Spencer's Big Day

I am still trying to figure out my schedule.  I feel like things are all mixed up.  I think Caleb is a bit confused too.  I will have to work on trying to get things figured out of when I do shopping, library, laundry and letter writing.  It has been a busy week, the first full week of school.  The kids did well.  Spencer has a hard time getting up so early, we leave at 7:25 and that has been hard for him.

Last Friday Caleb and I went to Neal’s work.  We were able to see where he is each day.  It looks like a neat program he is working on.  It was “ice cream Friday” at work.  Every month they do home made ice cream with liquid nitrogen and families are invited to come and join in eating it.  Caleb and I enjoyed being there and the ice cream was delicious.  

Saturday was Spencer’s birthday.  He was happy that he didn’t have school on his birthday.  We had a fun day as a family.  He wanted to go to the park to play.  We all went over walking/biking and enjoyed the pretty day.  Neal took Ruth and Andrew on a longer bike ride home.  That was good for them.  Spencer didn’t want cake and ice cream.  He wanted ginger bread boy cookies.  So that is what we made in the afternoon.  The kids had fun decorating some of them.  We had home made cinnamon rolls for breakfast and home made pizza for dinner.  Spencer wanted me to spend the day in the kitchen, but it is nice that he appreciates my cooking.  He had a wonderful 7^th birthday.  He didn’t even seem bothered that he didn’t have presents to open, he remembered that he got a fishing pole.  

Our traditional balloon fight on birthdays.  We had the kids get ready for bed early so we could party.

Cookie decorating

The candles did stay in for blowing out, it was a bit small of a space though. 

Sunday Neal got a calling.  He has been asked to serve as a financial clerk in the ward.  Spencer was a bit worried that it would mean that Neal would be gone all Sunday morning again, like he did with being the ward clerk.  He was happy to hear that it would be just for a little while after church each week.  

Monday we were invited over to a family in our ward for FHE.  We enjoyed walking over, they only live about 1/2 mile away.  It was a beautiful evening for a walk too.  We enjoyed being with their family. They have young children and the kids had fun.  The kids got to make marshmallow catapults.  They have enjoyed them through the week.

I have seen signs about town about coyotes.  I thought that was interesting, especially in the middle of all the houses.  Then one day last week I heard dogs barking and looked outside and there was a coyote walking along the trail behind our house.  Then on Tuesday when Caleb and I were going to the library we saw another coyote walking at the side of the road by an open field.  So I guess they are around and we need to be aware of them.

We did hair cuts for the boys this week.  They don’t look so shaggy any more.  The kids have been happy with school.  Andrew has been very diligent about doing home work as soon as he gets home.  He seems to be enjoying having men teachers (2 out of 3 teachers are men for him.)  Tuesday evening Andrew and I went to the church for Pack Meeting.  They were doing awards for the summer and so it was a long meeting of just giving out awards.  There are a lot of boys in this ward.  We were noticing that it was just our ward and there were more boys there than we would have in the Waco 2^nd and Hewitt wards combined.  I am glad that Andrew can be making friends.  

Ruth is also making many friends.  She had fun going over to a friends home Wednesday afternoon.  She talks about other kids at school, especially a girl named Bella.  On Saturday I measured the kids for Spencer’s birthday.  I marked Spencer on my board at 4 feet 2 1/2 inches.  Ruth wanted to be measured and was at the 5 foot 3 mark!  She has grown 2 inches since her April birthday.  I took her shoe shopping before school started because the shoes I bought last March were hurting her feet.  We bought size 9 1/2, the same size I wear!  I was a bit silly about putting on her new church shoes one night, because she had left them out.  I think she will continue to grow.  She is a beautiful young girl.

Caleb had fun playing at the park yesterday with some friends.  Two families in the ward have 4 year old boys.  We got them together and let them play.  I also enjoyed visiting with the mom’s.  We came home from the park and our neighbor was outside on the lawn with the kids she does day care with.  We went over to talk to her.  Her son is in Spencer’s class at school and the older son is in 4^th grade with Andrew.  I enjoyed visiting with her and even sat by her last night at the school Parent Teacher night last night.  I am glad that there are children in our neighborhood (there are a lot of kids that come out to play in the afternoons).  While I was talking Caleb picked up some chalk and started to write.  She asked me how old he was and I told her.  Then we looked at what he had done, he wrote “mom and Caleb” on her drive.  She laughed and said it looked like he was already ready for school.  He loves playing “Stack the States” on the iPad and has almost earned all the states and has memorized all the states names now.  He can put together his state puzzle by himself.  He loves to draw pictures.  He has started gathering pictures he makes in an envelope that he says are for my birthday, even though it is still about 6 weeks away.  

I enjoyed going to the school last night and learning more about what is done in their classes each day.  I feel good about the schools they are in.

Neal has gone off on an adventure this week end.  He met his brothers this morning to hike King’s Peak in Utah.  He had all his back packing gear ready to go and was excited about it all.  I hope that they can stay warm and enjoy brother time together.  

This letter got long.  I guess I do that.  I hope you are all well.

I decided to take some pictures of the house to show where we are.  I didn't take time to clean the house though, so it looks lived in. 

At the top of the stairs looking at the loft, our play room

Looking down the inside balcony into the family room

The view out of the upstairs balcony

Standing in the loft looking towards the kids bed rooms

Looking down stairs into the front room

The front room, dining room area.  Notice all the pictures by the wall, I don't know what to do with them, we don't want to make holes in the walls since we are just renting.

The family room on the main floor

The kitchen, we bought the stools but the counter is up too high for them

The kitchen, Caleb loves the state magnets I bought for him

The view from our back door.  Don't mind all the weeds in the yard, maybe I will get my life in order enough to start doing some yard work.  Thankfully it is a small yard, so maybe we can get it cleaned up.  We like our view and think it is much better than looking at someones back yard.

The dining room looking towards the front room.

The front of the house.  The suburban just barely fits in the drive, the back bumper hangs out over the side walk.  It does fit in the garage, but it is a very tight fit, so I have just been parking it outside for now.

The master bed room.

My reading corner in my room, Ruth likes it and we find her there often.

The boys room.  Thankfully we fit all three beds and dressers in it.

Ruth's room, it is a bit squished with the big bed.  She had to put her other book shelf in the closet. 

Andrew in the basement building the electric trains.   It is nice to have the storage space and the kids have loved doing trains down there. 

First Day of School

22 August 2014

We have internet connection!  So I will be able to send out my past letters I wrote but couldn’t email or blog post.  It is nice to be connected to things again at home.  Plus, I can type so much faster on a regular key board rather than trying to type emails on the iPad.  I have been thankful for the iPad the last month, since I could take it with me to places around town and use free wifi.  It will be nice to look things up at home now.  We should have phone connection soon and then we will be all connected to the world again.  I have been thankful for my cell phone that it works here and we have been able to use it a lot to be connected that way.

This week has gone quickly.  Last week the boys went on a over night back packing and fishing trip.  Neal bought the boys fishing gear for their birthdays.  Then Thursday afternoon they headed up the mountains to a lake that Neal had already visited when he was here in Colorado alone.  The boys managed to pack their gear about 1 1/2 miles to the camp site by the lake.  They had a lot of fun exploring the lake and trying out fishing.  The weather wasn’t right for good fishing conditions and they only caught moss on their lines.  But they had a blast.  They got home Friday late afternoon so happy, tired and full of things to tell me.  Ruth and I enjoyed some quiet girl time.  We went shopping for some school clothes for her and got Sonic for dinner.  We also watched the movie “The Music Man” together.  We had a nice time.

Friday evening we loaded up our family camping gear and went to the ward camp out.  It was a beautiful place for it.  We got there late and had to set up our tent in the dark.  As soon as we got up it the boys were in their bags sleeping.  They were worn out from the hiking they had done.  Saturday morning we woke up to beautiful mountain scenery.  We enjoyed the morning visiting with other ward members and the kids were exploring the mountain side with the other children there.  We had a nice time.  We got back home and we were all worn out.  We had a quiet Saturday afternoon, just cleaning up and doing quiet things.

At the camp ground.  I forgot to get out my camera until we were ready to leave!

It has been nice on Sunday to just relax and do quiet things as a family.  We don’t have church callings yet.  I have enjoyed having a break.  It is nice to go to Relief Society and not worry about anything, but just sit back, visit and enjoy the lesson.  It has been nice to have Neal home with us too.  After church the boys decided to try walking home from church.  Neal, Andrew and Spencer walked the almost two miles and enjoyed the pretty afternoon.

Monday evening I took Andrew and Spencer to the school for the meet the teacher night.  They were a bit nervous, so was I.  We ran into other ward members who helped answer some of my questions about the school and it was nice to visit with them.  The boys were happy to meet the teachers and feel like they were ready to start school Wednesday.  

Tuesday evening I took Ruth to her school for the open house.  We heard a presentation from her core teachers about what they would be doing in 6^th grade and then we walked around the school making sure she knew where her locker was (and how to open it) and all her class rooms.  

The kids have enjoyed the first couple of days of school.  Andrew was so happy and excited yesterday afternoon telling me about his classes.  He was happy that there are 3 boys from the ward in his class, so he already knows someone there.  Spencer has enjoyed getting to know new people.  The first day was Wednesday and it was an early out day.  When I picked up the boys they both said we needed to hurry home so they could use the bathroom.  When I questioned them they both said they had gone all day without using it, because they didn’t know where it was.  I guess getting use to a new school can be a bit stressful.  Ruth has really enjoyed going to school and meeting new friends.  She has made friends with some girls in our ward who are at her school, but not in her classes.  She has also told me about other girls she has met in class who are nice.  I am glad that she is feeling so confident about it all.

First day of school. Caleb wanted to be in the pictures.  

Ruth starting 6th grade

Spencer starting 2nd grade

Andrew starting 4th grade

It has been different for me to take the kids to school each day.  It will be a different routine.  The boys go to school from 7:45 to 2:30.  Ruth is in school from 8:30 to 3:45.  So the times are different.  They are both about 2 miles from school, but in different directions. They do offer busing in our neighborhood but the stop is almost a 1/2 mile from our home and it costs money for them to ride.  So I will take them back and forth.  Ruth is enjoying more time at home each morning.  She is getting back into piano practice before school too.  She is excited to be in band and start learning the clarinet soon.  They are doing some music review before starting the instruments.  I miss the organized drop off/pick up of the schools in Texas.  Here it is a bit crazy but we will get use to it.  I decided to have Ruth get out at a corner near the school.  It is working very smoothly to let her out before I get into the congestion of the school.  And she has enjoyed the independence of walking up to the school on her own.

Caleb is going through the transition of being without the older kids again.  He is enjoying time with me but keeps asking when it is time to pick up the boys.  I decided to not do any official preschool with him.  He told me he was done with preschool “I did that.  I already know my letters.”  So we will just do things together and work at learning other things at home.  He is a bright kid.

I am enjoying the weather this week.  It is so nice outside.  I enjoy taking walks each morning. We have discovered five different play grounds that we can walk to easily. Caleb doesn’t mind our walks if he can get out and play for a few minutes during the walk time.  There have been some walks he has ridden his trike while I walk.  We are liking having side walks in the neighborhood. We have been getting short rain showers almost every day that keep things cooled off in the afternoon too.  I am sure it will start to get colder as the seasons change but for now it is really nice.

I am thankful for all the kind people I meet everywhere.  It is a nice place to be and I will continue to get to know more people here to make our transition a positive one.

Family Time

15 August 2014

We still don’t have internet at home, but I will try to write a bit about our week and share this when I can.

I feel like things are starting to calm down in my life.  I have been able to unpack things and feel like we have moved in the house now.  Although I am still finding where to put things and need to figure out something for food storage.  The kitchen is a bit small and doesn’t have a pantry or a place to put extra food.  I would like to start stocking up again on things we normally use, but I don’t have anywhere to put it.

We enjoyed going to church again in our new ward.  The members there are all very friendly.  The kids are enjoying getting to know other children in the ward.  Yesterday we went to the park for a play time with ward members.  Many came and there were lots of kids to get to be friends with.  I am glad that this ward has kids my children’s ages.  I also enjoyed meeting new sisters.  Yesterday I had two of the Relief Society leaders come to my house to meet me and visit.  I enjoyed having them come.  

We have also continued going on bike rides/walks every morning.  The kids are really enjoying having a place to ride their bikes.  We have been exploring the neighborhood and also the bike trails behind our house.  And playing at the many parks around the area. The weather is so nice here too.  I like how it cools down at night and the humidity isn’t very high.  It seems that Broomfield has a goal to have lots of open space and parks.  I read that 40% of the city is open space.  I am enjoying that.

On Wednesday Ruth went to a 6^th grade orientation at the school.  All the 6^th graders are new to this school so it was a way to help them know what to expect.  I am glad that Ruth was able to go.  She had fun meeting new people and also seeing some girls from church.  I think she will enjoy being at school this year.

Saturday Neal took Andrew and Spencer to the store to buy their birthday presents.  He decided to get them fishing poles and gear.  They were really excited about it.  The boys had such big smiles on their faces when they came home, carrying in their fishing poles.  This week is Neal’s long week end.  With his new job he has every other Friday off work.  So yesterday he came home a little early and was able to take the boys on a over night camping/fishing trip.  They have been planning and preparing all week and were so excited about going.  I hope that it went well. We are still waiting their return.

Ruth and I had a nice time without the boys around.  We did some shopping and got Sonic for dinner last night.  We had fun watching “The Music Man” movie last night together.  It is nice to spend some time with her.  We decided we didn’t want to go “roughing” it in the wilderness camping trip.  Tonight is the ward camp out and we have things ready to go to that.  As soon as the boys come home we will load up and leave for the ward outing.  

We are happy to be together as a family and grateful that things aren’t so stressful any more.  Now, if we could just sell our Hewitt home things would be going great.  So if anyone knows of anyone in need of a house in the Waco area, we have a great one to recommend. 

Transitions

8 August 2014

I don’t have internet connection at home, so I am not sure how soon I can send this, but I thought I would try to keep up on what is happening with us.  It has been a month since I wrote.  It has been a busy month.

Neal drove to Texas on July 4^th and we enjoyed seeing him.  On the 5^th we drove to the Austin area to visit Neal’s friend from USU Jacob Carter.  It was nice to see him and meet his children.  It was a busy week end for Neal.  He drove back to Colorado on Sunday with the car loaded with fragile things we didn’t want the moving company to handle.  

We went to the Mayborn museum one last time and enjoyed playing in the outside village.

We spent a morning at our favorite park with friends.

The next week went by quickly as I worked hard to finish packing up the house.  Then on Saturday the 12^th Neal flew to Texas to help with our big move.  Monday the 15^th the moving company came and packed up all our boxes and furniture into their truck.  The kids had a fun day with the Baker’s while Neal and I worked at the house.  By that evening our house was empty except for our sleeping bags and suit cases.  It was a bit sad.  

Saying good bye to our friends in front of our empty home. Caleb didn't want to be in the picture, so you won't find him. 

Early Tuesday morning, July 13^th, we left our home in Hewitt Texas and drove to Broomfield Colorado to our new home.  It took all day and we were all very tired when we finally arrived.  Neal went back to work on the 14^th and I was with the kids in a half empty house, in a new place.  We have lots of biking trails around us and we brought the kids bikes on the back of the Suburban so we explored those first couple of days while we waited for the moving truck to arrive.  Friday the 19^th the moving company came and were able to unload all our things.  I was thankful that we had door to door service, our things were packed into a truck and didn’t leave it until it got to the new house.  That helped a lot to keep us from missing things or things getting broken being moved around.  Only a few things have been found damaged, so overall the move went well.

The open land behind our home. 

Exploring the bike trails.  We brought their bikes with us on the back of the suburban, but I packed their helmets in a box.  So we didn't have them for a couple of days. 

On Saturday the 20^th we got in the car and drove to Utah for our vacation.  The drive seemed so short.  We ate breakfast at home and ate dinner with the Hancock’s that evening. It was so nice to have a shorter trip to see our family.  Sunday the 21^st we spent with the Hubbard’s.  That afternoon Neal flew back to Colorado.  He couldn’t stay for our vacation because with his new job he didn’t have any vacation time.  

Ruth at a rest stop high up in the Colorado mountains. 

The gathering at the Hubbard's home.  All the grandkids were there and Grandma had fun giving them cake for her birthday.  She also gave the July and August birthday boys gifts. 

The kids always enjoy having my dad read them stories.  We stayed at the Hancock's home for night time since the Hubbards were so many. 

Eating ice cream with cousins can be lots of fun.

Mandy came over and we were able to meet her little guy for the first time. 

The kids and I had some fun experiences having a family vacation without Neal.  The first week we went with the Hubbard family to Cinnamon Creek campground in Cache Valley Utah.  It was a pretty place.  We had a nice camping area for the family reunion.  Everyone was there, except Neal. We missed him.  I managed to get the tent set up with some help from family and we survived all the camping, hiking, fishing and swimming that week.  

There was a stream by our camping area that the kids had fun playing in each afternoon, when it got hot.

Spencer and Caleb taking a break during our hike.

Caleb enjoying a snack with Charlotte and Grandpa

More water play with cousins

There were hand carts to help carry camping gear and children

Andrew liked watching the fire

Dallin and May Bo made this neat puzzle that we did together as a family. 

We spent a morning at the Porcupine Res. that was close to our camp ground.  

More hand cart rides.  Get those uncles to work!

The kids put on a skit with their cousins.

Cowboy Caleb with his prize. 

Saturday the 26^th we left Logan and drove to Rachel’s home in Bountiful.  We had a fun swim party at her apartment complex with all of my sisters and some of their family members.  It was a small pool and our group were the only ones out there that afternoon.  It was a fun way to start a week visiting with the Hancock family.  Sunday July 27^th we had a Hancock family dinner where many of the family came.  It was good to see some of the family I hadn’t seen for awhile.  

Caleb had fun with chalk on Grandma Hancock's porch.  Funny thing was that he said he wrote the alphabet backwards. Notice he made it mirror image as well as starting at Z.

Grandma Hancock had cake and ice-cream for the August birthday boys.

Ruth with her cousin Jessica and aunts Rachel and Susan.  I am sure Ruth will be the tallest in this group some day. 

It was fun to see baby Garrett

The kids had fun playing with their cousins.  Jessica was surprised to see that Ruth was as tall as her, she laughed and said “that wont last.”  Knowing that Ruth will continue to grow.  Mandy’s kids were excited to play with us, as we are the cousins that are the same age.  It was a nice evening.

The next week we spent with the Hancock’s.  We did many fun activities.  Tuesday we enjoyed a day at BYU.  We went to the newly remodeled Bean Museum.  It was really nice.  Then we ate lunch in the WILK and went bowling.  Then the kids wanted to walk to the science building to see the physic things they have out to play with.  We did a lot of walking that day.  

Playing with a baby is fun. 

We spent an evening at my mission presidents home, it was good to see them. 

At the Bean Museum at BYU

Our bowling adventures at BYU

The science building 

Having fun with statues at BYU

Another day we drove around Orem and I reminisced with the kids. I showed them the house I grew up in.  We stopped at Geneva Elementary school and played on the play ground and walked around the front of Mountain View High school.  I guess I was feeling a bit sentimental because it was the week of my 25^th high school reunion. (I decided not to attend it, because it was Saturday evening and we needed to drive home that day.)  Things have changed so much since I was a kid.  I was trying to tell the kids what it was like back then, but Geneva Steel is gone now and most the orchards, so it just is a different place.  Orem is a bigger place than it was in the 70’s and 80’s.  I did enjoy seeing things though.  

Wednesday the 30^th we went to visit with Great-Grandma Johnson.  We enjoyed having Grandma Hubbard there too.  The kids loved exploring in her garden and finding raspberries and squash.  Then Grandma treated us to lunch at McDonald’s.  It was a fun morning.  That afternoon I took time to go to the temple.  It was nice to have some quiet time to myself.  The kids stayed with my parents.  I didn’t get too many breaks from parenting and it was nice to have some time alone.  

Thursday the 31^st we went to the new Aquarium in Draper, Utah.  Mandy and her kids came, Rachel and Jessica were with us too.  It was a nice place.  We enjoyed seeing so many things.  We ate our sack lunch and then went to Temple Square in Salt Lake City.  It was nice to see things there too. We didn’t have time to go into the church history museum, but we did look around the visitor centers and walked around the Temple. Then we did a tour of the Conference center.  That is an amazing building.  The kids thought it was neat and even Caleb recognized it as the “church on our computer.”  Meaning, it is where conference is held and we watch conference on our computer.  

There were lots of neat things to see at the aquarium 

There was a cool rope bridge at the aquarium 

at Temple Square

Grandma Hancock did another cake for the birthday boys

Friday August 1^st Neal flew to Utah in the morning.  We met up with him at the Hubbard’s home.  (His mom had picked him up at the air port.)  Then we went to Hogle Zoo in Salt Lake City with Neal’s parents and May Bo and her boys.  It was a fun day.  The zoo has been remodeled and had some really nice areas to see the animals.  I think a high light for the boys was that we went on the zoo train ride.  We enjoyed being with Neal for the day too.

At the zoo.  We enjoyed seeing the bird show.

The kids liked the statues at the zoo and wanted their picture with all that they could find.

On our train ride at the zoo

Playing with marbles at Grandma Hubbard's house.

Our good bye pictures with our parents. 

Saturday August 2^nd we drove home to Colorado.  To add to our adventure Ruth got sick on the ride.  Thankfully it was all contained and she was able to sleep in the back seat most the ride.  We arrived home about 6:00 pm.  Just in time to join a block party on the street.  Neal had planned for it and we just had to get some food from the kitchen and go out and join them.  It was nice to meet some friendly neighbors.  

Sunday we had a quiet morning while we were getting use to our house full of things.  Neal had done a lot of work at getting things organized while we were gone.  He had beds together and furniture in place.  He had unpacked things for the kitchen.  One thing he hadn’t been able to find was the hardware for the bunk beds, the book shelf pegs, and the screws for our small kitchen table.  So he hadn’t put those things together yet.  He asked me where the hardware could be.  I couldn’t remember, he was the one that took things apart.  As we were driving on Saturday I was sitting quietly with my eyes closed and started to think about our last day in Hewitt.  I had come to my mind our small red tool box.  I then remembered that was where the hardware had been put.  As soon as we got home Neal went to the tool box and the parts were there.  I feel that it was an answer to prayer and I was inspired to know where it was.  Neal was able to get the bunk bed put together that evening so Spencer and Andrew could sleep in their beds.  He put together the table the next morning, so we had a table to eat at.  Our dining room table is over carpet.  We are concerned about eating over carpet, especially since the carpet is new and we are just renting.  So we have been eating in the kitchen this week, I am glad we have a table for that.

We enjoyed going to our new ward, the Red Leaf Ward, last Sunday.  Everyone was so friendly and kind to us.  The kids were all so happy after church and talking about their new friends and teachers.  

This week has gone by quickly.  We have been exploring the biking paths more and have found three parks we can get to by walking/biking.  Maybe there are more.  There is a lot of open space around the houses, it is nice.  Especially where the yard is small, I am glad we have somewhere to go.  The kids have set up trains in the basement.  They like playing down there.  I am liking having a basement to store things and have our food storage all together and easier to access.  

Tuesday August 5^th was Andrew’s 9^th birthday.  That morning as I was getting ready for the day I felt like I needed to get to the schools.  My initial plan was to just play with the kids and make it a fun day for Andrew and go to the schools on Wednesday.  But I felt I needed to get to the schools.  We went to Westlake Middle school first and found that morning was registration for new students to the district, that meant us! I didn’t know that and I was thankful I followed the prompting to go to the school that morning.  We were able to get all the paper work filled out for Ruth that day.  She had to choose a music option, between choir, band or orchestra.  She choose band.  So all my worries last spring about her not wanting to do music were for naught.  She still gets to have an art class at her new school too.  To remind you about last spring, she had chosen art over music for her elective class.  She plans on learning the clarinet.  We also visited Mountain View Elementary school that day.  The boys were a little excited to see their new school.  We were able to get the paper work for them and brought it back the next day.  So the kids are now registered the in the Adams 12 district.  

Andrew's birthday at home

Andrew is happy to be a Bear cub scout now

After we did the schools we went to the city library.  It is a nice library.  In fact the children’s room is probably as big as the entire Hewitt Library.  It will be nice to have more to choose from, but I will miss the small feel of the Hewitt library where all the librarians knew me.  

Wednesday evening I took Andrew and Ruth to the church for their activities.  Ruth had fun meeting new girls and learning about leading music.  Andrew enjoyed doing some geocaching in the neighborhood with the other cub scouts. 

Thursday I got sick with what Ruth had last Saturday.  I felt pretty miserable all day.   I couldn’t get up to get the kids breakfast and so I let them do it themselves.  I could hear the commotion and hoped they didn’t make too big of a mess.  They just did cereal, but it sounded pretty crazy.  I managed to get out of bed and dressed so I could help with lunch.  I was doing well enough that I was able to go with Ruth in the late afternoon to the middle school to pick up her schedule.  We were able to have her paper work turned in in time so that she was in the system and we were able to get her student id card and her class schedule and locker assignment.  We walked around the school a little bit.  It is a big school but she will learn it.  

That catches me up to today.  We went for a walk this morning,  I have been feeling better.  I slept almost 10 hours last night and have been able to do things today.  I am thankful I am not still sick.  I took time to help the boys organize their room this afternoon.  They were so excited about being in a new room that they had dumped out all their stuff on the floor earlier this week.  It was a big mess.  We worked for close to two hours today and got all the pile organized.  I am glad that their beds and dressers all fit in the room and they still have some walking space.  They have a nice play area in the loft and also the basement.  

I feel blessed to have my family all together again.  I am glad that we can spend time with Neal in the evenings again.  It was hard to be apart for about eight weeks.  I hope that this can be a good place for our family.  We miss all our friends in Texas.  I am thankful for the church connections we have and that we will make more friends here.  I am also thankful we were able to visit with so many of our extended family in Utah this year.  I am thankful for family.