Catch up post - We moved!

So it's 5 months late, but it's been a busy 5 months.  We had been wanting to move for a few years now.  Our old house was on a busy street and not in the neighborhood.  We could never let the kids especially toddlers play in the front yard and they never walked to friends houses and thus never really played with friends.  All the neighbors that bordered our property didn't have kids, and one was very difficult and caused problems.  It didn't feel very safe and an unfortunate incident early this year cemented that.  We adored Mckayla's gifted program, but Kaitlyn was getting ready to enter school too and the regular program she and Talm would be in was only a 2/10.  Yes Mckayla's was a 10/10 which is the best in the valleys that isn't a private school, but we felt like the time was right and made the sacrifice.
We had been quietly looking for months and I was starting to think we wouldn't find what we wanted in our budget.  And I wasn't going to move unless we drastically improved our environment as we were in a great school for Mckayla and had good friends in our current ward.  And then this home just popped up.  It's smaller than what we were in but it's all functional space and a multilevel layout like we wanted.  It was at the bottom of our budget, I didn't even think it was possible we'd find something at that price in an ok neighborhood.  But this was no ok neighborhood.  It is so wonderful!  It is more than I thought we'd ever find.  There are kids all over the street, we are right in the middle of the neighborhood on a quiet street, neighbors are out during the day and evening working in the yards or visiting, there are 2 parks within 6 houses of us, and the kids can walk or ride bikes to school.  It's not way out there in Eagle Mountain like I worried we'd have to settle for, but a few minutes from the freeway.  The backyard is big and we can have our chickens.  It's not an upper class new neighborhood where I'd feel uncomfortable (because we are not upper class), but it's newer than where we were.  All the yards are so neat and tidy too which I know isn't everything, but it meant something to me while we were looking.  I just feel so very blessed to find this home!!  It really was placed in our lives by the Lord and has been such a blessing.  Our kids have good friends here and run to friends houses every day, they ride bikes and scooter to school everyday, the school is a nice middle ground between our old program and the regular school Talm was in.  The ward is great, the chickens are happy :)  Jer and I have made some really great friends.  We're about a mile from a paved trail and have great freeway access.  It is just so wonderful to be in a safe and happy place.  I miss our old friends of course, but I really feel like this was a huge blessing from the Lord and that it was the right time.  We don't exactly live in the heart of it, but Happy Valley really is happy.  I know that's a generalization and there are places around us that aren't ideal, but we found a happy little pocket of a neighborhood and area enjoying it.  

The big 10! Happy Birthday Mckayla!

Wow, our baby girl is 10 years old today.  It doesn't necessarily feel like it was just yesterday, but it is pretty crazy she's over halfway grown. She's still a sweet innocent girl, not a little girl, but not a tween yet thankfully.  She is into make up and wears it well. She is very responsible with school and is a great help with her siblings whether it's helping Ella or reading to Talm or Kaitlyn.  She's made lots of new friends and enjoys coming up with doll stories and movies and buisness ideas with them.  She is definately has her daddy's entrepeneur spirit!  She's currently working on a cupcake buisness, we'll keep you posted :)  She is saving $300 to fly by herself to Michigan to spend a week with my sister.  I'm proud of her, she's been working hard.
She was my smallest baby by more than a pound. 8lbs3oz that came a week late after a difficult labor that included 3 hours of pushing and forceps.  Ugh.  She was a needy baby from what i remember, but it could have also been that we were first time parents.  She did great though and was a round little thing.  She grew so smart, I still remember driving down the freeway when she was 3 or 4 and she said something off a billboard that she read.  I was shocked!  She went into Kindergarten reading books, and with accurate emotion too.  She spent the next 3 years in an incredible gifted program and I hated to take her out of it but we got a great new neighborhood in exchange and she's doing great in a regular class.  I think she enjoys not being as stressed.  Hopefully we can figure out to keep her as challenged and growing.  She does have a very sweet teacher this year who she loves a lot.
I am in Michigan with my sister's first baby, she's 2 weeks old today.  Makes me remember Kayla so little and my sister there helping me.  Hate to be away from my baby girl, but I got to watch her open some gifts on the webcam this morning and read a special note I wrote her.  Loved her sweet smile she paused to give me after  :)

Love you sweet Mckayla Pie!  Have a wonderful 10th Birthday today!