Wyoming and Family

The first morning we arrived Edwin was outside prepping the garden.  We had no furniture, no AC, and no food, but boy howdy we were going to have a garden!

Anne thought walking the red carpet with the movers was tons of fun.

John enjoys spending hours at the river throwing rocks into the water.

Grace enjoys climbing through the rocks and waterfalls.

Anne is just as adventurous as her sister and didn't mind being all wet.

Edwin's been fishing lots.  We haven't had any fish to eat yet.  He likes to catch and release.

Grandma and Grandpa came for a week.  We visited Sinks Canyon.

Everybody loves family

Feeding the fish is a treat.

We took the kids on a hike to the waterfalls.  James hiked the 1.5 miles up hill.  He was dirty and tired, but he made it!

Once we made it up to the falls we found a swimming home for everyone.

Uno is a great way to wait for the 4th of July parade to start.

John loved all the free candy.

Cousin Kaylee and our good neighbor Tally all came for fireworks.

Uncle Scott put on a good fireworks show for us.

(Notice the water heater on the driveway...moving in had a few set backs the first week, but I think we are settling in.)

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.