Hot!

On Saturday we played in the river behind our house. It's been in the mid 80's here & my kids were in swimsuits. If our neighbors could have seen us, they would rgeally have thought that the rednecks have moved in. Most of the neighbors don't even know there is a river down there. We are the only ones with a path that leads down to a green way that is along the river.

In case you were wondering how Zoey was adapting to city life.....she is loving the land behind our house. Yes, she is confined to a small yard, but we let her run when we go walking in the woods behind our house. As you can see she really enjoys playing in the river.

It looks muddy, but it is really sand, and Hailey enjoyed finding clams in the sand. I know this looks gross...but the kids loved it!

We checked the weather back in Idaho and saw that it was 35 & snowing. So NC is good & bad. Good because it's only March and the warm weather is nice, but I am really dreading summer. We have had to go out & buy new wardrobes for everybody. Was not prepared for warm weather this early. Hattie was really upset with me because I kept sending her to school in long sleeve shirts and jeans and all the other kids were wearing shorts & T-shirts. In Idaho, you could wear long sleeve shirts from the start of school all the way through May. We don't have a lot of summer school clothes. And she has outgrown last years summer clothes. Leif also didn't have any shorts...and I have had a hard time convincing him to wear them. Yesterday he finally said" Mom I'm hot...I want to wear skirts." I said "You mean shorts?" "Yes. Shorts." It's funny because he always says "Yes." (Eric and I never say "Yes." I'm not sure where he gets his proper grammar, but it's cute. Maybe Nickjr. is good for something.)

r

We Made It!

I think we actually arrived in North Carolina four weeks ago. It was kind of like entering the promised land. It was a beautiful sunny day and the kids were so excited. There was a really nice welcome center with a big grassy hill and they kept rolling down the hill.(We had already been on the road for 2 1/2 weeks. We took our time getting through the rockies and then were in Minnesota for a week and a half.)

We drove up to the Residence Inn and Hattie said, "Finally, home sweet home!" And that's where we lived with our dog for 2 1/2 weeks. So glad that is over with!! We arrived on Tuesday night and after registering and getting our ducks in a row, Hattie started school & Eric started work on Thursday.

After much internet research we ended up visiting a church right across the street from our hotel...and so far that is where we keep going back to. We love the pastor, I am in a Bible study on Tuesday morning and Wednseday nights and the kids are in Awanas. We are making friends fast. I'm so thankful that we are getting plugged in right away. There is instant comradship with brothers and sisters in Christ.

After 2 1/2 weeks in our hotel we finally got to close and move into our new house. So exciting to unpack our suitcases after 5 weeks on the "road". What we love about this house is that it backs up to the woods and a river, so nobody is behind us and it has a "country" feel. Coming from 10 acres in Aberdeen Idaho to the suburban south has been a big transition. But so far, instead of playing out back in the woods, my kids are constantly out front riding their bikes up and down the sidewalks and around the culde-sac. They love being in a neighborhood with lots of kids. So I guess the woods are mostly for me. We really love eating out on the covered porch and listening to the birds during the day and the frogs at night.

It's funny because even though we moved to the Bible belt (churches everywhere, and even every public school has a sign out front saying that a church meets there on Sundays.), our neighborhood is mostly transplants from New York & Pennsylvania. We haven't met any on our street who go to church. I have never met so many New Yorkers in my life. We feel like we have moved right into a mission field (aren't we all in a mission field) and it's kind of fun.

Hailey is in a Christian pre-school 2 days a week with some friends from Bible study and then Hailey, Leif, & I go to a really good "story time" every Wednesday @ the library by Eric's work and then eat lunch with Eric.

Evidently my internet is too slow to load pictures..so I guess that is all I can post for now. Going to have to figure that out!

My quiet time today was on John 10:10 " I have come that they might have life and have it abundantly." May you have the abundant life of Jesus flowing in you and out of you into the lives of others around you. (Especially your spouses and children.) Have a Great Day!

Things to do in NC if you come visit:

We are on our way to North Carolina...still a week or so 'til we actually get there, but since I'm updating my blog, I figure I will put a few more pictures of our summer in North Carolina. Here are some local things that are fun to do.

Home of NASCAR, of course there is a really cool go-cart track. This one has about 5 different tracks that you can race on.

I wish I was bigger....

There is one just for little guys.

This is a big park nearbywith a carousel, train, petting zoo, zoo, splash park, & big playground.

There are also several lakes nearby.

At this state park we rented canoes for $5.00 and paddled around.

The girls with Mr. Joe.

We saw lots of turtles & birds and other wildlife. There is lots of hiking to do at this lake and several state parks in the area. This is also the place where Hailey got stung 7 times by Yellow Jackets. Not good! Mr. Joe rescued her and crushed them all in his hands. She couldn't wait to get back to Aberdeen, where we she would be "safe" from Yellow Jackets. Sorry Hailey, welcome to the south. Hopefully we can avoid future attacks.

Not too far from Daddy's work is an awesome park with another Splash park, two big playgrounds and this train which runs all they way around them. It is a beautiful train and only costs a dollar to ride....cheap if you only ride it once. I think we rode it 3 times a day while we were there. (x's 4 people)

We also went to this little recreation park several times which has some slides as well as a pool and two kiddie pools.

Sounds like fun!

Ya'll come see us now!

Carolina Beach

This is for my friends who suggested I should update my blog...Thanks for making me feel like someone cares about what is going on in our life. I will try to do a better job. So I guess I'll start where we left off and try to catch up.If you haven't heard yet, we are moving to North Carolina....this week. We got to visit there this summer...we didn't know at the time we'd be living there soon. Here are some pictures of our weekend at Carolina Beach.Hattie our little surfer girl spent all her time boogey boarding in the waves.

Hailey our shore bird, a little afraid of the waves, loved digging for seashells and playing in the sand.

Leif our land lover wanted nothing to do with the water and spent his day as far away from the shore as possible."When are we leaving?"

I can't believe it's already been another year!

LJ loves tractors...so a tractor birthday it was! This was a picture of him from the baby animal fair. It matched the decor.The outdoor cookout and picnic migrated to the playhouse. This is LJ's new little buddy. They are so cute together.
His friend is actually almost a year older..but they play so good together.Jay Jay from Grandma & Grandpa W...We have to watch the video every morning now. He says "I want to watch airpane." Thanks Grandma & Grandpa!Cheese!
And of course a John Deere Electric Tractor!

Thanks Grandma & Grandpa J!He has ridden this every day since. We have to make sure it is charged every night...and the only way to get him off is kicking and screaming.

He usually rides it for 2 hours every day. We have real tractors around our house all the time driving up the road and working in the fields next door and across the street. He thinks he is just one of the farmers.

I looked out my window the other day to find this..I guess since he has mastered the tractor, he now can figure out the four wheeler. He can barely reach the pedal. Does this look funny to anyone else?