Randomness

So we're here at my mom's and honestly I'm loving it, but I wanted to post some random pictures of things that went on before we left. So here goes.

We LOVE to go on bike rides, but we get sick of just staying in our neighborhood, so we went to a different neighborhood and we found some dirt trails that the boys had a lot of fun on. Here's Cole.

Here's Korver. Oh I can't wait until these boys are old enough to take mountain biking! They are going to love it! And luckily my mom lives close to LOTS of dirt trails that the boys have been loving!!

So while we lived in this house the kids were never allowed to play on the railing, let alone jump off it, but on moving day...... We made an exception. =) Once again the videos off this are much better. Oh well!

This is not the best quality of a picture but my neighbor texted it to me and I loved it. This was one of the hardest things for me to leave......my kids friends. This was their little gang, and they all lived within a few houses of each other on the same street. I miss these kids! My kids always had someone to play with. I hope my kids are able to find a crew like this again.

Somehow this picture got pushed out of order and I'm too lazy to fix it. So here's Korver jumping off.

We had to give up Nahla for a few months while living at my mom's. Oh how we are missing her. I talk to her every Sunday on the phone as she's staying with my friend Julie, but I can't wait until I can bring her home again. She is such a good, fun dog!! And look what she puts up with. =)

I tried to take the boys and and a few of their friends to the Spanish Fork splash pad before we moved but when we got there it was closed! It was too hot to just stay and play at the playground so I drove them back down to Santaquin to a small little splash pad there. Luckily, they managed to still have some fun. 

This was our kitchen table for the week before we moved completely out. Can you tell that was a rough week?

Our last fire. I'm going to get in trouble for posting this picture but I think it's so funny. Neil has smoke in his eyes, Korver is out to conquer the world, and Cole looks like he hadn't a care in the world. I will miss that fire pit! We plan on having another one at our new house, but by the time we get to it, I think it's going to be a few years out. So sad.

We actually had a lot of fun this night. We went for a family bike ride a few miles away and got caught in a huge downpour. We just kept riding our bikes and the boys kept singing "rain, rain, come today, so we can go out and play all day." Somehow we managed to start a fire after that too.

So a little bit on our move.... it was really really hard for me to leave our home. On moving day my sister-in-law stayed behind with me after the truck left to help me clean. We cleaned for a few hours and I was fine, but when it was time to leave I broke down. I didn't  think I could leave it. I couldn't believe that we were really leaving. We have so many memories in that home. I loved that home. I thought it was beautiful. I've raised my kids in that home, brought home my babies (except Cole) to that home. Taught them how to walk, run, and talk. All the laughs, tears, and craziness we've had there. It was home! But I just had to trust that this was right. And I knew deep down that it was. So I left.

I was really homesick the first day or so but now we are loving it. We love being close to family. We're having so much fun. The kids have adjusted great and are loving seeing grandma everyday and their cousins and grandma and grandpa lots more. We have lots of new parks and bike trails to explore too. Neil and I love our new found freedom to be able to leave the kids and go have a little fun. We love putting the kids to bed and then being able to go on a bike ride at night. So it's been a lot of fun and so far we're happy. =)

July 4th

July 4th was packed with lots of fun. We started the day getting up early to make it to the Murray parade (we were still living in Payson). Brett, Tiff, Keaton, Ron, Pat, Ken, and Claudia all joined us. The boys loved it! Especially all the candy.

Shailee liked the parade once she figured out the stuff people were throwing at us was candy! And I had a special surprise with one of my best friends growing up that I hadn't seen in years was there! She's in the background in red. 

After the parade we headed to the splash pad in Herriman with Neil's family.

I think the boys liked the playground as much as the actual splash pad. Shailee didn't care for the splash pad at all. We're still trying to warm her up to those things.

Then we headed to Grandma and Grandpa's for a BBQ and water fight. The kids (and a few of the adults) had a blast. The pictures don't do justice. I love iPads but I hate how I can't upload my videos to my blog from them. The video to this was pretty good. Oh well.

After that we headed back to Murray for the big firework show. The kids had fun with the glow sticks, flashlights, and of course sparklers in the parking lot after. 

Then we loaded up for the long haul home. It was a long day but we loved every minute of it.

Our Last Night

It's so weird to be laying here in bed knowing it's the last night I'll ever be in this home. It doesn't seem like it's been six years since our first night here. I remember that first night having such a feeling of comfort even though nothing was put together and most of our stuff was still in boxes. I felt like I was home and this where we were supposed to be . It's hard to believe that Cole was only 6 months old and now we have three kids with our youngest almost 18 mo. So much has changed. I never thought I'd leave here. When Neil first brought up moving I shut him down immediately. But by the time the night was over I knew he was right. I knew we needed to move. We needed to be closer to Neil's work. To give him a better life. To give us a better life. To give Neil the opportunity to be at baseball and soccer games, to be at school events, to see his kids more. To serve in the church better. To have a life outside of work. To preserve my sanity. It all just made sense. So here we go. Here's the start of a new journey that I'm excited and terrified for. I will miss Payson. I will miss the canyon and the temple, and so many people. But in the end I think it will be worth it. I just hope I can feel as much at home in Cedar Hills as I have here. Time will tell I guess.

Disneyland

Ok so these pictures are in way random order, and I can't figure out how to center them, but here's a look at our trip we took to Disneyland the end of April.

Korver didn't want me to take a picture of him with sand all over his face until I told him he looked like his handsome dad does when he has a little scruff. After that he was game. This kid LOVES his daddy.

The kids paying me back for burying them in the sand.

The boys being buried and loving it! I'm sure our rental car place just loved us!

3D Shows!

What a cutie!

These two are seriously best buds..... Most of the time anyway. =)

DJ!!! Yo yo whad up?

Shailee LOVED Disneyland, as long as she could go on the ride too. And as long as they didn't take too long to start the ride. For instance, she does not have much patience for the carousel. That ride takes way too long to start.

Bugs Life! - Dad and Cole are on some bigger rides. As you can tell the suspense on this ride is killing my kids. Maybe it was rides like this that had Korver saying.... "These rides are boring Mom!"

Mater at the Cozy Cone!

Here's what we came for!! Lightning McQueen! I'm glad we came when we did as my boys are finally starting to outgrow Cars. If I had waited I don't think they would have been nearly as excited.

Disneyland was fun, but seriously next time I think we're going to skip Disneyland and just head for the beach. We had so much fun there! The boys were seriously more excited for the waves than they were for Disneyland. 

Shailee loved the beach too. She just wasn't a huge fan of the cold water.

Ok so on our way to the hotel I wanted to just stop by the beach. You know just roll our pants up, walk along the beach, and get our feet wet....... Yeah right Mom! These kids were soaked head to foot. 

Really Mom? You expected me to only get my feet wet? 

Love this family picture. You can tell Korver is a little freaked out with how high the water came up on us with this wave though. We really are on the beach and not out in the ocean.

Korver loved the waves as long as dad had a hold on him.

Plane Ride!! Thanks JetBlue for the AWESOME deal!

Waiting for the plane at SL airport.

Shailee loved the playground in Toon Town. 

Silly Dad!

Ok so I am officially the worst mom ever. This is Cole and I waiting for the Tower of Terror. I KNEW Cole would hate it but convinced him otherwise so he would come with me. Yup he hated it...... In fact once we got home he would come into our room crying because he would have nightmares about the elevator doorman waving goodbye and then the elevator dropping us. Poor guy! And poor Neil. Neil tried to convince Cole to go on the ride with him but there was no way Cole was going again. So Neil went by himself.

Flo's!!

Cole and Neil on Radiator Spring Racers.

Ok so I know you can't see this picture very well but this is Shailee on The Little Mermaid. This was definitely her favorite ride! She LOVED IT! We seriously rode it at least 10 times. She was memorized.

 Korver and I on Radiator Springs Racers. Oh wow. Crazy hair!

 This was before the ride started. I think Korver was a little nervous as he was told 3 times before he was too short to go on the ride. After a little tweaking with his shoes we were able to get him on the ride, and he was SO excited!! But I think right before it started he got a little nervous. But he ended up loving the ride! Totally worth the tweaking!!

Mater! .... Again

McQueen! .... Again

Neil, Cole, and Korver on Splash Mountain

Jungle Cruise!

More Jungle Cruise

I know you want to see all these pictures of the same ride. =)

Heimlich!

Can't remember the name of this ride. But we're in a cracker box in Bugs Land.

Based on Cole's look in this picture you would never guess this was one of his favorite rides. 

 Toy Story Shooters!

 Tarzan

 Tarzan's Tree

The first time Cole and Korver went on Splash Mountain they had the front seat. They both loved it too. This picture is Cole's first time going on the ride.

You'd think after riding a plane for the first time the boys would be a little more excited or happy or something. I loved this airport though because you actually got to use the plane's stairs and see the plane you rode on. I thought it was cool.

 Our rental car. I know..... So exciting.

We had such a blast and loved pretty much every minute of it. But honestly, I think I'm done with Disneyland for a good five years or so.