Moving

So we packed up our family and left Salt Lake City to move to Claremont California so I could attend medical school. Moving was quite an emotional experience for all of us. Before we left we were able to spend some time with family and friends. Unfortunately the only pictures I got were with the Winnetts. We went out with them twice before we moved. The Sunday before we moved we went out to 5 guys burgers  & fries. One of our favorite burger joints in Salt Lake. Here are some pictures of the crew.

Here is Erek, Lisa, and Bella.

Gideon wasn't feeling very well so we didn't get any pictures of him :( That night Drew and Jerrod got to spend the night at their house, they had so much fun.

We have loved living so close to the Winnetts, over the last 4 years we have all become best friends. I have to admit of all of our friends and family I think Erek, Lisa, and their cute kiddos will be the most missed. We hung out with them so often and for Adam it was the first time he had a best friend who really had his back.

We had a lot of help loading the truck with Erek and bunch of Elders from the ward coming to donate their time and muscle. Thanks guys! Kari and Annie helped me tons in cleaning and packing up the little stuff. It got to the point where I was just kinda walking in circles and they were doing the work. Thanks so much girls I don't know what I would have done without your help!

We finished up the last little bit of stuff on Wednesday and Kari and the Winnetts came over to help us finish cleaning. After saying goodbye to our friends in the court we went out to lunch with the Winnetts. It was such a bitter-sweet experience.

Here is Jerrod and Erek. Jerrod was so attached to Erek, when he was helping us load the stuff from storage he kept asking him if he would come live at our house and he could have Adam's and my bed. The goofball, if he's going to give up a bed he needs to give up his own :)

Here are some of the boys being silly

And all of the boys.

And all of the girls (I know they outnumber us almost 2:1)

We love you guys and can't wait for you to come out for grad school in So Cal (at least that is what we're hoping for!)

While we were driving to California Gideon kept getting a sad face and asking "home? home?". It was so sad to watch. He didn't like all of the changes, and lets be honest I don't think anyone does in the middle of it. Jerrod got extra whiny and Drew had a few break downs with tears missing everything from home. I have felt really guilty about dragging my family away from our friends and family so I could attend school. While Adam has been sad he has really held us together reassuring everyone. He keeps reminding me that we have wanted to leave Utah for a long time and if we weren't leaving for my school we would have left for his work.

We got to our new apartment on thursday and were expecting our belongings to arrive the next day. My dad flew in from Washington to help us unload and get settled. Unfortunately our truck did not get there until Sunday (sooooo frustrating). To help fill in the time we ran a bunch of errands and went to the beach one day. Here are some pictures of huntington beach. The waves were crazy high and Drew and Adam had so much fun. Adam and my dad had to hold the boys up to keep them from getting knocked over by the waves. A couple times Drew went over by himself and would get knocked down and the wave pushed him into the beach.

Here they are going out for more.

Here they are bracing for another wave.

Adam had to hold Drew up for this one while my dad and Jerrod head for shore.

Gideon didn't enjoy the waves much and spent his time playing on the sand.

Here's Sammie's first trip to the beach. It was pretty windy so she didn't like it much but I know she will once she gets bigger.

Jerrod got cold and wanted to warm up playing in the sand.

It was so nice having my dad out to help us. We felt so alone without knowing anyone and having him there made us all feel better. Thanks so much for coming out dad and spending time with us. We love you!

Quilt sampler, week 2

Here's week 2 of the quilt sampler. I knew I should get to it fast after getting out my machine. Now I can spend the rest of the week sewing together a quilt for my bed.

If you want to check it out or start the blocks yourself click HERE to go to week 2. 

Here's block 3, I really love the colors in this one.

Block 4, again I had to use a couple different prints to make up the large pieces of this block. At first I was a little bummed about having to mix and match, but now that they are done I love being able to use more of the different fabric.

Both blocks together

And here are the 4 completed blocks so far

quilt sampler, week 1

Because I don't know enough to do I started a simple sampler quilt along. Each week 2 blocks are posted with instructions and at the end of 8 weeks you have all of the blocks to make a quilt. The blocks in this quilt are not ones I would normally choose but since I have just kinda been winging it on my quilts I thought it would be great to learn some techniques and the steps I should be taking to make a better quilt. If you want to follow along click here for the main page for the quilt a long.

I am using a Verna Layer cake that I actually won on give-a-way week from Amy. Since some of the fabric squares are smaller and I can't get all of the pieces from the same print I'm improvising a little. I really like the result. Sorry for the poor pictures I just unpacked my sewing machine tonight and whipped up the blocks after the kiddos went to bed.

Block 1

Block 2, now that I'm looking at the picture I wished I flipped the strips so they were opposites, but oh well. I'm really happy I got all of the corners to match up!

And both of them together! I can't wait to get the new blocks, I am loving all of the fun colors and prints of this line of fabric.

End of School

I was able to go to Drew's school a couple of times during the last week to help out. The first was a school fund raiser. They held a walk-a-thon where kids would get money sponsors at a flat rate or for how many laps they walked. Drew told me he was going to walk at least 5 laps and maybe 10. Because Adam and I were slackers we were the only ones who donated. I told Drew I would give him $2 per lap and Adam gave him $1 per lap. Drew ended up walking 16 laps, and it was only less than 20 because he got a bloody nose. The little stinker made some decent money for his school and his parents a little poorer.

Here's Jaycob, Sam, and Drew with their punch cards.

 Drew taking a break as they lined up for lunch. His teacher, Ms Kenna, is doing a dance while waiting for the rest of her students.

At the end they had the firetruck come and spray down the kiddos, not a mom's favorite but the kids loved it!

Three really wet boys!

The second was a school field trip to the Copper Mine. Jerrod was able to tag along with Sammie of course since she can't be that far away from her food source. The school used a bus for the kids, but because I had the two other kiddos with me we drove while Drew opted for the bus. We had never been there before and it was fun to look in the big pit. The best part by far was being able to be with Drew and watch him interact with his friends.

Drew with some of the classmates, his teacher Ms Kenna and the teacher's aid Ms Isabel.  Jerrod loved being involved!

And here's the great big hole :)

We went to a park for lunch afterwards and the kids were able to play. After lunch some of the kids started playing soccer. Jerrod saw them and had to run over and play. It was fun to see him keep up with second graders. I think he may have been taller than a few of them as well. I swear I took pictures of it but I don't think they saved :(

Here are the last pictures of Drew with Ms Kenna.

Jerrod had to get in on the action as well. He keeps telling me that she is his teacher too. I really wish she would come out to Cali and keep teaching my boys, they all love her.

Bumbo

We really love the bumboo in our house. A couple of weeks ago Adam put Sammie in it while he was working and here are the cute pictures he got. She is such a strong little thing holding up her head.

Here are a couple of pictures of me with Sammie. The first one is from my birthday. Let's just say turning 30 was not really a highlight and there were many things that I wish were different about that day. One of which is the lack of pictures, I asked Adam about it a few times yet he failed to take out the camera and take pictures when we had family over, or a cake, or when I was not completely upset with him. So here is a picture and one from a couple days later. I really love my little girl.

Family Pictures

We had some family pictures taken by our friend Spencer, here are a few of them. Enjoy :)

The last couple of the boys are just for fun, they were being pretty silly.