He Is Risen!

Easter hopped its way here...and left just as quickly!

We had a family home evening the week prior to Easter Sunday to talk about the true meaning of Easter (not hunting for eggs and the bunny, much to Morgan's surprise). It is difficult to define the Atonement to a four-year-old. Words like "Atonement" or "resurrection" get lost in the discussion. We tried. So did all of the primary teachers that morning at church. =) She'll get the hang of it and I have a goal to keep the bunny-ness to a minimum. Problem is, the non-denominational things are so fun and I already have traditions established from my childhood! For example, filling an Easter basket with a chocolate bunny and little goodies for the girls to find when they wake Easter morning. Eating good food. Decorating and hiding and hunting colored eggs. I found something online that described a scripture-related egg hunt which I am hoping I will work into the traditions as the years continue to pass.

Sweet Sisters!

Classic Mallorie Eyebrows...

James invited himself and the family over to our place for dinner this year. "Do you mind if I do that? I mean, you have the perfect yard for an egg hunt!" he exclaimed. He offered to bring the ham and deviled eggs and jello salad. Done! We had a houseful of 18 family members, 8 of which were under the age of 12. It was a blast! The weather was perfect and the only time we saw the children was for dinner and while the men hid eggs. The front yard was reserved for Mallorie and little Gideon while the back yard was devoured by running, laughing, and quickly moving older little people. I hope the egg hunt was everything James imagined....

Mallorie, Jordynn, Gideon, Amaya, Noel, Tara, Morgan, Gideon

I love that we can host Chadwick's extended family in our home without feeling claustrophobic. I love watching the children run willy-nilly in the open-ness of our yard. I love watching the dog bounding through the grass, chasing anything and nothing.

And I'm grateful for wonderful family who were able to join the festivities. Here's to creating more traditions next year!!

Grandparent Visits

Since moving to Pullman in 1999 to start my undergraduate studies at Washington State, I saw my family at least twice per year. Once I had Morgan, it seemed that I saw them more often which suits me and the kids just fine. This spring, we bought the new house and had the pleasure of another visit from all three of the girls' grandparents. My dear father volunteered to come in February before we moved to help with the painting, and paint he did! We got the house packed and moved and unpacked with his assistance. Mind you, he didn't work the whole week and had time to read and play with the girlies. He and I also had time to chat and spend time together as well which was fantastic as we don't always have that.

 Last week, my mom and Mark drove from Albuquerque to Boise with a truckload of furniture for the girls - the dresser and book shelf were made for my mom by my great-grandfather when Mom was a young girl. Hand made of cherry, it's been through her and I and will now belong to my girls. Morgan, at the moment.

It should be known that Mark is an engineer. He spent quite a bit of time designing, constructing, and putting together this contraption which traveled the 956 miles to our new home. It was shock-proof, water-proof, and made it through the mini-blizzard that greeted my parents at the UT-ID border. I think he had a good time thinking of something that would protect these precious heirlooms. He informed me that such a device would not have been constructed if it had been just Target furniture. =) The top piece is a base made for me by my father for my twin mattress. At some point, Mallorie will refuse to sleep in the crib and then we can have a bigger bed to allow Morgan to upgrade as well.

Prior to their trip, mother informed me that while they were happy to be of assistance, she refused to spend the whole week doing chores. They were here to play with the grandgirls and maybe do a thing or two in between reading, jumping, and playing. Ha! I honored her request and instead made use of their truck - we purchased new living room furniture, took home the swing set from James's backyard, and bought a new lawn mower and weed wacker. Chadwick is putting them to good use as I type. =)

This greets us each time we pull into the garage...

Such a funny girl!

Rainbow Dash

Mom also brought several goodies from a co-worker whose little girl has outgrown the fun things. Talk about spoiling all of us over that week! We are going through withdrawals....

We are so blessed to have wonderful parents both in and out of town who love, support, and help us through our journey in life. We love you all!!

At Peace

I stood on the front porch this evening after the girls had gone to bed and the house was finally quiet. A light breeze blew across my face and the pleasant sound of birds bustling in the trees filled my ears. The smells of spring and fresh cut grass was everywhere. I soaked up the sweet feeling of peace that moved slowly from my head to my toes.

Since moving here in February, I have had several moments where I just feel like this is the right place for us to be at this time. I am finally figuring out the chaos of two young children, the balance that comes with work and family, and accepting the hours of Chadwick's job. My exercise routine has been consistent this last month and my eating habits are improving.

I love this change from the feelings of sadness, stress, and blues that have followed my every move from Mallorie's birth to this last Christmas. My emotional health has blossomed since this time last year, and though I would not enjoy a repetition of that journey, there have been many tools placed into my toolbox which will allow me to face future changes with greater ease. Change is not an easy thing for me, and I am grateful to have found people and management ideas that I can apply to my life. There have been bumps in the road, as such is life, but my ability (or lack thereof) to handle those bumps doesn't leave my sweet family reeling from my emotional outbursts. We are all in a better place because of the changes I've been able to make.

It's good to feel at peace. And I pray that it will last.

Look, Mom!

Says Morgan from the back seat of the Santa Fe as we are pulling into the driveway last week -

"Daffa-doodles!"

Such a lovely sight....the sign of an impending spring.

The Big Move

As of February 15, we are excited to call this place "home."

This was the first property we toured as our search began for "the house" - the one in which we want to raise our children, to live for longer than four years, and would allow us all some elbow room. I vetoed the place after the tour, thinking that for our price range, something better was bound to be out there. Turns out I was wrong. The search included hours of searching the realty website looking for places that would catch our interest, going back and forth over whether we wanted the perfect house or some property which would allow Chadwick the opportunity to fulfill his dream of playing landowner. How far are we okay commuting to work? Where are the decent school districts? Can we really afford the perfect place? It became the common joke that we had no idea what we did after the girls went to bed in the evening as it was now consumed by house hunting online.

Ten houses in three cities, a large spreadsheet designed to help us identify the houses that matched our needs and desires (4 bedrooms, larger than 0.5 acres, brownie points awarded for a jetted tub in the master bath), and hours thinking and dreaming and analyzing brought us back to this house. We closed the deal after an agonizing month of jumping hoops and worrying that our finances wouldn't allow the purchase of a new home at all. I didn't start packing until the deal was done.

My sweet dad flew up from Albuquerque to help paint the new walls with the assistance of Chadwick and Steve, I packed like a crazy woman and then Chadwick unpacked like a crazy man. Two weeks after unloading our 26-foot Uhaul, every box was unpacked and neatly broken down in a pile in the garage. The only ones left contain pictures which we aren't ready to hang just yet.

We love the space!! I can go for minutes at a time and not run into another member of my family (minus the dog, who is always underfoot). Darwin loves the freedom of the backyard acreage - 0.99 to be exact. We have raised garden boxes, strawberries, grapes, and a rhubarb plant. The landscaping is great and the fence good enough to contain our canine. The kitchen is the best part of the house with granite countertops, a French style fridge, and double oven. My mother informed me that I need to host Thanksgiving this year. Gladly!

View from the dining room window

Though the house is lacking my jetted tub and a den, we have the opportunity to create a den, to pasture the back half of the yard for sheep and chickens, and continue to expand our little family if we choose. The formal dining room will be our "cultural room" with books, the piano, stereo, and comfy chairs. It's a 10 minute commute with no traffic to work for Chadwick and has pretty easy access to the freeway. I love our new ward. The girls love the stairs in the house. And we love the country feel of the surrounding area.

We are home.

Something to Think About...

A Few of Mallorie's Favorite Things

• Time in the tub with sister
• Poking Cleo, jumping back, and laughing
• Listening to the song "I See the Moon"
• She gets right up in my face and watches my mouth while I sing, a big grin on her face
• Her blankie
• Doing anything that Morgan is doing
• Coloring
• Listening to and looking at books
• Playing mommy to her dolls, wrapping them in blankets and carting them around the house, gently patting their backs/heads
• Daddy
• Bananas, eggs, bread, cheese, yogurt, milk, chicken nuggets, fries, fruit in general
• My cell phone
• Singing
• Eating on her own with a fork
• Watching movies, especially the "My Little Pony" video
• Playing outside
• Cuddling

Peanut butter and jelly...messy combo