We're still alive...

Yes, we're still here. Sorry for the lack of posts. Caleb has the cord that I need to be able to download pictures to my computer so for right now I can't add pics. I will as soon as I can!
The move went pretty well for the most part. A million thank you's to all the people who helped us take things over to our storage unit, load up our vehicles, clean, etc. We couldn't have done it without you!!

The 14 hour drive home went okay. Crew threw up at one point because of car sickness and the highway near Anthem was down to one lane for over an hour because of a fire the day we left, but other than that it was pretty uneventful. We made it to UT just in time for my sister Chalise's wedding the next day. She was a beautiful bride and the weather even cooporated for her outdoor reception that night.

We really miss the SUN and all our friends in AZ! I think it's only been sunny once in the nearly two weeks since we've been here. For the most part it has been gray/cold/rainy/windy, etc. I forgot how much I hate the wind in ID! We miss Caleb a lot but he seems to really like Detroit. Caysja's birthday was yesterday and we had a little party for her with her cousins. I can't believe I have a four year old already! I don't have the internet right now where I'm living so blogging has been a little difficult lately. I'll post more as soon as I can!

Goodbye AZ

This is such a sad post for me to write. We're down to 3 days now. Here is a quick update of what we've done our last few days/weeks here:

Preschool Graduation!
We had a little celebration with a picnic and "award ceremony" at the pool. The girls all did such a good job and learned so many things this year. I am so proud of all of them.

Halle, Caysja, Kate, Miah and LeiLani

Certificate of "graduation" from Ladybug Preschool

Pool Party
Miah, Caysja, and Halle in the shower at San Lagos

Kate, Halle, Caysja in the hot tub

Alissa and Me

We went to the Gila Valley Temple open house with the Hamblin family. Before a temple is dedicated, anyone and everyone is invited to go inside. The Hamblins are from that area so they took us home with them for the weekend and we stayed Fri. night with their parents so we could go to the temple Sat. morning. The temple was so beautiful! Our kids LOVED getting to go inside a temple for the first time. It was dedicated just last Sunday and broadcast to all the Stks. in the whole state of AZ. Thanks for taking us with you, Hamblin family!

Caysja and LeiLani--everyone kept asking us if they were twins!

Group shot outside the temple

We went out to eat after the temple. There's nothing like REAL, authentic Mexican food and the Gila Valley has plenty of it!

Moving pics
Caysja thought it would be fun to climb our shelves and take a nap

I probably boxed up their toys too soon, but not to worry! It never ceases to amaze me how entertained kids can be with just a cardboard box!

We had a goodbye party with all our good friends last weekend. We played "Rate Your Mate" (HILARIOUS!) ate yummy desserts, talked, laughed and reminisced. Thanks for coming everyone!

(Matt and Kristy Hamar, Sara and Rhett Frei, Carlie and Ryan Skinner, Isac and Jen Simpson, Britni and Travis Hamblin, Amanda and Jordan Glenn, Joanna and Adam Smith, and us--we're missing Ben and Leah who had to leave early as well as Becky and Zac Freestone who couldn't make it)

Am I ready to leave? Not even close--(especially since it SNOWED in Idaho yesterday--aaaagh!!!!) But since I don't have much choice in the matter, goodbye AZ! We'll never forget you! Thanks for being our "home away from home" and making the last three years go by so fast. You'll always hold a special place in my heart. WE LOVE YOU!

Things I'm really going to miss...

The list of things I'm going to miss when I leave AZ (one week from today) could go on and on. Here are just a few of them...

*BUNCO*
LOVE these ladies! Thanks for many wonderful memories, laughs and good games!

*DATE NIGHT*
What am I going to do without my Friday night dates?!?!! This picture was taken the last time I'll ever watch these kiddos. (Doesn't Crew look like he's got 5 little girlfriends?!)

*THE SAN LAGOS POOL/BEACH/HOT TUB*
Seriously, this is the main reason why we never moved to a house. I don't think I'll EVER find a pool that can rival this one. We LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it! I mean seriously, we have our own BEACH!

*THE WEATHER*
(Need I say more???!!)

*GOOD FRIENDS*
This is the biggest one. We're going to miss you all more than we can ever say.

I wish we didn't have to leave...

Birthday Tea Party

Caysja and Halle have been inseparable little friends the past three years we've been here and luckily we're both moving to ID so we'll still get to see and hang out with them now and then! Before we both moved, Alissa and I decided it would be fun to have a combined fourth birthday "tea party" for Halle and Caysja since their birthdays are just 13 days apart. We gave all the girls little hats and purses and taught them proper rules of etiquette. We read "Fancy Nancy" and then let them pour the "tea", open presents, and eat cupcakes and ice cream. Unfortunately my camera died before we got to the tea/presents/cupcake thing (that ALWAYS happens to me!!). Anyway, it turned out super cute and the girls had fun!

The little "ladies" (Kate, LeiLani, Miah, Halle and Caysja)

getting ready for the "tea"

"how do you do, Miss Kate?"

reading "Fancy Nancy"

One Last BBQ

A couple weekends ago, we had one last BBQ party at Joanna's house to say goodbye to our good friend's the Morrises. We are so grateful for the awesome friends we have made here that have helped these three years go by so fast. We LOVE you GUYS!!

The Girls: LeiLani, Kate, Lily, Halle, Caysja (we're missing Miah)

Us: Britni, me, Amanda, Joanna, Kristy, and Alissa

The guys: (not the best light as you can see!) Matt, Jordan, Wes, Caleb, Adam (missing Travis)

The Happiest Place on Earth

In all my life I'd never been to Disneyland and I'm 27. Most people couldn't believe that when I would tell them. So when I heard about the "give a day, get a day" program where you can do a day of service in your community and you get a free day at D-land, I couldn't pass it up! My friend Alissa and I planted flowers/trees for a local nursing home and this week we drove to CA to use our passes. (We left our boys at home so it was just a girls only trip. Thanks Britni for watching Crew!)

Our first stop was Huntington Beach. It was kind of an overcast day and the water was cold, but the kids still had a great time playing in the sand, scaring the seagulls and collecting shells.

I was able to meet up with my best friend from high school, Jenna, and see her two darling little boys, Daniel and Nathan. I hadn't seen her in over two years!

BFF's

Caysja spelled her name in the sand--don't ask me why she wrote that 'A' upside down!

Daniel had brought his kite and he let Caysja help him fly it. It was a perfect day for flying kites.

Alissa's Aunt and Uncle in San Clemente were so nice to let us stay with them. When we got there THE funniest thing happened! Seriously, I am STILL laughing as I write this. The girls were scared to death of their two dogs. We were in the process of trying to get them used to them when suddenly one of the dogs started to jump on them (or something?!) which scared the girls even more and before we knew it they both had fallen backwards into the spa--that was full of VERY cold water! They were screaming and crying and Alissa was afraid they were drowning so she hopped in after them to pull them out! I thought I was going to pee my pants from laughing so hard!

This is the next morning before we left to Disneyland--We're almost there!

We made it to the 'Happiest Place on Earth'!!!

We went on a Wed. and it had rained in the morning which scared away the crowds so we walked onto most of the rides. However, the line to see the princesses was a 90 minute wait. Alissa was so nice and let Caysja and I go ride the train while she saved our place in line. I wasn't sure it was going to be worth it, but if you ask Caysja what her favorite part of D-land was, she'll tell you "the princesses" so I'm glad we got to see them, even though there were only three.

Tiana from the Princess and the Frog

Ariel

Cinderella

One of the most awesome things about D-land is the beautiful grounds. I loved these animals carved out of the bushes.

Caysja was so excited to meet Mickey Mouse! Unfortunately, Minnie Mouse wasn't in her house so we couldn't get a pic with her.

The famous "Sleeping Beauty" Castle

I talked Caysja into riding "Splash Mountain" with me. She was pretty freaked out after the 50 foot drop! (pictured here) She was sitting in the very front and got soaked!! She said she didn't want to go on any more "fast rides" but pretty soon she dried off and she was just fine. I was so proud of her for being so brave!

Waiting for the parade to start

the parade

Caysja and Halle loved watching all the dancers

End of a very fun nearly 12 hour day at D-land!

This is what our girls looked like on the ride back--totally OUT!

We found these waiting for us when we got home. Guess Daddy and Crewser missed us!

Thanks for taking us to Disneyland, Alissa and Halle! We had an awesome time!!