We Made it!

We had a pretty uneventful trip across country and we're getting settled into our new digs. It's beautiful here, we love it!!! I'll post some pics when I find my USB cable. The kids are so happy. They love the tree house and all the room they have to run around. They met the neighbor boy...Christopher. I call him Christopher Robin because he has a path that he made from his house to ours, and it's through all the trees...like hundred acre wood. We haven't been able to swim yet. The pool was pretty much a swamp when we got here. We called in the professionals and now we're on our way to having a pool that we can actually use! We love the farmers market in town on Fridays. So fun to talk with the Amish farmers. They grow some awesome produce! Our new ward is great. We had an assignment given to us within minutes of arriving to sacrament meeting! I love it!

Happy Birthday, Elizabeth

Elizabeth had a birthday this week...she's 14! We gathered a few friends and headed out to Warm Springs to spend the day soaking up the sun (ha ha, it was actually raining!!) swimming and relaxing. (**Note: There were actually 3 boys at the party, if you count Andrew's imaginary friend, Jeffrey. He's the one posing next to Andrew, on the back row.)

A Summer to Remember

Abby, Spencer and Heather are having the time of thier lives with Grandma and PapPap.

A Place to Call Home

We are so blessed! We found a little piece of heaven that we get to call home for a while.

We're on the Move

Sheldon's job is transferring us to the Philadelphia area, so we're packin' up and heading east! We're so excited for the change in scenery and a new adventure. But the move is bittersweet. It means moving far away from my family. I've grown accustomed to being so close, that it is hard to imagine them being so far away. Sheldon is already working out there and coming home when he can. Abigail, Spencer and Heather are enjoying a stress-free summer with their grandparents, which is about 5 hours from where we will be moving. Elizabeth opted to spend time with Grammy/Annie while I went back with Sheldon to look for a house. We found a beautiful place to call home. The kids will certainly enjoy the treehouse, the pool and the 1.8 acres of open yard that they can play in.

This how we do WINTER in the desert!

We don't get much snow in the desert, so we improvise! We ordered a load of sand/dirt to prepare our yard for sod. Before we got down to business, the kids had a ball building 'sand men' for their 'sand castles' and creating 'sand angels.' The first picture is just for fun to embarrass Elizabeth. She got the family klutz gene.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Who's the Biggest Loser??

Elizabeth lost her flute at the church after a Young Women meeting.

Sheldon lost his temper.

Spencer lost his tooth. (He lost it before the Tooth Fairy could bring him his $$)

Abby lost her status as EXPERT on Wii bowling.

Heather lost her favorite Littlest Pet Shop toy bird, Tweet.

I lost my mind filing a police report for Elizabeth's lost flute, being referee between Sheldon and Elizabeth, trying to find Spencer's lost tooth (ended up just giving him a buck), keeping control of the video game playing - (trying to find balance between homework, chores and the Wii) and moving the entire entertainment center and two bookshelves to recover Tweet! Whew!

**Update on the flute situation. Because we had the foresight (for a change) to pay the extra $4 a month for insurance on the flute, I was able to take the police report to the music shop and get another one at no cost. Less than 24 hours after all that took place, her flute showed up after all. One of the morning seminary teachers at the church took it home for safe keeping until the owner could be located. The police report was cancelled and the music shop was grateful not to have to take the loss!

Lizzy gets Glasses!

Isn't she adorable???

"WOW"

Abby, Spencer and Heather entered a PTA sponsored arts contest at school entitled 'Reflections' this fall. The theme was "WOW." Both Abby and Heather chose to enter the photography catagory (Abby's pic is the one of Heather feeding the seagulls, Heathers is the pic of the flowers) and Spencer chose to enter the film production category. They had a good time deciding what was 'WOW" to them and following through with thier entry. Abby and Spencer both won 1st place in their class and Spencer went on to bring home an honorable mention medal (on the school level) for his video. Great job guys!

Good Times...Good Friends!

We had a great week getting to visit with some old friends. Our friend, John, was in town TDY (for all you non-military readers, it means temporary-duty) and came by to have a home cooked meal and catch up on the lastest happenings with the kids. We were stationed with him and his wonderful family a bunch of years ago at Edwards AFB. They're now living on the east coast, so it's been a while since we've seen each other!

We also had the opportunity to spend the weekend with the my friend Michelle and her family. They came and stayed with us - the kids played, Michelle and I talked, and talked and talked. We had made plans to go out for a night on the town to celebrate Michelle's birthday, but in the end we decided to stay home instead. Party poopers? Maybe, but I prefer to calle it 'practical' since we had to be up early to get 7 kids off to church by 9am the next morning. We were also stationed with them at Edwards years ago. They are stationed in California, so it's fun to get together whenever one of us is passing through!

Meet our new BUDDY!

We fostered a beautiful golden retriever after he lost his family to the foreclosure crisis. He is such a sweet boy that loves everyone - we love him right back and decided to make him a part of our family.

Kittens!

Our kitty, Patches, had a litter of kittens on Sunday/Monday. She had six, but two didn't make it. The first 4 were delivered by Dr. Doolittle (aka Sheldon) because she was having trouble. We thought that she was done and left her alone with her new family and early the next morning she delivered the last two. Two of them are tortie gals, like their mom and the other two are presumed males (we're hoping) one black and one buff colored. The oddball buff colored guy was born with a broken tail - like his dad, whose name is ZigZag because his tail is broken in six or so different places.

Happy 9th Birthday, Abby!

Abby turned 9 on January 26th! (Can you believe it??) She had a super day that included an adorable new birthday suit, (that's what the kids call the new outfit they get the morning of their birthday.) a bunch of cool gifts (including her fave - a new MP3 player!) and a family party complete with a puppy paw print cake and puppy decorations! The top picture is Abby sporting her new sweater and hat that Grandma Penrose knitted just for her!

SNOW!

The kids were so excited when they got a snow day in December. We actually had two days of snow, the first day we got about 6 inches, and the second day we got 3. I had to go buy gloves - we're so not prepared for winter weather!

Christmas 2008

Wake Up Spence!

Heather's happy with her horse!

FINALLY A CELL PHONE!!

Awesome!