We have been in our home now for 7 months and are feeling pretty settled. I love this house, everything in it was hand picked by Russ and I. We have been painting one room at a time and I have designed every inch to my liking and it is everything I've ever wanted, in fact I never dreamed we'd be able to have a home like this and I feel so blessed.
On a positive note, the kids have settled into the neighborhood and as more people are moving in, they are finding more friends. Taevin has hit it off with a kid named Kade, he was in our ward before it split just 3 months after we moved in, but they have remained buddies. Ryler has met his match in his new friend Cooper, They have spent most of the summer together and neither one of them will sit still for more than 5 minutes, it's a match made in heaven... or somewhere else, depending on who you ask ;) Zoey has made friends with Mady, who she went to preschool with and lives just around the corner, and Olivia who lives across the street. And Aspen, well she just tags along with Z thinking she's big enough to keep up. Gotta admire her tenacity!
The weather was quite good in February, and my neighbors were, to put it mildly, anxious to get the fence up, so we were in a pretty big rush to get the yard going before the fence would make getting machinery back there much more difficult, so we got right to work on landscaping... and I have learned that it is not my strong suit. I can work miracles on the interior of a home, but sadly, I do not have a green thumb. We were referred to a fantastic handyman named Grant who we hired out to do the whole project. He poured a concrete patio with a fire pit on one side of the yard, built a retaining wall along the back (that was an unexpected expense, but turned out fantastic), dug out a hole for the in-ground trampoline, installed the sprinkling system and extended the deck. We laid the sod (which is something I never want to do again) and have done some planting. I had big plans for a beautiful vegetable garden upon the retaining wall with fruit trees and raspberry bushes, but have learned that I just don't enjoy gardening. My grandma Pedler was an outstanding gardener so I assumed it would be in my blood somehow but unfortunately I was mistaken. Although I refuse to give up on my peach tree, it looks like I'll be relying heavily on farmers markets from now on. The yard is looking beautiful, it's a work in progress but we'll get there.
As soon as the yard was finished I decided that I enjoy torturing myself. Our little french bulldog seemed lonely, so much to my husbands reluctance, I decided that Rocco needed a friend (since the cat is antisocial). My plan was to get a 3-4 year old dog, already housebroken and done with puppy shenanigans, so we went to an adoption event downtown. It didn't take long for me to fall in love with the face of a 6 month old puppy, and that damn dog is lucky she's cute because she eats EVERYTHING! What was I thinking? My impulsivity may one day be the death of me, so now with 2 adults, 4 kids, 2 dogs and a cat, we're officially running a zoo. Heaven help us!
The circle we live in is not quite what I'm used to, the people are for the most part friendly, but don't seem too interested in being friends. It makes me miss Meggin and my awesome neighbors in Lehi, but luckily there are plenty of fantastic people in the neighborhood, I'll just have to go a little farther than next door.
The ward is good, constantly changing because of the rapid development, but full of good people. I was called to be the Beehive advisor in YW just after the ward split and am loving it! The girls are adorable and the leaders that I am serving with are excellent. Girls camp was just 2 weeks ago and we had a blast, I was exhausted but had a great time getting to know everyone.
Russ' youngest sister Missy, moved out here just a few months ago, just about 2 minutes away. We don't see them a ton as they both work full time but we get to spend lots of time with Josh, Jessee and the girls. It has been so much fun having family close by, and the kids love spending time with their cousins. We hang out at the lake often, paddle boarding, kayaking, and eating snow cones. It has become our summer happy place!
A bit of sad news is that Russ' dad had a triple bypass surgery just yesterday, he had been having chest pains for a while but his stubborn self wouldn't go get checked out, finally, a couple of days ago Josh ad Russ went over to give him a blessing and pretty much forced him to go to the ER. Luckily Josh felt inspired to get him in and the surgery went well but he has quite a recovery ahead. I'm always amazed and impressed at the miracles God will provide when we listen to Him.
Russ is turning 38 on Friday (he is sad about his receding hairline but I still think he's handsome), we leave for our vacation to Oregon & California next week, then Zoey's birthday is on the 10th and school will be starting on the 22nd. The summer seems to have flown by, yet the typical summertime sibling rivalry is making it feel sooooooo long! I'm excited to get back into the school year routine but will miss the flexibility and sleeping in that summer provides.
It's late now so I'm off to bed, so until next time...
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