A Lively Bunch: May 2015

Tour of California

We are nerds and went to watch the start of one of the stages of the tour of California.

I'm not going to lie. Things have been really rough since we got here. Things just keep falling apart and going wrong. So much to the point that we are wondering if we really made the right choice. We truly felt that moving here was the best option out of the choices we had. But things are really hard. We are trying to stay positive and rely on the fact that we felt that this is where we're supposed to be. We've tried to get out and do fun things as much as we can. There really are a lot of beautiful places around here.

Not to far from our house, up the mountains, is Lake Arrowhead. It's really pretty.

And of course, the beach is about an hour.

Matt ran into Elder Augenstein from our ward in Riverton who is serving in Redlands. That was fun!

The kids and I (and all the bikes, scooters, etc) drove out at the end of April. I was really nervous about driving the whole way by myself, but the kids did really well. And we made it.

Emmy is already turning into a California girl. She LOVES, LOVES, LOVES the beach! Even though it's cold water, she loves it!

We had to buy a new fridge when we got here (not in the plan, but the previous owners took the fridge that was supposed to stay). Anyway, Emmy and Zach had a ball crumbling up the styrofoam packaging all over the house. I"m still finding it.

This is the view from the park that we walk to a couple times a week.

We found a pick-your-own blueberry patch and the kids were in HEAVEN! Seriously, Emmy asks if we can go back there every day.

Zach just ate the blueberries, and Emmy examined every single one that went into her bucket. Only the best for her!

More beach fun! Emmy loved making "sand angels." Ha!

I really hope things start going better for us. We are trying to enjoy what Southern California has to offer!

Preschool Graduation

On Emmy's last day of preschool before we moved, we dressed her up in the cap and gown and took "graduation pictures". We are so sad that she had to miss the last month of preschool. She has loved it so much, and Ms. Heather has been so wonderful.

The first day she cried and we had to pry her out of the stroller. But pretty soon she was asking if it was time to go to preschool yet. She loved it and loved her friends there.

Field trips

Emmy's preschool class got to go on some fun field trips before we left. They went to This Is The Place State Park and to some cactus garden place. Emmy had a ball. She has loved preschool so much.

Grandma's house

The kids and I stayed at my moms house for 3 weeks between the time that we sold our Utah house and the time we could close on the California house. The kids had a ball.

Emmy convinced Grandma and Kyle to play Candy Land with her a ton of times.

We went to visit Granny Lawana.

And went to the zoo with Rivers and fam. I think Emmy will miss Rivers most of all.

Zach got some new sandals and wanted to put them on first thing every morning.

The kids loved playing with Uncle Kyle, who was home for the summer from school.

And Emmy had her very own sleepover at Grandma Livelys.

It was a rough 3 weeks, but I'm glad we got to spend quality time with family before our move!

Moving/Easter

Time to get caught up on the good ole blog. The past 2 months have been a crazy mess, so I may not remember much about these pictures, but I wanted to get caught up.

Emmy helped pack. She was very particular about making sure to fit everything in just right. Packing was crazy. I had a week to do it and it was a pain. Thanks to a neighbor coming over at the last minute, I got everything packed in time.

Just a cute picture of the kids and Matt before he left.

Matt left on Easter Sunday to drive out to California. It was super sad. But we dyed eggs and went to the egg hunt at the park on Saturday. Emmy got quite the haul of candy at the park!