Goodbye for now, Elder Anderson!

We went to the Provo Temple grounds to hang out and say goodbye and take pictures before Parker got dropped off at the MTC. Someone gave my mom that advice and it turned out to be really good advice! It was nice to not be rushed, talk for a minute, get some pictures. Then when it was time, Mom and Dad drove him to the MTC, got out, said goodbye, and that was that. Off he went! We know he'll be great.

While we were at the temple, Nora entertained herself by collecting all the leaves and making a pile on the sidewalk...

Whole family pictures

We wanted to get some family pictures done before Parker left on his mission. Corey's friend from high school, Becca Lund with Rouge de Lys Photography, did a great job at Wheeler Farm. It was a little overcast, which is good for pictures, but then it started raining! Bummer! But she still got enough great shots before I think!

Whirlwind

So, July and August have been a whirlwind. Let's start from the top...

July 15 - We put 'em to work early in our family... Child labor at its finest! :)

July 20th - Nathan lost his first tooth! But then he actually lost the tooth. Good thing the Tooth Fairy is smart and know these things anyway. She brought Nathan 4 quarters.

July 26th - The Tremonton Splash Pad officially opened right before we moved away. The kids were able to go twice before we left. They had a lot of fun.

 The city council, including Corey's dad third from the left, also enjoyed the water.

July 30th - We all got hair cuts from our favorite hair lady before we left, which was Nora's first one! She just got a little trim around to help even it out a little bit. She did great...only because she sat on Dad's lap and ate smarties and a sucker the whole time.

August 4th - Corey's official promotion ceremony to First Lieutenant. It was supposed to happen last year and his paperwork got lost 3 different times. Well, someone (the Lord, obviously, that's why you pay tithing) is looking out for us and this time it finally went through, took only 5 days, and they back dated it to April 2012 AND back paid us the difference from that entire time. When in the world does the Army actually do something right like that when it was their fault in the first place? I'm not sure, but it's never happened to us before. We were very grateful for that money which has been very much needed with baby on the way, leaving a job without a replacement job, and paying for a moving truck/storage unit now. Blessings!

August 9th - We slept in one of the motel rooms for the whole week before we moved. We felt very lucky that we were able to still have a place to sleep and a place to eat (the motel's breakfast room) so we could move out all of our furniture to clean the house really good before we left. We moved out on the 10th, and the new managers started moving in that very same day.

August 10th - And we're off!! 25+ plastic bins, 90+ boxes, several things in large plastic garbage bags, and more loose things than I was planning on, and that moving truck and our little Rogue were COMPLETELY full. I couldn't believe it. How did we have that much stuff in our 'little' house?? I did get a little a emotional that morning. We walked around the house with the kids before we left and said goodbye to each of the rooms and recorded it. Just shy of 4 years...a lot of memories...a lot of frustration...a lot really good times, too...and we're off. And just like that, the house and the motel belong to someone else. The move really went very smooth. We took the truck to the storage unit and emptied what was needed (it is also very, very full) and then the few things we needed at my parents' got brought here. It's a lot easier to move when you only unpack 1/4 of your stuff. It only took the rest of Saturday and a little bit into Monday (I didn't do anything on Sunday but sit and rest) to empty our boxes. On Sunday I took Corey to the airport to go to Sacramento for a week for some military training. And you know what? It was ok. My first reaction to this when Corey approached me about the training was 'No way, you can't leave me for a whole week.' And then I immediately realized it was going to be after we left, I'd be at my parents' house, I wouldn't be at the motel, and the military was paying for everything, so I said, "Sure, you can go to Sacramento for a week." This will probably be a mental adjustment I will continue to have to get used to.

And now we're here and everything is good. I'm still trying to figure out what to fill my day with. One can only watch so much Food Network and Family Feud. I know should just enjoy a few days off, but I'm really looking forward to Nathan starting school on the 3rd and getting a little feeling of normalcy back into our lives.

August 21st - We've had fun hanging out with Parker. He spoke in church on the 18th for the last time before he leaves (tomorrow!!) for his mission. There has been a lot going on getting things ready for him to go. We will miss him for sure!

Nora fell asleep on the way home while drinking water. Only briefly though because she will not take a nap if she sleeps in the car for even 5 minutes.

August 24th - We did make it back up to Tremonton just 2 weeks after we left for some county fair goodness! We stopped by the motel for a few things we actually forgot (good thing, too, because I don't know where we would have fit it). It felt strange visiting the motel, in a good way though because it felt official that it wasn't ours anymore and we didn't have to take care of it or worry about it anymore. It was a nice release. The fair was fun as usual! The first ride Corey put Nora on right when we got there was the dragon roller coaster. Yeah, it didn't go over very well and I felt terrible. The rest of the day, she'd point to it and say,"Scary."

This was before...

 This was before...

 This was during...

The rest of the rides were much better.

 

We had good (-ish...you know food at the fair, lol) food, good fun, good family time. It's a tradition that we will have to keep as long as we can!