I Didn't Actually Fall Off the Face of the Earth...

...Though it very much seems that way.  It's been crazy with the move, not to mention just the blah weather outside makes it hard to really want to do anything more than one absolutely has to.  But there is a light at the end of the tunnel and the sun is shining today with a temperature of 64 degrees (or it was in the end of February when I started this post).  It literally feels like a tropical heat wave.

I didn't seem to be up on my blogging working up to the move either.  *Sigh* Ok, on to the recap.  Drum roll please....

Andrew turned 4 in August.  Can you believe it?  Yeah, I know, it is now March.  Yikes.  Anyway, I decided to take his 4 year old pictures.  They turned out ok, I think.  Sad thing is that I still need to get Kate's 6 year old pictures done....she turns 7 this month.  You'd think a girl with the camera could get it done.  Ironic isn't it?

Andrew shares his birthday with his aunt Breann.  He wanted a snake birthday, so I made this one and surrounded it with gummy worms and chocolate rocks.  It was pretty fun to make.

Kate started first grade.  All day long.  Weird.  Then we yanked her out of her class during Christmas break and moved her to Pennsylvania.  She's doing great in her new class, too.  Anyone who knows Kate at all, knows that she can make instant friends anywhere she goes.

We tore up all the linoleum in our kitchen and put down tile.  It was quite the project to say the least.  I was the official thin-set lay-er and notch-er.  What a pain.

 

 We re-carpeted the house.  (I know, not the best picture, but for some silly reason, I don't have any of the living room.)

Kate was on a soccer team, named the Purple Butterflies (I know, it strikes fear down to your very core), during the fall.  Her team won maybe two games, but they had a great time and that's the point.

Jason and I took a week long trip to Pittsburgh to try to find a place to live.  We found a place about 40 minutes commute away from where Jason works in order to get the surroundings, the place, and the price we were comfortable with.  But hey, it's better than the hour commute he currently had.

We sold the pick-up truck.

We did the Halloween thing.  Kate as Super Girl.  Andrew as Optimus Prime.  Me as an Aberdeen cheer leader.  (No, I was never a cheer leader...this is the first time, in fact that I've ever worn an outfit quite like this.)  The weather was actually relatively warm compared to last year.  It turned out to be a pretty good night.

We bought a Jeep.  When I say "we" I mean it is for the whole family as a "we."  I went down to Utah during Thanksgiving week to see my family and Jason stayed in Idaho for work.  I did the research and the test driving and the bargaining on all sorts of vehicles and ended up getting this one. (Of course I consulted over the phone with Jason.)  It was nerve racking and stressful, but I did it and by the time Jason came down on Thursday, we had a Jeep Liberty.  We've both liked it a lot, so I'd have to say (luckily) it worked out.

Christmas time came and we decided we might as well put up a tree since it was the last Christmas in our house (that is, if it ever sells).  It just wouldn't have been Christmas if we hadn't decorated at all.

An awesome lady in my Idaho ward, Sister Wheiler, had the kids over to make gingerbread (graham cracker) houses.  Kate's is the that looks like a candy tornado hit it.  She's no dummy, she was trying to get as much candy on there to take home and eat as possible...I put an end to it when she started just dropping candy in piles into the "yard."  Andrew took a different approach.  He was very into pretzels and had a jolly time making a fence.  His is a tad less busy than Kate's.

This fun little creature in front of his house was supposed to be a snowman, but the frosting didn't set up quite quickly enough.  So we ended up with a Jabba-the-Snowhut of sorts.

Kate had a last get together with a couple of her friends, Emalyn and Hallie.  Andrew invited himself into the group of girls...not an unusual occurrence.

My sister, Brittany, came up to Idaho to help with the moving.  Thankfully it wasn't too bad since Jason's company hired a moving company to pack and haul everything across the country.  Whew.  But she kept me company while the movers were there (since Jason went down to Utah with his Dad and brothers to a Jazz game--I know, the nerve!)  We stayed in a hotel that night and enjoyed some gourmet treats from Fred Meyer.  Man, I miss that place.  I'm so glad she came.

We moved into a townhouse in Pennsylvania.  We really had to downsize and it feels strangely reminiscent of our college days when we had to stuff every vacant corner with stuff (well, honestly it's not nearly as bad as the two bedroom apartment we were in...I still have my own washer and dryer and garage).  It's a charming little place and the set-up has worked out better than we could have expected.

Andrew has taken to doing surgery on his Sing-a-ma-jig on his work bench.  (notice the syringe off to the left and the "surgical" light above)  Who knew he'd take the doctor set he got for Christmas so seriously.

We went to the Children's Museum in Pittsburgh for a "tail gate party" the Saturday before the Superbowl.  It was unbelievable being here for all that.  There was black and yellow all over the city and everywhere we went people were dawning their Steelers gear.

Here we are at our own little Superbowl party with all the food fixings of a great time.  Too bad the Steelers didn't win.  Maybe next time.

We have a killer sledding hill right behind our house (if you don't mind sledding through some brush here and there).  The kids love it.  They can spend a couple hours out there.  And, yes, that is Andrew's boot part way back up the hill...poor kid had to wear boots that were a little big this year.  What are ya gonna do?  He has fun anyway.

So that's our fall/winter in a nutshell.  Hopefully I can be a little more on top of it from here on out.



PS After I had only been to our ward two times, they called me to be the Relief Society President.  Yeah, I was wondering what they were thinking, too.  That has been a real adventure so far.  Luckily, the Lord qualifies those who He calls...at least that's what I'm betting on...