These past few weeks have been the most trying of our lives, but the one thing that has kept us going is knowing that life goes on. Things get a little bit easier every day, and we have an amazing support system. I am grateful for so many shoulders to cry on, so many listening ears, and most importantly the comfort I feel from my Savior.

Running Man is busy as ever at work and we have made the most of what little time we do have together. The girls and I spent a week in Price playing with Grandparents, aunts and cousins. The girls loved the attention, and I felt very lucky to have so many extra sets of helping hands while I was in the hospital and recovering. Aunt Cole is the coach for the Drill Team in Price so the girls got to play at Jr. Drill Camp. They had a blast and it's fun to see how much they both love dancing and performing.
Banana and Blayr Bear are so funny together. I'm pretty sure their teachers weren't too impressed with what chatterboxes they were! :)

Aunt K and her kiddos came to visit and it was so much fun to see them! The Boy and The Girl are such dolls and Banana thinks The Boy is the coolest kid ever. The Girl is such a little cutie and I loved the cuddle time she let me have with her!

We also got to travel to Vernal for a family reunion, and I loved being able to see aunts, uncles and cousins that I haven't seen in quite a while. Once again the girls LOVED all of the attention. My Aunt and Uncle have an awesome property with lots of fun animals, a pond, and a tramp (which the girls pretty much lived on).

We have been wanting to go to Logan since we moved back to Utah and we FINALLY got the chance yesterday. Banana has been asking for a while to see where she was born, and it was so nice to go back to the town where we started our married life!

We took the girls to campus where Running Man showed them some of his favorite spots!

No trip to campus is complete without some Aggie ice cream! It was oh so delicious. :)

We drove past out first home and Banana was SUPER excited to see where she lived when she was a (teeny, tiny) baby. We have so many wonderful memories in that house. It was kind of weird to pull up, park in our old parking spot and not be able to go in the front door.
We stopped by for a quick visit with cousin Hadlee. Love that girl!
We went for a hike up the canyon, and took a dip in the river!
And ended a pretty perfect day feeding the ducks and playing in the water at First Dam.
Yesterday was just the kind of day we needed to recharge ourselves and get us ready to face another week.

Think Positive

I am not going to be winning any mom of the year awards anytime soon. Or wife of the year for that matter. Banana summed it up best when she told me that "everywhere else in the world is more fun than our new house." (The sad part being that I've really been trying to keep them entertained/happy). Sigh. Morning sickness is NOT my best friend. In fact I think it's my worst enemy. I firmly believe that the Lord blesses the women who get it to forget how bad it actually is. Because I would only have one kiddo if I could recall this fun part of pregnancy. I think my emotional state has a lot to do with my current attitude. I am missing friends, our home, our old ward, and the town we said good-bye to. (And that wonderful hubby of mine). Constantly.
Enough complaining. I REALLY am excited for this baby. Promise.
Thank goodness for the wonderful family we are close to. It was nice to be able to call my mom and tell her I needed help. And get it within hours. She took care of the me and the girls for several days with no complaints. Grateful for a sister who actually likes my kids and loves being around them. (And who only slightly encourages Em's mischeivous side). Here are a few fun things the girls have been able to do.
Have fun sleepovers with fun cousins!
Meet some new friends
Hang out with super fun Aunts and Uncles
Take part in some of my favorite traditions from my childhood.
We spent every 24th of July watching the parade at Grandma Norton's house, going to the park for yummy food, and watching the fireworks with all of the cousins. The girls loved it! Em was definitely a fan of the candy and otter pops being tossed around!
Having a Princess Tea Party at Aunt Cole's house. Complete with cupcake decorating, glittery make up, crowns and wands and slush! They were in heaven.

This past week we told this little girl

she is going to be a big sister!

This little girl

is thrilled and begging for a brother.

We also found out this awesome Aunt is having a little one too!!

We definitely have many reasons to celebrate but it will all sadly be put on hold until I can take more than a 10 minute break from the joys of morning sickness! :)

Lasts and Firsts

The last few weeks have been some of the most challenging/exciting weeks of the last six years. It feels like our last few weeks in Dport went so fast that I barely had time to catch my breath. I snapped a few pics of some of our last visits to our favorite Iowa places.

So long Machine Shed and Culvers. You will be missed!!

The night before we moved we were lucky enough to have one last Iowa storm. And it was one of the coolest we've ever seen. The clouds rolled in so quickly and it was an awesome storm to watch!
This is the view driving down our favorite road on the way to church. The corn isn't very tall yet, but we had to snap one last pic.
It was really hard to drive away from this house for the last time. It was a wonderful place to call home and we were so blessed to be able to live there.


We spent our first week in Utah relaxing and enjoying some quality time together before Running Man started in the "real world." The night before we moved into our new house Running Man and some other family members competed in the Lunatic Triathlon. (It started at 10 p.m. and there was a full moon, hence the "lunatic" part of the name). Running Man finished 3rd overall and 1st in his age divison!! He was pretty excited!The rest are just random pics of the last week. We haven't had internet so I need to play catch up!
Em was sick for most of the move and she was so happy to finally be able to crash in her own bed.

Running Man headed to his first day of work! It has been a challenging experience, but he is liking his job and still hasn't adjusted to people calling him Dr. He has been working LONG days and the girls have been feeling his absence. They are so excited when he walks in the door, and even more excited that their bedtime is extended so they can spend more time with him. :)
We have been lucky enough to spend this holiday weekend with family in Park City! It has been wonderful! Three days of sitting by the pool, playing in the mountains, and eating yummy food. Heaven. Em and banana are in LUV with Baby L. They can't get enough of her, or of the attention from all of their aunts and uncles. Riding the lift on our way to the Alpine Slide.

Banana loved the slide so much she asked to do it again! She also went with us on the Coaster and laughed the whole time. She is such a little daredevil.:)
The best part of Park City? Marshmallows for breakfast!

Just A Few Tears

I'm not sure what to say. I can't believe that as I type this Running Man is loading up the moving truck and emptying out our house. It doesn't feel real. Maybe it won't for a while. The past four years have been the best and the hardest of my life. There were days when I thought I couldn't possibly make it through another day. And days that I didn't want to end. The people we have met have changed our lives, and this town will always hold a special place in our hearts. Who woulda thought I wouldn't want to move out of the midwest?!

We are excited for this next chapter of our lives, and I am so anxious to see what it holds!
We {heart} Iowa and will miss you and all of the wonderful people you are home to!

The hardest part of leaving...saying good-bye to these people. We Love You!One last run across the bridges of the Quad Cities!
The Mighty Mississippi

One last trip to Banana's fountainsAnd to the Rainbow Bridge
Catching fireflies

And the most important part of the last month, what we have been working towards for 6 years. Running Man can now be referred to as Dr. Running Man!!

My Oh My

My WONDERFUL friend (who we just had to say good bye to), took these amazing pics of the girls this week. (All were take at my house. I am going to miss those red doors)! One of the best parts...she did it for free! Money is tight right now, so anything free makes me smile. :) There are way too many too try and narrow it down, so I'm trying to come up with a way to display all 2o of my faves! :)

We are finally seeing progress in the packing department! I hate packing closets and storage space stuff because I feel like it makes a HUGE mess and you have nothing to show for it...I have been putting off taking things off of the walls because that makes it all feel too real, but I bucked up and got it done today. And it felt good! I'm sure it will be depressing when I finally sit down tonight and look around me, but I am anxious to get into our new place and get settled. So...enough of that! Enjoy the pics!
Miss Banana!


This one hasn't been fixed up at all, but I love it because these are the kind of poses Banana kept doing during the shoot. Straight out of some modeling class. Love it!

Miss Em!