OUR FINAL WEEK IN WASHINGTON
Bringing Audrey home from the hospital was a little hard since our whole house was full of boxes. Since all the kids' books were packed up and all the library books were returned, they were especially excited to open their new books from Audrey. (We have a tradition that when we bring a baby home from the hospital, he/she gives the other kids a new book or some other small gift.)
The kids decided that she is a very reverent baby since she likes to fold her arms a lot.
Since we were busy getting ready to move in less than a week, I was grateful that she was such a well behaved baby.
So sweet!
The kids enjoying our backyard for the last time before moving.
They were excited that Jared had finally filled up the sandbox with sand (since he was emptying the base of our outdoor umbrella).
We were reminded of why we never filled it up in the first place because the kids all ended up covered in sand.
Abby with a walking stick that she decorated on her last day of Homelink.
The girls had a piano recital their last day before leaving. Here they are with their teacher Amy Merdith. She was a great teacher for the girls, and they made a lot of progress with her help.
Nathan on his last day of Kindergarten with his teacher Mrs. Beach.
Exactly one week after Audrey was born we had this big moving truck pull up and a team loaded up all our stuff to take to Texas. It felt very strange to say good bye to this beautiful place that we have called home for over 6 years.
BOISE
We drove to Boise that night and the kids insisted on taking our sled (which we were planning on donating to GoodWill) so they could play with it in the snow in Boise. The only place in our very loaded down van was on the girls' lap, so they rode the whole way down with a giant sled on their lap. It looks like it was worth it.
We told the kids to enjoy the snow since we probably won't get any in Texas.
Nathan really loved it, and stayed out playing for hours. After spending a day in Boise, Jared had to fly back to Texas to work while I stayed in Boise with the kids for a week and a half.
Audrey had her first bath in Grandma's sink since we didn't have her baby bath tub with us.
We got to celebrate Jared's brother Eric's birthday with him.
Grandma Collett took the kids to The Village at Meridian so they could enjoy the fun lights and fountain show.
Grandma got to enjoy some sweet Audrey snuggles.
Jared flew back in town just in time to enjoy this delicious Thanksgiving dinner.
Random cute picture of Audrey.
AUDREY'S BABY BLESSING
We feel so blessed to have this precious little girl join our family. Jared blessed her in his parents' ward in Boise and my parents and niece Emily drove up to share this special day with us. The blessing and the baby were both beautiful.
She looked gorgeous in the blessing dress that my mom picked out.
Abby and Maddy wanted a picture of just the girls.
Our family together.
My mom finally getting a chance to hold Audrey.
Audrey with her Grandpa Donaldson.
GOOD-BYE TO BOISE
The Saturday before we left, the kids helped Grandma Collett decorate for Christmas and we had a mini Christmas celebration. The kids watched a Nativity video that they had made with their cousins, and they opened gifts from their cousin gift exchange.
The girls playing dolls with their cousins on their final night together.
UTAH
We only had a few days to spend in Utah, but we had a great time. The kids really enjoyed all of Grandma's grand kid toys, especially the dress-up. I think Maddy wore this butterfly costume the entire time we were there. We had a nice late Thanksgiving dinner with everyone, followed by a story from Grandpa. I got to go out to lunch with my Mom, Nikki, and Sarah to celebrate Sarah's birthday while Jared and my dad took the kids to the newly remodeled Monte L. Bean Museum.
On our last night there the kids performed the Nativity for us with my dad playing his usual role as the donkey.
Abby (a very versatile actress) was the inn keeper, the shepherd, the angel and the 3 kings.
Maddy was excited that she could play Mary, and Nathan was Joseph.
We're grateful that we had such a wonderful time with family before heading down to Texas at the end of the month.
2 comments:
Love these posts. Thanks so much for sharing. Lovely pictures with Mom and Dad. I don't know how in the world you are homeschooling with a new baby. I think I will call you "Super Mom" from now on.
We are so glad you were able to come by Utah it was good to see you, just makes us miss you more.
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