What we did in May...

Well, it has been extremely difficult to find time to do blogging lately. I've been taking on a lot more work since we moved out to Michigan, so time is scarce, and the time that I do have has been spent making new friends, exploring Michigan, and developing a routine to keep us sane while Ben is gone on his trips. So, I've put on a collection of pictures from some of our May adventues. We've been really blessed moving out here to have met some wonderful new friends, and we've also had a lot of fun with some visitors lately. Enjoy the pics!

A visit from Grandma and a quick trip to Niagra

We had a nice visit with Grandma Clark a few weekends ago, and we were able to drive into Canada to see Niagra falls while she was here. It's only about a 4 1/2 hour drive from where we live, so we just did it on a whim and only stayed one night. It was a lot of fun to be with Grandma and see such an amazing feat of nature! I have to admit, I was so nervous to let Jacy get anywhere near the water! Daxton, I wasn't really concerned about. He's has such a nervous personality, I knew he wouldn't have wanted to get near it, and I was right. Jacy would have gone head first over the edge if we had taken our eyes off of her for two seconds. She is CRAZY! There was an indoor water park across the street from the hotel we stayed at, and we took the kids there on the night we arrived. It was really fun, and I wish that I had taken pictures, but alas, I'm not gifted in this area, and I took not a single one. You'll just have to take my word for it that it was a dream come true for any kid, and Ben too! Thanks for the visit Grandma!

Anniversary Camping

Time is of the essence, and I sure haven't been spending a lot of it lately updating this blog. Anyhow, Ben and I celebrated our five year anniversary this weekend. It's hard to believe that it has been that long, and at the same time, I can't believe I ever had a life outside of him and our children. It all seems like a dream. So, for our romantic getaway this year to celebrate the occasion, we went camping. We've been ready to scout out Michigan and see what it's all about, just waiting for a break in the weather, and this weekend proved to be a good one. We drove about an hour from where we live to a state campsite that was pretty cool. The kids LOVED every minute, can ya tell? The highlight of the trip was when we drove into the campsite and realized that the transmission on our van was shot. We thought that we were going to have to call a tow to take us back to our house, and we were pretty sure that it was going to end up being a 3,000$ camping trip. Thankfully, we were blessed with yet another "tender mercy" from above, and when we woke up in the morning, our van worked well enough to get us home again until we can find a shop that is reasonably priced to take it in to. Phew... You know, camping really isn't "my thing;" I think I mislead Ben when we got married five years ago. He thought that I was going to be much more of an outdoors kind of gal than I really am. I have to admit though, when I sat down and watched how much fun the kids were having, and how excited they were to be outside, getting dirty, eaten by bugs, trying to touch the fire, sleeping in a cool new tent, eating dirt, not having to brush teeth, learning to pee in the trees, etc., I realized that I am willing to sacrifice my selfish priorities and comforts of home in order to enjoy these priceless experiences with my family. Sooo, I am looking forward to many more wonderful outdoorsish experiences with Ben and the kids for many more years to come.

Settled at Last

We're here and settled at last!!!!! How can I even begin to describe moving AGAIN?! The best part about it was that we had the support of family, friends, and a great ward to help us survive it, and survive it we did! Now we're here and adjusting to life in Michigan. So far, it has been a little cold and snowy, but we're hopeful that will change soon. Here are some random shots of the little place we found to rent out here. It's beautiful, and right across the street from a fantastic park with a petting zoo, a walking path, a fishing pond, a community center with a pool, and a playground. So, we're all set. Dax and Jacy are loving the new house. I don't even think they had to adjust. I think they never really understood what was going on when we were living in my parent's house, so they have actually been more calm and better behaved since we got out here. Celeste was able to fly with the kids and I out here, and then she stayed to help us set up and decorate. Anyone who knows her, knows that she can accomplish in one day what it might take one person a week to accomplish at the least. So, we got most of the house put together and set up in just a couple of days. My dad and grandpa performed a monumental act of service/love in driving our van out to us last weekend, and then they flew back home after they had a visit with us. So, now we're here and we've got all our stuff with us, and we're ready to settle in for a little while and break our streak of moving yearly. So, pray for the airline industry, and Mesaba in particular, and cross your fingers for us!
Anyway, my favorite part about Michigan so far is that they pay you in the grocery store out here to recycle! Anybody who knows me knows that I've always had a hard time recycling. When I was in junior high, I participated in a debate tournament where I opposed spending money to build recycling facilities in Utah, and with all of the research that I did on it, I became very disillusioned with it. There are a couple of members in my immediate family who are very avid recyclers, and they have scolded me at times for my attitude. Anyway, I was in the big grocery store out here, and I kept seeing all these shoppers taking big carts full of pop cans and plastic bottles into this back section of the store and walking out with these little slips of paper. So, the idea is that you take your cans and bottles back to their conveyer belt thingy, and it calculates a certain amount per item and then prints out a receipt that you take to the check out with you, and then it deducts the total from your shopping bill. The end result: I AM NOW AN AVID RECYCLER. All I needed was the right motivation! A lecture about conserving the earth's resources and pollution and waste just wasn't enough. Offer me a few cents off my grocery bill, and I'm sold. I can be bought.
My least favorite part about Michigan so far........they have not banned smoking in public places here!? Can you believe that? We went to a restaraunt the other night, and right when I walked in I was so confused because the place smelled like smoke. I turned to Ben and asked him what was up with that, and then he told me that the places out here still do "smoking" and "non-smoking" sections, and he wasn't going to tell me about it because he didn't want me to refuse to move here with him. I seriously thought that every state in the US had banned smoking by now, but apparently I was wrong. We "googled" it later on and found out that there are quite a few states left (13 or so) who still allow public smoking......yuck! So, we will probably end up saving a bit of money by not going out to eat, because it is a SERIOUS deterrent for me.
So, more later, but for now this will have to do. My sincerest thanks to everyone who helped us move out here, and who offered to help but didn't end up needing to! Thanks, thanks, and thanks again!

March Madness

It happened. My parent's have officially sold their house, and we have to leave by April 1rst. I've been waiting to do this post until things were really final, so we've already found a place in Michigan that we're moving to at the end of the month. Ben has worked things out so that he has a week off to help us get out there. This will be move #6 in 5 years.......sigh. We're excited about the place that we found to move to though, and it will be nice to double the time that we're able to spend with Ben by cutting out his commute. For moving as much as we do, we really shouldn't have all of the crap we have. It gets old packing it up and then unpacking it, and then packing it up again. Oh well. It's short-term stress anyway. We'll have more updates as things unfold. Happy March Madness!

Adjustments, Life, and Hogle Lovin'

February has been an interesting month for us. I have been preoccupied with life, as evidenced by yet another blogging hiatus. It has been an adjustment getting used to Ben being away so often. It is wonderful to see him loving his career so much, and I have no doubt that if the economy holds up, it will be a very fulfilling way for him to provide for us. The great debate for us at this point in time is whether or not the kids and I should find a way out to Detroit to live there with Ben so as to cut down on the commuting time, or if we should stay near to family where we gain the benefit of more relationships and interactions to help out and serve as a welcome distraction while Ben is gone. The verdict is up in the air at this point (ha ha, no pun intended, but that worked out quite well, didn't it?). Much of it, we suppose, will depend on whether or not the house we are living in right now sells. There have been a few offers on the house, but they have been so low it's almost an insult. Sometimes I wonder about people, and how they think they can get away with such blatant stupidity.
At the beginning of the month, I had a miscarriage at 7 weeks. I am mentioning this not to get sympathy, but only to offer my sincerest sympathies to any and every woman who has ever been burdened with the process of trying to conceive, as well as conceiving and then losing a pregnancy, or even just conceiving and then experiencing the relentless worry that accompanies a pregnancy from the moment after the initial "rush of joy" fades after reading a positive sign on the pee stick. It's such a mixed bag. God grant that every woman may experience the joy of childbirth, and God bless every woman that she may survive it. So, I think I've recovered now, and we're ready to move on.
On a lighter note, Ben was home for a few days, and with the "warmer" weather, we decided to visit Hogle Zoo. I was surprised to see all of the changes they have made there to improve the place. Four stars for sure! I only wish it was a little bit closer to us, because my kids fall asleep in the car to and from, and then they won't nap, and well, we live and die by our naps around here.
Anyway, here's to a good March with much anticipated warmer weather and daylight savings time, and green pancakes and pinches!

Family Fun at the Jim

Well, we were trying to figure out what to do tonight, and we decided to give Jungle Jim's a go. It was an experience, that's for sure. We were there for about an hour, maybe a little longer. Daxton mostly enjoyed the arcade games, and Jacy enjoyed running around licking things. Ben, being the good husband that he is, rode most of the rides with the kids, which consisted of a lot of spinning in circles, and he came home with a headache and an upset stomach. As for the pictures, this morning when I was dressing Jacy, I came up with this outfit, and after she was dressed, I realized that she looked just like some kind of a dental assistant in scrubs. It's been bugging me all day, but I couldn't muster up the energy to change her into something else. My favorite picture of the kids from this outing is the one where Jacy looks like she's imitating "Kiss." So, the verdict as to Jungle Jim's: one and a half stars out of five.