New fun

We are renting a house in Middleton for about a year.  The house that we are renting has THE coolest back yard.  These kids are in hog heaven.  Just outside the back door is a huge patio that the kids ride their bikes and toys on.  On the side of the house is a huge play ground.  They call it The Park.  It has swings, a slide, monkey bars, a climbing wall, and plastic fire hoses to hook up to our garden hose.

Here are the kiddos playing on the patio.

Oliver is 1!

Ollie has finally had his birthday.  I thought, that since he shared a birthday with my dad, that it was only fitting for them to celebrate together.

So.

Off to the farm we went.

To celebrate Oliver and Dad's birthdays together.

Harvest was supposed to be happening, but a big, fat, huge rainstorm stopped those plans.  The last time we were on the farm during harvest was right after Maycee turned 1.  Cooper has not experienced that yet!  I know!!  Anyway, we had fun without the big trucks and the potatoes.  Dad gave us a fancy, schmancy tour of the new cellar anyway.

This picture is really cool.  You can't even tell what it is!  AND you definitely couldn't see the moisture in the air until I took this picture.  This is a long hallway in between the two cellars.  Water was circulating through the center.  I tried to get a picture of how long it was, but didn't realize all the moisture in that air.

 
Dad made this amazingly level pile of potatoes with his own two hands.  Oh, and the conveyor belts.

I love this picture.

Sunday was the big day.  I'd been preparing for this for a LONG time.  I'm pretty sure I got one of Ollie's presents in June.  Kory and Charisse and Boston and Bridger came along to celebrate.

Dad's current favorite dessert is white sheet cake topped with a cream cheese concoction then strawberry Danish Dessert drizzled on top.  Ollie's first cake was made like Dads.

Dad was pitching a fit the entire time we were putting on the 54 candles.  Light them, we still did.

Dad and Ollie dug in even before the candles were lit.  AND before the birthday song!

Dad almost blew the candles out all by himself.  I was impressed.  Cooper really wanted to help.  Don't tell, but I'm pretty sure Cooper's blowing of the candles consisted of a lot of saliva.

I took SO many pictures of Ollie and his cake.

I have to tell you about the awesomeness that I am learning to create!

Cake pops.  I am getting really good.

For Ollie and Dad's birthday I made three kinds.  Pink Lemonade, Funfetti, and Chocolate with toffee pieces.  THEY WERE SO GOOD!!!

Keep coming back to Ollie...

Ollie got a bath right after this picture was taken.

Maycee was a big help with Oliver's presents.

Yep.  Got this in June.

Here's Dad's present!  He is so proud of himself.

Thanks for the fun party, guys!

We have a new address.

On September 19, Friday, Stephen and I began our move.  I was quite proud of my moving organizational skills.  I'm the bomb.  Thanks to my research of Pinterest, everything went very smoothly.

On Saturday morning, our loading crew arrived and packed our Uhaul, good and tight.  I had been so focused on getting everything ready and done that I pushed all of the emotions of moving very deep down to the very tip of my pinky toe.  I refused to let them out.

Until.

Saturday night.  Late.  Stephen told me that Krystal had written a tribute to her neighbors.  I feigned exhaustion and went to sleep.  The next day at church a friend in our ward asked me if I had seen Krystal's Facebook post.  I told her I'd been so busy that I hadn't had a chance to look.

After church I drove to our new home with the three kiddos and left Stephen for his after church meetings.  We had to take two cars.  Our 45 minute car ride to Boise, makes us plan ahead.  All three kids fell asleep and I knew I needed to read Krystal's post.  I'd been, knowingly, postponing the inevitable.  The emotion.

I read Krystal's post and I bawled.  I cried the rest of the evening.

I drove to our old house, in Boise, on Monday morning, to start cleaning.  I dropped the kids off at a friend's house.  I wanted to clean, and say goodbye, to our very first home, in peace.  I cried off and on for the first four hours of cleaning.

Stephen and I built this home.

We brought three babies to that house.

We had lived life in that house for six years.

It is hard to say goodbye.  BUT I know this next step is good for our family.  Middleton is where we are supposed to be to keep raising our family.

Thank you, Krystal, for being brave enough to even want to live next door to me.  The last five years with you have been something I am grateful to have had.  My only wish is that, someday, we will get it again.

Good bye, Boise.

Final Pictures

We had Krystal take pictures of us at the house just after we finished cleaning.

 ....You can't even see Cooper in this one.  Well.  I guess you can see his feet.

This is Maycee's best friend, Jovie, that lives down the street.  Jovie just learned to ride her bike that day.  So here they are on a final ride together.  Both on two wheelers.  Without training wheels. :)