June 2010

Wow, June 2010 will not soon be forgotten by our little family.
I have absolutely no pictures of the first half of the month because I didn't even take my camera to Utah.
I flew with all 4 kids by myself... I feel panicky just remembering it. Not fun.
But we made it safe and sound and enjoyed a great week with family and friends.
Trevor's parents were good enough to drive up to Washington with us and help us get the truck unloaded. I don't know what we would have done without help... it was so overwhelming.

Since we weren't planning on buying the house the last time we walked through it (we decided when we got home) I didn't look at it as closely as I would have and I couldn't remember a lot of things about it so when we pulled up after a looong day of driving and walked through the house I felt like I was floating on air. It was soooo much nicer and bigger and... well it was such a pleasant surprise and the kids were thrilled too (mostly to get out of the car I think).

My favorite thing about the house is this set of windows that you see immediately when you walk in the door. They measure about 5ft high and 14ft wide and we have a beautiful view of Kennewick, the Columbia river, and some of the bridges. I LOVE it!

I had to take this picture because it was one of the rare moments when Campbell was not clinging to me for dear life and was actually smiling. Turns out Campbell doesn't "do change". He has had a really rough time with everything and mostly whined and cried and clung to me all of June. He ended up in our bed or at least on the floor by our bed every night saying he is scared or his "tummy hurts". Poor kid.

Finally, in the last few days he has really started to act like himself again... hallelujah

We were so happy to see some familiar Kentucky faces in Washington. Christina and Dave are dear friends of ours. They moved to Kentucky when we did and found out this past spring that they were also moving to Washington this summer. It is one of the "tender mercies" we have experienced with all this change our family is experiencing.

They came to help us move in the day after we arrived. They are such good friends and I'm so grateful they're not far (only 2 1/2 hrs) away.

Who needs the TV when you've got dump trucks and backhoes in your backyard?!

We got right to work on the backyard so the kids will have a place to play this summer. It has been a BIG job.

And a BIG mess. How can a 3 year old boy resist all that dirt? He can't! So, he has a lot of baths and I do a lot of laundry. ;0

I caught him taking a bath with his hat on. Silly boy.

My parents, Dustin and his family, and Melissa and little Avery came up to help us get settled. It was so fun to have everyone here. At one point we had 21 people here... it was a full house!

Taking another bath.

My parents have a new puppy "missy". The grand kids are infatuated with her.

Dave came back a few day later to help us with our sprinkler system... bless you Dave.


Trev and Dave had there own little audience from the deck.

Plenty of big boxes to play in.

Trevor made a maze out of some of them for the kids..good times.


More work on the yard. Thanks for your help dad and Dustin (not in picture).

We thought we were ready for sod but the guy doing our fence disagreed so we still have a back yard of dirt. He is supposed to put sod in today... it doesn't look like it is going to happen... again... grrrrr


On a pleasant note, Campbell is officially a "big boy". After attempting potty training 3 times unsuccessfully in Kentucky my mom bought him some "spiderman underpants" and the next day he had them on and kept them dry for most the day. We are on day 7 now and he is doing great!! YAY!!!

Hallie and Megan haven't met a whole lot of friends yet but they sure have enjoyed each other. I love to watch them play together and take care of each other.

What a blessing it is to have each other.

Pictures of the house soon I promise.

We're here! We're here! We're here!

(Horten hears a who)

We're still alive. Settling in... photos coming soon. :)

Oh Happy Day!

Trevor went into work last night with 48 cans of soda pop,

5 X-Large pizzas,

and a big smile on his face.

It was his last shift at the U of L's ER... ever.

I added it up and (if you count kindergarten ;) Trevor has gone to 26 years of schooling. That is like graduating from high school then going back to kindergarten and doing it again.

I can't believe it. He did it... we did it.

Words cannot express how proud I am of Trevor.

He is an amazing, kind, honest, humble, smart (he better be after 26 years of school), loving, good man

and he is a great doctor.

Congratulations Trev!
We Love you!

It's just a little depressing

We officially closed on our house almost 2 weeks ago. We are now "renting" our home but it still hasn't hit me that it is no longer "ours".


I'm feeling a little overwhelmed with the changes we are and will be experiencing. I leave for Utah on June 3rd with the kids. Trevor's parents come out to Louisville on June 4th to help Trevor load the truck that weekend then they will start their drive to Utah on the 7th and meet us there. We will visit family for a few more days then head up together to our new home in Kennewick, Washington.


This move is hard in sooo many ways.

Physically packing up our house, d-junking, and cleaning feels like an insurmountable task. Especially when I have 2 little boys hanging onto my legs and unpacking what I just packed. They are more clingy lately and I'm sure they are sensing big changes as more and more of their items are disappearing into boxes and since their mommy is quite frazzled and impatient lately.


Emotionally, well, I'm definitely struggling. I feel sad.

I keep asking Trevor, "Why are we moving??? We are happy here and we are moving across the country to a place where we don't know anybody!" He doesn't have to say a word because I already know why... because (for what ever reason) it is where our prayers have led us. I know I have to trust in that but it will be so hard to say good-bye to Kentucky. Three years went by way too fast and I have enjoyed the most wonderful friendships here and learned so much about myself. Our move to KY has been such a blessing and I have to believe that Washington will bring more blessings to our family.

Faith, that is what it boils down to... that is what is always boils down to.

Here are some pictures of our family 3 years ago:

Our little family has grown and changed so much in Kentucky.

We will miss this place dearly.

Early birthday party for Megan

The kids get to have a"friend party" every other year for their birthdays. This year is Megan's turn for a party and since we are moving we decided to celebrate a little early.

She had 7 little girls come over for a "pajama party" late-over.
We ate pizza and ice cream, made a craft, did each others make up (hilarius, I wish I had pictures), and watched a movie while eating endless popcorn.

It was a great group of girls and Megan felt pretty special.

Normally at this point I would write a bunch of stuff about Megan and cry about how she is growing up but since her actual birthday isn't until July I will wait and cry then. ;)

Party on

What a wonderful weekend we had.

Full of

talking, smiling, talking, giggling, eating, talking, crying, laughing,

laughing until we were crying...

and of course there was all that talking.

Marla and Dave came to visit us in Louisville.

It was so good to see their family.

How we have missed them.

(didn't take too many pictures... too busy talking. lol)

I have to say that my testimony of my Heavenly Father's love for me has increased 10 fold since we moved to Kentucky. The fact that He led us here and then (amoung other miracles) put these 2 amazing women in my path, well... I'm just so very grateful.

Pictures of our life

This sweet little giant makes me smile every day. He recently learned how to say, "hold you" and loves to rest his head on your shoulder. He is such a lover.

We closed on our house in KY and so now I am busy packing. I'm trying to get excited about the move (what can I say, I'm happy here) so I've been sketching some plans for the new house. It is fun to dream.

Campbell insisted on a mayo and honey sandwich the other day. I would have never made it for him (because of course he wouldn't eat it, YUCK) but Trevor is nicer than me and made the sandwich for him and surprisingly Campbell scarfed it down. That boy always keeps me guessing. ;)

Hallie is loving Harry Potter these days.

Campbell insisted on sitting like this and reading one of "Hallie's books". He is always watching his big sister.

Trying on mommy's boots. I don't think Trev will appreciate this picture... it's okay honey, he is a normal 3 year old boy... I think.

We had a few chilly days last week and I kept seeing the girls going out the back door with blankets so I thought I'd investigate and this is what I found.

I love moments like these. :)

Davis gets a haircut

We have bald babies... what can I say.

Davis is almost 18 months old and last week Trevor gave him his first ever haircut.

He did pretty good.... at first.

But, Trevor got it done without too many tears (a few from Davis and the majority from me).
My baby is growing up.

Doesn't he look dashing?!

p.s. I forgot to save a lock of his baby hair... what kind of mother am I???

Stomp

Earlier this school year Megan got to participate in STOMP and in the spring the older grades got a chance so Hallie signed up and started the 4 months of practices.
I teased Hallie that we were going to yell her name and bring posters and really embarrass her at her performance. She asked us to "please don't" (she is getting all grown up on us) and so we didn't but it was pretty funny when Campbell saw Hallie at first on the stage and yelled, "Hi Hallie!" over and over again while waving his hands to get her attention. He got some laughs and Hallie went a little red.

It was such a fun performance! They surprised us at the end when they turned off all the lights and turned on black lights. Davis and Avery didn't love that part but the rest of us did. Campbell kept trying to join in as he stomped (loudly) on the bleachers to his own beat.

Hallie and all the kids did such a great job!

Day of Service

April 24th was "A Day of Service" and our ward had a great project.

We gathered at a local nature preserve and did a whole lot of planting, mulching, painting, weeding, and so on. The forecast was severe thunderstorms and the day started out rainy, yucky, and cold but then the sun came out. At one point one of the ladies that worked at the nature preserve came out and announced that "The radar says we have thunderstorms over us right now." We all looked up at the blue skies and I told them we had been praying for good weather so we could do this for them and our prayers were answered.

I was asked to be "the official picture taker" and we had a few articles in the local papers about our service which was fun.

Hallie and Megan worked hard planting flowers and spreading mulch... and chasing toads and newts.

It was so fun for me to walk around to each project and take pictures of the those giving service and see the transformations take place. It really was such a neat day and such a great reminder of what a blessing serving others is to our own lives.

House Hunting in Washington

Trev and I were SO excited to go house hunting in Washington.

We were especially excited to go on the trip without any kiddos. We had grand visions of sitting in the hot tub at the hotel for hours and sleeping in late every morning.

Reality was a little different.

I was up every morning at 5Am (there is a 3 hour time difference from KY to WA) pacing the floor and flipping through all the houses we looked at the day before trying to decide how long I should let Trevor sleep before I woke him with all my thoughts and questions and then drove around and looked at some more neighborhoods before we met with our agent at 9AM.

We had a great realtor who walked us through 40 homes total. She was patient with us as we kept shaking our heads after each home and tried to explain it was a "feeling" we were looking for more than anything else.



After she dropped us off at the office after a long day of looking at homes we climbed into our car and drove back out to look more at neighborhoods/ houses or search for FSBO signs. We went to bed every night mentally and physically EXHAUSTED.



Well, to make a long story a little shorter I FOUND OUR HOUSE... but Trevor thought they were asking too much so we didn't get it. Then Trevor FOUND OUR HOUSE... but I didn't feel good about the neighborhood so we didn't get it.

It was time to head home and we were at a loss at what to do (and feeling kinda sad and maybe a little irritated that neither of us got to buy our "dream homes") so we decided to look at a few of the houses one more time before we flew out.
We walked through the very first house we looked at and ... well anyway... WE FOUND OUR HOUSE. (if only we would have known in the end it would be the 1st house we saw... we could have spent a lot more time in the hot tub!)


It was the ONLY house that Trevor AND I "felt" peace about. I never would have guessed that this would be the house for us. It just doesn't look like us but I am so excited about it and I'm dreaming up all kinds of ideas to make it fit our style a little more.

More than anything I am excited because I feel peace about it and I know that that peace means this house will be a good place for our family and I can't ask for anything more than that!

The city itself is great. Everyone we talked to was friendly, it is very safe (no more gang fights in the ER for Trev), and it really feels like a good place to raise a family.

Oh, and when we went to the grocery store we saw 3 other families with 4+ kids!!! And no one (except me) was staring at them!!! I couldn't believe it... we will blend right in. ;)




Here are the only pictures I could find of the house since we forgot our still camera (duh Kathryn) and they already removed the listing so I can't link to that.


Here is the front of the house. It is on a quiet street on a hill with some other new homes. They will landscape the front yard for us and install the sprinkling system (btw did you know we don't have sprinkling systems in KY? No need with all the humidity and rain). It has kind of a modern look to the outside which is why I say it doesn't "look" like us but I'm thinking of some things we can do to make it ours.

Here is the back. We LOVE the daylight basement with the huge windows and the great view of the city. It has a great big flat backyard which we get to landscape ourselves. Campbell and Davis are going to LOVE all that dirt to play in and I think I will be begging for sod ASAP.
Currently there is no one living behind us which makes the view even better and there is a walking/ bike trail at the bottom of the hill that we can get to from the backyard.

This is a picture of the family room and kitchenette in the basement.

This is the family room upstairs. They have done a lot more to it since this picture was taken like molding, carpet, fireplace mantel etc. but it gives you an idea anyway.

So there you go... our house in Washington. I'll take lots of pictures when we get there and post them so you can see what it looks like finished. I can't wait to get my hands on it!!!

Oh, and we have plenty of room for visitors so PLEASE come and visit us... pretty, pretty, please.

PS we close on our house in KY tomorrow... such mixed emotions

Melissa's visit and our trip to Washington

April was quite the busy month.

We flew Melissa out to Kentucky to watch our kiddos while Trevor and I went house hunting in Washington. We planned on taking Davis with us but Melis was so generous (or just plain crazy) enough to insist we leave Davis too (bless you Melissa).

She kept all 5 (that includes her little Avery) alive and happy while Trev and I searched through 40 HOMES in Richland and Kennewick.

We thought a week without kids would be a great vacation but we were so busy we didn't even make it to the hot tub in the hotel.

I'll share more of our experience in WA in another post.

We missed our kiddos and were happy to come home.

Melissa stayed another week and we got to do some crafting but mostly we chased these two around the house (and neighborhood) and counted the minutes until their nap times so we could pull the crafts out again or take a much needed nap ourselves.

Look at these cuties (oh, and look at my tulips... I love tulips).
Avery was so cute with Davis. She was his little mommy. She would call him "Baby" and pat his head or give him loves... Davis would push her away and look at her like she was crazy.

As always it was so nice to have Melissa and Avery here.

Melissa is due with baby #2 (another little girl) in August. I'm so excited for her and Jeff but 2 babies means a very busy momma so I fear our visits from Melissa every 6 months may be a thing of the past :( but we sure enjoyed it while it lasted.

Thanks for all your help...we love you Melis!