*Before the movers came, Clark took a couple business trips to Costa Rica and Newport beach. He even got to zip line through the Costa Rican forest.
*Last night with Texas friends and a homemade meal as a bonus since our house was empty and fridge was gone.
*Lots of chaos, movement, and stress meant lots of misbehaving and acting out. The kids have to write 'sorry letters' when they yell at each other. This was Zachary's letter to Caleb.
*Last night with all her animal friends before the movers packed them away.
*I couldn't believe how big the moving truck was!
*The morning of our departure. It was bittersweet to say goodbye to a house that will forever be remembered.
*We traveled across Lousiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, Ohio, and finally landed in Michigan. However, we made a three week pit-stop in North Carolina to visit the Calhouns. Hot North Carolina days made for many art projects, pool parties, early morning bike practices in the church parking lot, the incredible shrinking shoe experience, popsicles in the backyard, and lots of crazy antics from all the 3-5 year olds running around!
*We loved hanging with Truman who was so laid back and happy.
*We even got to visit UNC campus and hang out with Leila, Mav, and Aunt Karlee!
*After a week of late nights, fresh salsa, homemade peanut butter, swapping rodent stories, and watching Lifetime episodes, more family arrived in North Carolina and we had to share the Calhouns. Mom, Aunt Anie, Cal, and Elle arrived so they joined us for Sonic ice cream, pool days, and the history museum.
*All the ladies snuck away one night to attend a temple session only a few minutes away from Tisha's house.
*Soon the whole family arrived for the Rudd family reunion and Ani's baptism. I got to play the piano for the ceremony and felt very lucky to participate. Ani even let me braid her hair.
*The water was so warm and the kids had a blast finding shells, digging in the sand, and water surfing.
*Clark and I organized a genuine Survivor game for the week of the reunion. Each day was a different challenge ranging from eating races, box puzzles, cup stacking, water throwing, and sand digging. There were a few hiccups in the challenges which we were bummed about but everyone was good sports.
*Family talent show. The kids sang the "Fifty Nifty" song and our family of five did a puppet show called "The Soup Opera."
*The beach gave us new surprises everyday. One morning we arrived to find a sand cliff. The kids were so excited.
*The final three survivors participated in a memory game. Aunt Amy and Uncle Curteis moved on to the final challenge and Aunt Amy was the lone Survivor after defeating Curteis in cup stacking.
*Unfortunately the Carolina beaches had one too many shark attacks for our liking so we stayed out of the water most of the week and enjoyed the sun. Leah didn't mind!
*After all the adult Survivor challenges were complete, we let the younger kids in on the action of gummy worm and donut eating races. Leah and I raced and she beat me fair and square. It was impressive!
*The waves were a constant source of entertainment and the kids just say for hours and laughed.
*More challenge pictures.
*The Blue Jay soccer team were in full action during the week. They participated in some strength training exercises and also attended team meetings.
*In the downtime before dinner, I volunteered to host story time. We read "Sir Charlie Stinky Socks" books and also had a "Once Upon a Time..." bag.
*The kids all got to decorate some bags to put their shells in from the beach.
*Red Team.
*Blue Team.
*After the reunion we headed straight to Michigan. Unfortunately our house wasn't quite ready so we spent a week in a hotel which was actually a blessing because Clark had to drive to Indiana to retrieve money for our closing because there are no Wells Fargos in Michigan!! Once we closed and moved in Clark didn't waste any time and got right to work on his projects. His first one was a bike rack.
*We explored the City Forest and can't get enough of all the trees.
*We immediately went to the library and found out there was a free movie playing. The auditorium was EMPTY five minutes before showtime. In Texas there would've been a line out the door. The perks of living in a small town are appearing already!
*We can't live in Michigan without camping during the summer. The triplets got early birthday presents and can't wait to test them out.
*Three bedrooms upstairs makes for an awesome "Kids Club." The green carpet has already been replaced luckily!
*More exploring and pretending to be trees.
*Clark's current project: a desk for his office.
*We attended our first Loons baseball game and it was Christmas in July that night. Santa was there so we visited him and Leah is still deathly afraid of the jolly guy. She ended up getting a foul ball so it all worked out. To top it off, we saw three deer on the way home. They must've dropped Santa at the game!
*We are just so dang excited to finally be in Michigan and getting settled into our new house. This next chapter is going to be an exciting one....and probably a cold one too!
No comments:
Post a Comment