T-shirts

From Blog Favorites Sept.Oct.

While shopping at Walmart for some new home necessities, I spotted this shirt in the men's department. I was in a silly mood and it made me laugh. I liked this "cool Yoda" shirt and pointed it out to the girls. Angela laughed, Natalie laughed, Sarah rolled her eyes. I told her I liked it enough that I might buy it. I like things that make me laugh. She didn't think there was anything funny about it. "But that's a boy shirt!" she pointed out. Plus, she thought it was dorky. Ok, I'm not arguing that. Then I had a thought and told her that maybe it could be the shirt I wear when I come volunteer in her classroom. Her face turned white - she was stunned and horrified. "No mom! That would be so embarrassing!" Oh dear, this only seemed to encourage my teasing. I don't know what it is, I couldn't help myself. I found myself buying the shirt within minutes of that comment. Sarah was seriously MAD at me for buying such an ugly boy shirt. Any time I bring it up (still) she gets freaked out. I haven't worn it to school yet, but when I wear it, she really pays attention to where we are going that day. Poor Sarah - we all get a big kick out of her hatred of my Yoda shirt.

From Blog Favorites Sept.Oct.

From Blog Favorites Sept.Oct.

And speaking of shirts, this is a very cute, one of a kind shirt Natalie owns that can't be found at any Walmart. For one of her school assignments, she was supposed to design a T-shirt that advertised a mystery book she read. She read a Magic Treehouse book called, "Day of the Dragon King". On her shirt, she wanted to draw a dragon with fabric puff paints. I found a picture on google of a cute dragon and gave her the paints. I swear I did not draw a single line on this shirt. I could not believe how good it turned out! What an artist! This is now one of her favorite T-shirts to wear. I wish I had one my size. Guess I'll just have to wear my Yoda instead. (o:

Thankful

From Blog Favorites Sept.Oct.

Just a week after moving into our house, I got a scary phone call that my dad was in the hospital. He had an acute case of diverticulitis that had gotten to a dangerous stage and was hospitalized for several days until the doctors felt he was stable and beyond risk for infection. That first day, before we knew how bad things were going to be, I was so grateful that Bob* could take most of the day off and I was able to spend the afternoon with dad and mom. It was so much better than getting updates over the phone -which would have been the case if we were still in Oregon. And that is precisely why we came back. To be closer for the good and the bad times. I felt relief seeing that my dad still had his sense of humor and was able to joke around (although I could tell he was in a lot of pain). I also enjoyed going to lunch with my mom and visiting over Subways.

Unfortunately, the hospitalization forced my dad to miss the much anticipated home "blackout" game with TCU. I decided to come watch some of the game with him at the hospital to cheer him up. He had his Shakey "mask" above and all kinds of U of U paraphernalia in his room. Unfortunately, it was the worst game of the season for the Utes up until that point. Well, there was only so much cheering up I could do after that game. But at least he had someone to mope with.

From Blog Favorites Sept.Oct.

Later in the week, we all came for a visit. The girls were very worried about grandpa too and were so happy to get to see that he was okay. We were all feeling very thankful that dad was okay and that we were close enough to visit him as much as we wanted. Love you dad.

The amazing thing was that the next week, dad was able to go on his much anticipated trip to the U of U vs. Notre Dame game in Indiana that he and my mom had planned months before. When he first realized how serious his condition was, I think he was more worried about missing that game than anything else. (o: Happily, he got to go . . . Sadly, it ended up being a terrible game.

But that's not what matters most. I still feel very thankful.

Just a Random Picture

From NovDecFavorites

No special events or anything, just an afternoon with my Ang. This really captures the unpacking mode we were in if you look all around. Hey the bed is made! There's a good thing! The curtains were still tied up from the carpets being cleaned and there are random things here and there.

These were some cute dolls Angela got from Mrs. B. for a going away gift.

Just taking a break and trying to make some memories in our new home.

VOTE!

From Blog Favorites Sept.Oct.

I had to give myself a pat on the back for getting out to vote the day after moving into our house. It took a little longer since I was a brand new resident, so it made Angela a little grumpy (thus the picture where she is forcing a "smile"). But someday she will appreciate my patriotism, perhaps. (o:

Moving Day!!

From Blog Favorites Sept.Oct.

It finally came! Monday, November 1st was our official move in day. I think it will be a new holiday for us! Even though I was frustrated having to wait through the weekend to get into the house - the weather ended up being so much better on Monday. We had a beautiful, sunny day! It was a little cool in the morning, but I think the movers actually appreciated that as they worked hard bringing in all our stuff. Having movers was such a huge blessing. We've always been the do it yourself kind of people when it comes to moving, so we felt very spoiled getting to just play the role of directors.

From Blog Favorites Sept.Oct.

The girls watched movies on my laptop and later went across the street to our new friends' house. It was the same family that invited us over for dinner a week earlier. They are an awesome family, the mom's name is Jen (so she must be great, right?). I just love Jen already - she is so sweet and thoughtful. The girls had a super fun afternoon at their house making movies in the backyard and dressing up!

From Blog Favorites Sept.Oct.

Meanwhile we directed, organized, and decided where to put things.

From Blog Favorites Sept.Oct.

From Blog Favorites Sept.Oct.

The best part was when our parents and Kelly showed up to help! It was a blast having our family help us move in. We laughed a lot, ate Subway sandwiches and got the whole kitchen unpacked and organized together! Kelly worked diligently and a little obsessively at organizing the spice cabinet. He noticed I had 2 or 3 mustard seed containers and teased me relentlessly, "You never know when you're gonna need mustard seed!" He was very proud of the job he had done and said he would come check to make sure I didn't mess it up.

From Blog Favorites Sept.Oct.

Mom has helped us move into every house. She is a pro. Our first priority is always the kitchen and she is awesome at organizing. I have so many memories of her helping organize my kitchens. What a great mom! (O: She knows what a good feeling it is to have an organized kitchen in a new home. Bert's* dad worked hard at unpacking things and adjusting shelves in the cupboards and his mom helped put things away. Bert* and I so enjoyed this process with our favorite people! It was so much fun, especially knowing that it meant we would be spending a lot of time together with them in this house!

From Blog Favorites Sept.Oct.

Having Home Sweet Home close to family is the BEST!

Halloween!

From Blog Favorites Sept.Oct.

We found some fun costumes this year and splurged more than usual since we had no access to all our dress ups.

Since Halloween fell on a Sunday this year, it was kind of handy being back in Utah. Everyone celebrates on the Saturday before since there are so many Mormons around here. (o: (We try to keep the sabbath holy by spending time with family, going to church and doing things that help us focus on the Savior.)

From Blog Favorites Sept.Oct.

From Blog Favorites Sept.Oct.

From Blog Favorites Sept.Oct.

Zeek's* costume. (o:

From Blog Favorites Sept.Oct.

From Blog Favorites Sept.Oct.

Even though we had nothing in our new house, we really wanted to do the trick or treating experience in our new home and neighborhood! We lucked out when Abbi's mom and dad invited the girls and I to trick or treat with them in the back of their truck (just behind the girls). (Abbi, who is Angela's age, lives two houses down from us.) It was trick or treating in style and so nice because it was a very cold and rainy night. It helped us get around much faster! We had a great time getting to know our new neighbors and friends. It got us so excited to finally move in and get settled.

From Blog Favorites Sept.Oct.

We also got to go trick or treating at grandma and grandpa's house. This was uncle Andy's Halloween decoration he made.

From Blog Favorites Sept.Oct.

Sammy is not sure what happened to uncle Zeek's* face!

Eating on the Floor

From Blog Favorites Sept.Oct.

This has been a tradition in our past two homes - eating dinner on the floor before all the furniture arrives. We had pizza and soda and imagined our things finally being in our new home! It was a long time coming!

Halloween Fun

From Blog Favorites Sept.Oct.

Gardner Village is an adorable little shopping village in Salt Lake that makes Halloween a HUGE event! I had heard about their celebrations and witches and always wanted to go - and now we finally could! We were not disappointed. This will be a tradition for years to come - what a blast!

From Blog Favorites Sept.Oct.

There are cute witches everywhere decorating the village. They are so cute and funny.

From Blog Favorites Sept.Oct.

From Blog Favorites Sept.Oct.

We found this funny headband in one of the stores - it would be my Halloween costume this year!

From Blog Favorites Sept.Oct.

This hilarious witch greeted us as we waited to go on "A Ride to a Witch's House" It was a fun hay ride to a hilarious and entertaining tour of a "real" witches house. We had to pay with little plastic cocroaches that we got when we bought our tickets.

From Blog Favorites Sept.Oct.

The ladies who played the witches were so funny and really got into character. Apparently, there is a pageant sort of thing that women have to try out for - I think they make their own costumes and characters. There is a queen chosen and her royalty. The women chosen get to work at the village during October doing tours, etc. They were amazing!

From Blog Favorites Sept.Oct.

The details in the witches' house were amazing. These tea cups had all sorts of scary surprises.

From Blog Favorites Sept.Oct.

This is "Seven" the pet spider who is missing one leg. We were shown the extra lumpy bed, the wart cream they put on every night so they will wake up with more warts, the kitchen where they share all kinds of yucky recipes including dragon eyes, the garden with rotting vegetables and more that I can't remember.

From Blog Favorites Sept.Oct.

From Blog Favorites Sept.Oct.

A lesson in making poisoned apples. (o: So creative and fun! We had a fabulous time!

From Blog Favorites Sept.Oct.

After, I let the girls pick a treat in the candy shop.

From Blog Favorites Sept.Oct.

It was a gorgeous sunset on the way home!

From Blog Favorites Sept.Oct.

It was so fun to actually dress up for Halloween at school this year! At their school in Oregon, it was downplayed quite a bit and the kids were only allowed to wear one part of their costume. In Utah they dress up, have parades and parties. Way more fun!

From Blog Favorites Sept.Oct.

From Blog Favorites Sept.Oct.

From Blog Favorites Sept.Oct.

That's Sarah after playing a mummy game in her class. (O:

The Keys to the House - at Last!

From Blog Favorites Sept.Oct.

This day seemed to take forever to come. On October 26th we signed the papers for our new house and on October 28th we got the keys! Unfortunately, we wouldn't get to move in until November 1st because of scheduling with the movers, but the house was finally ours. We went to see it every day and got a few things done while we waited to move in. (Appliance delivery, carpet cleaning, etc.)

This whole process did not go as smooth as we had hoped and there were a few days when we wondered if we'd lose the house altogether. Because we were doing the whole move through a relocation agency, we got perks for working with their preferred lender. A lender that resided in Maryland. In hindsight we will never do that again. The perk was that we would not have to be reimbursed for the closing costs - the company would bill the relocation company directly. We wish we would have just chose our own lender and waited for a few days to be reimbursed. It would have been much less of a hassle than what we went through!

We had to do all the paperwork via delivery. The most important paperwork was the loan application that we filled out in Oregon as soon as we got home from the house hunting trip. It was a little stressful figuring it out on our own as compared to the other two times we bought homes and did the process in the lender's office with their help. We carefully looked over every detail, copied everything and shipped it off via UPS right away.

Chuck* called often to check up on things with the loan officer and even checked to see if they got the papers. We checked that off our list and weeks later thought we just had to wait out the rest. There were a few other hurdles we had to go through - we definitely noticed a change in the loan process since the Fannie May disaster. We had to prove and verify everything to show we (and our money) were legitimate. That was a little more stressful as well, but the real kicker came when Chuck* and I suspected something that made our hearts stop. The loan officer had made a comment that seemed kind of strange and made him suspect she never got our loan application. He called her immediately and discovered to our horror that she was still waiting for those papers. I completely LOST it. We had sent the paperwork three weeks earlier and were supposed to close on our house in just days. We were stunned and could not believe this was happening. Long story short - apparently UPS lost it - the tracking number hit a dead end. Had we learned it was missing sooner they probably could have found it. We were furious with the lending officer for not communicating this minor detail. Somehow she misunderstood Chuck's direct questions as to whether she had received it. I still don't understand how that happened.

So now we had two huge problems. Our paperwork with social security and bank numbers was in limbo and we had to get new papers to the lender or we would lose the house. Of course, the extra copies of the loan papers were in the filing cabinet in some storage unit nearly impossible to get to. We didn't think we'd need to refer to them so soon. We (mostly Chuck*) spent the day printing about 100 pages of documents, refilling them out and faxing them to the lender.

After a call to the "office of the president" of the company when I was furious about the mistake and worried we could possibly lose the house and/or have our identity stolen - they offered to pay for identity theft protection and apologized profusely. They made sure to put our loan at top priority to get everything through in time. For a short time all I could think of was that if we lost the house, our poor girls might have to change to another school after everything they'd been through already. I couldn't bear to uproot them again. And we loved the house - it felt like ours, the ward was so nice and it all felt so right. Luckily, in the end it was, but we got a little roller coaster ride out of the whole experience. My word of advice - go through a local lender your agent is familiar with.

From Blog Favorites Sept.Oct.

We were finally able to rest easy as things worked out. This was one of our last nights in the hotel. Ahhhh.

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.