Oh my babies...

We got family pictures before we left Idaho, and while other people were being photographed, Tanner decided to take Kate for a walk, thus providing a sweet little moment... now preserved for me (and you, I guess).

She loves accessories... and he loves soccer...

Kate dressed herself one day, if she knew English, she would tell you that accessories make the outfit...
And Tanner started soccer on Monday night. He was hesitant at first, but once he figured out he could run faster than most of the other kids he thought it was awesome. (he is 3rd in line)

He actually made this shot. I was such a proud momma! I should probably buy the kid a soccer ball so he can play here with his two buddies that are on his team!

The leaves are starting to turn colors and I am very excited! I have actually had Christmas songs in my head... a little early I know. But it will really be here before I know it! I can't believe that we left Rexburg 4 weeks ago! Crazy!!! But we are loving it here! I will post again soon! Alisha and I went to the zoo today. It was fun... and free... can't get better than that!

So maybe it is Wednesday, not Sunday... sorry...

It was a beautiful day in Idaho when we left, the tetons were looking lovely to see us off...

We drove for 2 long days and the kids were awesome the whole way. Mostly thanks to the Nana and Grandma travel gift bags. I think that they were actually sad that we had made it because they were no longer getting presents every hour or so.
We drove past a motorhome (big nice one) that was pulling a car and the car had started on fire, completely burned up, and burned the back of the motor home. Yikes, and then as we continued our drive, we went through a mountain fire... hmmmm..... any connection? Probably not, but all the same..... hmmmm Have you ever wondered what South Dakota looks like?

Yeah, not much... my sympathy to Micah... also, strangely enough, they bail the stuff on the side of the road...

Okay, it only MOSTLY looks like that, we had breakfast in Sturgis...

Unfortunately the rally was the week before, but there were still plenty of people out on their bikes, sorry, hogs.

Then we drove to Mount Rushmore... All I can say is that I wouldn't even know where to begin to create a sculpture of that size... Tanner calls them the big heads.

At least they have a sense of humor in South Dakota... we chuckled...

But eventually, we made it to... And then to our new city...

We took Tanner to Mall of America, he thought it was cool. We tried to go to Legoland, but it is under construction until November, so they have a temporary store that is not so cool. We will just have to go back for the grand reopening. So we went across the street to Ikea and he played in Smalland (whatever it's called) and was so excited about the ball pit, and after waiting 15 minutes for his turn to go in, they had to close the ball pit because some kid confused the ball pit for the toilet. He was bummed for the second time in one day. A very traumatic introduction to Minneapolis. But we have since made up for it.

Our complex has a water party every week, we made it for the end of summer party. It was fun, they had pizza for everyone.

And yesterday, Tanner built a sand castle.

So we are having a good time so far, Cory is off to his first day of orientation, and the kids and I are just hanging out, so Alisha, we are excited for you to get here Saturday! and to meet that little baby Lilly! And to my parents, thanks for coming out with us, and to everyone else, we probably miss you and we probably love you too! Have a nice day!!!

We are now Minnesotans....

yes, we are here, got here Monday, and we are loving this place! Everytime we told people we were moving to Minnesota, they would usually respond with one of two things; one, the people are so nice, and two, isn't that colder than Rexburg...

all I can say is yes, the people are so nice, everywhere... seriously... everywhere.

and as for the cold, having come in January for Cory's interview, yes, it was colder than Rexburg, but when we were moving in, it was a hundred and hades degrees with a hundred million percent humidity! NO KIDDING!!!! and the entire city is out of air-conditioning units. Again, not kidding....

But we are pretty well settled and when I get around to it, I will post pictures, maybe tomorrow... that is a good Sabbath day activity! Until then... peace out!!!

why no pictures you ask?

Yes friends, I have tragically lost yet another camera. My dearest daughter thought it should go swimming. Thankfully, my parents got the accidental death insurance policy for the said camera, and it will either be fixed or replaced in the next 4-6 weeks. So where does that leave us? Without a camera of course. So things that will have no documentation from me... going to the Blue Angels yesterday (really fun), Kate going to nursury for the first time today (she did great), me getting old(er), and the big move...

What is the big move all about you ask? Wow, you are full of questions, I may just start calling you Tanner...

Just kidding, we are moving to Minneapolis in a few weeks for grad school. Cory got in yay! He actually got in back in February, but anyway, we are excited! he is going to the University of Minnesota for 2 years and will come out with a Masters of Healthcare Administration. We will be out there by Sam and Alisha, and we couldn't be happier about that! So now we are packing and living in a mess... oh well...

We hope you all have a lovely day and someday I will post pictures again!

Vegas and the zoo... and a bit extra...

So this past weekend, my mom and I ventured down to Vegas to help Ali pack her life up into a million boxes. On the way down, we stopped in St. George and saw Tarzan at the Tuacahn Theatre. It was cool. Ali brought the girls up and met us there. Morgan enjoyed the show and was way better than my kids would have been! (This is before the show, she is watching Hidalgo... random show for a kid, I know!)

Here is the stage, it was cool, they flooded the stage in the beginning when the parents are in the storm. Driving in, Ali and I decided we felt like we were in The Host. (it's a book.)

Morgan meeting Tarzan's ape mom...

Morgan wanted a princess dress made out of curtains... I think of it as Mulan meets Sound of Music...

We had dinner at the zoo for my mom's annual Rotarty Family Picnic. It was fun because they would bring random animals out for the kids to see. This is a penguin. Oh, you knew? Sorry!

This was Kate's reaction to everything at the zoo... she would say "yook"...

Kate on a chicken...

Tanner and Morgan on the airplane ride...

Kate loving the carousel... she cried when we got off, so we went again!!!

Here is the bit extra...

Kate going at Tanner's mega lollypop from Disneyland...

Some of you may know that my family loves to ski. Cory and I even met on a chairlift. But this kinda explains my brother and his friends need to ski. Apparently they are having withdrawls because they built this in my parent's backyard. It kept us all entertained, kids included, for quite a while!

and while I was typing this post, Shannon's sweet mother, Miss Annie, from Alabama knocked on my door! It was a wonderful surprise! Tanner was missing Isaac terribly yesterday and it was fun to see his Grammy today!

M-I-C-K-E-Y...

We did it kids... we met the Mickey Mouse! Thursday night we left to go to Disneyland. Needless to say, it was a good time. (Ali has the pictures of us actually meeting him...sorry!)

We spent 2 days at Disneyland, doing everything we could possibly squeeze in. We ran into Buzz first, and Tanner was a little nervous, so I had to hold him and stand between them, but Morgan had no fear of any of the characters. She was able to meet pretty much every princess in the park. It surprised us how excited she was about meeting Tiana. The girl even looked exactly like her, it was impressive!
We rode the Mickey Mouse Ferris Wheel (Spelling? That way just makes me think of Ferris Bueller, so I will leave it) We rode the carts that swing around... it was fun... a little nauseating, but fun... If you asked Tanner who he wanted to see, he would tell you Donald Duck and Gluto (that is what he calls him). We lucked out when the parade came past us and Donald and Woody were on the float right in front of us. Then Pluto came by and he was happy. He didn't want to meet them, he only wanted to see them. Easy enough right?
Tanner and Morgan hanging out in a tea cup... Morgan cracks me up with her poses.
They were trying to navigate in the Mr. Toady mobile...
Tanner was really excited to meet Lightening McQueen, Mater was just to the left.
Cory and Tanner watching the awesome World of Color water show...
Here is a little clip for you to enjoy... it was really cool, they show scenes from the movies on the mist... they did a collage of a lot of movies and the last one was Pirates of the Carribean and they had flames shooting out of the water... it was enjoyable... I would watch it again...

We also spent some time at the beach. Tanner loved the water, I wish we had more time to spend there, darn it, I guess we will have to go back! Maybe we will take Kater this time. Yes, we left her home, but you would understand if you tried to contain her for 20 minutes, forget 4 days! Another reason to return right?

Tanner is in this picture, can you find him? (hint... he is mostly a shadow)
We had such a great time, so thanks to Shaneece for being a teenage mom for a few days, and thanks Mom and Dad for the family trip! We loved it and are completely happy that we wore ourselves out at Disneyland!