New House

We have had a very hard working busy week trying to prepare the Orem house and the Lindon house for the move. Jared has had little sleep and lots of work trying to keep his business running and getting appliances, prepping the basement of the new house for new paint, trim and carpet, getting plumbing issues taken care of, and preparing his stuff in the garage for moving. I've been in charge of packing the house and caring for the children of course. As I was dragging tired children up to the house the night before we moved, vacuuming so carpets could be cleaned, and runing to Walmart, then installing shower curtains at 10:00 at night, I was wondering if this whole ordeal was worth the work and why were we is such a big hurry? We found great renters for our new house, but they don't need to be in until the 15th of July, so why were Jared and I killing ourselves? Saturday morning many many people came over to help us load the moving van and deep clean the house. We were so grateful! As I was unpacking kitchen items in the new house with my dad, I started feeling so excited. I love my new house! I was then glad we moved in as soon as we could, I love every single day I get to live there. I still feel like a guest in a luxury condo, its weird that I never have to leave! Its wonderful. This morning I went running along the canal and was so overjoyed with the beautiful area. The neighbors and ward members are wonderful too, we are grateful to be in such a nice area. I wish I could express my gratitude to everyone that helped with the move. Here are some pictures I took before the furniture and boxes arrived.

Entry when you walk in the front door.

Formal living room where vintage couches will go.

Bedroom

Master bedroom
Master bathroom

Family room

Kitchen

Stairs to basement that is under construction

New fridge Jared bought us for this house.

I will post pictures of everything when we are settled, and when the basement is finished, and the back yard which I love. I have loved going outside in the morning and watching the sun rise on the houses, the view from our back deck goes all the way to the lake. It all worth the work and it is work! We are so blessed.

Westons Birthday

So, as a follow up from last week with Joseph and Rachel, we had two more days of fun with them. Friday we went swimming at the Scera pool and the kids all got sunburned, woops. Savanna got a swimming mask from Grandma Barrett for her birthday and boy was that a hot commodity! I wish I had 5, the kids all fought for a turn with the mask the entire 2 1/2 hours. They all had a lot of fun, I'm so glad the weather was nice that day.
Then that evening Heidi and her kids came over to spend the night so Heidi could run her Utah Valley Marathon the next morning. It was amazing to see Heidi taking care of her three kids, getting up at 3:00 AM and running a full marathon wihtout her husband Gabe who is still in military training in AZ. I took her kids and Rachel/Joseph down to Provo to see her run in at 3 hours and 27 minutes! That is a 7:55 minute mile!!! We were all way impressed. She took them all back to Eagle Mountain and still had the energy to take all 5 of those kids swimming later that day. She is super strong and healthy!



The next week was scout camp for Jared so he spent the weekend preparing for that and left Monday morning. Too bad for us, Weston's 7th birthday was Tuesday and so Jared missed it and it was all up to me to make his day special. No sweat! Weston is so easy to please. Just give him a party and some awesome toys and he is in heaven! We started with our traditional breakfast and gifts, and went to the park to exercise, then Weston played with his new big Bakugan while we cleaned and prepared for his friend party. It was perfect! Two girls and two boys attended and we played games outside, had a fishing booth, hid and found and opened presents, cake and ice cream, and free play. Weston loved all his gifts! We had a dinner and party with the Barrett clan for dinner. Weston wanted pizza which was so easy, I just took him to Karate and picked up the pizza and dinner was on. The Barretts are so wonderful to always make an effort to see my kids on their day and give gifts. They showered him with clothes and toys and love. I am so grateful for my family! It was so smooth, the Lord must have been blessing me in Jared's absence. Weston told me that night before bed that it was the best day of his life. That kind of talk brings a mother joy.

We're Moving

Yesterday we signed papers for our new house in Lindon! I am both very excited and very sad. I have loved living in Orem with the wonderful people in the Timpview 3rd ward. I will be sad to lose their association on a regular basis. Our new house is wonderful, we've been looking for something a little bigger on a quiet street with a bigger yard for a long time and the Lord has blessed us to find this home in lindon. It has a view all the way to the lake and a covered deck and patio. We really love it and feel very blessed. Our new address is:
385 N 780 E
Lindon UT 84042
Send us a Christmas card and come stay if you are in the area. We will have a guest room!

Fun age

We have had my brother Joseph and sister Rachel over at our house this week while my parents are in Hawaii. It has been so fun! IT has been nice for Weston to have a boy here to play Bakugan's with and just be boys. Rachel has been a big help, she is such a peace maker, always willing to take the short end of the stick to make the kids happy. Monday we hiked the Y, the kids are at such a fun age, they can do things without needing naps and breaks and being dragged around against their will. Fiora was the most resistant about the Y hiking idea. She is, how do I put this, the child who prefers to do things that take no effort. The more effort it takes, the less fun it becomes. Alas, she was born to a mom who is determined to see that she develops skills of some kind, and most skill building requires effort. That means Fiora was signed up for soccer this year. Tuesday I carted the kids back and forth from soccer camp, and I watched Fiora do the drills as slowly as she dared and then she ran to me afterwards very upset because it was "so hard." I was concerned but not surprised. She can't quit until the season is over, in 2012. Weston and Savanna didn't care for the new style of soccer camp either, life's tough. Joseph got sick that day so we just hung out at home the rest of the day. Wednesday we went to the zoo, and again, fun age! We had cousin Lucy sleep over so she could come with us, so it was me and 6 kids but they are all so excited and full of energy and cooperative being ages 7 - 12. (Weston will be 7 on Tuesday). The weather was perfect and the animals were awesome. My favorite was the bird show and the adorable baby elephant. No one got lost, we all stayed together, whenever we were ready to move on we would shout 1 2 3 4 5 6! To make sure all 6 kids were following. After our picnic lunch the kids all got a little tired, but it wasn't anything a little cotton candy couldn't fix. We were all tired after that, but it was worth it.

Today we went to the park and did the soccer camp again. Fiora surprised me with a wonderful attitude after soccer, she was smiling and said it was better this time, and I was so proud of her for not giving up. Me and the kids had a pow wow in the park, I reminded them that we have 4 important things to accomplish every day: 1) lessons, 2) practicing, 3) chores, and 4) fun! I need them to be with me on this, I can't keep fighting the battle of making them do things without some cooperation. After lunch the kids did a chore and practiced and although it was still tedious (I could do all the chores so much faster myself) and motivated by my presence and threats, it did seem to be less torturous today. I am fortunate to have smart and wonderful children, I hope my efforts to make them productive and skilled will pay off some day.

The weeks not over yet, we get to keep Rachel and Joseph until Saturday! But I wanted to get these pictures in while I had a minute.