The Middle Days 2-5

Now for one reason or another, we didn't take a  lot of pictures over the next few days. Day two was spent crossing Kansas, and really there wasn't much to photograph. We made it to our friends house in Denver where we rested for two nights and took some time out of the car. Now I am not sure why, but some how we don't have pictures from there house. I thought we took some, but I can't find any so you will have to imagine that part, and if our friends are reading this, please send the ones you have! So after a break we continued on into Utah. We took the I-70 route for the first time and it was beautiful.

Breakfast at the hotel.

Still happy day 2.

The mountains were really beautiful. A picture never really does capture it.

This one is to show how high up we were. Notice that the trees stop. We were almost as high as the tree line. I think we got up to 11,000 Ft.

We went through 3 or 4 tunnels this one is the longest.
It was a good moment when we finally saw the Utah sign.

(Even if we were still in the middle of no where.)
The first signs of real civilization since entering Utah!
Once we saw the Y on the mountain we were excited. 

(Forget that we got stuck in traffic and it took us twice as long to get to my brothers house than it should have. Welcome to I-15 in Utah county!)

The Beginning Day 1

Here we go. I will now attempt to sum up the last two weeks in a series of posts. On Monday the 29th of Sept. We finished off everything and got going. The first day was the longest. We traveled in 5 different states and drove for 12 hours. Here are a few pics of the adventure. I guess this actually covers a couple days before day one, but who's keeping track right?

Packing Up

Saying Goodbye

One last picture in front of our old place

Kathryn

Juliana

This was at one of the many rest stops along the way. It made me laugh.

Goodbye

In a few short minutes, we are going to unplug and pack the computer. So I thought I would say goodbye for a while. Hopefully we will be back online in no time. Until then have a great day.

Playing Catch up

So I finally updated things. This is our month so far. I have been putting this off, and I decided that I better get it done, since very soon we won't have access to a computer for a few days. Hope you enjoy.

Vanderbilt vs. Rice

Finally, Steve and I got to go to a Vanderbilt football game. It was a lot of fun. We were lucky enough to have friends that took the girls so we could go to the whole game. We also got to go to the faculty tale gate party too. The food wasn't that great, but it was a fun way to start the evening. Go Comodores!!

Luau

Now this was definitely a highlight of the month for me. We had a big luau for our welcome enrichment. There was great food, lots of conversation, and the entertainment was tops. Now, because I value my friendships, I will only post two pictures of the event that I am in, and let the rest stay in my computer and in the memories of all those in attendance.

Indiana

We decided to take one last trip to Indiana to see our friends before we leave. We had a lot of fun, which included a picnic in the park, and ice cream at Brusters. We'll miss you all too!

BBQ

We had a fun BBQ for Labor Day with some close friends. I forgot to actually pull the camera out until it was getting a little dark, and so most of our pictures didn't turn out so great. But I really likes this one. These ladies are some of my closest friends here in Nashville. It will be awfully hard to leave them.

Swimming

30 Miles

As many of you know, I started to dabble in running about 5 months ago. Sometime at the end of June I decided to set a goal thru my Nikeplus account to run 30 miles in 4 weeks. Now I know that for most runners this is not a very challenging goal, but I thought I should start out with something I could actually complete. Turns out I didn't do it the first time. Mostly because I took a whole week off when Steve was in Italy! So At the beginning of August I decided to try again. I am excited to say that I just finished today, a day early. Yippee. Now if I could just figure out how to make each mile equal a pound of weight loss... if wishes were fishes. Here is my little goal meter that I finally filled up today.  

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It's official Almost

So this post begins in February when Steven found out that BYU was going to be hiring someone for this fall. As you can guess, since it started that long ago the story is long and involved. Some of you have heard every detail and are probably sick of the on going saga, and others have been lucky enough to have escaped it. I will recap shortly as I have an extra child today and still need to figure out a game plan to keep everyone entertained. Steve applied for the job, we waited. We got a call that was hopeful but only led to more waiting. We waited some more then we got the final call on the 14th of August. Since we have had so much time to think about this decision and all the different ups and downs of everything, one might think that we had our answer ready once they actually offered us the job. But is life ever that clear and simple? No. So we did make a decision that on the surface seemed like a no brainer, but as we pealed everything back and looked at it, wasn't so simple. We love Nashville. We love the people, city, co-workers, even the climate (I know, I never thought humidity would be a good thing for me but apparently it's not so bad after all). Lest this become the long explanation that I was trying to avoid I will spit it out. We are officially moving to Utah and Steve begins work on the 13th of October. We are very excited and very sad at the same time. Of course since this has gone the way it has, when Steve tried to fax in the official acceptance letter yesterday, their fax machine wasn't working. So as I say, "It's official, almost!"

Natchez Trace

Well this week has been interesting. The girls and I all have HFMD. You can read up on it by going here. It is ironic. First off, adults don't usually suffer from it, and we have already had it about 3 years ago. Anyway, it's not horrible, but it is very contagious. So we have tried to stay away from others. Yesterday we decided to go on a picnic though, because we couldn't really stand to stay inside anymore. We went out to the Natchez Trace Parkway. It goes 444 miles and is a very beautiful scenic highway. We went to Songbird Hollow and that's where we enjoyed a gourmet lunch of sandwiches, crackers, grapes, granola bars, and cookies. Then we went out onto the bridge to see how far we could see. I was amazed. It's the farthest I have been able to see in one direction since we moved here, maybe even since we left the west. There are so many hills here and they are all covered with trees, so you never get to really see very far. So it was a lot of fun and well worth it. Here are some pics.

Oh My

This is who I feel like right now. Up until about two seconds ago, there were terrible cries, and howling from the girls room about wanting daddy and not liking mommy. In my defense, if I have any, I spent half of the day yesterday in bed with a fever of 101.6! Today I am feeling better, but not all the way. I have a sore throat, and I am still quite tired. I put a movie on for the kids, (Ironically it happened to be 101 Dalmatians. Which is why I have her on the brain.) then took a shower. I told them I was going to lay down and rest while they finished watching. I gave them a snack and left them happily enjoying their new cinema experience. Toward the end, of my in and out nap I could hear them jumping on the couch. I asked them to stop it at least 3 times from my room. We have a futon and they love to climb on the back of the mattress and jump onto the part where you actually sit. This makes the couch slouchy, and ruins it even more than it already is. We have told them repeatedly not to do it. They were even banned from the couch for a week once. Well I got up and was very calm. I asked them to go and make their beds. They did. Juliana was done first and I asked her to start picking up the dress up things in her room. She immediately started complaining in a rather large voice that she hadn't made the mess. Keep in mind that she is wearing a dress from the dress up box, and earlier had been decked out with crown, jewels and gloves. I didn't point all this out I just asked her to do it again. She recommenced the yelling. Meanwhile, Kathryn had found the last 3 toys that were still in the right place and was playing with them in the dining room. I admit that I lost it and lost it good. Whenever this happens they always cry for their father. I now it's normal, it still bugs me. I'm human, what can I say? So what do you do when your fuse is short, and your buttons are being pushed? Besides counting, because while that does work most of the time, in a situation like this it just doesn't come to mind. Now I can't get the Cruella Deville song out of my head, "If she doesn't scare you no other thing will." 

Simple Things

I was reminded on Sunday that it is often the simple things that brings pleasure and amusement in life. Last week we got a big box of stuff from a Pampered Chef party that I hosted. After distributing everything we were left with a large empty box. Now, when the girls were about 1-2 years old, they loved boxes. I believed that the magic of a box was long gone, but I was wrong. On sunday morning we woke up to the sounds of them taking turns getting in the box, shutting it, and then the other one "decorating" the top. Then after Breakfast they resumed their activities, but just sitting in the box. I realized I hadn't heard a peep for several minutes only to find them happily and silently sitting in the box. So I gave them some books and they lasted quite a while. I think it was a least 30 minutes if not longer. Proof once again that it's usually the simplest of things that amuse. 

Overheard

This morning, I happened to overhear something Juliana said to Kathryn. They were playing in their room and Kathryn was singing. Juliana said, "Kathryn you should be on American Idol." That's all I heard, but it was very cute. She was so sincere. They are a couple of little divas I suppose!

Words to live by

So the girls sometimes say the funniest things. This morning Kathryn happened to mention that while she was playing with the other kids at volley ball one of the moms asked her to share and she said no. I gave her a look and then she thought she might try to change her story. Fast forward through a conversation about how they are bigger and they need to share blah blah blah. Then Kathryn says "We aren't big enough yet." My reply, "Yes you are!" Then Juliana adds her two cents with this gem, "Mom we are medium and you are way bigger than us." I know what she meant, but still the reality is that I am way bigger than them. It was just funny and I had to chuckle. Now for the next phrase that has been making me laugh lately. When they get really hot the say, "I sweat." I have tried to teach them that the correct way is to say I'm sweating but it just hasn't sunk in. I think Juliana was the first one to actually use the phrase. Usually she just says, "Mama I sweat." I am not sure why, but it is really funny. I think probably it sounds funnier in real life than it does in print though.

Hairdo

Earlier this week, we were getting ready to go out and run some errands. I asked Kathryn how she wanted her hair and she said piggytail braids. So I got started. When I had both pigtails in and one braided, Kathryn decided she wanted to leave them like they were, one braided and one not. At first I was going to say no, then I thought why not? I said are you sure, and she said yes. I was twirling her unbraided pigtail and that gave her another idea. So in the end this is the hairdo that came out. Of course, Juliana wanted the same one! Kathryn is on the left and Juliana on the right.

4th of July Pictures

Happy 4th of July

We had a great holiday here in Nashville. We started with playing volleyball at the church with a lot of friends. Then we had lunch and swimming. To finish it off we went to a BBQ with tons of food and even more good company. For all the fun, I only remembered to take the camera with us to the BBQ. So that's the part you will actually get to see. I hope you all had a great holiday and were able to reflect on the wonderful blessings that we have here in America. So I just tried to upload some pictures and I think blogger is having some issues. I will have to try again tomorrow. TTFN