A Moving Story

Just a small disclaimer to begin: this story isn't moving in the sense that you'll be brought to tears (we hope), but in the sense that we have officially moved from Logan. We had so much help with watching kids, packing, and unpacking it was amazing and we are going to miss our friends and neighbors so much. But, we are getting settled in Farmington and Justin is off tonight for D.C.When the packing began things started becoming unearthed that were previously forgotten - like this perfect accessory to any pair of pajamas. Ian insisted on wearing this ensemble on a few errands and made a lot of people giggle.

Then, came the packing. One of our talented friends, Steven, packed our truck so perfectly that we were able to fit much more in than we thought was possible. As Justin pointed out, he needs to enter some sort of Tetris world-championship because he really was such a packing lifesaver.

After everything was moved down to Farmington we headed back to Logan for Justin to be released from the Bishopric. Here he is with Bishop Royland Croshaw and Brigham Moore. Brigham is soon heading off to Alaska after graduation and so they were joking that they will be about as far apart on the country as possible. They are great men and Justin will miss serving with them.

The next couple of days were busy trying to sort through things in Farmington and then we rushed back up to Logan to clean everything and fit in Rachel's first official piano recital. She performed at the Terrace Grove Assisted Living Center and there were many adorable residents there who were so sweet to listen to the children. Rachel played Mary Had a Little Lamb (both hands) and then she did a duet with Bridget of Chant Arabe. Justin also sang a piece and Rachel and Ian were shocked to hear his "handsome voice" since neither of them remember hearing him perform. She did a great job and really didn't even look nervous.

Here are all of the students for a final bow (Ian even got in on the action at the far right).

Here is Rachel with her wonderful teacher Joyce Bradford.

The next day we decided to squish a pre-birthday celebration in for Ian so that Justin could be with us. We headed to Chuck E. Cheese to play many fun games. Here Ian is watching one of his awesome baseball pitches.

We weren't really surprised that one of Rachel's favorite games was Whack-a-mole.

And Josie was just being adorable for the day even though we think that she is cutting her front teeth.

Suzy outdid herself this year with a Geo birthday cake (from Ian's favorite show Umizoomi). In this shot he's saying, "birthday power!" Later when we asked him what was his favorite thing about his birthday, he said, "Geo cake!" We can see why.

For his birthday dinner our big boy wanted meat and french fries (actually he said "chocolate meat", but we just went for hot dogs).

It was fun to have lots of family there and he got some great presents. The only thing he kept saying he wanted was a "shooter" that made noises. So against Bridget's liberal tendencies, we went for this "shooter". He was pretty excited and Rachel has been helping him get lots of pretend pterodactyls.

And the grandparents scored again with a really fun lawnmower so that he can help Brady and Grandpa this summer. He also got a great "catch" (aka baseball mitt) and really fun bug vacuum (it sucks bugs into an observation holder with a magnifying glass) among other things. It was a great way to kick off the 3-year-old festivities. Thank you everyone!

And here is our boy in total delight. What a cutie!

And, Rachel decided he needed a present and so she used her very own money (and one of grandma's coupons) to purchase a box of Tic-Tacs for her brother. He has been thrilled and they have so far lasted more than one day which is shocking.

Some facts about our almost 3-year-old:

He is what Kassia has deemed a true "sugar baby" and really hunt out anything that is sweet.

His favorite non-sugar foods are: stew, cucumbers, and macaroni and cheese.

He loves to sing his ABC's and usually requests to sing I Am a Child of God at scripture time.

He can count to twenty and knows his shapes really well.

He talks really fast and only a few can translate (Rachel being the most adept).

His favorite books are the Mighty Machine series.

He loves to cuddle with our family and is such a sweet boy.

When Justin leaves he reminds him to "be good" and always tells us "I love you!"

He is a fanatic clothes-changer and wears about 3 outfits and 2 pairs of pajamas a day.

He loves to help cook and clean the bathrooms.

He is truly a Daddy's boy and loves helping Justin with just about anything.

It goes without saying that we are so happy to have this fun boy in our family and we love him so much!