New House Part 1

Here is our new house. Isn't it pretty?

This is the entry way and probably my most favorite place right now. Tiff and Karen found this awesome table at a garage sale and snatched it up for me. As you can see it fits beautifully! Off to the left is a half bath and stairs going up.

This is the formal living room (above 3 pics). It turned out great and is my second favorite place (probably because it is the only clean place!)

These pics above is of the dining area. I am going to have this also be my craft area, so I have to be really good about hiding everything and finding places so it doesn't look cluttered.

Here is one view of my family room. This is right off the kitchen. It turned out perfect the placing and I am so glad that I will be able to be a part of more things now when I am cooking! I tried to upload more pics, but blogger wouldn't let me so I am going to try a new post to see if that works!

First Day of School

Ok, preschool, but still. Sims had so much fun today at preschool. It was a big event that took a lot of getting ready for:

Grandma Boise took him and got him new shoes for preschool.

Grandma Norway got him a cool new backpack.

We talked and talked about preschool and he was so excited.

Grandma and Grandpa Norway were there to walk him to school and even Uncle Karen (this is what Sims calls his Aunt Karen) showed up to celebrate the first day of school!

And today, his dream was fulfilled. He had a blast. He LOVES his teacher and our neighbor, Ms. Kristin. She pretty much rocks the house. This is just another blessing of our move.

Exhausted

I am almost to tired to post. Almost.

We are making headway. Unfortunately today I had this brilliant idea to go to our storage unit and get all the stuff before Saturday to save time on the actual move day. We went to the unit, opened it up and I saw my dad almost faint in terror. So maybe there was a little more stuff there than I had remembered...it's not that bad right? So after completely packing my car and his car full of stuff, we still have to go back for one, ok maybe two trips. But seriously, I need all this stuff, seriously.

My mom made some great progress today, she packed the entire kitchen. Now we are eating off paper plates and plastic cups. Fun times.

My awesome brother in law, Rich, helped me move some incredibly big and heavy things out of the storage unit tonight. He is amazing.

We had a delicious meal at Tiff's house. She is always so generous in having me and my parents over when ever they come. Amazing.

My BFF, Amanda, brought me loads of boxes tonight so we can get more packing tomorrow!

So what I have learned today:

1. I have way to much stuff.

2. I am surrounded by amazing family and friends.

3. I couldn't have done this without them.

Oh sweet Relief!

My parents came today!!! What a relief. I have been telling myself that all I had to do was hang on till they got here and they are here! I am so happy. In one simple day my dad fixed my car seat that I haven't been able to fix for weeks, my mom helped pack up my garage. I am including a picture. I wish I had the before picture but just imagine things strewn about everywhere, and now look. It is all in an orderly state waiting to be loaded up on the truck Saturday. A lot of people have asked where we are going, we are moving to Pasco, Washington. Matt got a job as a high school photography teacher at Pasco High. We are super excited and now if I can only get through the move I will be golden!

Closing the Door

Today was the last day I will ever be working at the studio.

Today was the last day I had to leave my kids with babysitters to go work.

Today I closed the door on an ERA of my life.

The funniest part is, I am a little sad. It has been the hardest work to keep the studio going for the last 5 years, but it has also had some good times.

I remember bringing Sims to work with me and the fun that we had. We spent so much time together and I had to get creative as to how to occupy his attention. We were a family down there. Matt and I loved spending so much time together (at least I did :) Our retoucher, Kristen was just part of the family. Sims lovingly referred to her as "Tin Tin".

I think I knew that the good times at the studio were over when we had to let her go b/c we couldn't afford to pay her any more. I remember crying and crying. It was like telling your sister she couldn't hang out any more.

I am sad that I won't be able to be so involved with Matt and his work. It blew me away at how talented he is. Each day he would come up with something new and really cool. I loved looking at his photographs. I loved being a part of his clients lives.

But as it is said, when God closes a door somewhere he opens a window. That window for me is Pasco. I am beyond excited for this new chance in my life. I am so thankful that we have been on this journey. I am so thankful that we have been in it together. Matt is my best friend. He helps me laugh when all I want to do is cry. He is my prince. I love him so much. I am excited for this new chapter in our lives.

Here's to windows.

Chicken Pot Pie

When I get something in my head, I start to obsess about it. I am sure all mothers can relate. If the kids get the sniffles, I start to obsess that they have the swine flu, etc. Well right now I am obsessing about Sims having the Chicken pox. I called my mom a week ago, "mom, what do the chicken pox look like?". Sims has been itching and scratching, but it has been mainly on his legs, so we decided it was mosquito bites. Well today at church, I noticed a couple more raised bumps on his face. We showed a nice old doctor in our ward who said that it could be, but it might just be a rash. But he advised not to take him to nursery.

So on the way home Sims says to me, "Mom, I want to go home and look at my chicken pot pie in the mirror." I gave him a blank look and Matt politely translated that he wanted to look at his chicken pox in the mirror. Such an adorable boy.

A Boy and His Dog

Now that I am a blogger once again, I go throughout my day creating posts in my head. I know you all do this too. Like for example, as I was cleaning and painting the studio today, not being such a good sport about it. I started to create a post about all the people I am thankful for: Tiff, Krista, Amanda, Mike Sallee, Joe, Rich and Matt for helping us out today at the studio. I thought about my very pregnant visiting teacher, Andrea, who went above and beyond to watch my kids all day today. I thought about Karen and Brad and how much they have helped us at the new house in Pasco. I thought about my parents and how amazing they are and giving. I thought about Linda who loves to watch my kids and give me beautiful quilts. Once I started this post in my head, I started to have a more cheerful attitude. I have been blessed with amazing people in my life.

I also started a post about the basil I dried from my garden and the leaves that I have picked off the plant to put in my next pot of spaghetti sauce, but that wasn't very interesting.

Then I settled on the the perfect post. A boy and his dog: Jack goes to bed with Sims every night and will not come out of his room till Sims is fast asleep. What a good dog. Sims loves him very much. Enjoy.

Ahhh....The Berry Ranch

It's quite funny really...My friend Krista told me about some wild blackberries that were growing out by Tiff's house. I just can't pass up a free thing, so I got Tiff and Krista and we headed out to get us enough blackberries to make jam and pies and all sorts.

What we didn't realize that we were heading into what was certain to be our death. I have never seen such huge thorns on anything. Roses, Nope, weeds, Nope. It was really treacherous. And we were trying so hard and only came out with enough blackberries to make one pie and enough scratches to send us to the hospital Seriously. I was a little discouraged.

So I called Tiff back and said, I have a plan: It involves a ladder and pants, long sleeves, heavy gloves and a machete, but we will be able to get more berries. And she said, "How bout we go to the Berry Ranch". Some times this woman is so prolific. She is amazing.

We headed out to this place, I had never been there before, to pick us some berries. Mind you these we will have to pay for, but Tiff thought that paying a little for berries is worth it for our life. It was amazing. They had thousands of big, beautiful berries and get this NO THORNS. Seriously. It was a dream. Here are the Pics. I went home and immediately made most of mine into Jam. Thanks Tiff for being a genius as always.

Fork Anyone?

Lily has learned how to eat with a fork. She is growing up so fast!

Every day should be like this:

Even though today was not the best day (stress got the better of me and caused me to feel nasty) we still managed to have some fun. We brought this car home from the studio for Sims and he loves it. We have been all over the neighborhood in it. So today I suggested that we should give it a good wash to keep it looking nice. Here is the result. Enjoy!

I Am Thankful For:

*God. Knowing that he listens to me and my prayers. Knowing that there is a purpose and knowing where I am going.

*My new house. Even though we will be renting, it is much bigger than the house we live in now.

*Energy. With all that I have to get done. I am thankful that I have been given the energy to keep up with it!

Not exactly what I was supposed to do:

Today I did this:

Raspberry freezer jam,



4 Loaves of Zuchinni Bread

Cut and froze the peppers from the garden

And Lastly, Cut and chopped all the onions harvested from my garden. It ended up being about 8 cups of onions!


And to top off the day, the kids and I went to the fair tonight with Grandma Boise and the cousins! We had a great time. It was such a wonderful day. Now I just need someone to come and clean my kitchen.