Saturday

Typical day: Dylan wakes up, walking around looking for me to change him into his swim suit...we won't be swimming for a couple of hours, but he either needs to wear his swim suit at all times or be carrying it.

He is happy to get his swim suit on.

We then play for a little bit inside.

Fireman Blake is then ready to go outside.

Of course we have to eat a snack because they eat every hour, so Blake goes back inside and gets plates for everyone and some banana bread and a knife.

With full bellies, they are ready to play on the gym set that came with the house...another fun thing about our house.

Dylan loves to climb...even with a messy face.

He has some awesome looks.

Oh, and this...this is a handle...Dylan was telling me this as I was trying to get a picture. He has sure been talking a lot and saying more and more words. It is fun! Oh, and we did eventually go swimming.

Splash Pad

We went to a birthday party at one of the local splash pads this week. Slash pads are pretty popular around here. We just had one that we knew of back in CA, so it was kind of fun to do something different.

Hanging Out

The boys are really liking the new house. Or should I say the boys really like the pool. We go swimming at least once a day. Sometimes they need to just hang out.

Why does he have a blanket? Texas is hot, we knew that it would be, but what we didn't know was that it wouldn't cool down at night.

Another fun place in our house is  the game room/play room/Blake's office. They made some rocket ships and went on an adventure.

I love those brief moments when they play together well!

Paint Paint and More Paint

Amy might kill me, but this is the only picture I took with Amy in it. I failed at getting some quality pictures obviously with grandma and grandpa, but we didn't fail on getting other things done...like painting. Amy painted and painted and painted some more.

She even let Blake paint for a little bit (like 2 minutes and he was done). He thought it was the best thing ever.

Does anyone in their right mind love the color salmon for a dining room? The previous owners did, but I didn't at all.

So Amy painted it. Looks a lot better! Aaron watched the boys for a couple hours so Amy and I could go shopping for some home decor. I will post some pictures of the rooms later. 

Aaron's dad came out a couple days later to help out. Thanks for the visit and all the help!

Goodbye Grandma and Grandpa

Blake likes to pretend to lead the music, which he needed to do one last time before Grandpa left for the airport.

Here is Blake with Grandma and Grandpa.

Dylan was not having it. Dylan had a hard time adjusting to the time difference and he won't stay in his crib. It made for a very cranky Dylan. It also didn't help that he was teething and sprouted 2 teeth the first week in our new house.

Blake and Dylan love to give big hugs at nighttime. They had to give Grandpa one last one. They first get a running start.

And then they jump on Grandpa and hug him so hard his stuffins come out...as Blake says.

Thanks for the visit and for all the help!

Smores

Our new house has a lot of fun things about it. One of them being a fire pit, which is great for smores. While my folks were here, we had a couple nights of making smores.

My folks were out here for about a week helping with fixing stuff around the house, getting the pool in order, playing with the kids, painting, cleaning and also having a little fun. They even watched the kids so Aaron and I could go to the temple.

The boys love their grandpa.

Dylan is a fan of smores!

Anyone want some smores?

The Moving Truck

Blake was so excited to get the moving truck. We packed up the truck on Saturday. On Thursday (so 2 days before the move day) I was running my normal route and totally ate it. Fell right on my face..messed up my knees, shoulder, face, and hands. I looked amazing with plenty of bandages, but the even better part was how much my hand hurt while moving boxes. The timing was great. When Aaron picked us up from the airport in Texas, he told me I looked ridiculous. It was true.

Kristi, my sister in law, watched the kids on moving day, and we had a bunch of people over from the ward to help us move. We were super organized so it didn't take much time.

Blake had to show Grandpa how to hook up the car carrier.

And of course, he had to tell Grandpa the plan. Blake has a plan for everything...sometimes he will even draw up the plan for you on paper. Typically his plans include getting a slurpee or milkshake or some other kind of treat. By the way, Grandpa was the brave, lucky guy who drove out the moving truck..towing Aaron's car. Aaron drove out my van a few weeks before when he moved. My mom flew with me and the boys to help with them on the flight.

Boxes can be fun, but I never want to see a moving box again! Thanks to everyone who helped. It was a lot of work. There weren't many pictures because um, I was busy. Try buying a house and selling a house, packing a house, dealing with all the fun new things like enrollment that a new job brings..all without the spouse...all while "dealing" with 2 fun kids. We closed on our Texas house July 1 and CA house July 3. July 4 was a happy day (except for those boxes that didn't unpack themselves). Since Aaron moved to TX before we did, he was able to get to know our new ward and recruit people to help us move in on July 3. We did a Costco run with the moving truck and bought some furniture...brilliant idea. My folks were out here for awhile helping us unpack and fix  things up and paint..and play.  Then Aaron's folks came out to help us paint and decorate. Some day I will take some pictures and post them.

So I don't forget...Blake really likes all his grandparents, but he especially likes to "help" grandpa...(my dad) and sometimes grandpa actually likes it. Grandpa typically has on a Hawaiian shirt that has a pocket. We made many trips to Home Depot and Grandpa always had a pen in his pocket and a list of things that we needed. The day they left, Blake had to wear a shirt that had a pocket and he had to put not 1 pen or 2 pens, but about 10 pens in his pocket to be like grandpa...and a list of course. He wouldn't lean over because he told me, "My pens might fall out".  Funny kid. He now writes his own list and brings it to the store. I do the same...minus the 10 pens in my pocket :) He will make up things on his list when we get to the store. "Um, mom, I think we forgot to get some candy. It is right here on my list and I think it is even on sale!"

Super Blake and Super Tyler

Our friends had a going away party for us before we moved. Blake and Tyler were great friends and we sure miss Tyler and his family. Tyler played with Blake and Dylan a lot while I did some packing. It was a huge help! Aaron moved to Texas about 2 1/2 weeks before the rest of us came out. My parents helped watch the kids too so I could pack.

What are my friends' names?

I know, I know it's been ages since I last posted.  I should be thrown into the streets and flogged for insubordination.  I'd like to think that getting a new job, selling a house, buying a new one, traveling 1500 miles away and then moving into the new house would be enough of a valid excuse, but I know how you people are, so I won't even mention it as it won't do me any good.

We made it to the Dallas Texas area (McKinney to be exact).  Long drives, flights, storage units, and moving trucks were all involved, but we made it.  Michelle posted a few pictures to wet your appetite but I assure you more will be coming.

In the mean time, it's fallen on me to provide a few stories for your reading enjoyment---I hope you like them.

Before moving one night, we had dinner ready and had Blake go tell James that dinner was ready so he could come join us.  As James tells the story here's how it goes.......Blake knocks on the door and asks if he can come in.  Permission is granted and Blake pushes the door open.  He tells James that it's dinner time so he needs to come down stairs to eat.  James tells Blake that he isn't going to eat with us that day.  Blake asks why and James defects the question.  Blake looks at James and walking closer to James says, " James, James, you can tell me.  I'm your friend.  I can help."    Future psychiatrist or consultant? You be the judge.  

We had been preparing Blake for the move, telling him that we were going to be packing up all our stuff and boxing it up, that he won't be seeing his friends and family as much and that he'll need to say goodbye over the next few weeks.  These conversations happened every few days or so, just to make sure he understood and was prepared.  During one such conversation, Michelle tried to lessen the blow of the move by saying that he'll have to say goodbye to his friends in California, but that it'll be okay as he'll find new friends in Texas.  He looks at Michelle and taps his finger to his chin as he thinks and then looks Michelle in the eyes and asks, "Oh okay, well then what are the new friends' names?"  I guess he wanted to get a head start on friendship developing.

Michelle parents returned from their mission to Ohio.  Blake was helping Grandpa with some stuff around the house and Grandpa asked Blake "So, Blake when you're gone and in Texas who's going to help me with all these projects around the house?"  Blake pulled him aside looked up at him and said, "Grandpa, sit down."  while patting the step right beside him, "Let me tell you the plan."  He proceeded to detail out three possible plans that Grandpa could do in order to get all his projects done while Blake was in Texas. Apparently, we "tell Blake the plan" a lot.

Lately, we've been asking Blake a lot of questions.  It seems that he doesn't want to get the "wrong" answer to these questions as he has now begun responding to our questions with, "you tell me and then I'll guess."  For example, I'll come home from work and ask Blake what he did that day.  He'll respond with "hmmm, well Dad you tell me and then I'll guess."  Not sure we're really getting anywhere with that.  Or I'll ask him what he wants for dinner and on occasion he'll respond with....yep you guessed it, "you tell me and then I'll guess."  Maybe we should add politician to that list of possible future occupations for him.

Last week Dylan began a new "trick".  At dinner we were asking who wanted what type of food and those who wanted it would raise their hands.  Well, Dylan wasn't responding to these questions as we went throughout dinner.  However, once dinner was done and we were thinking about dessert, Michelle asked the group, okay who wants ice cream and immediately Dylan's hand shoot up and he called out "ME!".  Apparently you just have to ask the right question.

Blake has taken to running around the house with a new catch phrase every few weeks or so.  Currently, he has picked up a new one that I find very humorous.  He'll run down the stairs or come in from outside and tell me that I need to look at something or we need to go get something to play with and as he dashes off down the hall or up the stairs he shouts, "Quick there's no time to loose. "  Oh, to have the problems of a 4 year old again.  

Finally, my stories end this time with a heart wrenching story about tragedy and loss of innocence.  Last night while Michelle was giving the boys a bath, Dylan tooted in the bath tub.  Bubbles arose with a sound like a trumpet accompanying them.  It was quite unexpected as these things can be.  But before Michelle could say anything Dylan raises his hand and then says "ME!".  Can't believe he's already "a boy".  

We've Moved

The reason I have been a slacker with updating our blog is because we moved to Texas.

Blake was super excited to see Aaron again....well, we all were. Aaron came out 2 1/2 weeks before we did so that he could start his new job. It was great fun packing up the house and moving without Aaron, but we survived.

Someday I will post more, but for now, we are enjoying our new pool in this 100 plus degree crazy weather.