Summer Vacation part 1- Moab

This was a fun-filled summer for us. We took an extended trip to Utah to visit family and friends. The first leg of our trip was to Moab, where we met our good friends, the Curtises, from Logan. We had a great time!! On our first full day there we went into Arches National Park and did some hiking. We started out with a bigger hike first, Delicate Arch, which was about 3 miles round trip. It may not sound so long, but believe me, with kids in tow, it was not an easy hike. But it was worth it. After that hike and a lunch break, we did a few more little hikes to some pretty cool arches. The next day we rented some jeeps and found some off-roading trails. Drew and Mel were in heaven. We went on a couple of pretty gnarly trails. One of them started out on top of a big cliff and sidewinded all the way down it. It was alot of fun. Even Londyn had a great time. Although she was turned backwards, we could hear her laughing when we would go over the washboardy areas. The last full day there we went to a place called "Hole in the rock" which is where a couple built their home into hole that they blasted out of the rock back in the 1950's. They have since made it into a tourist attraction. That night we went to a cowboy dinner show and saw a group called the Bar M Wranglers. The next day we packed up and said goodbye. The kids and I headed to St. George, while Dad rode back with the Curtis's who dropped him off at the SLC airport and he flew home to work while the kids and I stayed and played for a few weeks. More to come on the rest of the trip coming up.... Meanwhile, here are some pictures of our fun in Moab.The boys at Delicate Arch
Underneath Delicate Arch

Blake wearing mom's sunglasses

This was a perfect spot for Ethan's picture. He loved all the state license plates.

Londyn rode in this backpack on our hikes.

The Curtis family

Visitors

In true Michelle fashion, this post is about 3 months late. Hey, better late than never, right? In March, during the kid's spring break, my parent's came to town to visit. It was so fun to have them here with us. One day was spent at Old Town Albuquerque and the Aquarium. Another day we took a day trip up to Santa Fe and walked around the plaza area. While there, we were able to go into a cathedral, try some French pastries that really weren't that good, saw the oldest church and oldest house in America, and had a picnic at a park. We took them to the El Pinto restaurant, which I don't think they were too impressed with because for some reason that day their salsa and their chile sauce seemed to be much hotter than usual, and my mom's not a big fan of spicy. Oh well, they got to experience some New Mexico culture. Before we knew it, the fun had to come to and end, and they had to go home-Darn it!! Here are a few pics.

Me in front of the oldest church

In front of the oldest house

My Dad. The hat says, "I'm their leader. Which way did they go?"

Kids in Old Town Albuquerque

Beautiful Baby

These pictures of Londyn were taken at age 6 months. Isn't she the most beautiful baby? I think so.

Once again, I have slacked on keeping up with my posts. Here are some updates about what we have been up to lately...

This little princess is already 6 months old. She now weighs about 16 pounds. She is rolling over from her back to tummy, but has not figured out yet how to get back over. So she will roll onto her tummy and play for a few minutes, then get upset and cry until you turn her back over. Then about 2 seconds later, she is back on her tummy again, crying. She got this jumper toy for Christmas and has finally grown tall enough to where she can reach the ground and bounce. She loves it!! She is still not a good sleeper, getting up 2 or 3 times a night. We have been trying to give her rice cereal to keep her fuller longer, but she still doesn't really care for it yet and won't eat enough to make much difference. The boys continue to smother her with kisses and are completely in love with her. We all are! Can you blame us?

Blake is liking kindergarten and has been learning all about space. He went on his first field trip to a space museum and thought that was pretty cool. He has lots of friends at school and his teacher tells me he is one of those kids who plays with anybody and everybody, and everyone loves him. He is starting to play soccer for the first time this spring. He has been to a couple practices and is excited to start playing a real game.

Ethan is doing pretty well in the 3rd grade. A couple months ago they transitioned him from going to resource classes to just staying in regular education. We knew it would be a little bit of a struggle for him, but he has been adjusting really well. He has a lot more homework everyday, and it has been a little rough sometimes (mostly for mom) getting it finished, but he has been a real trooper and is improving. He is a very smart kid, but really struggles sometimes with staying focused on the task at hand. He turned 9 on January 11. We had to celebrate it a few days early since dad had to be in Cleveland on his birthday. We went to Chuck E. Cheese for lunch, and the kids had a great time. He is also playing soccer this spring, and says he is excited to play. (We will see.) Ethan is our living GPS. He has a photographic memory like you would not believe. He loves to look at the street signs, exit signs, etc., and memorizes where places are, and can literally get you to where you want to go if he has been there before.

Drew has a love/hate relationship with his job. He enjoys it for the most part, but has his share of rough days. He is travelling a lot more than we expected, and that has been hard to get used to. But at the same time, he likes to get out and see the different areas and visit his agents around the state. He has liked his church calling teaching the 12 and 13 year old Sunday school class, which has been good for him to do something different.

I have mixed feelings about living here in Albuquerque. I am starting to make a few more friends in the ward, and have joined a bunco group, so that has been fun. I still really miss my friends in Utah and my home in Nibley, but have realized that my little family really is the most important thing to me and as long as I am here with them, then I am happy. I am looking forward to a visit from my parents in a few weeks, and we are planning a trip to Utah in July, so that is something to look forward to. I am having fun teaching Ethan's primary class, they are a fun bunch of kids. I am also excited to be a "soccer mom" and to watch the boys play.

The last 2 months has been completely crazy, so I have a lot to catch up on. After 2 months of Drew travelling every week and being home on the weekends, we were finally able to all move down to our new home in Albuquerque. We were not able to sell our home in Nibley, but we were lucky to find a family to rent our home, and we found a nice little house to rent here in ABQ. I have to admit, I do miss my home in Nibley. I miss my large kitchen, my large yard for the kids to play in, and especially miss the great friends we have there. The neighborhood here is nice, but completely different than what we got spoiled with in Nibley. I miss all the neighborhood kids running around together. I don't ever see neighbor kids running around here, and I am not comfortable letting my kids run the streets the way they could in our old neighborhood. They have made friends with the little girl next door though, so that has been good. The kids like their new school and their teachers, and they seem to be adjusting well to that. They have all-day kindergarten here, so that means they are both gone from 8:20 to about 4:00, and Wednesdays are their short days and get out at 12:15. Luckily the bus stop is just a couple houses down, so I am able to just send them out the door in the morning. Drew still has to travel a bit for work and has been gone a lot since we have been here, but it should slow down for him after Christmas time. We were able to travel home to St. George for Thanksgiving. We had a wonderful time with our family there, and the kids did great on the long drive. It took about 11-12 hours including stops. The kids had a great time with their cousins, and we had a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner at my sister's home. (Thanks Gina!!) Drew and I got new callings in our ward here. Miracle of miracles, Drew was NOT called as any kind of clerk or secretary to the bishopric. He was called to teach the 12 and 13 year olds in Sunday School. I will be teaching the Valiant 8 class, which will be Ethan's class at the beginning of the year. So we are looking forward to our new callings. Here are some pictures taken over the last couple months.

Londyn's first Halloween. Cute little ladybug!!

Goodbye kitchen. I really miss you.

Ethan and Blake in the moving truck

Goodbye Addy and Gracie. We miss your cute faces around here.

We miss you too, Kati!

The kids thought we were driving to New Mexico for the move, but we surprised them and stopped at the airport and flew down. Here they are waiting to board the plane. They loved it!

Haley and Averee on Thanksgiving.

Jon, Becca, and mom. The guys in the background probably carving the turkey (and taking a few samples of course.)

Gavin and Gina

Gina, Ethan, and Maren enjoying the spread.

Tayler, Blake, Gracie, and Carolee

We had family pictures done while in SG. It was really cold out that morning, and the boys had had enough by the time we finished.

Here's some of the kids playing in the leaves during pictures.

Londyn just being cute.

Ethan adores his baby sister.

Santa made an appearance at our ward Christmas party. Blake asked for walkie talkies.

Ethan wants a camera.

Londyn's first experience with Santa.

Londyn's blessing

We had Londyn blessed on October 10th. It was a great day spent with family and Drew gave her a wonderful blessing. I am so grateful to have such a happy, healthy baby. She has been such a great blessing in our lives. She is truly a little piece of heaven, a gift from our Heavenly Father. Thank you to all who came to support us on this special day, and to those who weren't able to make it but were thinking of her (you know who you are).

With her cousins Ellie and Wyatt, and brothers.

With her cousins Carolee, Brynn, and Averee, and her brothers.

Big 5 Year Old

With all the craziness of having a new baby and the kids starting school, I just realized I haven't posted anything about Blake's birthday. Blake turned 5 years old on August 13. I attempted to make him a special breakfast of pancakes for his special day, but it kind of ended in disaster when Blake decided to help stir the batter and dropped the bowl of batter on the floor, shattering my bowl in the process. After we all shed our tears, we decided to go to McDonalds for breakfast. So he got his pancake breakfast after all.

He had been begging us for weeks to go bowling, so we finally went in celebration of his birthday. It was a fun time, and Blake actually won the game with a score of 130. We won't mention what our other scores were. I'll just say that bowling when you are 9 months pregnant is no easy feat. It's hard to believe that he is already 5 years old and that he is starting school this year. Wow, time does fly. We love you Blake.