversation, the girls had to go up and see the latest of grandma's art. They are amazed at the way she can paint cats and dogs and scenic places just like the pictures she uses for inspiration. I am too!

From Blog Favorites Sept.Oct.

We have been able to see grandma and grandpa a lot since moving here - it is priceless for me to see the girls develop a closer relationship with my grandparents and get so excited to see them.

From Blog Favorites Sept.Oct.

This was at my cousin Angie's birthday party for her cute Autumn. Angie and Autumn actually came to stay with us a few years ago when Autumn was just a baby. The girls couldn't believe that Autumn was such a big girl now! Her baby sister now looks just like Autumn did when she visited us . . .

From Blog Favorites Sept.Oct.

Natalie is in heaven! (o: She's my little mama.

All these little things and more are why we came back. I was always so close to my extended family (even my moms cousins and aunts and uncles) and hoped for my girls to enjoy that closeness to extended family as well. There are a lot of things we miss about Oregon - so so much, but I look at these pictures and think it was all worth it.

A Utah (wo)Man Am I!

From Blog Favorites Sept.Oct.

Now that we were back in Utah, my chances of getting to attend a U of U football game in person went WAY up! (o: I lucked out when my aunt Jill called to tell me she had an extra ticket she wanted to let me use for the Colorado game. I think it was Colorado State. I was so excited!! It was a rainy day - we joked that I must have brought the Oregon weather with me. But the soggy weather didn't dampen my spirits one bit. It was so fun to attend a game with my family. When I walked into the stadium for the first time in over a decade I got the chills! There's something so exciting about attending a football game in a huge stadium full of fans. All the beautiful red, the smells, the excitement, I was loving it! The first quarter was slow and disappointing - kind of the pattern the Utes followed a lot this season. But in the second quarter they picked up the pace and things just got better from there! It was such a FUN game.

From Blog Favorites Sept.Oct.

From Blog Favorites Sept.Oct.

As the sun came out and the rain subsided the game got better and better. Look at all of those empty seats - Utahns don't like sitting in the rain apparently. It was kind of miserable and cold at first, but when your team is playing well - who cares?! Jumping up and down always warms you up.

From Blog Favorites Sept.Oct.

Mom and Tina and I trying to keep warm.

From Blog Favorites Sept.Oct.

Andy gets pretty serious about the games. (o:

From Blog Favorites Sept.Oct.

Russ in his fancy shmancy football blanket poncho thing. He was prepared.

From Blog Favorites Sept.Oct.

Poised for a touchdown on our end of the field! I don't remember the final score, but it was a blow out. It was 31 to 6 at the beginning of the third quarter and I think we broke 50 if I remember right. (I just checked - it was 59 to 6!) Normally, I feel a little bad when there's a blow out, but I couldn't get enough of cheering for those touchdowns! (O:

From Blog Favorites Sept.Oct.

We didn't get to sit by Chrissy because she is sits with the MUSS (Mighty Utah Student Section). I think Chuck* was the one that told us he saw Chrissy on TV. So we came home to check my parents recorded version of the game and sure enough the cameras went to these goofy guys about 4 times during the game. Believe it or not, there ARE some kooky U of U fans and Chris sits right behind them in the MUSS. (o: She's the one in the white poncho looking straight ahead behind the goofy "naked" guys. And she's right next to Hailey my cousin and Lauren (my other cousin's girlfriend) who are talking. Pretty funny.

Starting New Traditions

From Blog Favorites Sept.Oct.

October means pumpkins whether you're in Oregon or Utah! So when my sister in law Lisa told us about a nearby pumpkin patch and invited us to go along we were in! The pumpkin patches here are not as cool as the ones in Oregon. Not nearly as scenic and no train or boat rides. But we had fun with the cousins. And we got to bring aunt Chrissy with us too! Oh and did I mention it was HOT?! How weird. We were sweating picking out our pumpkins. October was super warm in Utah this year. It was nice!

From Blog Favorites Sept.Oct.

This was the most scenic angle I could get.

From Blog Favorites Sept.Oct.

So we traded scenery for getting to go with these awesome people! Kelton and Chrissy!

From Blog Favorites Sept.Oct.

A shot from the teeny tiny "corn maze" (o: It was just a "U" shape - but good for teeny tiny kids, I guess!

From Blog Favorites Sept.Oct.

Here's a new "tradition"! This was the first time I'd filled up gas in the car in AGES!! I was so glad Chrissy was there to help me and get a picture of the momentous occasion. We were laughing so hard the guy next to us got the giggles. Who knew getting gas could be so hilarious! I spilled a little on the ground when I forgot to let go of the nozzle. Oregonians and gas pumps don't mix!! I really, really, really miss my full service gas stations. Especially on freezing cold days!

From Blog Favorites Sept.Oct.

This was an awesome place at Thanksgiving Pointe called Cornbelly's Corn Maze. It was a gigantic corn maze with tons of other fun activities. Natalie did not get what was so "fun" about getting lost in a corn maze. She wondered why people pay to do that. It does seem a little silly. The maze made her very nervous - she does not lot to be lost. No matter how much we explained that there were workers there that would help us if we couldn't find our way and we wouldn't be stuck in the maze forever. Natalie much preferred all the other cute and fun Halloween stuff. She looked with terror when we'd go anywhere near the haunted and even scarier corn maze playing eery music.

From Blog Favorites Sept.Oct.

This was a gorgeous centerpiece to the venue - it was fun to look at all the detail of the pumpkins.

From Blog Favorites Sept.Oct.

The big corn house was one of the girls favorite things. I even jumped in - it was pretty cool.

From Blog Favorites Sept.Oct.

We had a fantastic time at this fun place and will definitely be back! We'll try to avoid Saturday nights in the future, but the weather that night could not be beat! It was so nice!

From Blog Favorites Sept.Oct.

Another new tradition - bundling up! While October was unseasonable warm in Utah, the beautiful weather had to come to an end. We are living in the Wasatch Front now. I bought these coats at Costco back in Oregon the week after we decided to move to Utah. I knew our wimpy Oregon jackets would not provide the warmth we'd need on our first COLD Utah winter. I also had to invest in snow gloves, thermals and snow boots - a Utah wardrobe can get pricey!

New Life New Style

From Blog Favorites Sept.Oct.

Since before the move, the girls have been asking to get a new haircut. I told them that could be one of the first things we do to start our new life. A fresh start and a new haircut go hand in hand, right? (O: And now that we're in Utah we have aunt Lisa who is a hairstylist! Perfect! The picture above is their long hair before the cut. (They are also sporting their new Halloween shirts and homemade leis I made them to wear for Hawaiian Day at school. (We lucked out that the school had a whole week of dress up days while we were living in a hotel with most of our belongings somewhere in storage! I had to be creative.)

From Blog Favorites Sept.Oct.

From Blog Favorites Sept.Oct.

From Blog Favorites Sept.Oct.

From Blog Favorites Sept.Oct.

Don't they look cute? They were so excited!

A Sweet Surprise

From Blog Favorites Sept.Oct.

A few weeks into our hotel stay, we found a wonderful surprise while checking our P.O. Box! Mrs. B. our dear friend and teacher from Patterson sent the girls a package! I was so touched. The girls were screaming. She sent us a sweet Halloween card, a stuffed animal for each of the girls and cool light up Halloween pens. Angela also got some little pumpkin stickers. It was so thoughtful and made the girls whole day! They STILL carry around those Halloween dolls and it's January. (O; We LOVE Mrs. B.!

Happy Birthday Sarah!

From Blog Favorites Sept.Oct.

A week and a half after our big move, Sarah turned 10! She got to enjoy a unique birthday this year! She looked so cute in her new, blue velour outfit.

From Blog Favorites Sept.Oct.

I usually try to bring a balloon to the girls if their birthday falls on a school day. This balloon was very entertaining for the girls during recess. (o: That's Sarah with new friends Amelie, Sophia, and Gracie.

From Blog Favorites Sept.Oct.

What a treat to get to celebrate birthdays with family!

From Blog Favorites Sept.Oct.

A party with daddy's side of the family . . .

From Blog Favorites Sept.Oct.

AND a party with mommy's side of the family! Cool!

From Blog Favorites Sept.Oct.

On Sarah's birthday, after school we went to search for Halloween costumes and look who we ran into! He's shorter in person than I imagined. Love his style.

From Blog Favorites Sept.Oct.

We did our family birthday get togethers at various times, but the night of her actual birthday we headed to good old Chuck E. Cheese! It was actually quite fun - not many people go there on weeknights!

From Blog Favorites Sept.Oct.

This picture makes me laugh so hard! Angela and her funny bug eyed expressions!! What a cutie pie.

From Blog Favorites Sept.Oct.

And the huge cherry on top of a wonderful birthday was the Harry Potter Hogwarts castle lego set. Sarah was in heaven! Happy birthday sweetheart - it's hard to believe you are a decade old!

Hotel Living!

From Blog Favorites Sept.Oct.

Home Sweet Home - for now. We spent 23 nights at this Marriott Residence Inn in Sandy.

Our room was a suite with 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, a living room, small table and kitchenette. We were very comfortable for our long stay. I was able to come up with several quick and easy meals in our limited space and many nights we spent eating with family. One very sweet family in our new ward even had us over for dinner and family home evening one night. We were, of course, anxious to get into our new home but I quite enjoyed our time at the hotel. We had a fun time and took advantage of all the perks as much as we could.

From Blog Favorites Sept.Oct.

On days when we weren't in a hurry to get to school, we enjoyed leisurely breakfasts in the dining area. We tried doing breakfast here one morning before school, but it just took to long and it backfired when Angela spilled hot chocolate and we had to hurry and change back in the room.

From Blog Favorites Sept.Oct.

We went swimming almost every day after school! That was the girls treat for getting their reading done most days. They loved hotel life!

From Blog Favorites Sept.Oct.

From Blog Favorites Sept.Oct.

From Blog Favorites Sept.Oct.

We had cousins join us a few times too!

From Blog Favorites Sept.Oct.

One night we had a Halloween themed cousin swim party at our pool! All of the kids got little pumpkins that floated in the water! (o: We had a great time!

From Blog Favorites Sept.Oct.

I quite enjoyed my morning routine. After getting the girls off to school, I returned and had a relaxing breakfast in the dining room. Marriott has the best breakfasts. This is one of the reasons I gained some weight during our move, I'm sure. (o: But I tried to even it out by using the treadmill in the fitness room!

I also rather enjoyed the room service at the hotel. When one of the girls had an accident in the bed, I made a phone call and two nice ladies magically appeared and remade the bed with clean linens for me all while I sat on my rear end and read a book! Stupendous!! When I left to run errands, I would come back to find the dishes in the dishwasher, the garbage taken out, the sinks cleaned and the beds made. Woohoo!! I savoured each pampering moment at the hotel.

The only thing that was a bummer was that the hotel was 15 minutes away from the girls school. So every morning we made the treck. Every mid-morning, I made the treck to get Angela and every afternoon I went back again to get Natalie and Sarah. We did a lot of driving! We also attended our ward for several weeks with the commute. One of the things I did NOT miss was all the commuting when we were done with the hotel.

Another downer was that because we didn't have a lot of control over when we would finally get the house and coordinate our movers to bring our things - we didn't know for a while exactly how long we'd be there. By the time we did and notified the hotel, they informed us that our room was not available that long. So about 5 or 6 days before our move into the house - we had to move to a different hotel room at the opposite end of the building! This was a HUGE pain in the butt. We were so settled into our room after almost three weeks it took us several trips. I didn't want to pack all the way up only to unpack for just a few more days. So we threw things onto a cart and went back and forth with all our stuff for what felt like 20 trips - it probably was close to that. It took us about 2 hours. That night was a low point. I was so sick of moving stuff and packing stuff and not having a place to call our own. I was not a happy camper that night. All I could do was count the hours until we were DONE and had a place to call home.

Except for that discouraging night, we had a lovely stay at the Marriott. We got to know the friendly kitchen staff by the end. We enjoyed the evening socials in the dining room many nights - they would have soup night, teryaki burger night, cinnamon roll and hot chocolate night, samples of yummy cheeses one night, etc. It was a fun time, but it was also awesome when we finally got to pack up for the last time and head HOME!

First Day the the New School

From Blog Favorites Sept.Oct.

Two days after arriving in our new state, it was finally time for the girls to jump into their new school. We were all so nervous - except Angela. (o: Vern* didn't have to start work until the next day, so we got to all head over to the new school together. We got up extra early so we could arrive at the school in plenty of time. When we got there it was a ghost town. We thought we had arrived 15 minutes early at 7:45. Luckily, the doors were open and the principal was there. She apologized that we must have gotten an old flyer with the school time in our school packet. The school time had changed two weeks into the year due to traffic issues - the junior high and high school just down the road all started so close to the same time that traffic was a mess, so they made the elementary school time a half hour later. Whoopee! And extra half hour to sleep in! (o:

It turned out great getting there so early, we got to talk with the principal for several minutes, ask her a few questions and she let us wander around to explore the school. She found out our teacher's names and made us feel welcome. We took Miss Nat to her teacher first. She was so cute and sweet with Natalie. I was so surprised how well Natalie did. I expected her to hang on my waist like she still did some mornings when I dropped her off at her old school. I think she was excited to finally get started, the whole month of September was just weird for the girls knowing they were leaving.

From Blog Favorites Sept.Oct.

Sarah put on a brave face. She had so many friends and felt so at home in her old school, this was a scary day for her. Vern* and I were so nervous for her and knew it would take some time to feel at home again. As we walked into the class of curious 4th graders all staring, I could see the look in Sarah's eyes and I tried to just be matter of fact and said goodbye to my little sweetie. I wanted to linger and watch to make sure she would be okay, but that's not a cool thing when you're in 4th grade having a hovering mom. I also think we both would have broke down in tears within seconds, so Vern* and I made our exit and didn't look back. I prayed and prayed all day for things to go well. That's all I could do.

From Blog Favorites Sept.Oct.

Angela was the most excited to get to school and jump right in. Her teacher was so surprised to see her wave happily goodbye and head to the chair at the table she had ready for her. Angela was born ready for Kindergarten and like the other girls, knew her short time at the old school was not permanent. She was ready to really settle in. She was actually disappointed that she didn't get to stay as long as her sisters when we picked her up before lunch.

That day was a long one - Vern* and I ran a couple errands and then killed time watching TV at his parents house. We were excited when it was time to get Angela and took her to In and Out Burger to hear all about her first day. She was excited and told us about her stations, reading and who she sat by.

It was a relief to finally see Sarah and Natalie. They both had smiles on their faces! Phew! Natalie did great and had some nice girls in her class that immediately made her feel welcome. Both girls had someone to sit by at lunch and someone to play with at recess - the two times of day that can feel most lonesome when you are new.

I was so grateful when Sarah told us that right after we left her teacher had her come up and talked with her class. "Have any of you ever been new to a school before?" Some kids raised their hands. "It's a scary thing to be brand new isn't it? I want you to be extra nice to Sarah and help her feel welcome today." Then she asked a couple of the girls to make sure they stayed with Sarah and helped her for the day. What an awesome teacher.

This was a HUGE day to get over with. The anticipation had been building up ever since I knew we were really going - the new school thing was a big deal. And now we were ready to move on with life and get settled. A huge weight was off our shoulders.