Catch up time!

Can you believe it?  I'm actually blogging.  It has been a busy spring, summer, fall and now winter.  To quickly recap, we spent the spring and summer with our house for sale.  All I did was nurse, change diapers, clean and take kids to their activities.  Well, mostly cleaning and nursing.  Oh, and I was the Relief Society President so that kept me busy. 

After what seemed an eternity, right after the kids started school, we sold our home.  We only had a month to find a new home and move out.  It was crazy!  We hired a babysitter for our older kids and took the twins to Utah on a whirlwind househunting trip.  The househunting was so frustrating because homes are so much more expensive in Utah than they are in Pennsylvania.  Thankfully, on the last day of our trip, we finally found the home we were looking for.  It is in Draper down the hill from the temple.  We love the house but don't love the yard or the street.  It is on a steep hill and so it's too dangerous for the kids to ride their bikes and they can't exactly play basketball without losing the ball down the hill.  The yard is extremely small compared to our other home but it has some character with a little wooded area of scrub oak and nice landscaping with granite boulders.  The inside of our home is very similar to our old house.  It's almost the same layout we had before. I miss the hardwood floors but I'm getting used to it.  We may change the floors at at some point but for now, it's doable.  We have the most beautiful view of the valley and mountains.  I never get tired of it and especially love looking out from the balcony of our bedroom at any time of day. 

Our church here is in the Draper Temple parking lot.  Isn't that amazing?  The ward is a lot different from what I'm used to.  I feel like the frumpiest of the frumpy here because it seems like we have a ward of beauty queens.  Aside from a few short conversations, I haven't been able to get to know anyone yet but I know it will take time to make friends especially because I spend half of church out with one baby or the other. In addition, we don't have callings which has been a bit frustrating but it has also been a nice break after being so busy in Easton with church responsibilities.

The kids began school here on October 1.  After the first day, they were all happy and had made friends.  Spencer's teacher isn't quite as fun as Mr. Kolb from Palmer but he's beginning to forget about that.  Rachel has made a ton of friends and is really glad to be here now.  She's involved in orchestra, an audition choir and the Alta High School swim team.  She loves going to seminary during school although she'll be doing early morning next semester in order to fit in all her classes.  Spencer is beginning to form friendships outside of school at scouts and in the ward.  He also began basketball last week and ski club so now he's busy which is good.  Caitlin and Courtney both have best friends at school and are adjusting fairly well.  Caitlin has a lot of anxiety about us not picking them up after school.  It's so different from Palmer where all kids were bussed, even the kids that lived in the house next door.  If we picked up, we had to go in the school and sign them out after showing identification.  At Oak Hollow, the kids all leave school and it's chaos.  Everyday, Caitlin reminds me to pick her up, multiple times as if I'm going to forget.  On Fridays, they have early release days and she's particularly nervous about us forgetting to pick her up early so I have been setting my phone alarm in her presence in order to relieve some of her anxiety.  I need to get Caitlin and Courtney signed up for piano lessons and something else but I haven't gotten around to it.  We have been through one marking period and all of them had outstanding grades so their academics have not suffered.

 Since we moved here, Jake and Josh have progressed from scooting to crawling to pulling up and cruising around the furniture,  They're now standing for short periods and Jake is trying to take steps.  It's fun to watch them.  They also clap and wave with big smiles on their faces and say hi, mama and dada.  They get into everything now.  We are constantly finding more and more things that we need to childproof. 

One of the nicest things about being back in Utah is being near our family.  My parents love having us close by and we love going to their house for holidays and Sunday dinners.  On Saturday, my mom came here and we went shopping and out to lunch. It was so much fun being able to do that on a whim.  We need to do more with the Madsens but we'll be having the family Christmas party next week.  I'm looking forward to it!

Basketball

Rachel and Spencer are both playing basketball this year.  It's Spencer's first year playing.  He's learning a lot and having fun practicing and playing.  Rachel was put on a team with kids that are two years older and it's been a frustrating season because she doesn't get to play much even though she contributes as much as some of the kids who are playing most of the game.  All the girls her age sit on the bench most of the games.  Because of the pregnancy, I haven't been going to very many games this season and I forgot the camera the one time I went to Spencer's game.  Here's some pics of one of the few games I attended where Rachel was playing.

Spencer plays Jimmy Doolittle

Spencer gave a presentation, made a poster and wrote a report on Jimmy Doolittle for his Wax Museum Project at school.  Jimmy Doolittle was the first pilot to fly all the way across the U.S., a war hero in WWII and was most known for his help in developing and testing flight instruments.  Spencer loved his costume which Paul found at an Army/Navy store. He did a terrific job!

Track Star!

Rachel has been running track this season for her school track team.  She mostly runs the 400 but also runs in relays.  She loves it and we enjoy watching her fly around the track!

Spring Break 2012

Once again during spring break, we headed to Chincoteague Island, Virginia.  We weren't sure if we were going even two days before we left because the weather forecast seemed chilly, but Paul called the hotel where we normally stay and they gave us a wonderful deal on an apartment on the property, complete with living room with a pullout couch, full kitchen, three bathrooms and two bedrooms.  The kids really wanted to go and the price was right so we decided to go.  Getting everyone's bikes on the bike rack proved to be a challenge but somehow, we were able to do so.  When we arrived, I spent my days biking and beachcombing with the big kids interspersed with nursing breaks while Paul took care of the babies until feeding time.  On Easter Sunday, we went to church in Maryland and then drove to Ocean City because it was nearby.  There we walked along the boardwalk and walked a little bit on the beach.  It was beautiful there.  My friend, Cara, drove up from Virginia Beach on Monday and brought her two kids, Taylor and Maddie.  All the kids had a great time riding bikes and playing on the beach together.  At the end of the day, Cara took our family pictures.  It was a wonderful trip and as usual, we loved every minute we spent on Chincoteague. 

Spencer didn't want to wait for a picture.  He wanted to ride!

Caitlin, Spencer, Taylor, Rachel & Maddie