Visits

My parents left on Tuesday and even though I was sad to say good bye, it has been so nice to have just our family here and get some sort of normalcy back to our lives. Right now, it is after 10:30 PM and I am the only one up. I really should go to bed, but I am so enjoying the quiet and getting a few things done that I usually am fighting to get done, like blogging :)

We didn't waste any time having visitors at our new place. Our good friends the Plaisteds and Hansens stopped by on their way to Bellingham for a mini vacation. The weather was in our favor too so we played outside and the kids loved visiting with the horses, Ty a little too much as we had to fish him out from the other side of the pasture. It was so nice to see them, but made me miss them a little more than I already did.

Then Thursday Justin's sister came to stay for a few days with her boys, Kolby and Ryan. The weather again was so nice that we were able to go out to the lake house Thursday evening and the kids were even brave enough to get into the water. We had a great visit with them and it is so nice to have plenty of room for everyone to use.

A couple weeks ago, I decided to get myself and early birthday present (and anniversary and Christmas probably, considering what it cost) and bought a nice camera- a Canon Rebel T1i. I almost took it back though because it was getting ridiculous thinking about when in the world am I going to have time to figure this camera out. But I was convinced to keep it and slowly figure it out. So we pulled it out while Lisa was here and went for a photo shoot. Now I am almost embarassed to say this, but we went 3/4 of the way through the photo shoot with the lens only halfway on. I couldn't figure out why the pictures were partially out of focus. I just figured I didn't know really what I was doing (and that was partially right). So some of these pictures are a little funny because of that. The family one is over exposed but a cute picture and I may try to adjust it in photoshop (in my spare time...). I am hoping to learn more about photography and be able to use this camera more and get some great pictures over the years.

Update

While the kids are outside and Tripp is content for a few brief moments, I thought I would upload some pictures and give a little update.

Tripp is growing well and is almost 3 months! He is still a bit tempermental, but generally getting better. He sleeps pretty well at night (although still in bed with us). The big unfortunate thing about Tripp is that he HATES the car. Going anywhere is a challenge because we have to listen to him cry and cry. We have tried it all too, but nothing seems to help so we will have to just wait for him to outgrow it. Sorry this picture of him is sideways. I don't know how to change it easily and don't have the time to tinker with it at the moment.

At the beginning of the month, Mark came to visit and brought home is fiance, Hannah, with him. It was so fun to meet her and get to know her a little bit. They are planning to be sealed in the Portland temple probably on September 25th. They are still working out all the details, including the date. We are all very excited for them and Elliot LOVES her new future aunt.

Grey has found a very soft spot with his Grandpa Keith. Grandpa will take Grey anywhere and Grey happily rides along. He loves to go with Grandpa in the truck. And whenever Grey is upset, Grandpa can usually calm him down. The other day he was upset about something and the two of them fell asleep in the recliner probably watching Fox news. Grey is definately going to miss Grandpa, as we all are.

The other favorite thing lately, has been the horses in the pasture. I think we have the best gig with these horses. My dad has about 2 acres in pasture field around the house. To keep the grass short, he has some people keep their horses there for free. So we get the country embiance of horses and none of the work. And the kids LOVE to go out there and visit with the horses. They have even become brave enough to pet them and feed them some grass out of their hands. Grey even has clearly said "horse" which is a huge feat considering his vocabulary is extremely limited.

We have one more week with my parents here and then the real adventure starts for all of us. I think they are anxious to get their mission started and we are anxious to get settled here. I am so glad that Justin is here for good and that summer is here so that we can get settled without work to deal with yet. It is still up in the air what he is going to do this fall. He will continue to look for a job, but subbing may be the best bet for him. He has been seriously considering going back to school for his master's so subbing might provide the flexibility that would be very advantageous in that situation. We are excited for what all will be in store for us!

One of these days...

We are still alive and surviving and updating my blog is on the to do list. However, the list keeps getting longer and things aren't getting done quite as quickly as I would like. With a cranky baby, a non-existent husband (until tomorrow, horray!!!) and stuff out of sorts (like my computer) here while living with my parents it just hasn't been a priority. I will update more soon, but just know that we are well, but anxious to send my parents off so that we can get normalcy somewhat back in our house. It has been a long 6 weeks apart, even though he has visited on weekends, but we are excited to have Justin coming to stay tomorrow afternoon. And then let the summer begin!!!