Here's to Another Year

Well this year has been an adventure that had lots of detours and construction zones along the way.  Yet we managed to make it to our destination.  Steve was determined to graduate this year and began submitting his resume early this spring in hopes of securing a job prior to graduation.  He happened upon an opening with a small consulting firm, Moore Good Ideas (MGI) in Clearfield, UT.  He applied and they flew him out for an interview at the beginning of May.  He received an official job offer in June and we began to make plans to move back to Utah as Steve began to frantically write his dissertation.  I staged our home and arranged for it to go on the market right before our 4th of July trip to Idaho/Utah.  After only 5 days on the market we had 2 offers and accepted one.  Therefore, my relaxing trip to Idaho became a desperate search for housing.  Meanwhile, Steve continued to write.  At this point we were hoping for an end of July graduation so a closing date of Aug 15 seemed reasonable.  To make a long story short, Steve did not graduate at the end of July so on Aug 10 the girls and I, with my family, drove off in our minivan and a Uhaul filled with our belongings leaving Steve behind.  The girls and I settled into an apartment.  Ellie started kindergarten.  We began a life in Utah while Steve was still writing in Arizona.  It was a long two months apart, but we are happy to say that Dr. Stephen Moore successfully defended on Nov. 9.  

We recently bought a house in Layton and are settling in as we enjoy the Christmas holiday.  The girls are growing at such a fast rate that I feel like my life is on fast forward.  Ellie has had a wonderful start to kindergarten and is sounding out words and becoming quite the in-quizzical thinker.  She will be starting a new kindergarten class this January since we have moved and I have no doubt she will quickly make new friends and continue to learn.  She is such an easy going, kind girl.  Lila has reached the very independent 2 stage.  Everything is, "I do it myself."  Followed by a fit, if she really cannot do it herself, which is only worsened if we  try to assist at all.  And yet she is such a fun, silly girl that you just can't stay too upset with her.  They truly are the gems in our lives!

Well, it has been a stressful year with a lot of things happening all at once, but through it all we could feel our Father in Heaven guiding and comforting us.  I have so much to be grateful for and I know at times I did not appreciate it all as much as I should have.  What a wonderful time of year to reflect on life and celebrate our Savior's birth, His life, and the fact that through Him we can strive to be better.  I am grateful for His example of kindness, gratitude, and humility.  Here's to the completion of 2011 and the hope that 2012 will be better as we strive to become more Christ like.  “There is no better time than now, this very Christmas season, for all of us to rededicate ourselves to the principles taught by Jesus Christ.” President Thomas S. Monson.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Steve, Britney, Ellie, & Lila

I'll Be Home for Christmas

After our travels for Christmas last year, Steve and I decided that we would be spending Christmas at home.  With a pending graduation we were uncertain where home would be, but Steve went ahead and made a calendar entry a year in advanced that read, "Christmas at home, wherever that may be."  Little did we know how fulfilling that statement would be since we moved into our new home just the week before Christmas.  It  also happened to be our Anniversary that weekend and I was hoping to get to take Steve out to dinner, but the house was dirtier than we thought so it took us longer to get it cleaned before moving so the moving then took longer than anticipated.  So we enjoyed a nice dinner of mac-and-cheese on Sunday for our anniversary. :)  We are so grateful for everyone who helped us move including the trucks and trailers loaned to us and all of the helping hands.  After spending a full week packing and unpacking I finally switched gears; left the boxes in the garage and began preparations for Christmas.  We enjoyed the holiday at home and it was a wonderful time with family.  Here are some pictures to prove it.

First, Jakey took us all on The North Pole Express in Heber City on Friday, Dec. 16.  It was a nice break from moving boxes and the girls were so excited to see Santa Claus and get a bell.  It was a relaxing evening, visiting, enjoying cookies and cocoa, and the magical time of the season.

The boys exchanging Christmas gifts.  There was some after close exchanges, but I think everyone ended up with something they liked.  Steve got a pocket knife that ended up being used quite a bit over the weekend to open packages and moving boxes--it even cut my ottoman and Dad's finger.

 A magnet board I received in the girls exchange.

Ellie sharing her notes and gifts of service.

Christmas Eve pajamas from Mimi.

Grandpa keeping an eye on busy Izzy who likes to climb the stairs and attempted to walk down them after seeing how Ellie and Lila go up and down the stairs.

Leaving cookies and milk for Santa with a sweet Thank You card Ellie wrote.

Checking out the loot from Santa and emptying their stockings.

Steve and I gave the girls the movie Cars2 for Christmas and then sent them on a picture scavenger hunt to find a new TV for them in their playroom.  Ellie loved it so much she asked that all presents are given that way, even for her birthday.  They have also enjoyed watching movies up there while Mommy continues to unpack.
 

The boys shot Nerf guns like crazy--so glad I didn't clean my windows yet. :)  Steve just barely got one off of a light on the highest part of our ceiling.  We played scum, a bean game, and watched Thor.  It was a wonderful weekend.  Merry Christmas to all!

Our New Home!

We closed this morning.  YAY!!

Isn't she a beaut!  She sits on a .33 acres, is 4400 sq ft (1700 of which is unfinished basement), and has a 4 car garage (the stall on the left is double deep).  There is an RV pad and basketball hoop (which was a requirement for Ellie :) ).  Click here for the satellite image.

This is looking in from the entry way.  To the right is the master bedroom and bath.  To the left the kitchen which make this area a "great room".

Kitchen.  Not a fan of the navy blue contertops, but hopefully we can warm it up and maybe even eventually change them, but for now I will just enjoy how big and open it is.  Behind the kitchen to the right is a half bath and laundry room; to the left is a mudroom and entrance to the garage.

Upstairs there are three bedrooms, a very large bonus room, and a bathroom.  There is also an unfinished basement which excites Steve.  He wants to wire up a theater room and finish the basement "our way".  You can also see a little den/sitting room just off the entry it also has a door through to the kitchen behind the stairs.

We are so excited and are beginning to move in.  Mimi and Grandpa will arrive on Friday and Saturday we have a crew from our new ward scheduled to help us finish.  We feel so blessed!

They Said What . . .

We went to a Christmas brunch at our church on Saturday.  Steve went early to help cook pancakes and I was finishing up a breakfast casserole and getting the girls ready.  I called them to get their coats on so we could go and Lila brought her Little People horse.  I told her he couldn't come because we didn't want to loose him.  She looked at me and said, "But Mommy he's hungry."

Lately Lila has not stayed in bed after putting her down.  She will get up several times before actually settling down.  Sunday's nap was no different.  After the third retucking Steve told Lila if she got out of bed again he would take Blanca, her new Furreal puppy from Grandma Moore.  A few seconds after leaving the room Lila appeared in our doorway clearly upset and said, "Daddy you scared Blanca.  You need to tell her your sorry."

If Lila's bum itches she will shake it and say, "Mom you gotta get these spiders out of my bum.  They're tickling me."

This morning over breakfast Ellie said she had a rough day at school yesterday.  I knew she was really upset about losing a neat thank you card from her teacher for our Christmas gift because she was in tears when I picked her up yesterday.  I asked her what else happened and she said, "I have never been asked to move on the rug before."  Me, "Did you have to move yesterday."  Ellie, "Yes.  I was talking too much with my best friend Amira."  Me, "Well we all make mistakes and the only thing we can do is try to be better the next day."  Ellie, "I know Mom.  I will not talk so much today."

They like to say eeny, meeny, miney, mo and fee-fi-fo-fum.  It is pretty cute to hear in a 2 year-old voice.  Usually one of them will start and then the other will say the next word and they keep alternating say it over-and-over.

Lila had a bit of a runny nose and at breakfast she kept saying, my ____ hurts.  It sounded like my muscles hurt, but she said that wasn't it and kept repeating it.  Finally she pointed to her upper lip and said it again, and I said, "your mustache hurts?"  She said yes from blowing her nose.

These are the moments you treasure as a Mom and hope that I can recall them to lighten the mood when they are screaming at each other or all I hear is, "I DO IT MYSELF!"  

Let the Good Times Roll

Our night time routine ends with family prayer and then the girls run off to bed.  I always ask who they want to tuck them in.  Lila with her independent 2 year-old voice says, "I tuck myself in."  Ellie always wants Daddy.  I follow along and still give them each a good night kiss.

On occasion when Steve and I are reprimanding Ellie for something or other, you will hear Lila yell, "She's my sister. Leave her alone."  The most ironic thing is that we are usually brought into the situation because of Lila's insistent chatter that Ellie has wronged her somehow.

Lila has been saying prayers for almost a year now, but last week for some reason she was ending her prayers with the end instead of amen.


Last week I came down with bronchitis thanks to Lila's croup.  There were a couple of times I told the girls I just needed to lay down and they were good to color and cut paper.

At least this way they don't get upset when I throw away their coloring/art projects because they have already shredded them. :)

Finishing up the gingerbread house with Daddy.

A while back Aunt Nessa tossed pumpkin candy corn next to Ellie's pumpkin trees and told her the trees had made pumpkins, but Ellie is so smart she didn't really fall for it.  They still thought it was fun.



Those are some of our recent adventures in between and through bouts of illness.  I'm still tired and just out of steam and there is so much that needs to be done to prepare for moving next week and Christmas--oh man.

No School for Wind . . .

I remember "snow days" growing up.  One year we had almost two weeks off because of all the snow that came down.  It was fun--we got together with the neighborhood kids and played games.  My Mom and I tied 5 or 6 quilts and we just enjoyed staying inside.  

Well, when I picked Ellie up from school yesterday they were announcing over the intercom that there would be no school on Friday due to the high winds and the complications that came with that.  The high winds they were speaking of reached 102 mph--serious winds.  Trees and power lines were blowing over and 50,000 people were with out power.  Venessa had 7 large pine trees blow over and we are grateful that no damage was done to the home or that nobody was hurt.  Here are a few pictures for you as we enjoy a "wind day" off of school.

Top it off with de la Croup

I thought Lila was feeling better, but in the middle of the night she awoke with a barking coughing and I knew immediately that she had croup.  I took her to the doctor this morning and he confirmed it is croup and gave her 3 prescriptions to take.  Hopefully my little monkey will get feeling well soon. 

Did I also mention that Ellie had some spots that looked suspiciously like chicken pox, but didn't have any other symptoms.  I don't know if it was really mild because she has been vaccinated or if it was something all together different, but we have been doing a spot check every morning and night this week.

Good times!