So I guess I better let y'all know... We are moving!

We are moving like... today. So sorry that is where I have been since my last post. Packing, cleaning, planning, anticipating, dreading, crying, working, hoping, praying, laughing. And now our trailer is gone, and soon we will the same about us. We are doing ABF u-pack this time, where you pack it and they drive it. Really good option if you have more stuff. (We didn't have enough stuff from FL to Vegas). They dropped the trailer off on Tuesday the 13. We loaded it with the help of the YM in our ward and then they picked it up on Friday 16th. It is so nice to have Luke's help to pack and move this time. We all got sick in the middle of it last week, took turns throwing up and one night we stayed up till 4 am packing just in case we ran out of time the next day. And I have been trying to work on top of all this. Luke has been handling all the phone calls, organization stuff of moving to our new home.

Yes we finally have a place to live. Not a house with a yard and nobody around like I wanted but it will do. It is a cute townhome with an extra bedroom that will be great for guests "hint hint- you're welcome" ;). Luke had to overnight money and everything needed for background checks because they would not reserve anything even though we are across the country. If Luke wouldn't have followed his gut to go ahead and spend the money to make it ours, then we still might not have a place to live. And that would not do with a trailer in transit. Oh where are we going? Sorry, Greenwood South Carolina. It is about 25,00 people (half the size of Idaho Falls or Logan area) and home to Luke's new job. He will be working at a rehab hospital where people will go to recover for about 12-30 days following injuries like strokes, brain injuries, spinal cord injuries, or other things like parkinson's, ALS, Huntingtons, etc. But is not long term like a nursing home. We are excited that Luke is going to give the medical setting a try before totally throwing in the towel on speech-pathology. He is very excited to begin his job and get out of sucking it up in Utah for entrepeneurship with his dad. Needless to say I am too. And hopefully I can quit working here pretty soon too. I just don't want it to ruin my resume for such short stint of time or be premature in quitting.

We are moving over Christmas yes. But the only thing sad about that is that we won't get to decorate our own tree/house/and be with friends over Christmas etc. Other than that it is all happy because we couldn't be more excited to spend Christmas with my brother and his 6 kids and awesome wife in Kentucky. This will be our second Christmas in Kentucky. Doesn't that just sound Christmasy! We are excited and Luke is eager to begin his new job with some support over there during the Christmas break. That is why we are moving before Christmas. Other wise he would be starting more cold turkey and we are willing to do whatever to make this the best for Luke. Hence South Carolina. Yes it is a little farther than I would have wanted to move (not across the country again ugh) but we said we would go anywhere for the right job. And this feels right. Luke promised me that he will do his best to not move for 3-5 years, hopefully 5. Let's hope he is right. After that much experience he will be eligible to become a Rehab Director and not have to do therapy any more. That might be the direction we take. Or home-health and/or swallowing is still an option.

We have tried to bloom where we were planted her in Lehi Utah and made a few good friends that we will surely miss. First and foremost will be my best friend and borrowing/lending/supporting neighbor Jean Webster and her son Bob and his kids Gabe and Lilly. They are the sweetest funnest kids you will ever know. I hope mine grow up to be like them. Then of course we can't forget our newest friendship with the McNinch's although, we have so much crazy stuff in common, and have don't so much that we aren't really that new of friends. We will miss Molly and the cookie man Latch and the birth of their baby Hallika. And of course the Avery's who had us over for a goodbye dinner and 10 minutes in, Gracie threw up all over dad and the floor a couple of times. And of course I tried to catch it one time in my hands (dumb instinct) which just made it splatter every. They were understanding and even washed all of our laundry for us too. What great friends. Don't forget Becca and the Browns who helped us get to the temple one last time before we moved. And of course Brad Clegg, the YM president, Luke's friend who with Avery's help saved space in our trailer saving us money and then helped us move our heavy entertainment center out in a moment's notice. We will miss our great friends and our family here too. We loved seeing the Barber side of the family one last time at a Christmas party on Saturday. And my parents made the effort to stop by on their trip to see us and deliver Christmas presents.

Now all we have to do is finish up all our last minute errands today and head out. We wish you all a merry Christmas and hope your holiday is as fun as ours, partly tongue in cheek, but not really. We are going to have a blast. As long as we can fit all of our presents in the car! (we might have to draw upon our distant math skills to geometrically plan our space. Wish us luck. We are definitely being watched over this whole year and this Christmas season and we know you are too!

First Snow Day of the Season

On Friday after work, Gracie and I made these snowmen. She told me who each one was, picked out all the colors, and rolled the balls. She put the eyes on and poked the middles of them with a pen, and then wanted one to have pointy scary teeth. She put them all in a circle first and told me and dad that they were doing "Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes."

Then I lined them up for a picture and Gracie told me I had to move her and Katie to stand by mom and dad because they were scared to stand by the snowman with scary teeth. I had so much fun but I was wishing we could do it with real snow.
And then today I got my wish. It snowed last night and there was just enough snow on the ground that we could go sledding before it melted. We had a blast!

This little hill is in the park right by our house. It is the perfect size for newbies!


This was Kate's first time in the snow and she loved it! She mostly wanted to walk until she got cold. Is this the second photo of Gracie eating snow?

Sorry I can't get enough of Katie's smile. She was so happy, but her fever came back again today. I hope she feels better tomorrow... Although I have kind of liked her 'mellowness.'

Our friends Gabe and Lily and Maddy helped us make a 'real' snowman named "Teddy." Then Dad had an all out snowball fight against the kids while Katie and I went inside to make hot chocolate.
I was stupid and didn't take the time to find appropriate snow boots for me and Kate so our feet got cold. And on top of that I didn't even wear socks inside my boots. (And to think I am teaching students with cognitive and language delays! I wouldn't even graduate from preschool if I couldn't dress "Weather Bear" for the day.) I do know how to make some Rich Hot Chocolate though! Mmm mmm.

Katie knows how to demolish 3 large marshmallows at once. Gracie knows how to burn her tongue. And Luke knows how to come down with a migraine after yelling so much in the snow.

The rest of the day, Luke and Katie napped. Gracie watched some TV and then took a nap, and I worked on my CEUs. (I have to have 30 hours of continuing education done before December to keep my license up to date. Let me tell you-- it has been a joy. NOT! Never say you never have to take a test again. You will.)

What a great day!

7 years and going strong...

Our friend is one of the most talented designers we know. He designs these typography posters for couples called "Our Story." He listened to our courtship story, made note of the key points, and then turned it into this... with every part having special meaning to us. We are going to get a frame for it today!

Thanks for the fun anniversary Luke. I loved it! And I love you... XOXO.

Can't forget Halloween!

We had a blast this Halloween.

Gracie and Katie got dressed up 4 times (Garner Village Witch Hunt, Macey's Trick or Treat with friends, Church Trunk-or-Treat, and Halloween Night) - which might have been a little over doing it. The girls faces in the picture at Gardner Village totally show how they felt about posing and wearing their costumes that day.

Gracie wanted to be a princess and I was totally cool with that cause it would be easy and we already had dresses (thank you dress ups and prom dress that I could still fit into). I made me a super full, flowy cloak with a hood out of some white scraps Lenna gave me from leftover table cloths she made. And I made Katie a shiny pink cloak with a fleece collar to match Gracie's velour/fur dress-up one. She had tons of fun putting on makeup and glitter and curling her hair. Funny, how she hasn't wanted to do it again though when I am pleading with her to curl her hair.




I made Luke's knight costume in seriously 30 minutes right before the trunk or treat. He would not cross-dress to be an ugly step sister with me (he thought it would be a bad example, I thought it would be hilarious) so we embraced royalty. And it was fun! I didn't get a chance to do my hair and makeup because I did our neighbor Gabe's skeleton face instead. He was awesome.

Luke and I dressed up differently for Halloween night which had the most beautiful weather. We wanted to go trick or treating but still hand out candy so Luke took our bucket around and handed it out to kids walking by us as the Joker. They were confused, haha!

Gracie loved trick or treating and always had to ask for another treat to put in Katie's bag. At one house, a lady was just getting home and carrying donuts. As she was unlocking her door, Gracie asked her for a donut. She got it! (Who does that sound like, Luke with no shame?) She had sticky hands the rest of the way home. Her favorite thing was getting the soda and trying to put it in her bag.

Grace and Kate had fun trying on my wig and I showed them how to sort and categorize their candy. Strange I know but that is my favorite part of "the candy." That was it for our Halloween! Now Gracie does jobs around the house to get a treat from her bag and I can sneak one whenever I want. Dangerous :). Quick story: Gracie was throwing a fit over not getting a treat on day and she wouldn't stop so I said I would throw away a piece of candy every time she asked me for one or whined and cried about it. I had to throw away 2 pieces of candy in a row before she stopped her tantrum. But it worked. No more fits since! What a great use for Halloween Candy.

Cornbellys at Thanksgiving Point

Overpriced, but fun!
Giant jumping pillows.
Bonfires.
Wood play structures.
Hay Mountain and Slides.
Haunted train ride.
Corn Maze.
Pig Races.
Duck Races.
Mini Cow Train.
Princess Dress-up Castle.
Dancing Stage and music.
Scary Stories Around the Fire.
Kettle Corn.
Haunted Chain Maze.
Carved Glowing Pumpkins.
But BEST OF ALL... each others' company.

Katie's Blessing, documented 1 year later

We had to hurry up and bless Katie so that Luke's sister Hailey and Todd and kids could be here for it. They were coming for Thanksgiving so Katie was blessed before she was even a month old. Her dress was huge on her and she was so little but she still looked cute. I think my favorite part of her outfit was making her shoes.
Grammy and Papa were able to come, but then Grammy got nauseous right after the blessing and went home. I didn't get any pictures of our little brunch at our house afterwards, but we had a lot of family support there including Aunt Jennie and Susan, Aunt Paula and Uncle Lelini, Cousins Marci and Trevor and kids, and Uncle Robert and Heidi and kids, and Nancy and BJ. It was so kind of everyone to come and brave the roads in the beautiful snowstorm that morning. The rich hot chocolate, fresh fruit, Cinnaburst Great Harvest bread, and breakfast burritos were a hit. Hailey and Todd were so nice to come over the night before to help me roll burritos, wrap them in tinfoil, and label them ham, sausage, or plain. They made for an easy brunch because people could eat them as is without a plate or a table to eat at. I will definitely be doing this again. Sausage went the fastest! Luke did a great job on the blessing just like with Gracie. He is a beyond great dad and I feel so lucky to have him as my partner in child-raising crime! We were so exhausted that day and spent the whole day with family that we ended up taking photos as if it was the blessing day, the next week at the Barber's house. Call us crazy, but we were still very tired even that day. Hence poor pics (Luke's beard, my messy hair, Gracie's craziness, and poor lighting.) The only thing that was perfect was Katie. But that is life and we were happy nonetheless!