Remember Us?

We have just emerged from the most wildly busy month of our lives. My mantra for the whole month of October was, "Just hold on! It will only be bad until November!" When it rains, it pours. Moving is bad. Add to that 4 kids, getting your former dwelling ready for renters (I'm convinced way worse than selling), and then pile on the busiest work month EVER for both Pops and myself. I don't know how Pops did it all, because in the thick of it I was away 12 hrs./day, 7 days/week. Actually, we were bailed out more than once by our church family. Our friends spent one full day of moving all our earthly belongings (which turns out to be 80% books, 10% wheat, 10% everything else), and the Relief Society showed up to paint. Seriously, they knocked out the whole house in 4 hours.

On the morning we went to U-Haul to pick up the the moving truck, we were headed back to the house to start loading and Tadpole asked, "Mom, can we go home now?" I said, "That is where we are going now." When we pulled up to our old house Tad said, "Not that home! Our new home!" The kid knows a good thing. We are all happy with our new home. Even so, I couldn't help but re-live some of the good old days. Even Superkid got a little emotional at one point. I explained to him we all love this house, but home is where the family is. He said, "What?! This is the only house I know, this is the house I grew up in." I get it Superkid.

This is how the old place looked when we left her...

It actually looked spectacular when we handed it over, which actually meant many picnic nights for the kiddos while Pops and I worked like slaves.
It got so bad that the kids burst out in tears whenever I said we were going to McDonald's for dinner. Can you believe they begged for clam chowder?
It is SOOOOO Good to be in November! We are SO happy to have things settle down and take some time to settle in. The good news is we have returned to the land of blogging AND I found my camera. Stay tuned.

Oh Glorious Apples!

I have good old Lis-R to thank for taking me on my very first apple picking excursion7 years ago. Oh the happiness of being heavy laden with kiddos and bushels of apples!

She and the rest of the dizzy Gillespie's came to town to re-enact that first hollowed occasion.
And the Andrus', my faithful picking companions through the years, joined us as well.

Apple picking is number one in Superkid's book. He talks about it ALL YEAR LONG.
For him, it means birthday time is near!
And even though he and his friend Gabby look like they are on an uncomfortable first date...
They had a great time together.
Hey, you just can't fight chemistry, which they have obviously had from the start
(yes, I am saving this for the wedding)

But I digress, back to the apple picking!
Love this cheesy face.
The labor of love...

Tadpole is the #1 tractor enthusiast!
Little Chief and Big Chief...
The sweetest sight EVER... Little chief sacked out!... clutching his apple cider donut.
Abz was in GIRL HEAVEN! This place was pony central. Turns out Claire is a major fan as well. Since Abz's favs are packed for the move, they made their own!
It's official, we all love the Gillespie's! We need some Las Vegas time!

What Makes Us Happy

Oh, how we LOVE our cinnamon rolls on Conference Sunday!
This is one tradition that is not going away;
at first mention of conference the kids scream with glee, "Cinnamon Rolls".

This time Tadpole was my chief assistant.
Pops and I decided to package up a plate of rolls and take them to Joe and Holly. On our way over Tadpole said, "What are you doing with those cinnamon rolls?" I said that we were bringing them to our friends to share. Tadpole said, "I don't want to share the cinnamon rolls, I want to eat them all." Pops then delivered an eloquent sermon at the importance of serving others and how when we serve others it makes them happy and us happy too. Tadpole patiently listened and when Pops ended Tadpole said, "Are you sure that Joe and Holly are sad?"

Busting It Out Of The Park

We are in the countdown to Superkid's 8th birthday.
With the cloak of 2nd grade, Superkid has really stepped things up a notch and is busting through many childhood milestones.

Sunday, he got up and read a scripture to the primary. While he has always LOVED an audience, he hasn't always loved to read. But he did it with much confidence. Pops and I beamed from the back on the primary room

Saturday he started a round of swimming lessons. He was bumped up to the second level. The chasm between the two levels was huge. The teacher had them jump in, grab a kick board and do a lap to the end of the deep end and back. Pops' heart nearly bust out of his chest between not being entirely sure Superkid wouldn't drown and being overwhelmed with pride. Superkid even went to the deep end and dove in and swam back to the wall. This is a major step from being terrified to blow bubbles.

Then there was the trip to the park when he just decided to start peddling on his bike.

But the best news came to us on Sunday. His friend's mom came up to me and told me this great story. Saturday Superkid went to a birthday party. When his very shy friend arrived, Superkid saw him go up to another little boy and say hi (which was a great effort for him). The other little boy was too focused on the super cool birthday party (it was VERY COOL) and didn't notice this shy little boy. Superkid saw this little boy shrink with disappointment. Superkid went up to him, put his arm and his shoulder and said, "I'll be your friend." The little boy's face just lit up.

What a great kid. I am the happiest mom in the world.

Cousin Time

The cousins came to play Saturday.
It was immediately apparent that Tiny spent way too much time at the beach this summer and not enough time planted in front of the TV because she had no idea what to do with Thomas our train friend. She eventually caught on...
But she snuck away first chance she got and I found her goofing around with 'Lil Chief
..and Pops too.
Then we packed the minivan to its max.
THIS is the best sight in the world to me.
A little park time...
We LOVE the cuzzes.
We're just glad to hear that they will be living with us next summer. I am just going to pretend that everything between their move and then isn't going to happen. It's for the best.

Moving On Up

It is our good fortune to be moving HERE next month.
We are all pretty excited.
When we were in Utah counting all of our favorite people who were moving far far away from us, and even receiving horrible news that our only New England family had a change of employment forcing them out, I said, "At least Holly and Joe will be there when we get back." I called Holly the day after we landed and asked if she wanted to go blueberry picking. While we were out on our excursion she dropped the bomb, Joe was applying for a job in FRANCE. Of course he got it. We are DEVASTATED to loose them for 2 years. We are VERY happy to have PARIS accommodations (1 block from the Louver, who's coming?!), and we are even more happy at their generosity to have us move into their home while they are away for 2-3 years.

And in other news, we measured our dining room at the request at our tenants. We found that after 6.5 years we have had our dining room table in the less spacious orientation. We think it is pretty funny. Maybe if you have broken bread around this tight squeeze you think so too. Sometimes a foot is a big deal.

Back to School Bash

At LAST, I get a tour of the NEW ULTRA FANCY brand-new school.
I got to meet Abizella's teacher...
But not Superkid's. He has the same thing going on this year as last. His teacher is out on maternity leave until Thanksgiving. I'm just assuming here that someone is there during the day to manage the scene.
The kid's even demonstrated the "Bubbler". For those of us Western folk, that is what the drinking fountain is called out here. The little Toad's looked like I was crazy when I told them that. sigh.
But all of the action was outside. There were bouncy houses, soccer, dancing, and dinner.
Abizella took Tad under her wing and escorted him through all of the activities.
They are the best of friends.