Western Adventure 2013: UTAH

we have so much catching up to do.

we've made it to fort smith!

but before we get into our new adventures, i need to document our last adventure. 

this was probably my favorite family vacation ever!!!

because i have so many pictures to post, I'm not going to write too many of the details.

we flew into salt lake on october 18th.

visited the conference center

and the tabernacle

we took this picture April 11, 2007

and had to recreate it :)

i think we'll take another when jack is 17 too!

the salt lake temple

then we met up with chris' sister jenny and her awesome man eric, along with my best friends carrie and kersey, and their little fams, for este pizza and a park.

elliott is such a ham!

he and ellie clicked

this boy LOVES his pizza

 and jackson is the sweetest little guy ever. seriously, ever.

after we said our goodbyes, and i had a little cry in the car, we buzzed up to idaho. 

but not without stopping at the best, most luscious, velvety frozen custard place in bountiful! nielsen's, i miss your caramel cashew concretes already.

we'll save idaho for another couple posts.

we drove back to utah the following friday for lunch at the spaghetti factory at trolley square (a childhood favorite of the brower clan- very tasty!) with jen, eric, grandma, grandpa, corey, and nathan.

jenny had a birthday approaching and jack had just celebrated his, so they got the birthday treatment.

then we drove down south to catch cousin mateen's last football game of the season and some fall fun!

how gorgeous are these kids?!

we couldn't head down south without stopping in at the holy grail of hot dogs,

the real happiest place on earth,

 jdawgs

 chris called up one of his boys who is attending BYU to meet up with us at jdawgs.

we love you hilo!

chris was hilo's YM president before he left for japan on his mission.

whew! 

and that was just our visit to utah-

idaho is coming right up!

family pictures

we wanted to get a couple pictures by the talented rikki before we leave this week for idaho. what will we do without a personal photographer once we get to arkansas?

keeping things "normal"

it's here!

october is here!

usually our home would have a few pumpkins on the table and the kids would each have one in their room that they picked out. charlie loves pumpkins right now. bats and creep crawly bugs would be hanging on the walls and our skeleton banner would be hung. but not this year. the kids keep forgetting that we wont be here for halloween and ask about their costumes. i've promised them a new costume when we get to arkansas. shhh... dont tell them thats when they will be on sale ;) it makes me sad to be skipping this time of year.

but even though we will be missing out on such a great holiday this year, we are so excited its october!

in two weeks we will be on our way to idaho to see grandma and grandpa, celebrate our 9th anniversary, and jack will be turning 7! how is he 7 already?!?

jack came in singing this song at 7 am on october 1st, while i was, ahem, in the loo. but it was so silly i had to record it. he's so good at making up songs. and of course he cant help but dance too.

 we are trying to keep things as normal as possible. and that means that between all of the paint cans, nailing guns, air compressors, and drop cloths, we still try to do some fun day-to-day type things. 

like having friends liam and louie over for a morning while their mama was at the dentist.

we are going to miss louies adorable smiles and boy does he smell so sweet! and liam's a-maz-ing sound affects when playing with cars and his infectious laugh, we'll miss those too.

we've also kept up with haircuts.

jack has been asking for a while if he could get the "MVP" haircut at sport clips. but because it costs a lot more money and really, what 6 year old needs a head massage and hot towel?? well, this lucky boy was sent a free MVP coupon for his birthday. 

he absolutely loved it!

with the hot towel:

 and after the hot towel, red-faced and smiling:

he kept telling me afterwards how much he enjoyed the "mint scalp treatment and the shoulder massage". so glad it was everything he had hoped for.

the big kids love to help in the kitchen. charlie has finally started to have that desire as well. im in such a hurry to get dinner on the table though, so his involvement usually only consists of getting ingredients out of the fridge and pantry. but the other day, after patiently sitting in front of "cars 2" for the hundredth time this week while mama painted trim, i set down the brush and we made banana bread. and charlie helped with every single step. he loved stirring, mashing, cracking, and mixing so much and kept saying "i coooookeen mommy, i cooookeen!!!"

and because we can't completely pass up halloween fun, charlie helped grandma linda decorate their home for halloween. this, of course, included grandmas creepy skeleton hands. jack used them for a while instead of his own hands and then ellie used them to scratch grandpas back and brush her hair. hopefully grandma washes them before serving spaghetti ;)

the news is out...

our family is making some big changes!

after a few years of praying that doors would open for us to move at the right time and to the right place, they have. chris was offered a really, really good job and we couldnt turn it down.

so where are we headed?

who would have ever thought we'd end up in arkansas?! 

but it seems like a great fit and we cant wait to give it a go.

one of the first things jack and ellie said when we talked to them about the move was "now we can take banjo lessons!!!". when we told our friends, the cummings family, that we were going to AR, jack said "im goin' hog hunting!" and ellie followed with "and i'm gonna play the banjo!". looks like they've been ready for awhile i guess. making a big move is so much easier when the kids are happy too.

the main reason for the move is to pay off our student loans. right now, our minds cant even imagine what it will be like to be debt-free, but this move will make that happen.

we have some excellent friends, ben and katie smith, that moved there last year and have been the key to making this happen. we are so happy to be living near them again! jack and jenna were such good little buddies :) and ellie will be in heaven having three girls to play with.

chris' first day is November 4th.

before we knew about all of this, we planned a trip to idaho to visit family from october 18-27th. that means we will have a total of 4 1/2 weeks to prepare. we have to not only pack, find a new place there, and move, but we also have to prep this house for selling. its been a whirlwind! we've been busy painting (which absolutely positively stinks) and replacing baseboards. we'll be doing some landscaping and redoing our patio as well. it's fun to watch this house transform. its such a great little house.

how do we feel about moving?

this has all happened very suddenly. chris and i have both felt very calm and peaceful through out the last two weeks while making this decision, which has been a confirmation to us that this is the right choice. the actual move and the adventure we are looking forward to is exciting and wonderful! 

as long as we focus on that instead of what and who we are leaving behind, its ok. when i think about our family, friends, and even my sweet little ones in primary that we will say goodbye to.... its heart wrenching. so right now, im just not thinking about it. i'd rather it slam me as we drive away rather than right now while i have so much to do. chris and the kids are sad, but ready for change. and change is a good thing. it really is a good thing.

before and after: kitchen

i realized that we never posted any after pictures of our kitchen remodel, so here they are.

before

after

before

after

don't mind the major yellow tint from the grass reflecting through the window in these pictures. wish i knew some editing techniques, but you get the idea.

we have been loving this kitchen. 

we were able to optimize the storage space with pull out shelves and bigger cabinets which has allowed us to utilize it in a much smarter, more organized, way.

not to mention that the apron-front sink, the subway tiles, the quiet disposal, and the soft closing cabinets are all amazing :)

chris and grandpa dave did an incredible job. 

it was fun to watch chris learn new skills during this adventure. that man is full of all sorts of talent!

and it's always fun to watch my dad tackle a project because he knows how to do everything. and if, by some small chance he doesnt, he somehow figures it out and makes it happen. we are lucky to be taught by the best!

hello!

how in the world is it september? 

it seems as though my days last forever, but the months fly by faster than a blink. i guess thats the way it is with little ones. we are really looking forward to "fall" around here with all the pumpkins, baked goods, crafting, and of course halloween!

here are a few snippets from the past few weeks that i have managed to forget amid all of the reading i have been doing :)

the kids are running with me on saturday mornings

we dont go too far, just to the hyatt and back, but im glad they enjoy getting out and exercising. and truth be told, with all the problems i've had with my shins, i dont mind taking an easy run and using the kids as an excuse.

we made an impromptu stop at the park last week after a library run. it ended up being one of our best outings ever!

the kids actually played happily together. 

let me repeat that. 

the kids actually played happily together. 

and since no one else was there, i even ran through the splash pad with the kids... in a white shirt. it felt great. what can i say, im a rebel.

jack also learned how to be a bat. i loved hanging upside down from the monkey bars when i was a kid, so it was fun to watch him... and sneak a couple tickles in those pits :)

last week charlie and i went to the movie theater (pronounced thee-ate-r by the kids) to see monsters university. im not sure why charlie started calling sully "good guy", but he does. we were the only ones in the theater and a big storm blew through. it was a little creepy. but we had a good time munching on popcorn, mike and ikes, and giggling at the silly monsters.

charlie and i are still going to the beach on tuesdays, much to ellie and jack's chagrin, but hey, can you blame me? here's charlie and his pal grace on the swing at jack and cherie's after a tough morning of stealing each others toys and knocking over each others castles.

we love our cousins!

last weekend we swapped date nights and babysitting with bo and larissa. when we had the kids we cooked up a pancake feast and played a fun version of dodge ball, but with stuffed animals. it was kids vs adults. we were sorely out numbered.

little ash-man eating pancakes and hash browns

and louie snapping a selfie with cousin soph.

life is good!