To Utah We Go

As we were packing and preparing for moving we had beautiful weather.  We went to many parks and enjoyed playing in the yard.  We also had lots of times where we had to leave the house for showings, inspections and such where we spent time at our neighbors home, the toys store, hanging at the museum and such.  It was not my favorite time.  I didn't love having to keep the house super clean all the time and I really didn't love getting pushed out of my schedule and routine.  It was a stressful time for all.  And I'm not sure I handled it well.  Hopefully these cute kids didn't suffer too much.

This beautiful day we spent a little time blowing bubbles.

Isaac also took some pictures of our house.  I love this picture of them in front of the for sale sign.

We also got to spend a few hours with Shannon's family on President's Day.  We visited the Hammond's candy factory and went on a little walk along Dinosaur ridge.  I'm glad to have seen her before moving on.  It's also nice to be close enough that they come visit in Utah and we can go visit too.

And here we are, late at night, all packed up and ready to load the truck the next morning.  Such late nights while moving!

And then when the truck was all loaded what fun it is to play with straps on the ramp.  These boys!  So fun.

And right before pulling out we had Grace, our friend and neighbor, take a photo of us in front of the house we were leaving.  I'm not going to lie, Jacob and I cried a bit as we were walking through the empty house and thinking of our entire married life in that house and bringing our babies home to that house.  So many good years and memories there.  I'll always love it.  Jacob wrote a farewell message on the garage wall.  Something like "2009-2017 the Brunson family made many good memories here."

And then we were on our way to a new adventure.  

The drive to Utah was long.  The kids did pretty well.  The roads looked sketchy through Wyoming so we went I70 instead.  It was much more pretty and pretty clear roads until we hit night time and Utah from Price canyon to Spanish Fork.  It was super bad and we had to drive super slow and Nora was crying the whole time.  Oh boy.  But we kept telling ourselves we didn't have to do the drive again!  Once we got to Utah we were home.  Strange.  

Moving into February

Apparently while in the process of selling and buying homes I didn't take a lot of photos.  go figure.  We were busy.  But the backgrounds in these photos have never been cleaner.  Many my house was bare.  Most of February was spent negotiating house contracts either in Utah or in Fort Collins.  It was a crazy time.

But the kids still looked cute and pictures needed to be taken.  Nora in her boots...all day, every day.

And though it looks as if Ben is helping Nora pick her nose he is in fact, trying to tell her to move it for the pictures.  Ben wears his shirts backwards- all day, every day.  Not sure why but he won't really let me change them to the right way too often.

And Isaac and his legos- all day, every day.

Nora turned 18 months and we attempted nursery.  I took photos before church.

Let's just say Nursery was not her thing.  And the leaders in the old ward weren't very patient with crying.  So we waited until moving to Utah to really give it a go.  She warmed up after about 2 months.

Isaac continued school at Traut.  I miss Traut.  He celebrated Chinese New Year by making this fun dragon.  They did so many cool things at that school.

And Just Like That...

The end of January arrived with big changes in store for our family.

I was cooking dinner one night to turn and see this sight.  I just thought it was so cute.  It's a lot of photos, and they are poorly lit, and the color is off, but the moment is still cute and now preserved.

I love the perfectly held pencil, the intent gaze at the paper, and the obviously necessary pink boots.  Too much cuteness to handle!

This though, not so cute.  Add getting into my lipstick as one of the many stereotypical two year old things Nora does.  She really does do all the things you hear toddlers do.  Killing me.

I guess I wanted to take a lot of photos of Nora at the end of this month.  Mostly, she was turning 18 months old, she is willing to sit for me, and it was a way to sort of keep track of her while I tried to keep the house clean for showings.  Oh yes, mid January we officially went "on the market" with our house.  We quickly went under contract.  We found out we had some bad pipes and lost a couple contracts because of it.  We closed on the house April 7th.  A month after being in our new house in Utah.  But, back to Nora...

And then after these cute photos I got the color a little more right.

I can't believe she is getting so big.  But then...I turn my back for one second and what do I find?  Nora in the makeup again.

Before we moved I needed to document that Isaac got his first library card.  He was so pleased.  He loved checking out books.  I hope he also loves to read them.  He is getting so big and so smart.  I'm excited to see what his kid grows into.

Middle of January Happenings

I love kids playing in snow!  I just super hate getting everyone ready to go.  I guess part of the time the boys would get themselves ready so that was an improvement.  Nora would have stayed out forever if I'd let her.  I get too cold to stay out there though.  Sorry Nora!

I love when Jacob brings home flowers.  These were some really pretty roses.

And I just think Nora is cute.  She loved to get her winter stuff on and try and go outside every time the boys went.  Sorry little sister.  I just didn't want to go out with you every time.

She also learned how to cheese for the camera.

Jacob made a sledding hill for the boys.  We all loved that.

This bench is one of Nora's favorite places to sit .  And the light was always just right in our Fort Collins house.  Especially in the afternoon as she would drink her milk and settle in for a post nap snuggle with her stuffed animals.  She LOVES her stuffed animals.

And Ben.  He is such a character.  His face is so expressive.  

This kids love being by each other and in each other's business all the time.

I was trying out my new backdrop stand and Isaac was the only semi willing participant.  I think his hair and eyes are too adorable.  Such handsome boys I have.