Utah Trip Day 1

Since Dad had two days off for Memorial Day we decided to pack up and go visit some family in Utah.  Our first day we spent the morning at Extreme Sports and the kids had a blast jumping from tramp to tramp and flipping off of things.  I was so excited to meet up with my best friend Leanne and her family who happened to be in town on the same day.  We went to BYU in the afternoon and spent the evening with my family celebrating my sister Jody's birthday hosted by my sister Katy.  It was a FABULOUS day.

Dad and Grandma Vance

The girls playing on the tramps

Our gang and our buddy Andrew

Dad and Uncle Clayton

Mom and her best friend Leanne

We are the silliest girls

Kendall (Leanne's daughter) came to see us too

The boys

Jody the birthday girl and her cute man Trey

Sisters

Aunt Katy, the hostess with the mostess

Aunt Kat, Uncle Doug and Little L (with Doug's glasses)

Aunt Jody, Aunt Katy and Uncle Russ with Mr. M

Mothers' Day

We had a lot of fun spending the evening with our cousins the Gardners on Mothers' day.  They spoiled us with a fantastic ham dinner.  It made my day!!

Mr. M and his cousin

The girl cousins

Heather and me making desert.  I am wearing one of the cute maternity shirts Dad and the kids gave me for mothers' day

Dad and Joel relaxing, they must have been tired from serving their wives all day long (hahaha) or maybe they are just trying to digest their dinner so they can make room for the desert!!

The New School

The kids were welcomed with open arms at their new school by both teachers and students.  They commented that they felt like celebrities the way everyone was asking them to play at recess or eat with them at lunch.  The teachers were very patient in helping them get up to speed with the new curriculum and helped them adjust in every way.  We couldn't be more pleased with their new school!

Riding bikes and scooters to school

Baby R on her Kindergarten orientation day

J Man as the Big Kahuna for the week

Little L with her country report on India

Little L with her face painted at the school field day

Three cute siblings getting wet on field day

Little L with some friends at school on field day

Lady K (in the hat) and some friends

On the Move

The move had the potential to be a very stressful time for us.  Our dad was not home to help us pack or clean, Mom was pregnant and we had a little less than two weeks to get everything done.  It only worked out because of the love and kindness of our friends.  We couldn't have done the move without them.  I only wish I had had the presence of mind to take pictures of everyone who helped.  The kids packed their own rooms, I had friends come by with food, some took kids for play dates, I had multiple days where friends would come and help pack boxes, and one day a bunch of ladies helped with the cleaning!!  I felt like I was surrounded by angels of mercy.  They would come and get me going when I was in a morning sick slump.  It was nothing short of a miracle that everything came together.

Then on the moving day I had friends help with the kids, a ton of men helped to pack the truck, and again people came by with food.  We are so blessed to have had such a great group of friends.  We will miss them all so much!!!!

Lady K and Little L taking their bed apart

The boys taking their bed apart and packing their room

Mom and the kids on the three day drive!!

The beastly, yellow Penske

The van and trailer

Welcome to Colorado

My view for the whole three day drive

Saying Goodbye

It was tough for the kids to say goodbye to all of their friends and fantastic teachers!!  We will miss you.

Lady K with a gift from her teacher Mr. Sheldon and an award that she received for being the outstanding student in her school.

Lady K and Mr. Sheldon

Lady K, Alexis and Maya

Little L with Ms. Schollian

Little L, Bella, Hannah, and Katie

J Man with Mrs. Pennington

Mr. M with his track jersy.  He had his first and last track meet that day.

One Last River Party

We were so lucky to have one last day at the river with our friends the Kennerlys, Jorgensens and Townsends.  So much fun!!

Our buds!!  

One of many cool sand creations

Strike a pose

My cute friends Kari and Kristen

We Made It!!

After three days of driving through 5 states we made it to our new home here in Colorado.  We are so happy to be with our dad again!!  The home is perfect!  We were worried about having to downsize, but actually it is working out just great.  I just need to figure out how to organize the garage which holds all our junk that we don't know why we have!!

Our ward has been fantastic!!  We had over 15 guys here to help us unload.  One lady brought us dinner, and took our youngest for a playdate.  Another lady brought cookies and gave us her phone number for any questions, which I have already taken advantage of.

The school is great.  The kids started today.  Mr. M is back in elementary school because here the junior high starts at 7th grade.  Little L is back in 3rd grade because with their curriculum she is now suited just right for her proper grade.  Everyone reported a great first day at school and had fun riding there on their bikes.

We miss so much all of our friends that we left in Oregon.  We will always remember you!!  I will post more when I get my house put together.  Stay tuned.