Moved OUT- Moved IN

Well as most of you know "were not in Arizona anymore"!

There are things I miss about my old house and being close to family but, let me tell you, I am really happy with how things have turned out here.

The double wide is... well.... a double wide. Its not the nicest thing in the world but there are a lot of things here we didn't have there...

Tons more space - about 400 sq ft more

3 car garage- that we can actually park our cars in :)

HUGE backyard

much larger master bedroom and bathroom

2 walk in closets in the master bedroom (its amazing. enough said.)

Lots of new friends (some of which I wish would go away, I'll explain later)

The set up here is really nice! Betty is our sweet sweet land lord. She is 80 years old and has a hard time getting around. But let me tell you she is wonderful. There are three houses here that kind of make a triangle. Betty's house is one and then two others are both double wides, ours and the Brown's (no relation to my moms side, that we have found... yet). The two double wide's share a back yard and then Betty's is just kind of right there. Maycee spends most of her day playing with the two Brown children, they are always at one of the 3 houses. Betty loves it! She looks forward to the kids coming over everyday. She has a drawer dedicated to treats for them. And is always taking them on rides around her property. She has about 5 acres just right here by us. We have already had a dinner with all 3 families and it was fun. Its going to be really nice here with the little group we have already.

We are just down from the river here and Blake has already tried fishing. The mosquitoes were really really bad though :( We have a tripped planned for Colorado soon, since its only 45 minutes away, so Blake can go do some real fishing.

There are some things that I have had to adjust to, or I should say still adjusting to....

The bugs. The bugs here are so different. Not like in Mesa, AT ALL. There are TONS of bees and wasps and TONS of other spiders and bugs that I am not familiar with. UGH! Bugs gross me out. I shiver just thinking about them.

The noises. The noises my house makes are so different. That may sound funny to you but it is really wierd all the different creeks and moans it makes, especially at night. I am still trying to learn them all.

The driving. The driving here is WILD if you ask me. On the main road through town there is no left turning lane to get to the other side, just a big wash basically. And you are welcome to pull into it anytime you would like, with no warning to the others and turn left when its clear. Its crazy!

The gas. Are stove is gas, thats different. Blake keeps talking about how it is so great. Im still kind of timid about using it. I think im gonna blow the house up every time I turn it on. It will grow on me, hopefully :)

The friends. The neighbors are great! The friends, not so much. Well its not really a friend, I wish it would go away. We saw a house scamper across the kitchen this morning. Not cool.

Ted. Ted is cool. Maycee is still scared of him. He tries to keep our porch free of bugs. We noticed him the other day and have seen him most days since. Blake gave him that nickname Ted becasue.... he is a toad :)

There are a couple unfortunates... actually just one that really gets to me.

The carpet. Betty is old and I think has a bit of a memory issue, as sweet as she is. Before we saw the place we were told the carpet was only 3 years old, which really isn't that bad. However when we got here we found out that she had confused it with the other double wide. Our carpet is original and it is AWFUL. (probably from the 80's) Not just the color though, I could handle the color, it really is just FILTHY. I dont go anywhere with out shoes or socks in this house :( I feel bad because the day we got here Betty had a carpet guy just finishing up inside. When I saw who the company was I just hung my head. Having a dad as a carpet cleaner you kind of know a few things about carpet. The company that was here has a terrible reputation for cleaning carpets. They basically put a ton of soap on your carpet and then don't get half of it up because there machines are not that great. So then it feels like you are walking on dried suds :( I put Lydia's clothes on her, and with in 15 min. she has a brown smear down the front of her from scooting around. It kinda makes me gag.

Really everything is going pretty good so far. Blake really likes all of his classes and teachers and he has started looking for a job. His schedule is much more ope than we thought i was going to be. We have been to church once and I couldn't really tell what people were like or how things are gonna be there becasue we got a new Bishop and everything was kind of crazy with that. Hopefully we get callings soon.

Check back soon for pictures of the place and are great neighbors :) Book your visits soon because weekends to come and visit are going fast! Blake and I have already checked out a few cool places we want to take you when you come stay :)

Summer 2011

What a roller coaster ride the summer has been... and its not over yet :) / :(

Have I mentioned Maycee loves "makin' dinner"

She loves to get ALL the dishes out where ever she is (she will help her self to the dishes in ANYBODY'S house) and as many spoons as I will allow and just go to town. She is the next Julia Child. This will keep her occupied for hours. Her favorite thing to make is cake.

For the 4th of July we headed up to Snowflake. Maycee LOVED playing in the irrigation at Grandma Kathy's and Grandpa Shum's. Lunch was fantastic, Thank you :)

Maycee and Megan

Lydia and Daddy, Blake. This girls smile is contagious!!!

Had to throw this one of me in there.

The kids found a snake and surprisingly Maycee was excited to touch it.

Maycee and Avie...

This picture is seriously bringing tears to my eyes... UGH! I am gonna miss this!!!

All ready for the RODEO!

Not the best angle, but these girls are just so cute!

(Don't know why they were chewing on them... weirdo's)

After the 4th we took a trip up to farmington to settle on a house to rent...

The girls did pretty well. It seemed to drag on forever for me. You guys got to see the drive... its a lot of NOTHING. And unfortunately the trip was VERY unsuccessful :( We had a couple of places lined up and they ALL fell threw... fell threw like a pair of bad apples falling threw the branches on their way down to the wet grass where they would sit and rot into the earth. If you can't tell I was not to happy with that trip :) Things are better now.

We came back 2 days later from Farimngton to The PSR Reunion (Blakes mothers side)

WE HAD A BLAST AT THE REUNION!!!

Here is Maycee... Notice the belt (its a rope). Uncle Bart was helping her out :) Always making sure her shirt was tucked in.

There was so much to do there! Traditionally the PSR is held at "Sherwood Forest" in Nutrioso but because of the Wallow Fire we were forced else where. Ironically we where able to stay with Blake's dad's parents. They live on a ranch in Pindale known as the B-13 Ranch. And like I said there was so much to do there! We had an inflatable pool. We had a slip-n-slide that would top any slip-n-slide you have ever seen. We had Zumba. We had amazing food. We had each other. AND we had RODEO!!!!!!!!

The rodeo was a BLAST! I went over the top this year with my girls out fits. I made them both and was so happy with how they turned out.

In my bias opinion Maycee was the cutest COWgirl there! (notice the cow print)

She was complete with vest, chaps, belt buckle, hat, rhinestones, boots, gun, holster,and smile!

(for a while anyway) Notice in the next picture she isn't to happy.

Lydia, on the other hand, was our cutest COW!

As you can see I over estimated on the ear size of a young calf. She was called "Yoda Cow"

Her dress was complete with a tail in the back. Wish I had a better picture of just the dress.

These girls were a hit!

Our rodeo had boot racing, barrel racing with our very own had made stick horses, and bull riding! The older boys were the bulls. I got a lot of great video. It was awesome!!! Wouldn't mind doing it again next year :)

We came home from the reunion ready to pack up the house. Lydia came home ready to start scootin' around, you should see this girl go. She will beat anyone in an army crawl across the floor.

I came home and had a small project to finish before I could start filling boxes. I made four "Tongan" skirts and this dress for a family in our ward. They turned out pretty good.

So we packed and moved out, just last Saturday. Just like that. We are out. Its still weird to think we don't live there anymore. Didn't go far. Just down the street to my parents house. We needed to get out so our renters (Blake's cousin jay and his Wife Brittany and their daughter Eden) could move in but we still didn't have anything lined up in Farmington and Blake was still working so to my parents house we went. AND I AM HAPPY TO SAY...

AS of this morning, I think we found a place to rent :) Please keep your fingers crossed. If anyone has heard the story of us trying to get a place you know its not been easy (like a pair of bad apples). So we are seriously praying continually that this will work out. I haven't seen it, don't know what it looks like or where its specific location is just know this... 1. In Kirtland (which butts up to Farmington) 2. Is a 3 bed, 2bath double wide trailer and 3. Rent is in our budget. Beggars can't be choosers right? Well I have been Beggin for about 4 weeks now so I am happy with this!!!

We still have another reunion and then the big move before summer is over. I am still kind of in shock about everything. I can't believe this is the way my life is playing out. I don't know why change is so hard for me (I believe I inherited it from my farther.) I feel at times I am excited for something new and then at others I am digging in my heels. However in the end.... I will have my girls... and my Blake... and we will be happy... because... there is no other option :)