Memorial Day Weekend

We had the BEST Memorial day weekend!  We drove down to Cedar City to spend time with Tony's parents and his sister's family.  We hadn't seen our Wood cousins since our last family reunion when Joey was a newborn!  We drove straight to Sandi's home and had dinner with them.  Charlie took a little bit to warm up to Beckett, but it didn't take long.  They were best buds after that!

The next morning we drove down to St. George for Snow Canyon.  We started off hiking in the beautiful "red mountains."  I haven't been in a dessert for a long time!  It was a really pretty place.

I got asked several times if they were twins.  Nope, just cousins a few months apart!

Charlie, Joey & Addi

The hike had so many fun things to see!

Family picture after the hike

all of the cousins!

After the hike, we drove down the road for lunch.  It wasn't miserably hot, but we still wanted shade! After lunch we headed to the sand dunes--the biggest sandbox of all time!  We played Bocci ball and dug in the sand.

 The boys' clothes and shoes were filled with sand!  We stripped the kids down and put them into their swimsuits.  We were going to historic St. George to cool off in the water!

There was a carousel right next to the water!  

This little water park was awesome for kids!  Across the street was an ice cream shop so of course we had to go there after!  Grandma & Papa got everyone ice cream.  It was such a fun day!  I really want to go back.

The rest of the weekend was more low key.  The boys played with toys, Tony & I got to take naps/sleep in, grandma made us breakfasts--it was a really nice break!

The cousins had a sleepover the last night there.  Charlie's first sleepover!  It was pretty exciting :)  Grandma & papa pulled out their marshmallow catapults and the kids shot marshmallows all over!  I ended up being the target at the end and they got pretty good!  Cambridge got direct hits almost every time :)

pillow fight before bed

It was a great weekend!  I'm so glad we get to spend more time with our family!

The drive back went by a lot quicker than the drive there.  Isn't that always the case?  

Thanks Grandma & Papa for having us!

Finn & Crew's Blessing Day

  playing peekaboo with Crew

Our first Sunday here was the blessing day of our nephews Finn & Crew.  I kept telling Tony, "we get to be here for a family event!  I'm so excited!"  The boys were blessed at home and were surrounded by lots of family and friends.  It was a great day.  Brian & Laura are great parents.

We had dinner outside afterwards.  It was a beautiful night!

 Jack & Hailey--I love this picture

 Laura &Finn

 Brian & Crew--it's hard being so cute

 my dad, Brian, Jack & Tony

I'm excited for these boys to grow up and be buds with Charlie & Joey!  

What We've Been Up To

Joey, Johnny, Charlie

We are excited for Marcus and Brittany to move back at the end of the summer

We used to visit Utah once a year and would see our families for short bits of time.  Now we get to be together every day (did I mention we are living with my parents while we wait to buy a home?).  I was worried about living with my parents at first.  Not anything about them, but for the past 5 years we have lived far away.  I wasn't sure how we would handle having our personal space and routine interrupted.  I'm happy to say it has been a happy adjustment.  Home is so different from when I moved out 8 years ago!  My sisters are older and I have loved being able to spend time with them and know them better.  My cousin Brittany lives nearby, Brian and his family live a mile away, Jack is in Provo but visits...it is so fun being around family!  Tony's family is close too, just not as nearby.  We'll be driving down and will spend Memorial Day weekend with his parents and sister's family.  I can't wait to see them all!

The boys are in absolute heaven here.  They play hard and are wiped at the end of the day (a nice way of saying we have a lot of tantrums on our way to bed).

 My parents have two chickens: Lavern & Shirley.  For the first week they kept their free roam of the backyard.  Joey could chase those girls night and day!  Poor chickens would run when they saw him coming.  Once he came inside and was holding one of them!  He got pretty good at chasing them and is totally fearless.  They are now in their own gated area, but the boys still love to watch them.  Everyday Charlie brings in two chicken eggs.  He loves to find them!

Before Tony started working we took a morning to visit temple square.  I love temple square.  It's one of those places you don't appreciate until you watch conference on TV, in another state, and think, "how awesome would it be to go there?!"

The boys LOVED the kid's section inside the Church History Museum.  We need to go back!

 setting up dinner for the elders

 looks like dinner was a success

It took us a few days to arrange our furniture downstairs, but we have a pretty nice set up going on!  We brought our TV & stand downstairs and after using my parent's DVR I don't think we can ever go back to watching commercials :)  First world problems.

I love seeing my Messer nephews--Finn & Crew.  Joey likes them too, but tries to poke them in eyeballs and has even squirt them with squirt bottles while they have been in their carseats.  I guess we aren't around babies too often?  Charlie likes to hold them too and see "their little hands!"

Joey loves Crew & Finn, but he really loves buckling their car seats. 

Can you imagine bringing 2 car seats everywhere?  I'm tired just thinking about it!

Brian & Laura--you rock!

Oh and a miracle has happened since we've been here!  I actually like a dog!  Not that I'm an animal hater, but I'm allergic to pet dander so I prefer to keep my distance.  Nya and I have become quite good friends and I haven't had any problems with her since she is hypoallergenic.  We love taking her for walks and I have even brought her running with me.  I did wake up with her in bed in between Tony and I though...I like dogs, but I don't think I'll ever like one enough for that :)

 swinging in the backyard

Tony has an odd schedule.  I don't think it is exactly what it will be in the future since he is still starting out.  But, he usually works 5 hours during the day and 3 at night.  He manages a team in India so he does a conference call with them at night and does a little bit of work.  He gets to be home with us in the mornings and I love that.  It will be even nicer when we live closer to his work so he will be driving less.

 walking Nya

 "The Hulk doesn't wear clothes mom!"

Sometimes I can't believe I'm a mom of two boys.

We live around the corner from the park and elementary school playgrounds.  It's pretty awesome.

That's what we have and are up to these days!

Our Move out West

Moving day snuck up on us.  I know we only had two weeks notice, but still, it came so fast.  I feel so blessed our home sold quickly because I was able to have boxes out and work on packing during the days. Since we accepted an offer we didn't have to keep showing our home.  Having to have our home show ready at any moment would have sent me over the edge!

Shannon put together a girl's night just before I left.  It was so sweet!  I was blessed to have so many great friends in NWA.  Some of the best people I have ever known.  One of the best things about living in Arkansas was I got to learn how to make friends as an adult.  Ah...I miss these guys so much!

My last girl's night with some of my very best friends

Mary, Shanda, Nicole, Edie, Kristen, Anne Marie, Adreanne, Alicia, Jill, Michelle & Shannon

We had so much help the morning of our move.  Everything was packed, cleaned and ready to go by lunch time.  We got in the car and headed to Derby, KS to spend the night with my Aunt and Uncle.  We will miss spending Thanksgiving with them!

We arrived in Utah after 3 days of driving in the car.  I think google maps said our drive would be 22 hours (without stops). Tony was driving our moving truck and I was in the van.  Two 11+ hour days seemed a little long so we divided our trip into 3 days.  We got one of those double dvd players for the van and that SAVED the boys' lives and my sanity.  I'm pretty sure I can quote Finding Nemo word for word now. ("just keep swimming, just keep swimming, just keeping swimming swimming swimming...what do we do we swiiiim, swwiiiiimmm, swiiiiiiimmmmmmm!"--a pretty good motto for 22 hours of being in the car with both boys!)

I know this move was meant to be.  Everything has worked out a little too perfectly.  I know this is where we are supposed to be right now.