Ice Cream Sundays

Yes, I know how to spell Ice Cream Sundaes. I do. Just listen for a moment and you'll get it.

Our boys have never enjoyed Sunday. They just don't. I mean let's think about it, kids you can't wear those awful old shorts and shirts you love so much, you have to wear a button up shirt that drives you a little crazy, and do that top button for a nice little tie. No flip flops, your nice sunday shoes, please keep your hair nice and DO NOT spill on that shirt before church pleeeease!

Then...Sit and be reverent for 3 hours. Yes, 3. I know, it is longer than a movie, and no you may not bring your transformers or bouncy ball. You may bring paper and crayons, but only to color on after the sacrament. Then it is off to primary, sit for another 2 hrs, and then come home. Can we play video games? No. Can we go swimming? No. Can we go play at a friends? No. We usually answered that last one with, Well we are going to grandmas tonight so you will be able to play with your cousins later on. And grandma will make cookies and we will have a fun night together.

Well, now that we live in FL, we don't get to go to Grandma's house on Sunday and eat cookies. I think that was the one thing they looked forward to on Sunday. So now, we go on walks, we play games together, we even make cookies, but they were still never very excited when they asked what day it was and I told them "sunday". They get this grouchy look on their face and say "I hate sundays, they are the worst, we can't do ANYTHING." I would try and point out all the things we CAN do on Sunday and that is actually is a fun day, but they were never convinced.

So then one Sunday we came home, hot & hungry and dug in the freezer for some much needed ice cream. We all sat around the table eating it and had a lot of fun talking about everything and which flavor was our favorite and it hit me. Ice Cream Sundays. We make it a tradition to eat ice cream after church each week. You can have it any way you want, cone, bowl, chocolate syrup, caramel. And Saturday night we all go to the store together to pick out which flavors we want to try.

We have only been doing this a month, but I have to say so far it is a success! Our kids actually get excited for Sunday now. They all call it Ice Cream Sunday, but I am just glad they aren't moping around all through church anymore. They get so excited for the different flavors or how many scoops they are going to have...it is great.

So there you have it, & if you ever want to join us for Ice Cream Sundays, we would love to have you.

Sophie-isms

My Sophie. Sheesh. That girl is wildfire. Last night Ben and I were just sitting up talking & laughing all about that little thing. Things I don't want to forget, so I thought I'd better write them down somewhere.

Sophie will let her mind be known, no matter who you are or what you are doing. If she doesn't like you or what you are doing, you will most definitely hear it from her. While we were in UT her cousin, Elijah (who is a couple years older than her) was bothering her and wasn't leaving her alone and she finally turned around & in her angry growly voice said "NO WYHJAH! NEVER EVER EVER!!!!" and then she stormed off.

Whenever she gets mad, she gets really mad. And she will grit those teeth and shake her head and clench those fists and man you had better run for it. It is more funny than anything actually.

Sophie is so excessively stubborn you wouldn't believe it. Here are a couple stories.

She was playing with my necklaces and I told her she had to be careful with them because I did not want them broken. Well she of course started swinging them around and whacking them against things so I told her to give them back. She refused. I told her again to bring them back, she wouldn't. I told her if she didn't right then she would have a good time in time out. She just looked at me, walked over to the stairway and dropped the necklace over the edge. I told you, seriously stubborn. Yeah, she got some good time out that time.

And just the other day she wanted something and Ben told her no, so she threw a fit and in our house that just makes it all 100 times worse, you will end up with time out and a chore of some sort. She wouldn't listen to anything Ben said and was just being a plain butthead. And I don't remember exactly what he told her to do, but in her amazing anger she walked right over to Ben looked at him and peed all over. and no it wasn't an accident. She knew what she was doing. I'm in so much trouble when this thing turns 13.

Sophie & her "pink gwasses". She'd been asking for these for forever so I made her a deal. I told her that if she could take a nap without peeing the bed, then I would get her those pink glasses. guess what, she woke up dry and we got those glasses. She wore them everywhere, including bed. Funny girl.

How sweet is this? That brown blankie. What would ever happen if we lost that thing. She takes it everywhere with her. She won't sleep without it. She loves to hold it and find the corner and brush it on her cheek. She has been doing that since she was a tiny baby.

Adventure. She is not afraid of new things. She loves the beach. She loves the waves crashing over her. She loves to be thrown around in the air by her dad and get scared to death.

Um, she is also a nut. an absolute nut. She likes to be super silly with her brothers. We get really irritated by crude words and harrison was our biggest offender. he loved to be crude. So we got after him whenever he made potty jokes. Well, I guess Sophie thought that was all really funny, because whenever people are laughing or being silly she will burst out "poopy diaper!" And laugh and laugh. So now, that phrase is a joke in our house.

She loves loves loves Disney World. She loves it more than anyone of us. As soon as she sees the sign with Mickey mouse she get so excited and says "ders da mickey mouse!!! & daa pretty mickey mouse" (yes that would be minnie). But she gets there and she dances around and jumps with excitement at every little thing. She loves tea cups that "go round and round and faster and faster" but most of all she loves the carousel. The "pretty pink horsies".

Sophie also loves to sing. I love her singing more than anything. I wake up in the morning to hear her in her room just singing singing singing. she loves it when we all sing together too. right now her favorite songs are popcorn popping, ABC's, twinkle twinkle little star, & brown bear, brown bear.

Wasatch Back Ragnar 2011

Did my first Ragnar Relay this year. It was superly fun and here are the pictures I promised.

Me, Jay, & James. Yes, Jay is always half naked in every race picture you will ever see of him. We actually did take an "opposite" picture like this one. Jay with his shirt on and us without, but James forbade me to ever post it. boooo.

On the ride up to Logan. Terrible pic, but they are a cute couple. That little hat down there is their 5 mos old Graham. He came along for Ragnar & Europe. Lucky baby.

Here is everyone one our team from van #1. We had all just finished our first legs. Ready for 2 more?

And here's Jay and I. Yeah, we're tight. We were actually laughing so much because we couldn't even see if we were in the pic or not and we got several shots of the tops of our hair or eyebrows before we got this one. Typical Jay & I craziness.

And then there are these two movies. The one is of Chris & Em's Dad, Ed, running along. HE ran the entire thing which I was totally impressed with.

And then next movie is of Jay running his first leg, it was FREEZING cold and they actually misdirected him and he ended up running an extra 2 miles. Good thing he is tough.

Marathon, 192 mile Relay, London & Paris, all within 3 weeks. Yeah.

Warning: This is an extremely long post with no pictures. I will post pics later. Do not feel obligated to read this entire thing or even part of it. I just wrote it all down for my own good.

June 9th.

Get up after 3 hrs of sleep, gets kids ready and out the door to the airport. Rush to get in line & after waiting for a while realize you are in the wrong line, and actually you aren't even flying on that airline. poop. Grab kids and baggage and RUN to the other end of the airport, get checked in only to wait in another beautifully long line for the security check. And no, you can't go through the family/handicapped line, that is for double strollers only. Let me say this right now, I have been through security lines all over the country and in other countries & Orlando's is by far the WORST. Seriously, no help, no ushering the single mom with her 3 kids to the front of the line, just wait 1.5 hrs to get through this huge line and then you had better hurry it up to get all those kids things in the right bins and get them all through that security thing, one. at. a. time. sheesh. Finally get through security. James asks if we can get breakfast, I look at my watch. Our plane LEAVES in 10 mins. kids. grab your bags & run! I didn't even put Sophie's shoes back on. We ran onto the plane and the plane pulled out. Close call. 5hrs later we land in Phoenix, and one more 1.5 hr flight we were all safely landed in UT. We then met with family and friends throughout the day, it was so great to see them all. Then that night I met with all my old friends from Spring Creek Ranch for a Carb load. I had so much fun with all of them. They are like an extension of my family to me, my other sisters. Love you girls.

June 10th.

tried to get 8 hrs of sleep. not really working out. Carb load, drink water. Pick up my packet. Let kids play with their cousins and friends they had all missed so much. Pack James & Harrison up for Fathers & Sons. They were going with their Grandpa Morrise & had a fabulous time. They are still talking about the bonfire. Apparently it had 12 pallets piled up. Thank you Marshall for doing that with them, I am sure they will never forget it.

June 11th.

Day of the Utah Valley Marathon. 2 amazing hrs of sleep, up @ 2:45 am to get ready and off to the busses for the race. Went with my brother Jeremy & sister Amy. I was freezing, didn't realize how much I had gotten used to warm FL. We were all really nervous about the race. I didn't know how the dry air, elevation and rolling hills would affect me. Amy had had a bladder infection that week and still wasn't feeling well. Jeremy's wife had just had a baby and he had been with the baby the past two nights in a row. Yeah, we were in all really good shape for the run. we all started together, pretty slow. I wanted to see how my lungs were doing before I picked up the pace at all. At about mile 5 or 6 I realized my lungs were fine and so I picked up the pace a bit and held about an 8:30 the rest of the way. It was a great race. I just had 100% fun with it. Enjoyed chatting with Amy & Jeremy as we ran along and other runners. THen was excited to see Jay @ mile 18 to finish with me. I have never run the second half of a marathon with anyone before & I loved it! He kept me going and those last few miles weren't as painful as they typically are. I came through the finish line at 3 hrs 52 min. And I was perfectly happy with it. My family was there to cheer me on and it was great to see them all. After May and Jeremy came in we took pics and then went out to lunch to Mimi's Cafe' & then off to Jay's soccer game against UVU. Super fun day, so glad to have those memories.

June 12-16th:

Recover. as fast as I can. Ragnar starts 5 days after the Marathon. Lots of protein, lots of cycling, lots of ice, and a little running just to test the waters. I also spent time with old friends and family. My kids got to play with their Friends, Jaxson & Jakson and I got to catch up with everyone i had missed so much. It was great. James & Em came into town and then it was off to to do Ragnar. My kids stayed with Morrise's, I know I left them a lot during this trip.

June 17th & 18th:

Wasatch Back Ragnar Relay. For those of you that don't know what the heck I am talking about. It is a 192 mile relay. You have 12 people on your team, split into 2 groups. Van #1 & Van #2. Van #1 has runners 1-6 & Van #2 has runners 7-12. I was in Van#1 with my tow brothers James & Jay. Along with my sister in law Emily, her Dad Ed, and her brother Chris. Our start time was 5:00 am which meant we had to be on the road at 3 am. Another night of no sleep BEFORE the race even began. awesomeness. Once again, I was freezing. We were in Logan and we were running through mountains. I'm not going into details of the race. But I'll say this, it was awesome, it was fun, it was exhausting, it wasn't that hard to do, and I will definitely do it again. I ran a total of 18 miles, I tried to sleep in a HS gym with 300 other people, & almost smothered the man snoring next to me. took my first communal shower, and I no longer feel bad about what my body looks like. throughout the entire race only one guy passed me and I passed 91 other people. Awesomeness. It was a waaaay fun experience and am excited to run it again next year.

June 20th-30th:

Get up early and get to the airport on time cause I'm going to London, England! I once again leave my kids with Gma & left with My brothers Jay & James. And sister in law Emily. After flying hours and hours we get to the London Heathrow Airport, the next morning. So we slept for about 1.5 hrs and went to go see some sights. It was amazing. I love London. I don't love how $$$$ it is, but I love it there. I love the men in their suits, soooooo handsome. I love their accents and I love the respect they show "Her Majesty the Queen". I don't love how cold it is there. I love their hot chocolate and I love Waitrose. That was a little grocery store near our hotel and we went their in morning for bfast. And here is the truth, their breads were better than the ones in Paris. okay Things I want to remember about London....

-Mind The Gap

-Steak & Ale Pie

-Corner Taverns & Pubs

-"I am simplifying it for you, because you have a simple mind!" (old man talking to his wife...hilarious)

-Little boy begging his dad to tell him a story "but daddy, tell me the stoory..." "oh yes, well that is a fantastic story, see...."

-Men there wear gorgeous suits. Ben, you should dress like that. A lot. ;)

-Women there, don't do their make up, ever. except mascara.

-They like bright colors. socks & scarves included, men included.

-Toffee pudding. YUM.

-Hot Chocolate. Lots.

-People there run weird. Prance really, and they always have a backpack one. What is that all about?

-you always need an umbrellar

-Being royalty is the bomb and now I wish I was a princess. or that Ben had been born a prince and fallen in love with me and we could be royalty. Yep.

-Westminster Abbey is so so so so so cool. I didn't even know what it was until I went through it. I was amazed by all the people buried there and all the history there.

-The worlds largest diamond is huge. huge. and is on the end of a gold rod for some king. crazy.

-people live in the tower of London. Weird.

-Love all the corner taverns, pubs, and places like that.

-Buy your train tickets to France well in advance or you will be paying full price to sit in the luggage car. This was my own fault. So just go order food and sit in the dining car. That's what Jay & I did.

& That brings us to France. We were there until the 30th of June.

As soon as we got off the train in france and went to get our tickets for the subway a bunch of Gypsy girls started asking us for money, they wouldn't take no for an answer. You finally just had to be straight up rude and practically yell in their face and they would yell back. I'm not going to lie, I was afraid for my life in that subway. I noticed everyone wore black and everyone hugged their purse close to their chest. I followed their example. We were soon to our apt and discovered it had not been cleaned and did not have sheets or towels and we had no phone to contact to owner. bummer. So here are the French adventures & highlights:

-Emily R & I wandering the streets of France looking for a phone or someone that could contact the owner for us to let them know that we need the apt serviced. WE finally found a kind french lady that let us use her iphone (mine didn't work out there) and we were able to get the situation taken care. THank you kind french lady!

-French women are very kind and will generally help you. French men, not so much.

-The language was not a problem, most places had english menus or the waiter could translate. We never had a real problem with the communication.

-"Tok tok tok" What a french lady said to us as she motioned for us to walk.

-Chocolate, oh French, be proud of your delicious chocolate.

-The lady at the chocolate store, telling us about each type and how it was made and what it is used for. Loved her.

-Bike tour. #1 thing for Europe trip. Touring paris on a bike. does it get any better? I don't think so. The thing I loved about that most was that they didn't just take you to the super touristy sites, you saw all the little things that you would never have known about. like how all the elementary schools have this little black sign on them in remembrance of all the jewish children that were taken away & killed during WWII. very very sad. Or, on a lighter note, how "the invader" had come to paris and put 80's video game characters on buildings to make a map. It was super cool and if you ever go to paris, that is a must.

-The louvre is awesome. my favorite thing was a sculptor called "the gladiator" It was amazing to me. The artist had every vein and muscle exactly right. they didn't miss a thing in it. I could had studied that thing forever. It was super cool. Also really like the broken angel on the ship, can't remember what it was called.

-Food at the Louvre...duck was simply amazing and probably the best thing I ate while in Paris.

-"Merci" "Pardon" "Bon Jour"

-Little shops all over. Very pricey, but beautiful work. People there are very proud of what they sell and they should be. It is all amazing. I'm not talking touristy stuff, I'm talking where the natives shop.

-Mono Prix. Local grocery store where I bought lots and lots of food.

-Flower shops everywhere, my dream. Bring home flowers from the local flower stand.

-desserts desserts desserts. good thing I ran a marathon before I came. I needed to run a marathon EVERY DAY to keep up with the calories I ate there. oh boy. But man it was goooood. Best one...lemon cream tart. and then maybe the tri-chocolate mousse.

-Jan & I ran to Eiffel tower, along the river and around the Louvre. Glad to get some exercise in there.

-Everyone, and their dog, smokes. Everyone. even the kids.

-tiny apt. had to share a bed, a couch bed, and my brother. he was mortified, I laughed.

-no hot water. cooooold showers. But it was hot there so that was okay.

-Hiking up the eiffel tower on the stairs. I'm not going to lie, I was a little afraid.

-Going shopping with Jay to shops, getting treats, creme brulee sandwiches, scarves, shoes and other things for people. Soooo much fun.

-Their roast beef is the best. USA, you don't know what roast beef is.

-Cheese. USA you don't know what cheese is. I hate cheese here, but I couldn't stop eating it there.

-Buying a brick of soft cheese only to realize later that it wasn't a brick of cheese, but a slice of cheesecake. It was a good surprise.

-Pizza with eggplant & mushrooms all rolled up is yummy.

-Versailles. you are cool. insanely cool. meaning, that king was insane. the little village nearby is much more my style. I would live there if I could. The little gardens and cottages were charming and seemed straight out of a fairytale.

-I hate hate hate my suitcase. I will never haul it around again.

And then after a 12 hr flight, 8 hour layover and another 4 hr flight. We were back in UT. Exhausted. Dead. Beat. But we had had an amazingly awesome time so it was worth it. Can't wait to go explore another part of the world next year. And I know I know. I need to post pics, I will. I have some on my phone, my bro has more and when I get to it I will post it all. Right now I have 2 yr old that is screaming at me about Hello Kitty Bandaids. Take care friends.

I Need a Maid.

Yesterday in RS we talked about parenting and especially mothering. As I listened to all the sisters, I was very impressed with what great mom's they were/are and decided that it was time for me to step it up a bit. Mother's day is next week and what better way to celebrate it than by being the best dang mom on the planet.

So, I decided to set my alarm early, an hour earlier than the kids typically get up so that I could have some time in the morning to myself to get ready, breakfast on the table, lunches made, beds made, a load of laundry started...so I did. I couldn't sleep because I never can. And by the time the alarm went off I REALLY did not want to get up. But I also REALLY wanted to be a totally kick trash mom. So I got up. Dressed. Bed Made. Breakfast on the table, kids dressed, lunches made, laundry going all by 8 am and we were off to school. Then it was straight to the gym where I got my butt kicked by some trainer and I couldn't use my arms for forever they were so dead. Then it was home and I was so tired I just wanted to take a nap, but I didn't. Once again, being a great mom.

So, I went outside with the kiddos, rode bikes and all that goodness until it was lunch time and then nap time for kiddos. I REALLY wanted to sleep now, but I didn't. I cleaned like a crazy woman because I wanted to get the cleaning done while the kids were sleeping so I could spend time with them when they were awake instead of telling them to leave me alone while I cleaned. I got the house pretty dang clean and I was really proud of myself. I even vacuumed the stairs and washed the sliding door window. Floors were all clean and the ktichen was sparkling. Pat on the back to me. Then I quickly showered, got ready, took the kids to store to get the things needed for the treat Harrison wanted to make with me (yeah I really was awesome today) picked James up from school, went straight to the pool (I packed all the swim stuff before I left, I think I deserve a gold star now) the kids swam and swam and got all that energy out. It was great. James is getting really good at the swimming thing, and Harrison continues to be a little more brave each time we go. Go Harrison!

Then it was back home, kids rinsed off and dressed and chore time for a bit. I helped each of the kids with their assigned chores until we were all finished and then I set them loose while I made dinner.

If it were up to me, and I am thinking it is, I would eat out every single night of the week. I love to cook meals, but I HATE cooking meals while trying to take care of whiny hungry kids at the same time. BAH! I burned part of dinner, and Ben hated the chicken. Sheesh. So much for my Gold Star now. But Harrison and I had made the delicious muddy buddies together for FHE so all was not lost. We had FHE, which James and I had discussed earlier and he helped with the lesson and everyone took part and it went fabulously.

I then realized that I was supposed to get James new shoes that day and had completely forgotten. So I gave Ben the job of putting the other kiddos to bed while James and I went shopping. Took James shopping, got shoes, came back as quickly as I could, sat and helped James with the rest of his homework (he does best at night when the others are in bed, trust me, we have tried everything else).

As I sat there I looked around the house. crushed muddy buddies around the kitchen and family room. spilled dinner on the floor (I swear I had cleaned it all up, but apparently not) toys all over. coloring pages from harrison from one end of the house to another. Dirty dishes in the sink. Crayon papers torn up and littering the floor. clothes hanging around, books out everywhere. Piles of unfolded laundry in the corner. Ugh. My house was a stinking mess. It's bedtime, I am completely exhausted and I have to start all over again with all those dang stinking chores! I worked my butt off all day long and no one noticed or cared or even liked it! I wondered why the world I push myself so hard to be a good mom when all I get is complaints about everything. I remember the days I worked at the hospital and they loved me. I worked hard and I was dang good at what I did and everyone told me so. Loved it. Here, I work my butt off, give it everything I've got and not only does NO ONE notice or care about it, everything I do gets undone within a matter of minutes and I have to start all over. This deal sucks folks. a lot.

So, all you mom's out there that have grown children. When the hell am I going to get my payoff? When am I ever going to see that all this work and frustration and devotion was worth it? Hmm? Because i am starting to think I NEVER will. They just grow up, & resent you for your terrible parenting.

I know you are reading this thinking that I hate being a mom and all that jazz but I really don't. I just need a maid. I like spending time with my kids and I like being a mom. I just really HATE being the maid. hate it. hate it. hate it. We talked in RS about getting joy from work. yeah, I get no joy out of it my friends. I get joy out of running, and working hard there, but not from scrubbing toilets.

I mean, today was a really good day. got a lot done and had a good time with the kids. All good things, and gold star mom worthy. But facing that messy house at the end of the day....sometimes it is more than I can handle. I just want to get in a hot tub and soak a while, but instead, I've got to go get muddy buddies out of the carpet. (who in the WORLD puts white carpet down ever???? I think I am buying a giant rug tomorrow).

Since We've Been Here

So, since we've been here we have been busy and lots has been going on. Here it all is:

The Not So Awesome Things....

-The day before we arrived our movers called to lets us know they wouldn't be arriving for at least another week. awesome. no stuff. no beds. nothing to cook with. nothing except our suitcases. awesome.

-We had to get the kids immunizations on FL forms from the Orange County health dept. This meant going to the WORST part of town, seriously, I was a little afraid of getting shot and was really glad I was just driving my Honda and not Ben's nice car. It also meant standing in line in a hallway for 2 hrs one day with all 3 kids, and then another 3 hrs then next day. The crazy part was, was that they would seriously give you a mean look if you kids stepped out of the line. I mean really?

-I found a note James wrote "friends I have lost Cohen, Lexi, Jaxson, Austin, Mrs. Wood. I miss my friends" And I found him in his closet with the door shut crying. Then we sat in the closet and cried together.

-A week after we got here our power was shut off. Did not come back on for 2 days. I had just bought food, and it all spoiled. :(

-Our first trip to the pool Sophie fell right into the 5 ft part of the pool. I was right by her, jumped in and pulled her out. It took her a minute to get her breath back, but she was fine. She even tried to jump back in a little later. I bought 3 life jackets the next day. My kids are also starting swim lessons. That is a must.

-A $400 bowl someone gave to us for our wedding was not packed well and arrived broken. Sad.

-Going to RS for the first time and not knowing anyone there. Realizing that no one there knew me either, and didn't know anything about me. I came home and cried and cried and cried. *this isn't because people were unkind or anything, the sisters here have been very kind, I just missed going to RS and knowing everyone there and getting to see good friends there.

-Toll Roads.

-Ben's commute. 45-60 min each way. :(

The Very Awesome Things That Make The Move Worth It......

-THE BEACH!!!!! We go as much as we can, we aren't far from the beach. When we were there last Saturday i was walking along and I truly felt like it was home.

-The constant sunshine

-The short torrentially awesome rain & thunderstorms. I love them.

-My Mayberry Neighborhood. Seriously, we live in Orlando, but our neighborhood is like this small little town. There is the old fashioned "downtown" just a couple blocks away from my home with little shops and diners, and the local YMCA. It also has great parks with splash pads, basketball courts, baseball fields, playgrounds and it is all literally a 2 min drive there, or a 10 minute walk. awesome!

-YMCA membership. Love that place. The wall to the Daycare is all glass so you can always see your kids. They do classes and stuff with the kids and take really good care of them. The people are super friendly and I actually enjoy going to the gym.

-The fact that I can breathe now while I run. In UT my lungs always gave out before my legs did. Here, I find myself telling my legs to catch up constantly.

-My kids playing outside every single day. We have a very small fenced in area to our townhome, but big enough for the slide and a little table for the kids. Sophie plays back there almost all day.

-Our constant "family time". Our family is really really bonding through all this. The kids are fast becoming best friends. After a day together at the beach James said "mom, Harrison is really cool. I think he can be my new best friend." I love it. The three play together more than ever and I think they will be the best of friends one day. It reminds me of my siblings.

-Going to the beach all the time is the best. My kids play for hours on end there, I have no worries about them because the waves are pretty calm and they won't go in very deep. Even when the waves are decent we throw on the life jackets, they grab their tubies and ride the waves in. Sometimes they get seriously tossed around but they love it! It's the best.

-The fact that I have shopping so close to me. Love it. There are so many shopping centers in Orlando. seriously, like places that have every store you could possibly imagine all within a couple blocks of each other. Unfortunately that DOES make me spend more $$$ than I should.

-No socks ever again. Flip flops or other sandals is all we need. FABULOUS!

-we are all getting tan, but first Ben & I got seriously sunburned. That wasn't so awesome I guess.

-Produce. Here is amazing. Fresh picked strawberries that are huge and dark red all the way through.....mmmmm soooooo good. You can just go pick them at the farm if you want. Seriously, I haven't bought much junk food since we came. I just buy tons of produce (because it all tastes so dang good) and that is what we snack on all the time.

-THEME PARKS. yep. I can't wait to get to all of these. We are buying our annual Disney passes this week and surprising James on his B-day. It'll be awesome. He just thinks we are going to McDonalds. I can't wait for it.

-James' school. It is pretty awesome. I wish they got more recess & play time. But his class is small, he has made several friends and his teacher is very attentive to him & communicates really well with me all the time. I am forever grateful for my friend in my ward here Lorraine who works at the school and helped me get him registered and helped him feel welcome. Thank you lorraine!

-How everyone is all about families here and has the same morals we have regardless of religion. I see billboards everywhere promoting good parenting and anti-abortion and just really pro-family. They have tons of family activities in our neighborhood, like the movie in the park we went to a couple weeks ago & I love it.

-How active and healthy people are here, you always see families and people running biking walking and just exercising together.

-Friendliness. Um people here are SUPER friendly. It is inspiring to me. Makes me want to be a kinder person & teach my kids some serious manners.

Okay I could keep going, I really do love it here. sure, I miss my friends in UT and my kids miss their friends. But, I remember feeling that same way when we moved into our old home. So I know the friends and relationships will form, it just takes time. Our ward has been very friendly to us (inviting us to things) and we are excited to get to know everyone better.

44 Hours of Driving

All right, well I promised a blog update so here it is. Unfortunately I have not taken any pics of our house or anything like that, so all FL pics will be in the next post. This is our trip across the U.S. in pictures. It took 6 days (we stopped in AZ for a few days to visit family) 44 hours of driving, soooo much junk food that I am still working it off and counting calories like a crazy person, and about 10 stops total counting over nighters. But we made it. Here are the pics I took with my phone as we drove along.

First, we had to pack up the house. That isn't nearly everything but some.

Then we were off! Within a couple hours of leaving Provo Sophie fell sound asleep. She didn't really sleep the rest of the trip. booo.

Our last pics of UT ( I think, I don't think we had hit AZ yet but maybe) While in UT we reached nearly 8,000 ft elev. & several feet of snow.

Then came down to this. Ugh. How ugly. Sorry AZ. You aren't so pretty.

Some bridge and muddy water. It looked cool. probably because it was the only water we had seen in hours.

Then we came across the cactuses which were very cool. My kids went crazy about those things. They thought it was so cool how old those things are. We got up close to one and we all decided it would not be awesome to run into one of those things. By the way, is there anything in AZ that doesn't have prickly something on it?

YAY! I am with my best friends. My brother's James & Jay. Obviously they had been in sunny AZ, and I had been in cold wintery UT. I think I could be a vampire I am so pale in that pic. Wehad so much fun visiting them. I was SO glad we went to Tucson to see them before we headed out. James & Em, you guys are seriously the funnest people to visit, thanks for all the great food and entertainment, we love you!!!

Harrison & James were pretty excited to have some toys to play with after being cooped up in a car for 12 hrs. Harrison is a knight here. He and James love their cousin Wes & Henry and had the greatest time playing with them.

Um, yeah, we are weird. But you know that already.

After a few days in AZ we were back in the car for the lang haul. Harrison decided a green tongue was much cooler than a real one.

James went for blue. They've just got airheads in their mouths, it entertained them for about 10 minutes.

This is what we stared at for that whole day. Nothing. absolutely nothing.

except these trees every now and then. wow, I am boring even myself.

As we drove through El Paso I was looking out my window and thought "holy crap what a crappy city!" THen I realized I was looking right into Mexico. Then I was very very sad for those people. How would it be to have the USA just a few feet from you and you couldn't get in?

I have to say, the second half of TX was beautiful. I loved the green hills and farms spread out everywhere. I couldn't get enough of all the green simply gorgeous. I am total sucker for beautiful green country.

We spent our first night in Ft. Stockton, then stayed the next night with my Aunt just outside Houston, TX. She was so great! Thank you Aunt Glenine for letting my boys destroy your house and run around! Thanks for the great dinner and bfast, it was so much fun to see you and your home. Thank You!

Oh, & here is Houston and we drove through it.

We Left my Aunt's home very early, before then sun was up. And here is the sun as it came up that morning.

We started to head into the swamps of the south. So cool and mysterious.

Then all the great rivers.

And Sophie had her way with a marker, a couple times actually.

I actually have no idea what city this is. I was driving at the time and all I was thinking was "faster faster faster, just get there!!!"

But there was this cool Navy ship just outside the city. So I told Ben to take a pic.

Okay I was driving at this point too, so I told Ben to take another pic for me. This is Northeren Fl and is gorgeous. It was by far the prettiest country we had seen. Green green green with fields and blossoms great trees everywhere you looked. I seriously loved it.

We were just about to Tallahassee, that was where we were supposed to stop, but I wanted to just get there and be done with it all. So we kept going.

another 4 hrs and we were in ORLANDO! We drove 16 hrs that day, it was awful, but we made it!!! It was too dark for pics, but the next day we drove to our new home and knew we had found the right place because we found this street not too far from our house.

"Sophie"

Yep, this is the place!