What we have been up to

End of July I went to Denver for an Aegis conference (insurance conference) for a few days. August 12th we closed on our new house
August 13th I started school at Westminster to get my bachelors in Business Administration
August 14th we started gradually moving with the big move on the 21st.
August 23rd the kids started at their new school
August 24th-25th I went to Houston to meet with underwriters for work
September 3-5 we went to the Sand Dunes and Jeremy was the unofficial king of the hill for four strokes (he built a new drag race bike)
September 7th-8th I went to New York to meet with underwriters for work
September 13th I went to Denver for work.
And every weekend in between we have slowly been moving things out of our house. We finally got the last thing out Sunday the 19th of September.
At the same time we have had:Our basement repainted, our garage painted and the garage floor got a beautiful coat of epoxy. We also got our driveway extended width and length wise and our patio extended with a beautiful stamp put in the middle.
So... busy, busy, busy. I can't wait to sit down and enjoy the new house (someday :))The kids LOVE their new school. They love no longer attending day care. We decided to stop day care this year and it has worked out great with this new neighborhood because all the kids walk to school so it's not uncommon and they have made lots of friends. They both love their new teachers and the school. So far (and I hope I don't jinx myself) this move has been wonderful for us.The house is coming along, but we still have some projects to do :) I am sure I have more to share, but my mind is going blank :) Jeremy and I still love the gym, the kids are doing great in Karate. Austin got a new rank recently. (Blue with a white stripe). Trinity should be getting a new rank soon. Work is slow but still existent for Jeremy. Although somehow slow means more work :( Work is chaotic for me, but hopefully it will mellow soon.

New Home!

We are so excited to move. Not looking forward to the move itself, but excited for the new home. Above are a few pictures of the new place.

St George

The kids are in St George right now visiting their Grammy and Papa down there. I am trying not to hover so I am limiting my phone calls :) It sounds like they are having a ton of fun though and swimming, swimming, swimming. What a great time for them. I am grateful they get these opportunities to spend time with grandparents. I didn't get that as a child, but Jeremy did and my regret is one of his fondest memories. So how wonderful for them.

Home for Sale?

So our house is up for sale. We put it up for sale about two weeks ago. We did that because we looked at a house in West Farmington and fell in love. We immediately drove to the store and bought a for sale sign. I called our broker the next day to get us a pre-aproved letter (thinking I needed that in order to make an offer). We took a week to get our ducks in a row and get the pre-approved letter. We were going to make an offer on the 21st, but apparently while we were in St. Anthony's (the 19th) someone else made an offer and the home owners accepted it. We are BUMMED! It was a great neighborhood, on .51 acres and 4900 square feet. It was a brick rambler with a walk out basement, a basketball court and best of all a 4 car garage up front and another 2 (more like 1 though) in back. So perfect for us. We are still bummed (and moping a bit :( ). So I don't know what we are doing now, other than keeping our eye out to find another one (although this one took me about 3 years to find).

Lava Hot Springs

What a great weekend with family. We went up to Lava Hot Springs with Jeremy's moms family this weekend. It was great to get to see everyone and to get to chat and it was great having Amy and Kerry come and spend the weekend with us. We went swimming all day Saturday and the kids did great. Austin went off the diving boards (low and high), I was so proud of him that he is getting confident enough in his swimming to do that. (We need to let them swim more often). We got to sit in the hot pots (hot, hot hot!!!) and we got to hang out with family. Almost all of Jeremy's family was there. His Aunt Dixie and Uncle Lane, his Aunt Diane and Uncle Lanny, His Aunt Kay, His cousin Brian and his family, his Cousin Val and her family and his cousins Marty (and her boy Brady), and Heidi. It was a full Strand weekend. The only people missing were his Uncle Randy and Family, and his uncle Emery. It was such a good time to hang out with them. I feel so at home with them, as do my kids. We took our dog though, and he got so spoiled he started whining and barking for attention when he didn't get it. That drove us a little nuts, but all in all I am glad we were able to bring him. As we said our goodbyes to everyone and drove away Jeremy and I both commented on what good people they all are and how blessed we feel to be able to have them in our lives. The Strands are a great group of people. I have always felt comfortable around them, probably because they remind me so much of my own family. I know Jeremy gets a lot of who he is from them and I am grateful.

St. Anthonys

We had a TON of fun at St Anthony's in Idaho. We went up on the 17th and came back on the 20th. When we first got up there we were planning on meeting up with Scott Ellerbeck and family. We had James and Nicole following us, and Mike and Andrea coming up the next day. But as we went to turn into the campground James and Nicole got concerned. Come to find out, they and Mike and Andrea were booked at a different campground. What to do? We scrambled, made calls and did everything we could to get them out of their reservations, since Scott was already set up and we told him we would camp with him too. But it was all to no avail, so we packed our stuff back up (in the mean time we had set up camp with Scott for the night), and headed over to the campground Mike and Andrea had booked. It ended up being much further away from the big hills, but this one had grass and the kids could ride their four wheelers on the dunes right next to camp. So it worked out to be great. The kids had a ton of fun playing on the dunes, and riding four wheelers. The girls (me, myself and Nicole) had a good time hauling a** over the dunes in the Rhinos, it was a great time. The dunes up there are HUGE!!! It just goes forever and ever, it is like a 20 mile freeway of sand and hills. It was great, can't wait to go back.

New Day Care

As the school year winded down we were trying to decide what to do for summer. Most of the kids' friends at Kinder Care wouldn't be there for the summer, they were going elsewhere, and Kinder Cares summer rates were pretty expensive ($155 a kid per week). The only reason we go to Kinder Care is because they bus the kids to school, so they didn't have to go there for the summer if they didn't want to. The final thing was when we heard they weren't going to take the kids on ANY field trips all summer. They were going to bring something in each week (and charge us $16 a week for it), but the kids wouldn't be leaving the center. I don't like the idea of my kids spending all summer cooped up like that and neither did the kids. So for the summer they are going to one of their old day cares called "Ready Set Grow". So far they have made new friends, enjoy getting to watch a movie every day and have really enjoyed it. Today I got the June schedule and I am excited for them. According to the calendar they will be going swimming every Thursday, going to Tracy Aviary and lunch at Liberty Park, Visiting the Zoo, heading to Kangaroo Zoo (a huge inflatable play place), doing a Lagoon Walk, and going to the Capitol for a war memorial tour. Not to mention the art projects and things they do every other day.
Sounds like a fun summer for them.