The Final Move

Erik and I like to reassure ourselves that we will never move again - we've moved 6 times in almost 8 years of marriage, and we are pretty excited about the idea of putting down roots and getting to know our neighbors. But we've been warned: about 5 years in, we will start eyeing bigger homes and get an itch to upgrade. I sincerely hope that we restrain ourselves. Unless we can afford to hire a housekeeper, I'm not taking on any more square footage to clean! 

Here we are on move-in day! Our first house!

So it looks a little iffy on the outside... The guy we bought it from gutted and remodeled the inside, but he didn't have much skill with landscaping. That works out for us, because Erik is handy outdoors but not in. The grass is already looking greener, and we are trimming as much foliage as our limited garbage space will allow us. We are a little scared to cut back our overgrown and shady backyard - there could be skunks or dead bodies and we'd never know.

When we moved in, we heard plenty of opinions on our yard from neighbors - mostly how it needed work! We already have the little house in the neighborhood, and apparently we are known as the unkempt one as well. There's not too much we can do right away (we had to buy a lawn mover, for heaven's sake - it's not like we have yard tools or money yet) but we figured we would show our commitment to change by planting some flowers in this corner bed. It's been a lot of years since I did this sort of thing, and I did not remember it being so much work! Probably because my mother did most of it. I tried joking with Erik that I was going to emulate his mom by not doing any landscaping - that was man's work in his house growing up. He responded that he would follow his dad and not do any housework. Since he does most of the vacuuming, sweeping, and dishes, I shut up and started weeding.

The kids have been loving the freedom to run around in the yard without developing heat stroke, and so have I. I don't love discovering the back door open 12 times a day, but they are already healthier and happier for spending more time outside. Their favorite parts of our new house are all the snails and the roly-poly bugs. We've dubbed ourselves "The Mighty Snail Hunters" (we have a song and everything) and we go out in the morning to look for unwary victims. I usually have to spot them, but then the kids gleefully grab them and stick them in the jar. Or we skip the jar and smash them on the road. 

Since our move-in date coincided with a visit from Abby and the girls, we spent one busy day unpacking and then went boating. Twice. Naturally. Poor Erik got to use his vacation time to move out, drive to Utah, and move in. This boating was the only break he got between residency and his new job. Unpacking actually went pretty fast - we had a lot of helpers - but now we're in that awkward phase of frames leaning against walls, not sure where they should go yet; silverware moving drawers every other day while we figure out what makes sense; and lots of miscellaneous boxes arriving from Amazon with hose nozzles and drawer organizers and bar stools. 

We've been trying to do a better job of exploring our new environment - this is a "secret trail" right by our house that winds around with beautiful views of the valley. We feel so fortunate every day to have such lovely scenery around us. Although if there's ever an earthquake, we are toast.

 

We are also loving the summer produce. We struggled to get fresh fruits and vegetables in Phoenix, the quality just wasn't there after being shipped in. It's so amazing to drop by Nana's house for raspberries (we made freezer jam our first week here, we're nuts!), or visit one of the farmer's markets. 

This little one has discovered a passion for corn on the cob. Bordering on obsession. It matches her love of cheese, and she can go through a Costco block in a few weeks.

This is what happens when we take the corn away, after an hour of nibbling. Still not enough. 

We are so happy to have a home and job and begin this next, suddenly grown-up, stage of our lives. Every time we feel like we don't deserve to skip the teeny starter home era we remind ourselves of how long we've been on this journey with very little to our name besides debt. Now we have even more debt! But a lovely house to show for it :) We'll keep you posted on our adventures in North Ogden.

Kate the Great

In May our Katie bug turned one, and per usual we celebrated with an obscenely large and artificially colored cupcake. 

"Are you serious?! For once something this big is for me?"

"I'm just going to rest this on my chest while I try it out. Really, I just hate this bib and want to permanently stain it."

Sugar rush + Thriller

Best.Day.Ever.

Until she realized that we were all having ice cream and she had some disgusting cardboard cake. Then she was DONE.

This is one of her tricks that we love/hate: the banana phone. Adorable, right? Until you try washing banana cement out of her curls...

We sure love this little human.

I'm So Glad When Daddy Comes Home

In our family, Dad is the fun one. The one who takes the kids on outings...

is more lenient with bed times and "traumatic injuries"...

buys the kids doughnuts (and not just plain doughnut holes)...

and doesn't freak out about terrible terrible messes (that's because he isn't the one doing the laundry). 

Sometimes I'm jealous of his awesomeness. But mostly I'm just glad that one of us is fun and that we make a good team. Mostly. 

Weddings and houses

My little sister got married in the Gilbert Temple to my kids new favorite person, Uncle Travis. We realized that a crazy young uncle is a new thing for them. The rest of us are pretty irrelevant at family gatherings now - all the kids just pile on Travis. 

For April Fools Day/Crazy Hair Day at school, Morgan brought home a tempting pile of "brownies" and was very proud of her joke.

So classy.

 

This girl is so active now, I can't get her to hold still for pictures. All of them have a blurry appendage in them.

At the end of the month, we flew up to Utah to look for a place to live. It was both stressful and awesome to explore the idea of owning a home. No shared walls... a backyard... freedom to invest and put down roots...

While we were in Utah, we visited Grandma and Grandpa Merkley. 

Grandpa got a haircut he will never forget.

 

The kids loved their time with Nana and Far-Far. Although they felt pretty betrayed that the raspberries out back weren't ready to pick. When they visit Nana's house, they expect fresh raspberries and boating - instead they got shuffled between babysitters while we looked at houses. 

This is a happy crew flying home - we found a house!

March Came In Like a Lion

Not really. March is a beautiful time of year in Arizona - all those songs and phrases about seasons have no application here. Even after three years here, I struggle to remember that we play outside in January and huddle by the air conditioner in July. 

One day in March I heard a big thud and went to investigate. Turns out someone had hurled (more like launched) a big rock through the kids bedroom window with so much force that it broke the double paned windows and sliced through the blinds with precision. It was taken care of by our landlords with relatively little fuss, but it just reinforced our eagerness to move from our sketchy little neighborhood. 

I once had to take the kids with me to a church youth activity because Erik was working, and we went bowling with a bunch of teenage girls. The kids thought that was the best, and have been begging to go ever since. My cousin said years ago that if I ever found a man I would be willing to go bowling with, she would know he was "the one." And I did actually go bowling once in college - when Erik asked me to go. So here I am, sacrificing again for my children and looking like an absolute idiot. I blame it all on being left-handed and continually confused about which hand I should bowl with.

Happy Easter! I swear we don't teach Sam how to pose like this - he just does it naturally. 

 

From GQ to.... I don't know. Katy Perry maybe?

This little girl loves dolls - kind of foreign to me. I tried to play halfheartedly as a child until I learned to read, and then it was all over. She's a little nurturer already, burping them and snuggling. 

And the best picture of March: Erik signing his official contract of employment. We will be moving back to Utah, near his parents, at the end of June. Erik is going to be a pediatrician in Ogden! We are so excited to be done with school and training. We have spent the entire 8 years of our marriage in this phase - I hope we can figure out how to handle seeing more of each other. :)

 

Another Nine From February

When Dad is around in the mornings, magical things happen. Like early strolls in your pajamas.

And doughnut runs. Also in your pajamas.

And projects at Home Depot. Thankfully in clothes.

We discovered a great regional park north of us that was gentle enough to hike with the kids. So beautiful, as long as you kept a wary eye out for horse remains.

We enjoyed it so much that we went back the next weekend with Nana and Far-Far and Aunt Di-Di. Erik and I came up with a brilliant plan while hiking. Instead of begrudgingly buying the obligatory and overpriced gifts for Valentines Day, we are going to give each other a trip to Arizona instead. We can escape the Utah gloom at Arizona's most beautiful time of year while actually spending our money on something worthwhile.

 

Kate has a grand total of 2 teeth, which is kind of pitiful, but she's just thrilled that it allows her some variety in her diet.

The kids sure love it when Erik is home. Sam has started to pray that Daddy won't have to go to work tomorrow. Rips Erik's heart out.