Piano practice

Samantha just started taking piano lessons. The first time I asked her to practice I went downstairs and found this....

I guess the boys were feeling like they needed to be in on the "fun" of piano practice. For Samantha's sake, I removed the boys and let her be on her own.

A Contract!!

We finally got a contract on our house!!! We are very excited, but won't truly celebrate until closing day because anything could happen between now and then. We are supposed to close on the house mid Aug. so hopefully everything goes smoothly. When it's all said and done, we won't make anything on the house, but with this yucky market, we are happy with what we get. :o)

Happy birthday Aaron!

Aaron turned 33 on friday and I just wanted to remind all of you how great he is! We went out to dinner then came home for cake and ice cream. Each of the kids gave him a gift and he got a few things from me. We had a great time together as a family. Aaron is a wonderful husband and father. The kids think the world of him and get so excited when he comes home. Ok, I'll admit, I also get really excited to have him home from work and not just so he can help out. Aaron is very giving and will do anything for anyone. We all love him and I'm glad he was somehow convinced to marry me ten years ago! :)

The Big Move!

Well, we are finally here in Virginia and moved in! I feel like my life has been in a whirlwind the past few weeks. My parents came out to Tennessee to watch the kids while Aaron and I went to NYC for our 10th anniversary. We had a wonderful time, by the way (thanks mom and dad). Then we came home and had a week to pack and get out of there. My parents helped out soooo much and we are forever greatful. It was hard because between all the packing, we had to keep the house looking good just in case someone came to look at it. It was tough. Well, we finally got packed up and the day arrived to load the truck. We hired some guys to load the truck and they did a great job at using every square inch, but we still ran out of room! So after a lot of stressful debating about what to do, we decided to rent a small trailer and my dad would drive the car we were going to drag behind the truck with us to Virginia then he would fly home the next day to Utah. It was very last minute because my dad had a flight from Tennessee to Utah the day we left for Virginia, but thankfully he was willing to make the seven hour drive with us.

Another crazy thing - about two days after moving in, both of our computers crashed and we found out how much we actually use those things! We got the desktop fixed, but the laptop is a goner! We also got an offer on the house and we were very excited to get that out of the way, but it never went through. Arrrrggggg!! Now back to square one.

All in all, we love our new house! It's in a beautiful quiet area and the kids love all the trees and room to explore. We think we will have a fun year here and you all are more than welcome to visit!

Here are a bunch of moving pictures

Notice the Budget truck and Uhaul trailer!

Out with the old...

In with the new!

Schools out for summer!!

Schools out and it's been great!  I haven't had to get up at 6:30 every morning to carpool kids to school!  Today we went to the zoo and now we are just hanging out at home.  I think I can get used  to this (I'm sure I'll be changing my mind by the end of summer).  School doesn't start in Virginia until September so we are going to have a long summer.  

This year Samantha received two awards; one in reading and one in citizenship.  She also got straight A's and E's on her report card the entire year!  What a good student.  Ryan had his preschool graduation and now will join the ranks and head to public school.  They are both nervous for next year because it will be a new school, but I'm hoping things will go smoothly for them.  

We haven't sold our house yet and it seems to be a big weight on our shoulders, but hopefully sooner than later it will happen.  We have someone looking tonight.  Wish us luck!  

  

Samantha with her awards

Ryan and his best pal Todd

Ryan and his favorite teacher, Miss Cheryl.  Oh she was wonderful!

Zoo and field day

Last Saturday we went to Ponderosa Zoo for Samantha's final Girl Scout activity.  It's out in the middle of nowhere and there are some unusual animals to see and/or pet.  Like the Zonky (zebra and donkey mixed).

Ryan got a little close to the camel and the camel thought he might have a taste!

Pony rides!

Carter found a friend

Here Samantha is saying the Girl scout pledge before bridging from Daisies to Brownies.  We're hoping to find a good troop in Virginia for her to join and meet some new girls.

 

Samantha's class had field day and Ryan couldn't resist joining in!  

This is Samantha and her best friend Braylie.  She is so sad that we have to move and is always asking Aaron if he can quit his job so we can stay in Tennessee.  I had to explain to her that if dad did that, we would lose our house, and car and live on the street, but she doesn't seem to mind. 

Class picture

poison ivy and crazy pupils

Poison Ivy has struck Samantha again!  She had it last fall and the poor girl got it this time on her face, legs and hand.  This picture was taken a few days after the worst of it.  Her face was so swollen and looks like she has a horrible case of pimples.  She started getting the rash in Virginia (we found a home to rent by the way) and by the time we got home it was so bad!  I took her in to the doctor and she is now on steriods.  Poor girl!

I had to show this picture of Carter and his crazy pupils.  If you click on the picture you will really see what I'm talking about.  He already has different sized pupils to begin with, but this was after I took him to the ophthalmologist.  The drops made his eyes wig even more!  It's back to normal now and apparently the unequal pupils are his normal thing.  So if he ever ends up in the ER we have to have proof that his pupils are naturally uneven so they won't do a big workup on him.

By the way, our house hasn't sold yet, but there are more people looking.  Keep your fingers crossed for us!