Never ending sunshine!!

I don't mean to boast or brag but well, I'm going to! We are LOVING the weather here in Idaho. It is 1 day away from October 1st and it was 85 degrees and sunny today. Lainey is still wearing her sundresses and we are all in shorts. We are soaking in the vitamin D for sure! The only thing stopping us from playing out side is the sun going down!

Here's the forecast for the next 5 days in Star! Love it!

Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday	Monday
88° F | 50° F	90° F | 47° F	88° F | 49° F	83° F | 45° F	70° F | 40° F
Clear	Clear	Partly Cloudy	Partly Cloudy	Clear

What goes around comes around!

Wyatt's been into trying to scare everyone in the family lately. He walks around the house all quiet hoping to surprise someone and yells, "Ahhh" as he jumps out from behind a corner. He thinks he's so funny but not everyone in the house likes it, namely Shane. So Jeff thought he'd give Wyatt a taste of his own medicine this morning. Wyatt was downstairs brushing his teeth and Jeff snuck down the stairs stealth like and jumped out, yelled "Ahhh" and scared the pants off of Wyatt! Jeff scared him so bad that he was shaking and screaming and crying. Judge us if you like but Jeff and I thought it was so funny! We couldn't stop laughing and after a few minutes when Wyatt finally calmed down he was laughing about it too! I wish so badly that we had gotten his reaction on camera but I would venture to say that we will have another opportunity since Wyatt hasn't seemed to learn his lesson. This afternoon I heard him several times jumping out and yelling "Ahhh" at some unsuspecting family member somewhere in the house. I think he's getting our whole family in the spooky spirit of Halloween!

Boys and their toys!

Jeff's been talking about getting the kids started on riding dirt bikes for a while now. So...here we go! We sure are having fun on this new little XR50.

It's amazing how quickly the kids pick up riding something new. Way to go Abby and Wyatt!

Goofballs!

And, so that the kids don't have to ride their dirt bike alone...here's Jeff's new toy.

Tractor Time

Our home here in Star was vacant for about a year and the back part of the property hadn't been mowed in a long time. The weeds and grass were so tall and the tumble weeds were out of control! Can you say fire hazard!! :) So last week we had someone come in and mow it down. Shane and Lainey LOVED watching the tractor mow the "field", as we call it.





Now the kids have the whole field to ride their quads on and plans are in the works for a wicked fun quad track! :)

First day of school

I took some pictures of the kids on their first day of school here in Idaho. I am so proud of them and they way they are handling all this change. They are so brave and upbeat. They are my hero's and I love them so much!!

Wyatt and Abby in our backyard on the first day of school

Abby and Wyatt out in front of their new school, Mill Creek Elementary

Big Boy!

Look at me!!! I finally decided it was time to join the club of civilized little boys and I am so proud of myself! My mom and dad couldn't be happier!

More new house pics and the move

Ok. As promised here are some more pictures of our new house. We are still trying to decorate and figure out where we want everything. It's a work in progress and I'm not very good at decorating so this may take me a while! :) We want everyone to come and see our new home in person, not just through these pics. We hope you'll come see us!!

Enjoy

Jeff's office

The play room - a mess already!

The kids downstairs bathroom

Wyatt and Shane's room

Abby's room

Laine's room

Upstairs guest bathroom

My temporary office/upstairs laundry room - for those of you who think I'm never messy or disorganized just take a look at that counter top!

Master

Kitchen and my Pike's Place painting :)

Kitchen

Living room - still needs furniture

This is the walkway between the garage and the kitchen and master bedroom. My black bench fits great here and I love it.

I forgot to post earlier about the actual move it's self. It went so smoothly and we had so much help. The Moulton's came down with us and made the day drive, helping us get our many vehicles down here to Star. Aaron drove our suburban with the quads behind it. Kira drove her car with her kiddos in it. Ron, Jeff's dad, came up to help. He drove one of our 2 moving trucks down to ID. Then Jeff drove the other moving truck. I drove the ESV with the boat behind it and Mary, Jeff's mom, hoped in the car with me to help me with the kids for the drive. We looked like quite the circus pulling out of town but the drive went great and we didn't have any problems or delays. I can only imagine what our neighbors thought as we drove into town that day at our new home with all these many vehicles!! :) The help didn't stop there. The Moulton's stayed the weekend and helped us unload and unpack. Mary and Ron stayed and helped out too. Then my family came into town to see our new home and help us get settled. They stayed the week with us and were so much help. Our new ward was also here and welcomed us and helped us unload trucks. We definitely didn't do this on our own and we are so grateful to all those that helped us make this transition. Here are a few pics from the weekend we moved. I wish I had more from that weekend but we were all to busy working to stop and take pics. :)

Saying Goodbye

Saying goodbye is so hard! I don't think I'm very good at it and often I just try to avoid any situation that forces me to open up and be emotional. Fortunately my wonderful friends new that I would need to say good bye, as hard as it was, and they planned so many amazing opportunities for me and my family to do so. The Glacier Park ward in Maple Valley was our home for the last 12 years and we have gotten to know that ward family inside and out. They are such amazing saints and we are so lucky to have rubbed shoulders with them for so long. Our friends organized an open house for our ward and friends to have an opportunity to come and visit with us and say goodbye. They had it at a local park in Maple Valley and there were so many wonderful friends that came to support us and send us on to our new adventure. We are so thankful for that open house and cherish the memories from it. They even put together a wonderful scrapbook with pictures of the families that came and a sweet note from each of them wishing us happiness in our new home. What a perfect present to leave us with! I wish I had some pictures from that open house but I forgot my camera that night. I guess that's why we have our book!

Then before we left my close friends put together a girls night and sleep over for me. It was so much fun!! They are so good to me and made me my favorite dinner, Cafe Rio salad!! Yum Yum! Then they made me my favorite dessert, Key lime Cheesecake, cookies, milky ways, etc! I felt so loved and we talked and laughed all night long. We didn't get much sleep that night but I wouldn't change a thing! We didn't want the party to end so when we woke up in the morning they took me out to breakfast and the Black Diamond Bakery. Yum Yum again!! They were so nice and gave me some very special gifts for my leaving and for my B-day. They gave me a beautiful silver bracelet set engraved with a friendship quote. It's so beautiful! Then they gave me a framed picture/painting of Pikes Place Market in Seattle. It's such a fun reminder for me of Seattle and what a neat place it is. That piece of art is hanging in my kitchen now and I love looking at it each and every day! The most amazing gift of all that each of them gave me is the gift of their friendship over the last decade!! I am so blessed to have them in my life. I love you girls! Here's a few pics from our sleep over.

Breakfast

Tiffany, Becky, Colleen, Me, JoLynn, Suzanne, Monique, Kira

I planned a good bye party for Abigail and all her friends. It was such a fun night and I am so happy that we were able to do it. Wonderful memories made there too and Abby is so lucky to have such sweet and kind friends! We played games all night, ate sweets, laughed and stayed up late. The girls made Abigail a little scrapbook for her to take with her with cute notes from each of them. She loves that book! Here are some pics from that night.

Allura, Hannah, Katie, Abby, Maddy, Brynly
Mikayla, Bella, and Olivia

Abby's good friends Eden and Oni were out of town that night and could be there but we were thinking of them and missed them!

We spent an evening a few weeks before we left with our friends the Farnsworth's. As you can see we had a fun night or silliness and laughter! We miss you guys!

We have some special friendships from our time in WA that we will always have, no matter how far away we are. We miss all of you and can't wait until we are together again!!

The biggest decision of our marriage to date!....

Jeff and I have been talking for the past year or more, about making a change in our families lifestyle and circumstance. My family moved to Colorado about 3 years ago and ever since then I have been missing them like crazy. Jeff has been unhappy with his commute into and out of Seattle for many years now as he spends 2 hours a day doing that commute. We have out grown our little piece of property in Maple Valley with our 4 children and a big dog. We long for space, a little simpler life, family unity, being closer to extended family, and a change. All of which require a move out of Washington state. That being said it really has taken us at least a year to make this decision. Jeff was on board before I was and so it took a lot of studying, researching, and praying to make the choice. We found out that Jeff's current job with F5 Networks (which he really loves, he just hated the commute!) it was possible for him to keep his same position and yet work from home as long as he was somewhere on the west coast. We talked about moving to Colorado, Utah, Oregon, and Idaho. All great places to live and closer to my family. All with major airports so that Jeff could fly when needed and work from home. Check, check to a couple of our objectives but to get the space we longed for there really was no other place to look except Idaho. We started looking on line at homes and land and did that for a long time. Then, when we traveled to and from Colorado to see my family, we would stop in Boise and stay a night and we took some time to look around. We really liked what we saw. We prayed continually about this decision and about Idaho specifically and every time we did we received nothing but positive and uplifting promptings. On one stay in Boise we looked at a home in Eagle on a beautiful hill with about 5 acres of land. We really liked the home and property and had some really specific direction that we should move forward and make an offer on it. So we followed it and that same weekend someone else made an offer and the sellers excepted the other offer. We were so disappointed!! I couldn't understand why we were so prompted to go after that house and yet we didn't get it. Now, as time has passed, I see why. Isn't that the way it goes! A few months after that experience Jeff and I flew to Boise to look at some more homes and we found one in Star (a little town 30 minutes to the northwest of Boise and again we were pushed toward that home and prompted to move forward. So we did. We are here, in our new home in Star Idaho, and this place, this home, at this time, is where we are supposed to be! There is no doubt in my mind, no wavering thoughts, no questions, on whether we made the right decision or not. I know this is where Heavenly Father wants us to be. I don't think I know all the reasons yet, only some, but I know we will learn in time. I feel that there are other reasons that we are here, other than the desires of our hearts. Maybe someone is to touch our lives, or we are to touch someone else's. Maybe this is where my children need to spend their childhoods and grow up. I know that we are blessed and we feel so grateful to have been watched over and directed so closely by our Heavenly Father and we feel his love. After living in Maple Valley WA. for 11 years we sold our home in 6 weeks, in a very unfavorable market, and made a very smooth transition to Star a little over a month ago. We are happy here and settling in. Moving is so much work. The list of projects seems never ending but we are making progress. The kids started school just a few days after we arrived here. Nothing like just jumping in and getting started! We were all nervous and excited for the change but the kids have been truly amazing!! They haven't complained. They haven't whined. They were so brave and have made the best of a very big change in their lives. Abby went into 4th grade and Wyatt into 2nd. They are making friends and doing extremely well on their school work. Shane and Lainey are little angels and I love having them around during the day. Jeff and I are hanging in there. We are trying to help the kids adjust as well as set up a new home, and get into some kind of a new rhythm of having Jeff around all the time. It will take time but already I can see the benefits of this change and the blessings it is bringing. I am often lonely and miss my dear friends in Washington but I know we will be life long friends and that they are always there for me. There is a piece of me missing since the move that I left with them and I will always mourn that loss. But with change comes strength and I know I will be stronger for it all if I rely on the Lord and do my part.

Well, that's it in a nut shell. This whole experience was life changing for our family and I wanted to write it all down so that my family for years to come will be able to understand this and know why we made this decision. There is so much more to tell about our first weeks here in Star and I will get that all posted soon, I promise! Here are some pictures of our new home. It was vacant for a long time and so the yard needs some love! (just one of the many projects on our list!) It sits on 4 and 1/2 acres of land. We love the space and are already making good use of the property! More to come on that. :) These pics aren't that great. I will post up many more pictures that show more of our new place.

Girls Camp

Amanda, Me, Amber, Daisy, Shaelyn, and Debbie

I have served in the Young Woman's Program as secretary for the last 2 or so years. I have loved it!!! I had never been in YW's and it is such a fun place to be. I had some amazing women that I served with and the girls are incredible!! I had the opportunity to go to Girls Camp this year and it was so much fun! I can not wait for Abigail to be old enough to go to camp and have some wonderful experiences just as we did! Above are some pics from the week.