Fireflies

We have fireflies! We sat out on the porch after dinner the other night and as the light faded we noticed little flashes of light every now and again. As it got darker there were more and more...it was quite a sight. If it ever stops raining we might get to enjoy them again.

A Day at the Beach

Well, Nate and I have spent three 12 hour days painting our bedroom. It was quite the project, I never want to see another paint brush as long as I live! After being holed up in the house working we decided that we deserved a day off, so we took off to Presque Isle to lounge on the beach.


The drive from our house to the beach is about 10 minutes, so you don't feel like you have to make an entire day of it to make it worth your while. We love that we are so close to everything, we filled up the gas tank two and a half weeks ago and we run errands every day. We are tickled pink to say the least.

The beach has the same feel as any lake beach, but the Isle is beautifully lined with trees. It was in the low 70's with a bit of a breeze so we didn't swim. It was perfect weather for laying out on the towels, looking for beach glass,skipping rocks and people watching.

Lex has met a girl from the basketball practice's she has been going to. They spent a whole day hanging out, she even stayed for dinner, so we got a chance to meet her too. Now if we could only get her little home body of a sister out and about we would be set.

Things are really starting to come together here and the house is feeling more like home to us everyday.

Before and After

Well we finally have the kids room's up and functioning. Lexi's room has gone from putrid pink...

...to calming Adriatic sea with black, white and rocker red accents!

Liv's room has changed from boyish blue...

...to my fair lady with stripes, polk-a-dots and butterfly's!

I had my doubts when they both started picking out colors but I am really thrilled with the way the rooms have turned out. Of course they still want a few more accessories. Liv is pricing out luv sacs for under her bed (she has become obsessed as usual, asking how much shipping will be and various other details that average 7 year olds don't care about) and Lex wants some art work for the walls, shelves and some cool hang out stools for around her guitar. Oh the lists seem endless at times.

The weather was dang near perfect today. A cool 70 degrees with just a hint of a breeze, Nate and I are really liking it. The kids are really wanting it to warm up a bit to hit the pool or the lake.

Lexi went and played basketball at her school today. They have open gym for those interested in trying out for the basketball team this fall, twice a week, so she has decided to go for it. She said she had a lot of fun and wants to keep going but that she needs a bit of practice. I think this will be a great way for her to start meeting some girls her age, Nate said there were about 15 girls there and that a good handful also played soccer on the school team in the spring. She is definitely our go getter.

We have a backyard!

Thank God we have a backyard, it is as wonderful as I imagined it would be. The kids have gone out everyday to play out there and I don't know how we survived without one all these years. We are going a bit stir crazy the last two days, it has been raining and we have only had the backyard a week!

The kids have been playing soccer, tag and croquet and Nate and I have really been enjoying it all from the patio...life is pretty good! (That sentence reminded me of Craiger...Jen had the omelets and said they were fabulous, I had the pancakes...mediocre at best!) Just enjoying the resort as he would say.

For those of you interested the baby is still just bad. She has found a great place to snuggle...Liv's underwear shelf in the closet. I just can't get mad at her, she is quite lovely!

I feel like I need to pinch myself everyday, I just can't believe we have this house. We are nearly finished with the girls room. We went to Pittsburgh and shopped at Ikea for the girls furniture. It has been three days of putting it together with quite a bit of cursing. Just a few more accessories and we will put out some before and after pictures.

I just got an information packet from my school. I start July 28th and start lectures at 8am, have an hour lunch at noon and finish at 4pm. Dear Lord have mercy on my soul, what have I gotten myself in to.

Working on the house

Well we have been busy working on getting this house organized and livable. A couple of the rooms were left at a bio hazard level three and have taken hours to clean....grrrr!

The girls have been a big help...cleaning, painting, yard work and entertaining each other. We are almost finished getting their rooms set up. We are taking a trip to Pittsburgh on Monday to buy some bedroom furniture at Ikea for them. They are pretty excited to move into their
rooms.


Our neighbor from across the street came over and welcomed us with a gigantic jug of his homemade wine. It is actually really delicious. He told us the neighbors have all been whispering and wondering if we were polygamists...they saw our Utah license plates. Nate and I have been more than happy to discuss our feelings, thoughts and opinions on this subject. It is so exciting for us to finally be part of a community that is diverse and open to "alternative" lifestyles!

I thought I would really miss the mountains but the landscape here is so beautiful and lush with all the trees that I haven't yet. Every morning I wake up, roll over in bed and look out the french doors to the trees in our backyard. It is gorgeous and I can't believe it is mine. A couple more weeks and we should have this place in really good shape...I hope.

We have also really enjoyed a couple of massive thunderstorms. We love sitting on the front porch to watch and listen to them. They blow in, dump a ton of rain and put on quite a show. Then it is back to being hot and humid! So far I think we are all adjusting pretty well to all the changes. Love and miss you all!

Ground Hog Day

It seems like we keep waking up to the same day over and over! Yesterday we finished unloading the truck and amazingly enough Nate and I did it all by ourselves. We even managed to get the office furniture upstairs. I saw my life flash before my eyes a few times thinking the bureau would in fact come crashing down on top of me.

We have met a few of the neighbors so far, all are older and retired. This is a bummer. Where the Hell are all the kids?

We started painting the kids rooms and decided we are not up for tackling the project of redoing their hardwood floors. This has been way more work then we thought.

My camera battery died so as soon as I unpack the battery charger I will be able to take some pics!

Are we there yet?

Well we are getting closer to our destination. It has been quite the drive.

At our first pit stop in Cheyenne, Wyoming we had just got settled in when Liv snagged her toenail on the edge of the door nearly ripping it off. It was pretty traumatic for a few minutes, but with some hugs from her big sis and reassurance everything was fine. We wrapped the bloody toe, iced it and gave her some ibuprofen. She hasn't let me look at it since so hopefully it does not get infected!

We are really hoping never to have to look at another cornfield again. The drive has been much prettier today through Illinois and Indiana.

This morning we spent about an hour trying to find a Starbucks and had an "Office" moment with the GPS. The route it wanted us to take was through a residential neighborhood leading to a dead end road. It told Nate to turn left into the backyard of some homes and when he stopped the truck Liv told him that he just needed to trust it and keep driving!

The most important thing we have learned on this road trip is to keep the baby comfortable!

We love and miss you all!

Liv's Recital Video as Promised

Moving Day

Well yesterday ended up being quite a busy day! Through the rain we got the truck all packed up and ready to go. We had some wonderful help...thank you Wes, Norm and Marc! My mom and Rick showed up out of the blue from Phoenix to pitch in as well...what a great surprise.

After packing up we ran to Liv's dance recital. Wes and Tara were able to come to the rehearsal and Denise came with us to the recital last night. Liv was the star of the show for sure! 2 hours into the show she took to the stage and stole our hearts. Definately worth waiting for! (I have been trying to upload the video and couldn't get it to work...help!)

The surprise of the night came for Alexis. At about 10pm her friends came over for one last hug and to tell her how much they would miss her. Of course this set me into tears. What an incredible lady Lex is turning out to be, I am so proud of her. She has been so lucky to have such a great group of friends shower her with well wishes and support through the last couple of weeks. I know this move will be hardest for her but with as outgoing as she is I am confident she will be just fine.

Well it is time to get rolling out of here...we love you!

Learning to Blog

Well I guess I have to learn how to blog now! Marc showed me how to set it up and I have been obsessing over it for an hour now with very little progress. Nate is giving me NO feedback and at this point the sleeping baby is more help.



Much more to come as we are excited for our move to Pennsylvannia and to share it with anyone who might be interested.