Oh, Jamison

This little boy is the funniest, naughtiest, silliest, grumpiest, back and forth, up and down child I've ever known. 

Today I watched him as he smacked Ashlin on the forehead. I said "Jamison! We do not hit! Tell her you're sorry!" 

He replied "I didn't hit her. I was giving her a high five." 

That's Jamison for ya. 

Ashlin's One-Liners

Kenzi was very upset the other day after school when I told her to hurry and eat a snack before we were off to dance classes and that right after dance we would be coming home and going straight to bed. (She isn't a fan of a super packed schedule.)
As Kenzi was whining to me about not getting any time to play that day, Ashlin sat eating her Goldfish crackers and said in a very matter of fact tone, "Night and day, Kenzi. It happens."
Oh, this child kills me.

Our Millville Memories

On June 15, 2013, we made the big move from Millville to Lehi, UT. What a crazy few months it's been trying to settle into our new "city life." Trevor loves his new store he is managing, I am blown away by the new studio I'm teaching at and the girls are attending, and we love all the space in our new house (It's nearly double the size!)
However, it has been hard for us to leave the beautiful, tiny town that we've called home for the last 4 years. Actually, that place has been home for me all my life, having been my favorite place to visit as a child. I was scanning through some pictures of our past few years there and I cannot believe how much happened in our family while we lived there. It is a huge chapter in our lives, and we made memories and wonderful friends that we will never forget.

 

Call me a sentimental fool, but this has easily been the hardest move I have ever made. I had always dreamed of living in that beautiful place, and despite the hardships we faced while living there, I know we were exactly where we were supposed to be. It was hard for me to face the fact that our simple, but perfect life there was over and that there is a new part of our life waiting to be experienced.

The memories we made there will never be forgotten. 

Here are a few things (both big and small) that happened while we lived in Millville:

-All three of my older kids learned to ride a bike there on that stretch of road that goes down by the barn.

-Jamison learned to crawl, then walk and run in that house.

 

-The older kids all started school there. Kenzi learned to read and to love math. Ashlin learned all her abc's and 123's. Jamison was learning lots in preschool during our last year there.

-We had some awesome parties.

-We were sealed for time and all eternity in our 2nd year living there.

-Our sweet baby Jordan was born in Logan and we brought him home to that house. He learned to smile there. To roll over. To crawl and to walk. His first giggles were in the walls of that home.

-My girls made friends there that they love and will never forget. Leaving them behind was so hard for them - and so hard for me to watch.

-We had lots of dance parties in the living room.

-We spent many chilly days cuddled up in our cozy little home, sipping hot chocolate and watching the drifting snow out the window.

-We watched the tractors drive by every day, and smiled and waved as the farmers tipped their hats - a daily occurrence in Millville.

 

-We spent warm, summer evenings sitting on the porch waving to neighbors (and strangers) who passed by on their horses or evening walks. If it was hot enough, the kids would take a dip in the ditch - a pastime that I remember doing as a kid in that very same spot.

-We got our first family pet while living there. Milo was a great dog, whom the kids loved so much. Sadly, we couldn't take him with us when we moved, so we found a great family with a large ranch and other dogs for Milo to play with who wanted to adopt him. We keep tabs with the family on Facebook so the kids can know how Milo is. He is happy with his new family!

-The kids spent endless days playing outside there - all seasons. There is no time of year that Millville is not beautiful.

-We made friends with a wonderful preschool teacher, Miss Kris! We loved her so much! All three kids got to be in her class (the girls both spent two years each with her and loved every minute!)

 -I was fulfilling my childhood dream of living in that paradise, in the home that I loved. I'm so grateful for that opportunity and for the chance for my kids to make beautiful memories in the same place that I made memories at that age.


 I can't begin to express the sadness I feel for leaving, but I truly feel that we'll get to go back and live there again someday. It's where we feel like home. And after all,
There's no place like home!
 

Silly Kenzi

Kenzi was being antsy at dinner tonight and wouldn't stay sitting down so I said "Kenz, where does your bum go when we're eating?"
She looked behind her with a puzzled look and said, "Nowhere...?"

My kids certainly keep me laughing!

Since Last Easter...

I noticed I haven't posted anything on here since last Easter. That's pretty pathetic. Our lives are more eventful than that, I promise. Not that anyone cares what we've been up to for the last year, but I'm going to get it all down for memory's sake :)


Kenzi graduated from Kindergarten. I bawled.

Ashlin graduated from Preschool - I bawled some more.

We played in the water a lot in the summer. It was HOT!











 To keep Mommy sane, we went to a lot of parks and had lots of snow cones.



We had dance parties in the living room - a common occurrence at our house.


We went to Jeremy Ranch for a week with Grandma and Grandpa - always a favorite.


The mountain in Millville caught fire and got pretty close to town. Lots of excitement, but nothing too scary. 


We did some boating.

Jordan learned to walk  - I bawled again. (yes, we did use a water bottle like a dog treat to get him to walk.)


 
 

Jordan turned one. This was almost too much for me to take.


We had fun in Delta, UT. for the fourth of July. It had been years since we'd gone down with the family, so it was a nice gettaway. We stayed in a cabin on the Res and did some boating, fun at the parade, and fireworks. Good times.






Trev and I had a wonderful 5 year anniversary in Park City staying at some AMAZING four star resorts and eating some fabulous food.











Ashlin turned 5 and Trev turned 30 in the same week, so we had a fun boating birthday party for them at Deer Creek.



The girls went back to school, and Jamison started Preschool. I can't seem to find the pic of Ashlin's first day. I'll have to add it later.





The girls got to be in the Aggies Homecoming Parade. That was huge excitement for them... until they realized how boring it was.


I was in West Side Story. Lots of fun. Met so many people I will never forget.



We all started back up at Dance Illusion. I love this staff - this is truly an amazing studio.

My kids continue to be the best of friends. This was taken during our nightly "Group Hug" after family prayer.


Halloween was LOTS of fun at our house as usual.




My kids tried their first (and last) twinkies the day Hostess closed their doors forever. Jordan loved them. Ashlin thought they were disgusting. The others thought they were alright. So long, Hostess!


Thanksgiving was yummy! I hosted it at my house, and it was my first year doing a bunch of the work myself (including the turkey.) Go me!


Christmas was fun. We got a new friend who came to visit us. Her name is Sparkle and the kids adore her.


The girls' main Christmas present was a "Paris Bedroom." The love it. We still have to paint and put on the finishing touches, but it's turning out pretty well.


We spent New Year's Eve with Megan and Lloyd and Mallory and Kory. It was a fun night, sealed with a kiss!



Whew! I think I got it mostly covered. My camera sadly met it's demise at the hands of the 3-year old boy (which is why most of the pictures are uploaded from my smart phone from Instagram.) Oh well. The plan is to stay updated. But I make no promises.