fly away sam

makayah is my little mama. she is so great at helping me with the babies. this was extremely helpful today since we were on our way to madison.

sam was flying out to SLC for his brother's sealing. the kids and i were so sad we all couldn't make it. bye sam, have fun.

before going home, i stopped off at my favorite store and stocked up on the goods.

and we just had to say hello to our friends before leaving. we miss you guys.

the lone drive home.

we made it safely home. i put the kids to bed and thought of sam flying somewhere over utah by now.

First weekend, settling in

our first weekend was a success.

we're still living out of boxes at the moment, but the kids are happy in our new home and the backyard and patio are absolutely lovely.

we gathered round our new living room and even watched a BYU football game.

we've been playing musical bedrooms, trying to see who fits where. i imagine it'll take several weeks to really feel settled into this place. right now, i'm racing against time. school will be starting soon, and i really need to get as much unpacked as i possibly can.

the kids have loved having more room. they still miss their friends in Madison, but, we really love the extra room we now have.

here's a photo of mosiah. he just discovered his fingers. he'll sit watching them for a few minutes, extending and wiggling. stop. then do it all over again. it's the sweetest.

oh yes. and a certain someone gave my kids oatmeal creme pies for breakfast.

the tree is the view outside our window.

mosiah sitting in his bumbo seat - which was just recently recalled. i think that explains his worried look.

and the dishes are all unpacked.

our first sunday at church was actually in LaCrosse. the new branch building is in it's final stages of completion. in the meantime, they've been using one of the buildings in LaCrosse which is 30 minutes away. yeah, i know, i'm surprised we hauled everyone over, too.

i can't get enough of these chunky legs, and cute face.

waking from his nap.

so far, Sparta is nice. it's sunny, warm, and school hasn't started yet, which means we get to have lots of outside family time. we've taken several walks and the kids love having a backyard to run around in. we're really going to have to take advantage of this nice weather before winter comes billowing in.

First night in Sparta

after a slow drive with the trailer and moving truck, we arrived safely in sparta around midnight. while the kids slept in the cars, sam and i unloaded beds and bedding for our first night in our new place.

i admit, after the teary good-bye, it was nice to see our new place and be excited for all that awaited us.

it was a good thing we had a great sleep, because the next morning we were up, bright and early.

the girls helped daddy get a jump start on things.

our new friends from the local sparta church branch came to help us unload. i'm so grateful for their help and kindess. unpacking the truck would've taken all day instead of just the morning. we also had dinner brought to us that night. the people here are so welcoming and friendly, thoughtful, and generous. we really lucked out.

although i abhor packing, i do enjoy unpacking a new and clean space.

we unpacked most things - the vitals, anyhow. and after a long day of moving boxes and furniture, we settled in and had a family movie night to unwind.

goodnight, sparta.

Last night, time to go

last night in our apartment...

mimzy's crib has been packed and she's been on a regular bed. no crib bars = nighttime wandering.

moving day finally arrived. we spent all day packing the truck and cleaning the apartment. the top photo is of the trailer we hauled from canada. we were praying so hard that it would hold up until we reached sparta.

mosiah was great and undemanding, which really helped speed things along.

this is his first carrot.

he liked it.

it was around 8 or 9 at night when we were loaded up and finally ready to drive out. isaiah and sam were in the budget truck. the girls, mosiah, and i were in the van hauling the rickety trailer. the vigil's came out to say good-bye. we hugged and waved and drove away.

as soon as i left the street i started bawling my eyes out. i heard sniffles in the backseat. we were all so sad to leave our friends and wonderful city.

it's a good thing we were only moving two hours away. i don't think my heart could've handled moving outside of wisconsin. i was comforted in the fact that there would be many visits to see our madison friends - but that still didn't stop the tears from falling.

Saying goodbye

our time in madison is winding down. we've tried to cram in as many visits with all our friends that we possibly could. we didn't get pictures of all our friends who stopped by, because mostly we were busy soaking in every minute - but here are a few gems...

girls and janice playing in the backyard. oh how i wish they lived here the entire time we were here.

isaiah and his best bud owen. we were lucky enough to have dinner with them before our final move. i'm gonna miss those curly-haired boys.

mr.mike hall - thank you for stopping by and all your help. oh yes, and the hubbard pies. it has been a great three years getting to know you.

the morning pounce-on-dad ritual.

Pizza party

did i mention that right as we were getting ready to move out, one of our favorite families decided to move in across the hall from us?!

we've tried to make the most of every single day we get to be so close, walk across the hall, and knock on their door and play, play, play all day long.

tonight we had a pizza party and root beer taste-test party.

man, i'm gonna miss them!

sam, full-fledged lawyer

today, sam was sworn in to the Wisconsin Bar Association. i hope that's the right title.

anyhow, we were beaming. we are so proud of you daddy!

way to go, Counselor.

we 

although we jumped a huge hurdle, another one still awaited us.

we had to find a place to live, and fast. time was running out. we looked at houses in tomah, warrens, and just happened to find ourselves in sparta. we hadn't even thought of looking here. long story short, we found the perfect place!

welcome to sparta, crowfoots...

Farmer's markets and Madison museums

it was wonderful being back in madison. we took one last visit to the farmer's market.

the kids always love to stop and see the bees. they are fascinating.

today was a day for visiting our favorite places and doing our favorite things. i'm really going to miss the farmer's market.

you can't really tell from the photo, but this is a great view of the lake.

mimzy and i snitched at some almond scones while the others were in the capitol for a potty break.

our next favorite place was campus. 

we strolled around the buildings reminiscing and stopped at museums here and there. i'm going to miss all the museums and wide variety of cultural activities madison offers.

above: my hitchhiker. mimzy and makayah building up courage to walk across the see-through yellow bridge.

below: huge old-time toy exhibit. mosiah, perfect museum companion.

i'm thankful for the the delicious food items we bought at the farmer's market to make this lovely meal. and i'm thankful for yummy almond scones.

packing with babies

not much gets done with these cuties around.

after munching on blueberries in bed, scampering around the backyard, mimzy started looking worn down and begged for a pick-me-up. not a chance, mimz.

i called in reinforcements, and had wonderful friends and family come to watch my babies and help me clean/pack. thank you, thank you! it would've been impossible otherwise.

i couldn't resist snapping more pics on my breaks.

mimzy is obviously ready to go somewhere.

look who just rolled over!

happy four months, baby mosiah!

his new trick. i don't know if he can roll onto his back, but he does have a knack for rolling onto his tummy.

we're home again, and he has his favorite toy.

thank goodness for jumperoos, they sure are helpful when packing up and moving.

i took a little break from cleaning to play airplane with this one.

and sam took a cuddle break with the other.

home, sweet home, but not for long...

on the road again

oh boy. the drive home. it's an estimated 22.5 hour drive.

however, we were hauling a trailer back to wisconsin that significantly increased our travel time.

significantly is maybe an understatement.

the drive was beautiful, albeit long.

one great thing about driving is we can stope whenever we need to.

the kids did an amazing job. we were very impressed.

sam and i were anxious to be off the road as soon as possible. so, we thought we'd just drive through the night. we made a bed in the back of the van, the kids slept. the roads were clear and quiet. i hammered on into the night and early morning. i switched with sam around 4am.

around 6am, this happened:

the trailer tire blew out. we sat on the roadside for about an hour and half waiting for the tow truck to come. we followed them into bismark, north dakota where absolutely nothing was open until 12 noon. we all slept until about 9am outside the walmart tire center. ugh. since we had nothing but time on our hands in this sleepy little town, we drove around until we found a place that was open before noon so we could have some breakfast. of course mcdonalds would be our only choice. we grabbed our egg mcmuffins and headed to the nearest park to let loose and have some kind of fun to pass the time.

when walmart finally opened, they didn't have the tire we needed. neither did the neighboring tire store. we couldn't very well be stuck in north dakota, so we grabbed whatever fit - a small pair of glorified lawnmower tires. we were desperate.

we finally got out around 4pm. a whole day wasted.

after being awake for nearly 24 hours, exhausted from putting on a cheery face for the kids, and still more than halfway to drive, we were near tears. but, at the end of our rope, heaven opened and sam's dad called telling us he booked us a place at a hotel in the next town.

after an exhausting and frustrating day, i burst into happy tears.

"thank you" just doesn't seem to say it all.

we washed up, rested, and refreshed for the next morning.

the stay was heavenly.

i was never more excited to see the mighty mississippi than i was today.

and that "welcome to wisconsin" sign made my heart flutter.

we were almost home.

before actually heading all the way to madison, we made a pit stop in black river falls. we had to look at a place we found on craigslist. the farmhouse pictures looked absolutely stunning online, the perfect place to raise a family of 6...

we stopped by, and yes, the countryside did not disappoint.

however, there were a few minor - er, major - problems.

first off, it was fifteen minutes outside of BRF in the middle of nowhere.

there was no cell phone reception.

upon inspection of the house, i could see the beautified angles the pictures were cleverly taken at. however, they neglected to photograph the termite nibbled walls, the door that led to nowhere but a 5 foot drop outside, the basement of doom and despair, the rat-poisoned shed, the suicide swamp filled with green muck, and the children-of-the-corn field. 

hmmm, no thanks. i choose life.

ah well. we made one more stop, this time, to daddy's future work place. :)

yay, dad!

i'm glad this trip is over. one day, i will look back on this and laugh.