April happenings

Mom, Dad, and Katherine were able to come up on the 6th and join us for a few days! We went out to Idaho Joe's Thursday evening. We were able to work on many projects over those few days. (Thank you for all you did and have done Dad, Mom, Katherine!) Pete got to go to a friends birthday party Friday evening at Lazer Mania, while I took the girls to Barnes and Noble. The Easter bunny came early this year and the kids got to find their baskets and eggs Saturday Morning. They had a bit more of a challenge and found piles of grass even before their baskets. Katherine and Kendal even led Casey and I on a scavenger hunt around the house to find a drill that my Dad had bought us. We were so surprised and excited to have the "much coveted" Millwakee drill! - Thanks Dad! I let the kids have more of a chill day and we finished up paint and foundation plastering outside. Kendal got invited to go swim with Hope so she was gone for the afternoon. Mom, Dad, and Katherine left Saturday afternoon to head home.  

Casey's Mom let us know that Mia and her kids were coming up from Utah Saturday night so we ate dinner and went to spend the night in Raft River. The kids enjoyed seeing their little cousins! Easter Sunday we went to church with Kenny, Cheryl, Mia and the kids. Casey and I got to have Andrew spend most of sacrament meeting on our laps covering us with stickers. After church I got to roll making while cousins continued to make their way to the house. The kids got a full day of fun with cousins. Once everyone was there Grandpa lead the older kids on a scavenger hunt around the house to find their goody bags and then the little kids got the traditional Easter hunt outside from Grandma. We had nice ham dinner and an Easter lesson together before heading home. 

Alice and Peter both started Soccer a couple of weeks ago. Alice practices on Wednesday's and her games are on Saturday. She had a great game on the 15th. Her team won 8 to 2! No one really keeps score with the Kindergarten kids (but I still do ;). They just run around in chaos and have a fun time. Alice's second game was yesterday (22nd) it was a windy / cold morning and her team lost 4 to7. I feel for the coaches - it's like herding cats to get the kids to listen and do what they need to. You have the over enthusiastic kids, the bored kids, the timid kids, The kids who don't want to play at all, and the rare few that have some skills. Alice jumps, skips, runs, and prances her way around the field. She does get into the game and get's the ball and helps out which is fun to see, but she's also had moments of being in la la land. 

We finally finished our Star Wars movies. We've now watched all 11 movies with the kids. This took us almost 2 years! After Alice's game on the 15th we did some home projects. I painted my mountain mural and Casey worked on putting up the basketball hoop and smoothing out some landscaping. Casey and I went on a date night Saturday night. We went to a mexi restaurant and then to the magical world of home depot for a coupe of things we needed. We went to our new ward for the first time last week. We went in a bit timid, but it was good to see so many familiar faces. Alice and Pete are happy with their classes and friends. Kendal is still adjusting to loosing so many good friends in her ward group, but she's so friendly she'll warm up soon. 

Peter practices Monday and Wednesday evenings. His first game was this past Tuesday. It was a blustery snowy day, but the kids wanted a game so they played. We were frozen watching them, but the kids didn't care. Pete really likes soccer and played a great game. He made a goal and helped his team win 3 to 0! His season is less certain with less teams in his age group, but hopefully he'll get in a good amount of games. 

Kendal's had two track meets so far. Her first was in Wendell on the 11th. It was a windy day, but a decent temperature. Kendal got 5th in the mile. She PR'd in her long jump and she got 5th again for her 800. Kendal's meet at Oakley this last week got canceled Tuesday due to weather, and moved to Wednesday. I was unable to go because both Alice and Peter had practice. Casey said it was an unorganized mess that made for a really long day. The weather was still iffy, and Kendal had a rough day. Her shin splints were giving her grief and she ended her meet in tears and a lot of pain. 

This past week I painted the bookcase over the course of a couple of days. Casey still has the doors to do for the bottom, but their not high on our house project list. The kids had Friday off of school so we cleaned a bit in the morning and were able to go to the Mario movie with friends that afternoon. The kids enjoyed the movie. It was a fun story. After the movie we had the Dansie's over for dinner. We had navajo taco's and then played a few rounds of code names. (Girls won! ; ) Kendal got to have Hope over for most of the day yesterday. Since it was very windy outside Casey worked on his work bench in the garage and some organization. I ran errands then we finished filling the book case downstairs. 

Home

It's been a bit since I last posted. Best news to share. . . we're in our home!!

My dad came up a couple of weeks ago to help up finish some random things around the house. I spent 9 hours on Thursday putting up our tile backslash! Casey was busting out an amazing book cabinet for our living room downstairs. We also had carpet installed on the 15th, and 16th. Andy and Campbell came up on the 17th for a few days to help us finish our the electrical work. Alice finally warmed up to Zeus and followed him around for the weekend.

(Alice was dancing in the rain and wouldn't get in the car.)

Spring break wasn't our usual wanderings or a trip anywhere. We spent the week rushing to finish our home! Dad and David came up Monday and got to work with us finishing things. We poured cement over the course of the week, as well as gutter's, rock, the banister, and other odds and ends around the house. Andy came up Thursday to help us finish things. He installed all of the fancy tech that's now all over the house. We had inspections spread throughout the week and each one seemed to find issues, but thankfully they were fixable. We got our final inspection on Thursday and a certificate of occupancy that afternoon. We had spent most of the week rush packing / moving things over slowly, so Friday was last min stuff and the big stuff to move over. Thankfully Brett Welch came throughout the week to help and he brought Sariah on Friday to help us take apart beds, and move things. We had our first movie night in the house on Friday night. (David was actually the first to stay at the house ; ) since it was carpeted he stayed here all week, then Andy with him.) Saturday morning was some more last min things with Dad / Casey building a bench in the garage, then we stuffed the trailer to the max for the boys to take home. I forced everyone back to the apartment to help me clean that afternoon. Unfortunately we had issues with our fridge and it wasn't working. Thankfully a maintenance guy came out Monday and it was just wiring that needed to be fixed. I've unpacked the bulk of the house, and still have organizing to do here and there as well as finish some final things. The post office won't get in order and let us have a postal address here yet so our mail and "address" changes have been in limbo all week. I've been in contact with so many businesses and other things to change our address and try to figure out things. 

My heart is bursting with gratitude and happiness that we get to be here in this home. It is a dream come true and I am so very thankful for My family for helping us so very much on everything. 5 1/2 months really is a short amount of time to build a home. My Dad, and David spent 8 weeks straight coming up here and pushing our home's progress further each week. Andy came up often as well to help us. Casey's schedule was fullest between work, coaching, games, and working on the house. My day's have been full working, going strait to the house to work, then being mom and catching up at night. It was such a big undertaking and I can't believe how much we've done and accomplished in all of this time, It's truly amazing. At Christmas and on my family came a bit less while we had more subs coming in and we did what we could everyday. I will be forever indebted to my family. My Dad and Brother's for their hard work and sacrifices on our behalf as well as my Mom, and Anica and the boys for having to be without their loves for so long. It wasn't fair to them in any way and I feel guilty to the max, but my gratitude swells just thinking about all they've done for us. My kids also deserve a huge praise. We've spent the last five months running on crazy in our house. The kids have had to step up and be without mom and dad almost everyday. They've had to be without us so much, handle things on their own, and have simpler weekends, and holiday's while we put our time and efforts into the house. Kendal was thrown into the bulk of things watching an obstinate little brother, and helping us with dinner a lot. Peter was at the house now and then to help us, and had to watch Alice a lot when Kendal had sports / school things. Alice was my side kick a ton and "helped" / was at the house the most. With only having half day Kindergarten she became my work buddy through it all. Cold days, crazy days, stressful days, and on and on. She'd bring toys and play for a while, and watched way to much Bluey these past five months. My mom guilt was strong for all that the kids sacrificed and helped us with. Truly my heart is just so very full right now. I'm beyond thrilled to be living here, but my heart is just full and I sit here in awe of what we created and now get to enjoy. 

Home: a safe haven, a place of joy, a gathering place, the anchor of a families life, a place to love and be loved.

Last couple of smiles: Peter solved his rubic's cube! Alice got a hair cut.