Wednesday, February 19, 2014

Christmas 2013

Christmas this year was absolutely fabulous.  It always is though when we get to spend time with family.  We went up to Idaho like we usually do.  I didn't get very many pictures and only had my phone, but that's when you know we had a really great time, right?

We spent Christmas Eve at Snedakers.  We sang Christmas carols, ate lots of food, played the chimes, read the Christmas story and opened Christmas pajamas. Nova discovered how tasty Santa is and enjoyed chewing on his head.

 Nova and her cousin Mason. These two are less than 2 months apart.


 

Everybody singing

 

 All 3 kids in their Christmas jammies!

When Santa came, he was very generous! Chandler got a zoomer, a robotic dog and Rowan got a huge hot wheels set. They also got lots of stocking stuffers, some lego sets from us and a few other toys. Nova got a glowing seahorse toy, soft book, stroller toy and some teething toys in her stocking.


 

 It's always fun to see their faces when they come out on Christmas morning.

Late morning, we headed over to Grampa and Puppy Nielson's house to open more presents. The boys spent all day putting together legos and playing with their new toys. Marshall and I pretty much picked out our own presents this year. I was dying to get the third Naked palette and I LOVE It. I might be a little obsessed with makeup!

 We had a fabulous Christmas and were so blessed with family, health, the gospel and happiness!

Sunday, February 9, 2014

Saying Goodbye and New Beginnings

We moved the first week in December.  It was definitely bittersweet.  Eagle Mountain was the longest we ever lived in one place.  5 years to be exact. It was the place we bought our first home, basically the only home Rowan has ever known.  We made memories, started school, brought a new baby home and more.  Although we loved our town home, it just didn't make sense to stay there forever.  We needed more of a forever home, one that we could be in and know that our family could grow.

The moving process was tedious.  I was hard trying to get things packed while having a newborn, working and taking care of the rest of the family.  Let's just say that we ate out.  A lot.   On top of moving, I was trying to keep the house clean to show.  We decided not to sell but rent.  We figured it would be a good business investment as we build equity and make a little money each month.  Thankfully, we found incredible tenants who signed a year lease.

When it came time to finally move, it was a very snowy day.  In fact, I'd say it had to be one of the top days for snow this year.  We were really glad to have a bunch of Marshall's family come down to help us move.  I don't know how we could have done it without them.




We are finally almost unpacked.  Our office still looks like something threw up in it, but most other things have a place.  There is so much home improvement that we are going to have to do, so it will be a process.  It's also really hard to keep clean.  I went from 1700 to 3700 square feet and some days it feels like all I do is clean.  I'm getting better on staying on top of things which makes it more manageable though.  We love our new ward and are starting to settle and make friends.  Chandler and Rowan both started their new schools and are doing well.  Chandler is going to our neighborhood school and is on a traditional schedule and Rowan is going to another school in the district since he is in diagnostic kindergarten.  He is on a year round schedule and has recently been off track for 3 weeks.  He is liking his new school and although we've had some really hard days, he seems to be adjusting ok.



I miss friends out in Eagle Mountain, but I do love being only 2 minutes away from a grocery store and only 5 minutes away from Jordan Landing which has a ton of great shopping.  We are a lot more central and instead of being 25 minutes and an hour from our work places, we are now only 10 & 15 minutes.




Here's to new beginnings!