Time for a Resurrection

This poor neglected blog.  In all fairness, it was to be expected after a massive move and so many things going on this summer.  But now the kids are in school, the boxes are unpacked, and everyone is back on the regular schedule so it's time to bring it back to life.

As we packed up our house in SC and sold some furniture, the kids took advantage of the extra space.  We had a lot of dance parties.




Before we left South Carolina, we tried to maximize time with the friends that we made there as much as possible.  Two other families that we grew close to were also moving at the same time so we had some farewell dinners together.  The Andersons were moving to Georgia and we both needed to clean out our pantries.  She had a turkey and we had stuffing, cranberries and lots of other fixings for a faux Thanksgiving dinner.  It was a lot of fun.

Ella, their youngest, came over for a playdate while her mom packed up the house.  I had my own preparations to do and so we had some fun playing with the ice from our newly defrosted freezer.

Cleaning out our pantry also resulted in a massive chocolate cake to celebrate the last day of school.  I'd packed our normal cake pans so we made do with bread pans.  I'm no cake decorator, but the kids didn't seem to mind.

Our last playdate with our neighbors, Josh and Becca Jones.  I used to watch them after school quite a bit and he was Rowan's best friend.

Rowan and Steve started going through the Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings series.  They still going.  Can you say best dad ever?

Came across Nadia pretending to the Statue of Liberty.

Just because I love them so.

To pass the time between school being out and our move, the kids did swim lessons.  Rowan improved enough to not have to wear a life jacket anymore and could swim around freely.  Nadia regressed quite a bit.  I think it had something to do with the stress of the move.  I had to jump into the pool fully dressed the first day to get her to participate.  She did better as the week went on, but was more fearful than last summer.

Elsa was more difficult this year too.  Last year she was newly born and slept through most of it.  Sadly there was no sleeping this year.

Had I brought some beef jerky to swim lessons, things might have gone a little smoother.  My little carnivore.

Apparently we got Elsa some Slim Jims for Father's Day.  Why, I'm not sure, but I guess it was in tribute of Grandpa.  Happy very Belated Father's Day!

I love having more space in our new house, but it was nice to wake up and find the kids playing with Elsa in her pack and play every morning.  We had to put her in the playroom at night because she'd get up so much and during daytime naps she'd sleep in the other room.  Now that she has her own room, she seems to be doing a lot better at night.




To add to the craziness, I decided to get our family pictures taken in SC before we left.  I loved the pictures we had done in Illinois and wanted some to commemorate the time we had spent in the South.  We must of rescheduled with our friend in the ward nearly a dozen times due to weather and various other problems.  The week of our move we finally nailed down a date, but it was sporadically raining in true Southern fashion.  Finally I just said lets go anyways and hopefully we can get a couple shots in between the downpour.  It worked out perfectly and we got a couple of good shots.

I am so thankful that we were able to get these pictures before we left.  Getting family pictures is stressful enough, but doing it right before the move and with the threat of rain at any moment took it to another level.  Thankfully we won't have to deal with that next time.

Speaking of stress. the day of the move Rowan came down with a horrible stomach bug.  He's got such a sensitive stomach.  While the movers were packing us up, Rowan was hiding out in one of the rooms with his ice cream bucket.  Poor kid.

 Elsa was more interested the proceedings outside of Rowan's room.  This is a trailer hitch we got to maximize our hauling capacity in our little Vibe.

Nada entertained herself with the copious amounts of tape laying around.

Nada had several playdates with her friend Kaitlyn from preschool before we left.  We miss her!

Day of the move!  We had movers pack, load, deliver and unpack.  Best move ever!  It was still stressful in a way, but mostly just in the days leading up to the move.  When they came everything went really smoothly and we just played around town while they did all the heavy lifting.  It was a major blessing.

Really it felt almost criminal being so lazy, but I couldn't imagine doing it any other way without wanting to shoot myself at the end.

We got to go out I think the day before we left with several other families in the ward.  We loved this group!  From left to right- the Baileys, the Calls, the Katzs (no idea how to make that plural), and us.  We went out with them when Steve initially got his job offer as everyone has or is taking a long academic road as well.  The Katzs moved to California the same week as us as he finished his residency and is starting at a practice out there.

Steve loading us up on the last evening at our house.  No tears when we left, just relief.  SC was a good experience for us, but we were all tired of being so far away from family and tired of barely making ends meet.  It was the end of a long road for us in more ways than one.

Wake up Sleeping Beauty.  Time to go.  Thank goodness for air mattresses.

The answer to how do you fit 3 kids, 2 adults, enough gear to last you 2 weeks on the road, and all the contraband that the moving company wouldn't take into what is technically classified as a compact car.  Bless Steve and his tetris skills.  And bless our friends the Vesses who saved us at 11pm when the hitch wouldn't go on the car.


Goodbye South Carolina!  Thanks for the fun for the past 2 years!  I won't miss the Palmetto bugs (cockroaches), fire ants, mosquitoes, the humidity, the heat, and every bug known to man.  I'm a Westerner at heart.

The Overlooked Birthday

Steve now has competition for birthday attention with Elsa's only 2 days away from his.  We didn't do much other than go out to eat.  It was Memorial Day, so he had the day off anyways and I tried to indulge his wish to play Minecraft and have as little responsibilities that day as possible.  We went to our favorite burger joint Pawley's Front Porch (probably the only place you can get a fried egg on your burger) and finished up with milkshakes from Cook Out.  I also made some cream puffs as he likes those more than cake.

So grateful for my life with this man!  I've been a bit of a nervous wreck with our impending move, Elsa's health issues, and just general stress.  He has been able to calm me through every emotional breakdown.  Our marriage is my greatest gift in my life.  I don't know what I would do without him.

Happy Birthday honey.