Last day of Kindergarten...

(School classmates (L to R) Camron, Justin, Aubrey, Ahman, Simon, Michael, Trevonna, Christopher, Whitney, Ms. Guigelaar, Azhariya, Mariah, Delaney, Madison, Carys, Davion, Jenocea, Kaitlyn, Ahviae)

Well Whitney got shafted (or lucky, depending on your view) and didn't get to finish the school year because of the move. She absolutely loved going to school each day and had a wonderful teacher Ms. Guigelaar and full time classroom aide Mrs. Lewis.

Here is Whitney with her best friend from school, Ahviae.

This is a picture of the kindergarten concert at the PTA meeting at the end of the year. They sang and did some actions to songs that they had learned in music class throughout the year.

We did a little project driving across the country where she would send a postcard from most of the states we traveled through back to her class and tell them about the things she saw that day. The teachers sent her a cute memory book once we arrived here and told her that the class loved hearing about her adventures and the states we went through.

Seneca Rocks

As our last hurrah before leaving Virginia we headed to West Virginia to camp and climb. Jim and a buddy Matt Hylton had been there previously and decided to would be fun to bring the families and camp the next time. So their climbing trip morphed into a multi-family camping trip with us reserving the last of the campsites for the Memorial Day weekend. It poured as we were driving up and setting up camp but cleared up shortly after and then was beautiful all weekend long. We had an amazing view of Seneca Rocks from our campsite. We set it up so each family was responsible for a meal so it made it nice not having to worry about cooking each meal and freed up more time to play. Some of the group went climbing each day including the older kids.

A group of us took the hiking trail to the top and even Maren and Kaikane, her 3 year old buddy hiked the whole way (1.5 miles, 1000 vertical feet to the top). The view was spectacular from up there and as you can see the ridge is very narrow.

We also did a cave tour one day and were able to do some gemstone mining while waiting. Here are some of the treasures they found in their mining rough.

It was a great weekend spent with friends!

Campbells, Fells, Carraways, Hyltons, Dahles, Napoleons

The move...

Our time in VA has come to a close and we loaded the truck with the help of friends and the youth from church. The next day was spent cleaning and then we hit the road for UT. Thirteen states and 8 days later we arrived at our rental home in the suburbs of Salt Lake City. We saw a lot of beautiful scenery of this country on our trip from the tobacco and peanut fields of southern VA, over the beautiful Appalachian mountains, through the rolling countryside and farms of PA and OH, along the shores of the great Mississippi river, across the plains of Kansas, through the snow capped mountains of CO and WY and then into the mountain valley of the Great Salt Lake. Our trip included stops to sightsee in Kirtland, OH and Nauvoo, IL and a stop in KS to spend time with family and take the boat to the local reservoir for some fun. Above is a picture of our caravan with a 26' moving truck and the Sequoia pulling the boat loaded with bikes and a few other items. Needless to say it was a tight fit to get it all in. The girls loved taking turns riding in the truck with Daddy. They thought it was fun to be so high up. We kept the kids entertained with DVD players in both vehicles so it made for a happy ride for everyone. Here is a picture that Whitney wanted to take with the Michigan sign since her teacher is from there.

Lastly a picture from the front of our rental home. We just can't get enough of seeing the beautiful snow-capped mountains each day (though the clouds are covering the tops of them this day)! We are enjoying our much larger rental home with such amenities as a big backyard with a tree swing, a garage, an office with a door to keep little kids out, and more than enough room to play and explore.

Maiden voyage

We had to take the boat out at least once before we moved especially since we have been trying to rent a boat to go out with our friends the Napoleons for two years. So for FHE one night we headed out from the base on Little Back River. It was nice and quiet at the boat ramp and dock so us newbies had time to figure out how to launch and load the boat along with getting it started. The Napoleons own a Big Banana so the kids enjoyed riding on that. The adults got a chance to try out the skis and Kalani's wakeboard.

Taking the helm...

Jonas has already found his favorite spot in our new toy. We've talked on and off about buying a boat for many years and (Jim) finally decided to buy one now. We get paid to move it across the country which will pay for half of it and the boat inventory is significantly better here than in UT. We got a great deal on a 2002 boat that's hardly been used but well maintained. We'll probably be disowned by our friends out here for buying one just before we move but it's really a ploy to convince them to come visit us in UT to play! We felt like drug dealers carrying around the stack of small, untraceable bills to pay for the boat though. We're looking forward to some fun boating excursions this summer. If you're in the area, come and play with us. We even have some bright purple water skis for you to show off your skills on!

Real chicken eggs and strawberry picking

A few weeks ago we went with a friend over to see her horse and clean out the stall. The girls loved seeing all the horses, chickens, cows, and donkey they have at the farm a few miles from our house where her horse is kept. They even got to ride one of the horses bareback and feed a few of them apples. However the real highlight was when they got to go in the chicken coop and collect "real chicken eggs" from their nests. We brought home a dozen fresh eggs they collected and Whitney was so excited she wanted one hard boiled so she could take it in her lunch the next day. When they got home they were excitedly telling Jim about the "real chicken eggs" they got unlike those fake chicken eggs we get at the store. I sure enjoyed eating those fresh eggs the next few days for breakfast.

Last week we headed across the water to our favorite strawberry field to collect a bounty of those sweet, red berries. Unfortunately with our upcoming move we had to limit our picking this year but still enjoyed the time out in the field. It worked out well though as the kids kept wanting to run in 3 different directions making it hard to even fill one bucket. Our summers here have been filled with many great adventures with wonderful friends and the strawberry picking has come to symbolize the beginning of summer as the first of many adventures. Here are some of the "fruits" of our labors.

It's in the genes...

These are pictures of where I found Jonas this morning.

I think the pictures say it all though I wonder who he thought he was calling.