Thanksgiving and Other Happenings

I'll start with Thanksgiving. 

This was my first year cooking dinner for Thanksgiving. I cooked for 10 adults and my two peanuts. I made the turkey, green bean casserole, sweet potato casserole, mashed potatoes, stuffing, cranberry sauce and rolls. My two sisters helped a ton and they also helped with decorating and table settings. My mother-in-law brought two pies and  the veggie tray. Mike's  aunt brought a pie as well. I started cooking Wednesday and then Thursday I had my awesome schedule to help me through the day. By 5 that night, I was exhausted. Even Friday, I was almost useless. But, I actually enjoyed hosting. I'm not saying I want to do it again next year, but it wasn't as bad as I thought. 

We also bought a new car. We are growing out of my 4runner very soon (3 car seats don't fit in the back seat) and started to look around. I new that I wanted an SUV and the more we looked, the more we liked the suburban. It has captains chairs in the middle and I love that feature. It has some other fun features that will make our trip out to see my parents in a couple of weeks a really nice trip. 

We have also been enjoying the wonderful winter wonderland that is eastern Idaho. The highest I saw today was 7 degrees. We got about 8 inches of snow the other day and its not going anywhere for a while. My girls were going stir crazy today being cooped up in the house. School was cancelled due to the power being out for the whole region (we got lucky and kept power). Addie and Leah just wanted to go play outside, but it was too cold to be out there. 

 All in all, we are doing pretty well! Mike is enjoying the quiet time. He's been skiing a lot. I'm just plugging along and starting to feel big. I'm excited to see this little babe next week at my ultrasound. Addie loves school! She is doing pretty well and I love hearing about preschool drama. She loves being a ski bum with Mike. Leah is pretty cute and very mischievous. She got nail polish on my carpet today. Good news: Windex gets it out. She skied for the first time on Monday and just laughed the whole way down the hill. We are really enjoying our winter and we are really looking forward to the Christmas season and  all the fun  we have in store. 

St. George Vacation!

Since the farming season is over, we decided to take a vacation to relax. We decided on St. George because my in-laws have a vacation home there and that makes our trip pretty cheap. We have never taken  vacation just to go. They have always been to see family (which I am not complaining about!), so this was nice to do something just the 4 of us. We were able to be gone for 11 days, 9 of them in St. George. 

We spent time hanging out, swimming, watching movies and eating lots of popcorn. We spent a day at Zion National Park. We went on a small walk with the girls, where we thre rocks into the river. 

We spent a day in Las Vegas seeing some friends. We walked the strip and met up with a good friend from Seattle. Between us there were 8 kids. Her husband was in  meeting, so I'm pretty sure we looked like modern polygamists. We got some good looks while walking through the casinos. We watched the fountains at the Belagio and all the kids loved it. 

We went to Snow Canyon State park and hiked around. Addie and Leah loved climbing on all the red rocks and playing in the red sand. 

 Mike went with his cousins and rented some Razors (intense 4-wheelers) and spent a day driving those all over southern Utah. He went mountain biking and golfing. I was  able to go shopping, alone. And enjoy a Starbucks drink. 

 Sunday we woke up and got ready for 9 a.m. church. We pulled into the church and no one was there. We then realized that it was stake conference. It was regional, so  everywhere had it, and I didn't want to sit through it. So, we went to the temple instead. They have a large visitors center and my girls really liked it. We also went to Brigham Young's winter home and took a tour, where both the girls had huge meltdowns. But it was cool to see. 

We decided about 6 times while  we were there that a post-harvest trip to St. George would be a yearly occurrence. It was the best trip and after the year we've had, it was nice to feel like we could step back from all our cares and relax. Plus, it was 75 there. It's supposed to be 45 today and then not be above 35 for the next week or so. 

Baby Number Three

We are so excited to announce that we are expecting our 3rd baby on April 30th! We can't wait. 

Now to answer those usual questions:

-I feel awful. I'm not throwing up or anything, but I'm constantly nauseated and so tired. I have to take a nap every afternoon. I try to go to bed at 10 every night, if I can. 

-We found out I was expecting on August 26th. I honestly wasn't expecting a positive on that test. I just wanted reassurance that I wasn't. The timing wasn't what we were planning, but this was the most wonderful blessing. Honestly, I felt like we needed to wait, or at least I wanted to wait. I'm so grateful to know that a loving Heavenly Father knows me and what I need. 

-I will be 12 weeks on Wednesday. 

-We will be finding out this baby's gender. I love planning!

-We will not be sharing the name probably until the little one is a couple of days old. Usually because we can't pick until we meet our babies. But I do have a few favorite names (so does Mike and we agree, too!). 

-We told Addie this morning that we were having a baby and she thinks it is a girl, but she wants a brother. She is pretty excited about it! We looked through a book about babies and how they grow in mommy's tummy and she was so curious and excited! She learned a lot about anatomy and breastfeeding this morning. 

-I will be having a c-section. It will be my third one, and I'm nervous about the healing this time, but my other two experiences were awesome, so I'm hoping for much of the  same this time around. 

We are so excited! The only thing is our timing....this little one is.coming just days before we plant spuds. That should make for an interesting spring :) 

Spud Harvest

Let me tell you a bit of what I have learned this year about spud harvest. 

We have two tractors that pull diggers which dig the potatoes and put them into a truck. Our diggers do 4 rows at a time. It also separates the vines and dirt from the potatoes. We have 8 trucks that take the spuds from the field to the cellar. The truck driver stays close to the tractor so they can communicate a bit. Once the truck is full, he drives down to the scale house to weigh the spuds. I learned that the truck holds about 30,000 pounds of potatoes. The truck then backs up to the piler in the spud pit and a conveyor belt in the bottom of the truck empties the potatoes onto the piler. The piler piles the spuds in the pit. There is a crew of about 5 or 6 working the piler, pulling out stray vines and damaged spuds. In one day, our two tractors fill about 100  truck loads, which is about 40 or 50 acres. 

I really enjoyed riding in the tractor with Mike. Addie loves riding in the trucks. She rode with her uncle a few times and with one of our other drivers. Leah wad happy anywhere there was dirt. My job was being the treat lady. Every afternoon I brought out candy bars and soda for everyone. I really enjoyed getting to know people. There are some drivers that have worked with us since Mike was teeny. 

Spud harvest was great, even though I was really worried about it. 

Next stop: a much needed family trip! 

Updates!

August was such a busy month! By busy, I think I mean crazy! 

To start out, I broke my ankle. Ok, that sounds way worse than it was. What one doc thought was an Avulsion fracture, my orthopedic doc thought was more of a piece of calcium and was much closer to being dislocated (which would have sucked, too). I'm healing fine though. It's still sore and bruised, but I'm getting around just fine. 

After I broke my ankle, Mike, Leah and I all got a 24 hour bug.... I would have rather died then felt like I did for those 10 long hours. Luckily, it passed quickly. 

We got a dog! As you know, Roxie hasn't been seen for about a month and a half, which is heartbreaking. We miss her so much! So, I found this little guy on Craig's List. He's so sweet and busy. He is a mini schnauzer. I think he is such a cute little guy. I love the picture of Leah and Ranger up there. Her crazy hair and the look on his face are priceless. 

Addie turned 4! I have no pictures of her on her birthday or at her party. But it was so fun. On her birthday, we just had dinner at home, then went to get ice cream. She was set on a pink milkshake. For her party, we had a few friends over and they just played. It was so easy. 

Addie also started preschool! It's awesome. She goes every day and its at the elementary school that she'll go to. I love her teacher. She comes home happy and she is making some cute little friends. 

Mike has also been working like crazy. We are getting ready for potato harvest. That will be busy, but I can see the light at the end of  tunnel for this season. My parents and sisters come this week! I'm so excited to see them and  my sisters here for a few months. 

5 years!

Has it seriously been 5 years??

They have been 5 of the best years I've ever had. 

Since I've broken my ankle, we couldn't do what Mike had originally planned (which I still don't know what that would be), so we just went to dinner at Costa Vida and went to the movies. We ended up seeing the Lone Ranger. We had a really good time. I know, that's kind of a lame way to celebrate, but to be honest, we are exhausted. With grain harvest (which is done!), then the flu making its way through our house (Mike and I both got hit on Monday), and my messed up foot, we didn't have the energy for much more than that. We didn't even go into Idaho Falls, we stayed here in town. But we did drive up to our fields and watch a lightening storm roll through. That was pretty awesome. 

In five years we:

-bought a car

-bought a house

-had two babies

-got one dog

-4 jobs

-one big move

-sold a house

-lost a dog

-lots of skiing

-started farming

-and there's some other stuff in there :)

It's been one of  hardest years for us as a family, lots of changes and challenges, especially this summer. Although things have been difficult, we've been really happy. I'm so glad to see this season go and hopefully welcome a quieter one. I'm so much more grateful today for my relationship with Mike because of those hard things. He's my favorite husband and he's given me strength I didn't know I had. I'm glad I get him forever. 

I take it back!

I take back my last post when I complained about harvest!! Having a broken ankle during harvest is ridiculous. 

On Wednesday night, Mike headed over to see some cousins that were in town. I ran upstairs to check on Leah. On the way down, I missed the last stair. I landed in the lucky enough position to see a white flash of light and then end up on the ground writhing in pain. A few words that I am not proud of came out of my mouth. My phone was across the kitchen, and judging by how quickly my foot has swollen, I decided not to walk, but scoot like an infant to my phone. I called Mike, then went into shock. I sat on the floor and prayed that I would be ok, prayed that I could breath, prayed that I wouldn't pass out while I'm home alone, and where the H is Mike? I kept praying and he got home about 10 minutes later. I was still in shock and I'm sure he was amazed that I would throw myself down the stairs to prove how much I hated harvest (just kidding!). 

He got me a crap load of Tylenol (ok, 2, then 2 more about an hour later) and moved me to our comfy kitchen chair  we put ice on my foot. I calmed down and we decided to wait till morning to go to the doctor. I got about 3 hours of restless sleep on the couch. Leah woke up in the middle of the night, and o called Mike on the phone to go get her. Ladies and gents, you know you have found true love when your husband carries you like a newborn to the bathroom and doesn't complain. 

We went to the doctors the next morning and he was sure it wasn't broken, but we did an x-ray,  just in case. But sure enough it's broken. I have an Avulsion frr which means the ligament pulled a piece of bone away. I am getting a cast on Monday after the Shrek swelling goes down. My mother-in-law took the girls for the afternoon and I woke up to a friend putting pizza in the fridge for dinner. After dinner, Mike put the girls to bed and we scrambled to find help for today. Mike HAS to work, my mother and sister-in-laws are running a relay today and tomorrow. But we got it figured out. I have some neighbor girls over playing with the girls and Mike's aunt and a friend are helping out tonight. 

I wish this didn't happen. I feel so useless and helpless. I can't even go upstairs to put the girls to bed. I can't make dinner,  going to the bathroom is a joke. I've only been down for 24 hours, and I have a lot more to go. So everything I said about how hard this is, I take it back. That was nothing.... this is hard. 

Harvest

We have started harvest. We are currently cutting grain. The  combine is a cool tractor. Although, when we rode in it, the A/C was broken and it was hot. But still really interesting. 

But can I be honest? Harvest is hard. Mike is working really long hours and that makes me feel like a single parent. He leaves about 6:30 and is gone until 10:30. And its every day but Sunday, and even then he needs to go check water for the potatoes. And potato harvest means even longer days. 

I have to be on all day, every day. And the girls miss having dad around and helping to put them to bed. Tonight Addie asked me, "Mom, please drive up to the fields to get dad. I'll stay here and take care of Leah. I'm a big girl and I'll take care of sis. Just park on the bridge so I can see you."  It was really sad, but so sweet. 

BUT.. I'm just looking forward to November. Things quiet down real fast. I can't wait. Farming is kind of a hard life, but it's really rewarding. And, Mike is really happy. Tired, but so much happier. 

This has been the best change for our family. 

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Leah's Birthday Weekend

Leah turned 2! 

Holy cow! 

I'm freaking out just a bit. 

But... we had so much fun this weekend!

Friday was her real birthday. We actually went to a birthday party for Addie's friend in the morning and both girls had so much fun!  In the afternoon we went horseback riding at Mike's aunt's house. It was hot and next time, we will go when its cooler. We finished our night off by going to see Despicable Me 2. The girls loved it, and so did we! 

On Saturday we had her party with family. It was an ocean themed party. I made her a sand castle cake. It didn't look great, but to be honest, it turned out okay! It was my first cake that I've decorated like that before. We hung out at our pond and played in the water just before bed.

 We had a fun weekend! I still can't believe that Leah is 2! She is so cute and very sweet. She has definitely hit her terrible two's, but she's a lot of fun. She loves to dress up and wear my heels. Having her finger nails painted is probably the best thing for her. She loves to sing and dance. Leah almost always carries  backpack or a purse and puts her little treasures in it (usually dandelions). She is still a crummy sleeper, but we are figuring that out. I'm excited to watch her grow over the next year.

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Catching Up.

Life has been so busy over the last month! 

We fixed up our pond and it pretty fun! We had all of Mike's family here over the Fourth of July. It was crazy and busy, but it was great to be together as a family. We did  some pretty fun things that week. 

We went water skiing. It was so fun, and I think we just talked ourselves into a ski boat.... you can all have rides if you want to donate to our boat fund.

We also took some of my older nieces and nephews to the temple to do baptisms for the dead. It was so beautiful and calming to be there with our family members. 

We attended the Rexburg parade. It is such a fun parade. There is lots of fun floats, too much candy and they give away lots of yummy things like popsicles and ribs. We had everyone out to our house for the barbeque. I had fun planning and decorating with my sister. We made some cupcakes and mixed poprocks in with the sprinkles. The kids loved them. That was probably my favorite thing to eat that day. We watched a movie out back and  after  movie, we lit off a few fireworks in the driveway. 

We have been having such a fun summer out here in Idaho. Things are going to start getting busy because we will start cutting wheat at the beginning of August. I am also looking forward to spending some time in Vancouver with my family (and hopefully one night in Seattle!). 

Its been an interesting couple of months. We've had some highs and some lows, but I'm learning to deal with the lows and I'm grateful for the highs that remind me how sweet and precious my family is. 

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I need help!

Last night was a night from you-know-where..... 

Leah was beyond exhausted to start out. She is still sleeping ok. And if we catch her before she is melting down, then she does great. Last night, she had melted. We put her down using our regular routine and then she started screaming. We left her in there because usually, she will put herself to sleep after a bit. But we heard a noise. 

"Mike, is she knocking on the door?"

My sister says, "no, it's just Roxie wagging her tail and she's hitting something."

Mike replies, "Leah is just hitting her crib."

It gets quiet, and I got very suspicious. I went upstairs and found Leah in Addie's room, on her bed, trying to wake "sissy" up. Yes, friends, she had climbed out of her crib. She did it 3 more times. We tried making her just sleep on the ground but she kept coming out of her room. We put one of those door locks on the door knob, but she took it apart (what the crap?). 

Finally, I had Mike rock her to sleep because it was 11 and she would just keep climbing out of her bed. 

Fast forward to 3 in the morning.... our door flies open and we hear, "good morning, dada!" So I put her to sleep. Then again at 5, "good morning, dada."

So..... HELP!!  What should we do? I am thinking about moving her to a regular bed, mostly for safety. I don't want her to fall out of her crib in the middle of the night. But Addie never did this. She just learned about 3 weeks ago that she could come downstairs alone to go use the toilet. But Leah is a totally different kid. I need some serious advice or I will pull out my hair and go crazy. 

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Box City

We just got back from Box City. It was so cute and if the dang Rexburg wind hadn't been blowing, it would have been perfect. 

My sister-in-laws neighborhood put it on. All the kids came up with a service (face painting, nail polish, etc.), or something to sell (popcorn, popsicles, etc.) and decorated a huge box. My nephew, Ozzy, did an art museum and hung up all his drawings. For one ticket, you got to see his drawings and get one free art lesson. My other nephew, Paul, sold popcorn.  There were cupcakes, pet rocks, photo booth, a history museum, bike wash and bowling. My girls got little tattoos and their face painted. They loved the duct tape bows that you can see in the pictures. 

It was so cute. The dang wind picked up and started to blow the city over. But despite that, kids got creative and held down the boxes with rocks or just set up camp on the sidewalk. Hopefully, they'll do it again and we can join! 

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Date night.

First off, I did not take this picture, but I think it is gorgeous. And last night walking out of the temple as the sun was setting made me wish I had my camera. 

We have been needing to go to the temple for a while, and also, Mike and I needed a date night. So, we headed to the temple to do some sealings. 

Last week was a week I don't ever want to repeat. In short, it was long and hard. Here's how my yesterday went: Addie woke me up after I had only been sleeping for 4 hours (I stayed up to watch TV and Mike and I actually got to talk!). When I picked her up from school, she had a complete meltdown because she didn't have her gloves on. She cried the whole way home and continued to melt until noon, when Leah melted, too. So we turned on the TV and watched Handy Manny for 5 hours. I tried to get the girls to go outside, but we didn't have the right swimsuits, and the wrong popsicles and the wrong shoes. After 10 minutes I quite. We came in and turned on another movie. I gave my girls popcorn and strawberries for dinner. We may or  not have had ice cream first. You know those days where you just throw your hands up and call it quits? I wasn't mad at the girls and they weren't being naughty, they were just melting down constantly.  I've leaned this week that sometimes it is perfectly acceptable to let your kids watch to much TV and eat crap because there won't be a fight or any whining. 

Last night, I needed the quiet peace that is found in the temple. And I found it. I can feel it today. 

I am grateful for the gentle reminders there that families can be together forever and that trials can be overcome, no matter how big or small. My husband told me that on his mission, that the most important thing he learned was to keep an eternal perspective. That this life may be hard, but we can get through any trial through the Atonement.  I know those things, but I needed to hear them all again last night. 

Today will be better. We will keep trying, and hopefully with less TV this time :) 

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Utah Weekend

We headed to Utah last weekend to get out of Rexburg. When I told Addie we were going to Utah, she said, "No, its Me-tah." 

We headed down Friday night. Saturday we went to Temple Square. It is one of my new favorite places. Everything is free, which is in my price range. The museum was so fun and my girls loved dressing up and learning some Mexican dances. As we walked around the temple, we saw a bride and her groom just coming out. Addie was loving the princess and had to go talk to her. They were surrounded by family and doing pictures, so I didn't let Addie say hi. I kind of regret that. She was so excited. But, next time, I'll let her go say hello and call a bride a princess. 

We went to the new City Creek Mall and met up with some of our close friends from Seattle. They brought presents for the girls and bought us lunch at Kneaders, which was so good. We headed down to my uncle's house in Sandy to stay there for a couple nights. My uncle is one of my dad's brothers. They are the same person, basically. Addie loved hanging out with "grandpa's friend" and helping him with yard work. He has a gully in his back yard with  trail going down and lots of places for a kid to play. He also had a tire swing and Addie and Leah loved it. 

We met up with Mike's friend, Tim, for dinner. After we ate, we headed to a park that had a splash pad. Luckily, I had packed swimsuits. My girls loved it. They also loved playing and climbing on all the toys. Addie loves Tim and he was so sweet to play with her on the toys. 

Sunday we went to my uncle's ward, and then went  my cousin's house for a barbeque. She has a daughter the same age as Addie, and they played and talked the whole time. We also met up with our good friends Scott and Janessa in Orem that night. They had a baby girl  few months ago and we wanted to love on her. Addie and surprisingly Leah loved her. Leah wanted to help the baby when she dropped her pacifier. 

Monday, Mike headed out on  bike ride with Tim. Before we left my uncle's, he hooked us up with a bunch of bubbles. He is a toy salesmen ( best uncle ever!) and ket the girls pick out some bubbles. We drove up to Park City and enjoyed the mountains and just walked around and shopped a bit (thanks for my new bag, Mike!). 

It was  great trip. I'm really looking forward to going down more since we live 3 hours from Salt Lake. I loved being with my family this weekend. Mike works so hard and often long hours and Saturdays, and I feel like family time is just so precious now. Hopefully it won't be to long before we get another trip  together! 

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Living on a working farm.

We are loving it here! Since we've been here, I've learned a lot about living on a working potato and grain farm. 

The first two pictures were taken in one of our two spud pits. After we harvest the potatoes, the pit is completely filled up. I'll show you in October. They are huge and cool (temperature-wise) in there. 

When you are planting, you need to get it done as soon as you can, and as quickly as you can (or so it seems to me), which makes for very long, late days for Mike - 15 hours days and its longer during spud harvest. To plant potatoes, we have to get our seed from a supplier and then we have to cut the potatoes. I wish I had a picture of that, but I don't. Basically, the seed potatoes get sent through a machine that cuts them, then they go on a conveyor belt where some kids make sure they got cut and hand cut ones that didn't. The potatoes continue up a belt into the truck ready to head up to the field where they are loaded into another machine attached to a tractor and they get planted. 

After planting, comes cultivating. I have no idea what happens then, but I'll tell you next week! 

We only grow potatoes, wheat and barley. Anything more than that just grows in our garden. What we grow is not organic. In short, it isn't very cost effective to have an organic farm that is the size we have. To be a certified organic, commercial farm is expensive and you have to jump through a ton of hoops. Plus I've learned that the chemicals and fertilizer that are used on our potatoes (and most crops) are just about 100% gone by the time they get to your plate. There are so many restrictions on what we use and the chemicals are so controlled that to me, buying or growing organic is almost not worth it. 

I don't think I mentioned this, but we are living in the house Mike grew up in. We were going to move into a rental, and long story short, we had a change of plans. Mike walks through the backyard to work. Its great. No more Seattle commute. The house is almost 100 years old. One of the first things I learned was that Mike's Grandpa was born in our bedroom. I happen to think that is pretty cool. I won't be having any babies and in my bedroom, but now our kids get to grow up here. It really is a special place. 

 The girls love it. They love looking out the window and seeing the tractors and trucks. They mostly love seeing their Dad. While the hours are longer, we see him more during  day, which is so great. They have  much room (and dirt) to play and run around. I think Mike is the happiest though. He loves what he does. I am happy, too. A lot of it is because my family is  happy. I knew I could make anywhere home, and I'm glad that this is it! 

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Family Night

Last night, we hopped in the six wheeler and drove down to the river in front of our house. We bought Addie a little princess fishing pole and we let her practice casting. It was beautiful out. 

Nights like that make me so happy to be here. I love driving two minutes from my house and being able to be so secluded and enjoying the outdoors. 

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Oh these girls....

These two just crack me up. They seriously love to be with each other all the time and do what the other one is doing. That said, they do bug each other and get in some good fights. 

Yesterday, we watched The Little Mermaid. Addie turned to me and said, "you can't talk under water." Can't pull the wool over her eyes. 

Leah loves the cat. She shows that love by pulling on his tail and trying to pick him up. I don't know how we got so lucky with two good animals that just lay there and take the "love" our kids give them. 

The girls have discovered ballet. They love watching Barbie and the Pink Shoe and some ballet shows on Netflix. They twirl and kick and jump for hours. They love to listen to classical music and just twirl. 

In the picture above, they both thought being Santa was so funny. The laughing coming fron that yellow tub was priceless. 

Leah can count to 5. She is so cute. It really helps her game of hide and seek, which is the girls new favorite game. Last week, Mike's friend, Tim, stopped by and he enjoyed a rousing game of hide and seek. I love when Addie gets so excited that she tells me where she will hide or when I am getting close to finding her, she just busts up laughing. 

Seriously, these two are so cute together. I hope it lasts. 

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All about Leah

This girl is such a cute babe. In 2 days she'll be 20 months old! Here is an update on "Le-la."

WORDS

Juice

Milk

Cheese

Night-night

Sissy

Sin-rell (Cinderella)

Hawk-us (Pocahontas)

Kitty-cat

Raw-see (Roxie)

Bye-bye

Look!

Dada

Mommy

There are lots more, but those are some of my favorite. And I love when she puts together two words. 

FOODS

cookies (she would eat them all day long)

Cheese

Olives

Pancakes

Raspberries

Milk

Ice

Leah is such a sweetheart. She is pretty tender, but at the same time very opinionated. She will kind of growl and yell gibberish at you if you do something wrong. We call it getting cussed out in baby. 

Leah is a bruiser. She seriously trucks around the house and always ends up with mystery bruises all over. 

Leah also needs to do everything that Addie is doing. It doesn't matter if its dressing up, petting the cat, ready or climbing up the gigantic slide, she wants to be just like sissy. 

Leah is sleep trained!! Cue the Mormon Tabernacle Choir singing the Hallelujah Chorus!! We did it! It took a week and I'm praying it sticks this time around. But I think it will (knock on wood!). 

She still loves to cuddle. When she wakes up in the morning or after her nap, we cuddle for about 20 minutes. She still puts her hand down my shirt (which she has done since we stopped nursing last summer). As much as I love it, we probably need to break that habbit. 

We think Leah is just such a cute little girl and we love her so much! 

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Farm Living

I have to say, I love living out in the country. The girls have a ton of room to play. We got a kitty to be a mouser. His name is Phinneas. He is so sweet. The girls just adore him and he puts up with all the love he gets. And the dog, Roxie is loving running and running around. Most evenings she is dead tired. 

The girls love looking out the window and seeing the tractors and trucks. We have been able to see Mike a bit more than normal, which has been so nice. He is working long hours right now getting the fields prepped for drilling grain. 

One thing I wasn't expecting was the wind. I know Rexburg gets windy, but holy cow. Its loud and cold. Tomorrow we are supposed to have 40-50 mile-an-hour winds all day long.

I think Addie's favorite part of living out here is going on the tractor or in the big truck with dad. She just thinks that this is the best thing ever. She adjusted pretty well to her new surroundings. She will cry a little bit every once in a while because she misses our house or her little friends. It's sad, but she understands that we live here now. 

Leah mostly seems fine. At first she would get confused. She knew this was her stuff, but the house was wrong. Mike is loving it here. Its hard work, but he loves being back here. I really like it also. It's nice to have family here. That  has really helped. It has been nice to hang out with my sister-in-law and her family. 

So far so good!I'm excited for November when things quiet down a bit. 

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Easter

This year, I kind of felt like I failed Easter. I didn't get the girls new dresses, no Easter baskets, and no egg dying or hunting. But I need to give myself a pass, because we had just moved. The Saturday before was the first night in our house. 

We did go to the Sugar City Egg hunt. It was awesome! Lots of candy and coupons for free ice cream. There were even a few dollars up for grabs. Guess where we are going next year? 

We went to Mike's parent's for dinner and an egg hunt with the cousins. My brother joined us. My nephews liked him I think. 

Easter was also our first day in our new ward. It is the same ward Mike grew up in, so he knew lots of people. We know the primary president and she helped Addie in primary, but I learned Addie didn't really need it. She acted like she knew everyone, was well behaved, and even said the closing prayer. 

We did have a nice Easter. Next year, we'll do a bit more for the girls, though. 

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We Made It!

Thursday afternoon we rolled into Rexburg. We started getting unpacked as soon as we got there. Its still a work in progress, but we were able to officially move in on Saturday. 

We are enjoying ourselves so far. Having family near by has been great. Mike started working today. He's a farmer now. It's a bit comical to me that this is my life. I never imagined myself living in Rexburg for the rest of my life, let alone living on a farm.

Our house is pretty nice. There definitely needs to be some painting and a bathroom remodel done, but we love it. There are some cool features to  house itself, but my favorite has to be our backyard. It's huge. I can't wait to get out and start my garden. We also need to get some cats, to catch mice. I'm probably more excited than I should be to get a couple of cats. 

The girls seem to be adjusting well. Addie thinks that the "new lellow house is so fun!" Leah looks.a bit confused sometimes. She must be thinking, there is all our stuff, but where is the house it goes in? Leah also loves the patches of snow and every chance she gets, she reaches her hand down and grabs some.to munch on. 

We needed to buy a new fridge, washer and dryer, so I felt like a grown-up picking out appliances. My washer and dryer dont get here until Friday, so I'm going up to my in-laws until then. We also bought a deep freezer, which I am also very excited for. 

I do miss my friends back in Seattle so much. I miss Seattle. I walked outside Saturday night and I saw more stars than I've seen in a long time. It was so beautiful, but at the same moment, I had a bit of anxiety at how open it was. In Seattle, everything is so cozy, from the low laying sky, to the mist and the trees. I had a pang of homesickness. But, I am loving it here and excited for our new chapter. 

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