Snow!

Sunday we got a ton of snow! They were predicting a lot of snow but they are usually wrong so we didn't think we would really get that much. Another reason why we sent my Dad home early after helping us move.  He needed to put his plow back on the truck and get ready.  We got up an headed to church, the roads were pretty bad but we made it fine.  It got really bad while we were in church and they ended up cutting the speakers and sending us home after the sacrament.  We were having a missionary farewell so they had him share his testimony. There were a couple of families they were in accidents on their way to church.  We drove home slowly and stayed there the rest of the day! Our friend Raymond was flying in to interview for a job that day.  We were worried his flight would be delayed or even canceled but it wasn't, his drive to our house from the airport was the worst part of his trip.  It was fun to have Raymond come visit us.  He was a good sport to put up with a mess and chaos from the move.  The kids had a blast talking his ears off and showing him random things around the house.

The kids loved all the snow, especially Lucy.  She loved to play out in the snow and help JJ shovel off the driveway and sidewalk.

 

 It was fun to be literally snowed in for the day! We made soup for dinner and just relaxed at home.  We did have to make a trip over to the town home to get some clothes for JJ and the iron.  I heard on the news Monday morning that we got 13.8 inches of snow! I don't think I remember getting that much snow.  It was crazy since it was so late in the season.  My Dad and Jordan sure enjoyed all the work they were able to get from it.  I think we would have all enjoyed it more if it wasn't suppose to be more spring-like outside. I just always think by the end of March we should be warming up not dumping a bunch of snow on the ground.  Oh well, we enjoyed it and it is melting fast.

Move

Last week we moved into our new house.  It was such a long exhausting process.  We closed on the house March 14th and that afternoon started right away taking things over.  Load by load we made progress.  Garrett and I continued all week long taking over boxes and putting things away slowly.  JJ would help us in the evening with taking over more loads.  It was really hard to keep up with the housework and keep up with Lucy's school work and other daily tasks while I focused so much time on moving.  Garrett was a good helper and would play so well while I loaded and unloaded things.

 We got a few small new pieces of furniture and we also took time to put them together.  It is fun to be able to pick out new things for the house and as we put more and more of our things into the house it was fun to see it all come together.  Friday my Mom came up and helped move over all the kitchen stuff.  That was so helpful because the kitchen is such a big job! She helped me get it all put away and then that evening I cleaned out the kitchen in the town home. 

 Saturday March 23rd we moved the furniture over.  By then we pretty much had everything over to the house minus the furniture.  My parents and brother Jordan came up to help us move.  It was so helpful! My Dad brought his truck and trailer that we used to load things onto.   We were so happy to have nice weather as we were moving.  We had a very cold week and so to have the sun shinning was so happy.  When we had one of the loads all ready we all rode on the back of the truck and trailer as we drove 2 streets over to the new house.  My Mom said she felt like she was in a parade and we should start waving.  We had a good laugh, since the weather was so nice there were lots of people outside and they probably thought we looked funny!

We had lots of help from our ward which was great! We had everything moved over in about a hour.  My parents stayed to have dinner with us and then they headed home.  We got to work putting the beds together and try to get things semi organized for the night.  We spent most of this week as well wrapping things up at our town home that we rented.  I went over several times and did some cleaning and JJ worked hard patching up the nail holes. The kids were such good sports as we kept them up late all week long trying to get things done.  All those little things added up and I felt very overwhelmed several times just thinking there was so much to do, and there still is! We are slowly getting there and we still have tons to do at the new house.  We are glad we are now officially done in the town home and be moved into our new house!

A Gap on Top

Monday night Lucy lost her top front tooth.  It has been loose for a while but when she got home from school on Monday she was really wiggling it.  I wanted her to pull it out all on her own and we didn't really bother her about wiggling it.  It was all up to her to get that tooth out.  She did a lot of wiggling back and forth and would love to show us how loose it was getting.  JJ did start helping her really make progress Monday night.  I stayed out of it, she gets so worked up and determined but doesn't want to actually pull it out on her own.  It was late and we spent a lot of the evening moving some things over to the new house.  She really wanted it out! It has been bothering her lately and is just so loose she can't really bite into anything.  Finally JJ pulled it out, she was so happy! She is such a determined girl and when she puts her mind to things she gets them done.  She knew she wanted that tooth out and it came out.  The tooth fairy came and brought her a dollar, so exciting! I still have to take a second look at her when she gives us a big smile.  She looks so different, so grown up!  I think it will be weird for a while even when those big grown up teeth start making an appearance.

Birthday Party

Friday evening we rented out the club house in our new neighborhood to have a get together with some friends to celebrate my birthday.  It worked out perfect to use the clubhouse and not have to worry about a large group in our home.  We ordered a big cake from the store and the kids were so excited to go pick it up with me. 

 We put 30 candles on the cake and I couldn't blow them all out.  They were all spread out and it was really hard.  Good thing I forgot to even make a wish!

 

Here is our fun group of friends that came.  They all pretty much live in our neighborhood.  It was fun to have them all come and wish me a happy birthday.  I am lucky to be making such great friends in our new area.  It is nice that they all live so close, it makes it easy to get together.  The kids had a blast eating lots of cake, ice cream and candy and then running around together.

My parents and brother Jordan came up to celebrate with us too.  It was so fun to have them there and it was nice to have family to celebrate my birthday this year.  It has been a while since I have been able to celebrate a birthday with them. 

Thanks to JJ for organizing the invites and arranging the clubhouse.  It was sweet of him to make sure we celebrated my birthday. 

Closing Day!

The day after my birthday we closed on our new house! It was such an exciting day! I think we both felt like the whole home buying process seemed so long.  By time we closed we were more then ready.  We did our final walk through Tuesday afternoon and then went Thursday morning to make everything official.  We used our landlord as our real estate agent and she was wonderful and so helpful.  Garrett came with us to the closing and sat in the corner playing with some toys while we signed a million papers.  I think they had to cut down a few tree's to make all the paper we used.  We feel so lucky to have a new home.  Everything just worked so well for us and we couldn't be happier.  We are so excited to make some great memories and raise our family in this house.  I know JJ was saying that he just feels so grown up and responsible having a home now.  It really does make you feel like an adult.  We got right to work that afternoon moving some things over.  We didn't unpack all of our boxes when we moved up from Memphis so it was nice and easy to move several things over quickly.  We wont officially move in until next weekend.  I am so thankful for JJ, he works so hard to provide for our family.  I am so thankful that he had such a great job and does all he can to provide things like a house for the family. I feel so lucky to have all that we do! I know that we will always remember the day we bought our first home!

Happy 30th Birthday Heather

Wednesday we celebrated my 30th birthday! We had a really busy week surrounding my birthday so I wanted to take the day to just relax and not pack it full of stuff.  We started with our traditional birthday donuts, the kids were thrilled! Garrett and I then headed to the gym.  With being sick the week before I was exited to make it to my favorite class that morning. Later that morning Garrett helped me make frosting for the cake! He loves to help me in the kitchen and was really excited to help with the frosting.  JJ came home to have lunch with us.  He made me lunch and then frosted the cake with Garrett.  It was fun to see him and spend some time with him in the middle of the day. 

That afternoon I worked on a few small projects but mostly just relaxed.  I enjoyed talking with friends and family during the day.  It is always fun to visit with everyone on your birthday.  We then headed to Red Robins for dinner.  We were all looking forward to going out to eat and we all arrived starving!  

I always love a good burger and I love the Whisky River burger they have there.  We all ate until we were stuffed, it was delicious! 

 

After dinner we headed home to have cake and ice cream together.  Garret had been looking forward to a piece of cake all day.  He asked me all afternoon if he could sing to me so he could have a piece. 

I enjoyed opening all the nice cards that came in the mail.  I always save all my cards to open with gifts.  I enjoy reading all the nice things people write in the cards.  JJ and the kids worked hard shopping for some nice gifts for me.  I love that they put so much thought and effort into it.  They picked me out a new Jessica Simpson purse and some new Burberry perfume.  I love them both, they did a great job! I had such a wonderful day celebrating with the family.  I can't believe I am 30! I hope the 30's are just as great at the 20's were.

Car Wash

One of Garrett's favorite things to do is go through the car wash.  We drive by it everyday and he will usually ask to go. I love that something so small brings him so much happiness!

Shopping and the Zoo

Monday morning we headed to the mall to do some shopping.  We ate lunch in the food court and I took Garrett on the carousel.  It was fun to do a little shopping.

 After the mall we headed down to the zoo.  It was freezing but we didn't stay very long and just saw a few things.  Both things we wanted to see were inside so it wasn't bad.  We went to see the penguins, Cara's favorite.  One of my favorites as well.  They weren't as active as they usual are, they were cleaning so I wonder if that is why. 

 We then went to see the new Sea Lion exhibit.  I think it is a fun exhibit and it is always fun to see them swimming around.

After the zoo we went and dropped Cara off at the airport.  It was so fun to have her and it was sad to drop her off.  I am glad JJ and Cara arranged a little birthday visit, it was just what I needed!

St. Louis Arch

Sunday afternoon we headed down to visit the Arch.  They have a museum under the arch that is free so we decided to go walk around in there.  Cara has been to St. Louis and done most all of the sites but it was fun to do a little sight seeing.  It was a rainy and slightly chilly day, so perfect for walking around a museum. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 It was fun to go down there, it has been a long time since we have all been down there before.  Someday we will have to take the kids up to the top, maybe when they can remember it.   We went to a small get together with friends that evening and then made some dinner and had fun visiting together.  One thing I loved was just having someone to visit with! JJ commented that Cara and I talked non-stop pretty much the whole weekend and he loved it.  We pretty much did just chat all weekend long and it was great. 

Dance Recital

Saturday was Lucy's dance recital.  She has been taking dance this past year and has really enjoyed it.  She has never shown us any dance moves or anything she has been learning so we were really looking forward to seeing her dance. I would ask her if she needed to be practicing, she said she would just practice the dances in her head. JJ and I would joke that she really wasn't learning anything or even wonder if she liked it.  She always looked forward to dance and said she enjoyed it but just didn't want to dance for us. Her teacher said some kids are just like that. I am thinking maybe she danced in her room when we weren't watching.

  She was really excited to have Cara here to be able to watch her dance.  My family was out of town and so it was fun to have someone special there. 

 

When they all came out Lucy was so nervous.  It looked like she was going to just start to cry.  JJ and I were nervous that she would start to cry but she got over it and did a great job! What a big deal for a 6 year old to get out on a stage and dance in front of all those people.  They did 3 dances and they alternated with another class so they could change costumes.  The first dance was a jazz dance.  It was really cute! I could tell as she was dancing that she really knew the dances and would be right on beat with the music.  All of the kids had their eyes glued to the teacher to watch the next move but I think they really knew them.

 The second dance they did was a ballet, I thought it was really cute!

 The last dance was a hip hop dance, Lucy said this was her favorite.  She did a good job, I think she is a great dancer!

 It was so fun to be able to watch her dance.  I think it is just so neat to be able to watch your kids do something that they have practiced so hard for.  We were so proud of her getting up there and dancing.

 Here is her teacher, Ms. Debbie.  We go to church with their family and Lucy just adores her.  She does a great job teaching the class. I am so glad we had Lucy take dance it has been a great experience.  

 

We got Lucy a bunch of flowers, she thought that was really special. I have really enjoyed them as well.  They have been such a pretty bunch of flowers and opened up so big!

 

 

 After the dance recital the weather was so nice we headed to the park to let the kids play for a while.  It was packed, you can just tell everyone is so ready for spring to be here.  We then headed to Deweys Pizza for dinner.  We got a variety of pizza and it was all so delicious.  I was still not feeling all that great so I was glad we had leftover for the next day so I could enjoy it.  

Check out all that cheese hanging from her pizza!

 Cara and I were going to head out to a movie that night but I just wasn't feeling up to it.  We stopped by the grocery store for some candy and a Redbox.  We drove her by where my parents live since we were out that way and then headed home to relax and watch our movie together.  It was nice to be able to just hang out with Cara all day.