Coming Home

I love coming home - it doesn't matter where I've been - home is the most wonderful place in the world! When I got home from Texas last month, just after I was about mowed over on the lawn with tons of hugs and kisses, I walked into the house and saw this darling sign made by Tessa.

I absolutely LOVED all of the cute details! She had cut out individual little candles and made them 3-D, with a note to 'blow out the candles' (bottom left corner) and asked if now that I'm home, can we 'go to Trafalga?' or 'watch a scary movie'? I snuggled right in to watch a movie with her - who could pass up on snuggles and a movie?
Oh, and the sign came with a coupon book, or in her words a 'Favore Book':

If I didn't want my snuggles so much, I probably would have taken her up on this one:

But this one made me not even want to walk into the office:

Yes, home is the most magical place to be when my sweet family is waiting there for me!

Block Party Blast

We had the best time at our neighborhood Independence Day celebration! There was tons of food, friends and sunshine; the kids got to ride their decorated bikes around the neighborhood for a bike parade (which they thought was super fun!); there were some great music talents from our ward; and it all ended with a firework show put on by our very own pyromaniacs - the young men. It was exactly what a block party should be!



Have a wonderful Independence Day, everyone!

We're Home!

Home is a place our little family has been seeking for a while... it's been a long and emotional journey, but we're here! Hooray! I feel like I've been homesick for about four years now. In all of our bouncing around (it's a really LONG story!), I've sometimes gotten irritated at myself for feeling homesick. You know the saying, "Home is where the heart is", but I just couldn't get my heart into the places we've been, although I've come away a better person from the people and experiences in each one! I know that home is more than just a roof over our heads - it's been an extremely huge lesson for me to learn. We're just so glad to be here!
We aren't even close to being all settled in, and as is expected, it's been a transition, especially for the kids, but we've already met some really great people in our neighborhood and ward.
Chris and Trevor both made Utah Rangers Premier Soccer teams, and so now their home fields are super close to us - that's a HUGE plus for the mom that totes them around - I was traveling 20 minutes (one way) back-and-forth who knows how many times a week!
Katy's new karate studio is also closer to us now... and she's really enjoying it, even though she was super nervous about going.
We're closer to my sister and her family (oh-so-fun to have the cousins near!) and also Mike's parents. The pro list just keeps getting bigger, doesn't it? So now I'm going to try to find a place for Tessa to take dance, and we'll all just settle in for the ride - and hope we never have to MOVE again!
As Ty would say, "Welcome home, family, welcome home!"