Final Farewells to Iowa

We found these awesome bowl chairs on the hospital rooftop when we went to check out the construction sites.  

With Summer here we had to try out the hammock.

We bid farewell to our friends Deb and Dalores, but before we ate lunch, played at the park and visited the goodie store in Kalona.  

Later that day our neighbor, Martha, took us out for ice cream. 

The kids wanted to dig some geodes.

John tested the dirt and rocks for us. 

We also drag along our favorite Kindergarten teacher!  She was great fun to play with for the day!

Grace dressed John up at the pioneer park in Nauvoo.

Anne tried walking on stilts.

Ms. J is here on her first oxen ride.

Anne had her 6th birthday right before we moved so our neighbor and friend, Casey baked her a cake.

We had a great time!

The neighbor girls enjoyed the evening with us and took home our aprons we outgrew.

Grace, Anne and James enjoyed a swim party with their friends while the packers packed up the house.

Grace, Elizabeth, Issac, Anne, Benjamin, Eli, and James

John made good us of the empty bookcases....snacks and a cubby!

We love the swirly, twirly, whoopsie, whirly road that runs by James St.  Fun times had by all on our trips to Coralville.

Gavin says goodbye!

Anne, Loie, Sophia and Grace play house for the last time.

Our good friends Casey and Sarah shared their home with us, fed us dinner and even woke up early to bid us farewell.  Life is full of good people.... and these are some of the finest I know!

Maeve came by on her way around the block and took an aloe vera plant home.

Ray, Carol, and Dewy Dog were our good neighbors.  They took us out to dinner and had many entertaining stories of watching the kids growing up in our backyards.

Madwa was so sad to see us leave.  What a kind woman.

A Few More Good-byes and Good Memories

One Sunday afternoon Anne wanted to buy a wind-up butterfly from her bug magazine.  We convinced her that paying $5 for shipping was not a good use of her hard earned money for a $2 toy.  We found a pattern online and followed the directions.  Anne did the designs.

Edwin did the engineering.

And we had take off!  

What a good dad.

We spent a rainy Memorial Day at the children's museum.  Edwin spent the day chasing the little ones.

John didn't play chase.  He rode the sheep.

The final activity for the day was making pizza.  We are really sad to leave the children's museum.  It's been a great playground for that past four years.

Anne said good-bye to her training wheels.  She's officially on two wheels, even on the steep hills.

John loves to vacuum.  I can't keep it away from him.  The biggest problem I have with this activity is that he often wants to throw the vacuum down the stairs. 

We said good-bye to Mrs. Whited.  She was James's good library buddy this year as we went to the school to read with the older girls.  Mrs. Whited read books with him, helped him play computer games, and he checked in all the library books on certain days.  We will miss her dearly.

Ms. Jensen was our kindergarten teacher again this year and we are so sad to say good-bye.  

She is one amazing woman.

Miss Beuter was a fabulous teacher for Grace.  Leaving the school and the incredible staff is quite emotional and sad for us.  This was a great introduction to education and school.

Anne graduated from kindergarten. 

Her good buddy Sophia can't believe we are actually moving. 

We took a trip to the zoo with a large group of friends. Despite the rain we braved it any way and enjoyed a train ride to boot.

The kids said good-bye to the elephants.

Anne and Mengyang on the Lion.  Mengyang is one of Grace's classmates.  He is moving back to China in August.

Quifeng is Mengyang's mother.  She adores the kids and was willing endure the rain and the long road trip to spend the day at the zoo.  We had a good day.

Anne's good friend, Maeve, came to play and we enjoyed a new park on Miller Ave.

Tears were shed when we said good-bye to our piano teacher and friend, Grethe.  She is working towards her DFMA and will most likely return to South Africa within the year.  We love her dearly and will remember her often as the girls continue to play the piano.

Leaving is so hard.

The Beginning of the Ends

Once a month for the past four years we have gone out to pizza with Edwin's work group.

Pizza Days and Journal Club and come to an end.

A stray cat had her kittens in our window well.  We wanted to desperately keep them, but alas, we called animal control and sent the kittens to find good homes.

James has the best FHE lessons.  Here we are throwing paper rocks at our giant Goliath. 

So Fun!

This has been my life for three weeks.  Mother of 3 for eight hours a day.

James went to the Fire station for his final preschool days.  Good times!

John and Liam enjoyed the fire station too, once they got out of the stroller.  I was grateful I arrived with three kids and came home with three kids.

Funky Fridays are so fun!  Grace and Anne wanted to sport some crazy make-up and I thought they had some great ideas.

The kids and I enjoyed a nice morning in Nauvoo while Edwin attended the temple.  We will miss Nauvoo dearly.  We have one more trip planned with a friend in June.

Kent Park Ward Camp-out

The primary kids built this structure with the help of a few adults.  It took the entire camping trip to make it all happen, but oh the joys.

We love to feed the home teachers when they come.  It makes their visits more enjoyable for everyone involved.  This month Edwin made scones and boy, howdy!  They were delicious!

Little Snippets

James and I talked about birthdays today.  He can't wait until John is 3 1/2 so he is big enough to wrestle.  James is 3 1/2.  Then he asked, "Are you a half, mom?"
Mom: "Am I a half like you are three and a half?  Yes, I am a 1/2."
James: "What half are you?"
Mom: "I am 32 and 1/2."
James (laughing hysterically): Wha, ha, ha!  You are so old.  You need Prune Soda."
a few minutes later he continues "Prune soda is for old people, mom."

I just chuckled and walked away from the table. Yep, my kids love me.





Grace is growing plants for school.  John has learned to move chairs and step stools to climb up on things.  He particularly likes to climb up on the kitchen table where the plants are growing.  One sad day I found a poor plant uprooted and eaten.  Grace had to go to school and tell the teacher her baby ate the homework.
What a tale to tell!

This is a photo of the crystal garden Grandma mailed to us to pass the winter months.  We put in on a tall counter so the kids wouldn't disturb it since it was quite fragile. Unfortunately mom attacked it multiple times in one day, so thankfully we snapped a shot before it was completely ruined.  It was great watching the crystals grow.


Uncle Kevin

James likes to tell stories.....it's that stage of life when reality and fantasy are blurred and inseparable.  His stories often begin with, "Uncle Kevin..."  Good ol' Uncle Kevin is often eating copious amounts of food, climbing to daring heights and enjoying all sorts of crazy activities.  I just laugh as I imagine our Uncle Kevin with his latest computer gadget in hand embarking on these wild adventures. We love Uncle Kevin.

We decorated Easter eggs.  Grace is sporting the squid hat she made at the Natural Science Museum. 

John turned 1 on Easter Sunday.  Anne is always snuggling that little boy.  Our friend, Deb, came over to celebrate the big event.  Poor James was recovering from the stomach flu.  

John wasn't very happy with birthday pie and everyone singing to him.  Once he ate the pie and everyone stopped singing he was happy to have all the attention.

Spring means baby chicks at the farm store.  It's one of our annual field trips.

There was also one bunny left to buy, we just pet it.  No pets for this house.

John is loving the outdoors.  He is such a boy, the bigger the stick....the better!

The kids figured out how to all swing at the same time.  I cook, read, or clean while the kids are outside swinging.  Everyone is happy.