MightyJohnsons

Today our family met up with Grandpa and Grandma Johnson (Seth’s parents) as well as Spencer and Rach and their fam and went to Sundance. We took the lift up the mountain to see all the beautiful fall colors. I don’t think we could have picked a better day. It seemed the colors were just perfect and so striking. I love fall and this area in the canyon visually confirms why. So beautiful. Continue reading “Colors of the season”

Katelyn started kindergarten today. She has been begging me to go all week. She couldn’t understand why Jacob and Meg got to go so much sooner than she did. I put her in afternoon kindergarten so by the time 12:30 rolled around she was chomping at the bit to get out the door. It is hard to believe my snuggle bug is off to school already. If you look closely you can see all her missing teeth. She looks like a first grader with all those holes!

Way to go Katelyn! We are super proud of you. Continue reading “Kindergarten begins today”

We recently moved into a rental and after multiple requests from my extended family we are posting pictures of our new abode. Although the style is somewhat dated, we have really enjoyed having the extra space to maneuver around in. Please pay careful attention to the lovely doorbell (looks similar to a wind chime) that plays an out-of-tune melody when anyone rings it and the vinyl lettering on the wall (I intend to remove it shortly). We also especially love the mauve carpet and draperies that are styled throughout the home. The backyard view however makes up for all the other odd things about this home. We back up to Alpine Country Club’s golf course. We have an unobstructed view of the mountains that is to die for.

I am not sure how long we intend to be here – most likely through the school year. I suppose it will depend on how long it takes us to find and purchase/build a permanent home. Honestly though, I don’t even want to think about moving again. It was such a long and exhausting ordeal. For now I think I’ll just relax a little and enjoy our time here.

Yesterday was the first day of school for Jacob (a big 4th grader) and Meg (a sweet 2nd grader). As if all the changes we have recently been through aren’t enough, we are throwing them into a new school with new friends AND a new method of transportation. My kids have always lived close enough to the school that I would drive them. Now we are far enough away that we are on the bus route. For the first time ever Meg and Jake rode the bus to school. I have to admit I quite like the bus idea. It saves me a lot of time and a lot of back pain from loading all my kids into the car a couple times a day.

Both Meg and Jacob made it through the school day without much issue. Megan has a good friend that helped her learn her way through the school. She came home all smiles. Jacob had a more difficult day. He really missed his buddies from his other school, but he was a trooper. He made it through the day only getting lost one time. I am sure it will get easier as time goes on. I am sure proud of these kiddos. They have been through a lot this summer and they just keep impressing me.

Katelyn will start kindergarten next week and it will just be me, Claire and Drew (till November anyway). What will I ever do with my time?

We switched houses over the weekend, and were sad to leave our first home. However, we were really moved at the outpouring of help and support from our friends and family. So, we offer huge “thank you” to everyone who pitched in and offered a hand.

Jen took Claire and Drew for most of Saturday. The Rowberry family provided two meals during the week, and then came to the new house on Saturday to help organize and unpack. Mom came and cleaned all Saturday night. Dayna cleaned, entertained the girls, and helped pack. Brian, Spencer, and Dustin did double-duty, helping move on both Friday and Saturday. Matt, David, Dad, Richard, Josh, Blake, Ty, Darin, David, and Jacob all helped load or unload the truck and pack things up. Julie and Sara had the girls over to play. We had lots of help from lots of friends and family (many I’ve probably neglected to mention). Thanks again. We are truly moved.

A big congratulations to David, Seth’s brother, and Lisa who were married this week. Lisa was just beautiful and both she and David couldn’t wipe the smiles off their faces all evening. We are so happy to have Lisa in our family. Claire was the flower girl, along with her cousin Lucy, and she did a great job. What special day!

We have exactly eight days until we have to be moved out. I have done a lot of packing, most of what can be seen in this picture. There are other boxes in the basement. I have no problem working hard, but for some reason the thought of packing all this stuff up only to unpack it all in a few days seems so ridiculous. If we actually had a rental or a place to go I wouldn’t feel the need to pack everything but at this point we are still homeless. I have a few rentals I am viewing today, but so far I have found that rentals are way over-priced. Nothing is under $1500 and most of the ones between $1500-$2000 per month aren’t that great. It just baffles me. I wish we could have found a home that worked for us, but I guess it isn’t in the stars right now.

We did find a home we liked a lot and we even made and offer on it but they countered and we felt the counter was still too high for us. So we’re back at square one. I guess all I really want to do is get in a decent rental and get settled before our little girl arrives in November. Then we can start house hunting or maybe even build in the future. I am still not really stressed, but I am kind of tired. I hope we don’t have to do this too many times in our lives. 🙂