Fun Farm Photos

Weekly Update March 23, 2007

Hello from the beautiful state of Missouri! We made the three day drive very well and were able to move into a beautiful brand new apartment that we all love and are very comfortable in.

The first hour of our three day drive was the hardest of all. We picked up Duke, my macaw that a friend has been keeping for me, on the way out of the state and Duke screamed for the first hour. Everytime he screamed Ethan was terrified and so he screamed right along with Duke. For the entire first hour! I seriously contemplated turning around and returning Duke, but it wasn't really an option so we plowed on. Ethan realized that nothing was going to eat him and fell asleep while Duke realized that screaming wasn't going to get him out of the cage and he calmed down too. The first day was the longest as we left much later than planned and couldn't find a McDonalds to save our souls. Every single one was either on the wrong side of the freeway and unaccessible (no exit or overpass) or was hidden and I couldn't find it in the posh towns of Vail and Aspen where signs aren't allowed. We finally found an A&W that was run by a Jewish man and was decorated with Bible quotes and playing religious music. It was an experience, the kids didn't really notice, but the man was very nice and helpful and I was grateful for a friendly face in a confusing town. A mom with her kids were eating there also and it turned out that she was from Springfield, MO and knew right where we were moving to and told us that the schools are really good and it was a nice area. Cool huh? We made it to Denver by 8pm and we all went right to bed and slept really well, in fact it was the best night sleep the kids have had in a long time, they all slept until almost 9am. Then we loaded up after a good breakfast at Denny's and drove another 9 hours to Salina, Kansas. The kids did so well through the drive. Julia's carsickness didn't bother her and Ethan and Julia did really well being confined in their car seats super well. We stopped a lot and stretched, changed diapers and ate lunch. Thank goodness for finding a McDonalds with a play place that night. It was great to let them run and play, plus it was brand new with an all new playground layout which was even better for the kids. I loved it too. The last day, last Friday, went well too. Kansas City is huge, landwise, and it felt like forever to get through it but it felt great to be in the homestretch for all of us. The kids couldn't wait to get out and run and see the farm that we have talked about for 2 months. It is greening up here very nicely. The trees buds are opening up. The magnolia trees are in full bloom with daffodils, tulips and other spring blossoms showing up every day. There are rolling hills everywhere with farm houses dotting almost every hill. Cows and horses graze lazily in almost every field. There is extensive ice storm damage to all the trees, but I am sure that spring will do a good job covering up the torn trees.
We arrived in the afternoon and enjoyed a home cooked meal from my mom and loved the open space and fresh air that the farm provides. My parents have the barn finished and the foundation of the house dug and ready to have the foundation poured. My dad has outdone himself again in building the barn almost completely by himself. It is really nice with a huge canning kitchen and living areas in one half and bedrooms and excersize/TV rooms upstairs and the animal and tool section in the other half of the barn. We slept in the camper trailer for the weekend while the moving van was unpacked and our apartment was set up. I loved being able to look up and see all the stars in the sky. I love living in the country and I always will, this is a dream come true. The children are really loving being here too. They have gotten filthy every day playing in the dirt and running around. James has loved exploring the land and finding an abandoned old house, a pond complete with frogs and deer tracks, finding some neighbors and helping Grandpa get the enclousures ready for the animals.
This past week we have spent our time playing at the farm, unpacking and getting our apartment organized, buying rain gear and ordering James' glasses and getting settled. We have had a great week. It has rained several days and this is real rain, not the typical Utah rain. It pours and we get soaked right away, it is really fun for us, I guess the locals are used to it of course but it feels like a real treat to us. The kids love that they get rain boots and slickers! I do too, I feel like a little kid again too!
Duke has adjusted to all of us crazies really well and it is nice to be reunited with Romeo our cat and the gerbil, Hazel survived the drive and adventure just fine too.
This weekend we are going to go watch the circus which James and Julia are very excited about. James has decided to change his name to J.C. which is short for James Curtis since he is starting over here and no one knows him by James. He has talked about doing that for the past two years and he is excited to finally do it. So I will refer to James as JC and James as I am still trying to adjust to the name change. He says that he will answer to both names so which ever you prefer is fine. He will start school on Monday and he is very excited to meet some friends and get going in school. He is also looking forward to having school be challenging as he felt that his old school was too easy.
Julia is looking forward to starting dance lessons again and I am trying to find something close for her. Her hair has really curled up even more in the extra humidity here, I love it she is so beautiful. Ethan is doing great. He just cut his first 2 year molar on the top and that is bothering him considerably, but he is handling the animals and farm really well with all the changes he has gone through. He is sleeping through a lot more noise now than he ever has and that has been a real blessing. He is such a easy kid with a sweet personality.
We have baby chicks right now that are growing up really fast, the kids have loved watching them grow. JC has named on chick Snickers because it looks like the candybar. Each grandchild gets to name three chicks. JC took a picture of them that I am including here, I will post more pictures hopefully tomorrow or Sunday for you all to enjoy. We look forward to two baby calves and some pigs within the next two weeks. It is so fun to see all the baby animals and see Spring chasing Winter away! This next week I will be spending getting all the grown up stuff taken care of, various insurances, vehicle registration, bank accounts and other boring stuff. I will keep you posted!

Weekly Update March 4, 2007

James doesn't really enjoy school, but he loves his teacher. We just took him to an eye doctor and found out he is slightly farsighted. He has some loaner glasses to see if they will help him with his reading and he claims that they do. He has enjoyed the glasses despite their ugliness. The eye doctor was very nice to help us determine if James was just trying to get out of reading or if his eyes were really bothering him which is why we have the loaner glasses, they look straight out of the 80's solid plastic very nerdy, geeky looking and James wears them with pride! Amazing! James' intelligence continues to astound me. He absorbs so much information, he is truly amazing and destined to do great things!

Julia's imagination is blossoming. She loves to pretend almost anything, one minute I am a horse and she is a princess riding me and the next she is chef Julia cooking up a delightful supper! It is so fun to watch her and hear her talking so much more clearly. I can understand her now 95% of the time which is a huge improvement from the 70% 2 months ago. She keeps wanting it to be her birthday though and is severely disappointed when I tell her that she has a very long time to wait still. It is no fair that her birthday and Christmas are all at once in her mind. She loves princesses and animals and is just a joy to watch learn and grow.

Ethan is doing really well. He is skinnier than skinny. I call him my grasshopper boy. He is walking and running really well now. He is doing better at staying in nursery at church as long as I am not the one to take him to nursery. Ethan uses new words every day. His latest phrase however is straight from Julia, "I'm sick" He will say it at any time and I don't think he has a clue what he is saying, but he loves to say it with her little whine and tweak on it. It is really funny. Ethan is the biggest eater of the three kids and the skinniest. I guess it is the metabolism. He had 3 eggs this morning! His port wine stain has almost completely faded on his body and most of his arm. It looks like his hand and wrist will be fairly purple permanently. The laser is not as effective the further away from the heart the stain is. Weird, but I am glad that it has worked so well for him on the rest of his body. He is sleeping better now at night and he will come up to me and say, "night night" and I know he is ready. He loves to go to bed and he loves his crib. I am very grateful for that! What a precious boy!

Dad and the Kids pictures

I took the kids to get some pictures taken. We had a blast.

Just hanging out.

Ain't she cute!!

Having fun.

If you want any of these pictures let me know (I have them in larger sizes on a CD) I also have others from the photo shoot.