Grandparents Day

The kids' school is celebrating Grandparents Day next month.  Sadly, our kids never get to have their grandparents at school for these events, especially since we just had my parents here for a week this month!  Ra has to make a collage of his grandparents to hang in the hallway at school.  I've been sorting through pictures today to figure out which ones we can use.  Here are some of the ones from the past 9 years...Sadly, most of my early pics that included my in-laws are in storage, but there were a few on my computer that I was able to add.  Now to get them printed and pasted onto poster board by Monday!  Ugh...Guess what we're doing over the weekend?!?

After looking through all these pictures, I realize how fortunate my kids are because they've gotten to do so many things with their grandparents even though they've NEVER lived near my parents and lived near my in-laws for only 3 years.  They've been to amusement parks, beach, pool swimming, zip lining and adventure courses, traveling to Alaska - twice, skiing, hiking, motorcycle riding, riding trains, playing with trains, football games, etc.  Lucky kids!

Life Long Friendships

This past week was such a meaningful one for me.  I got to spend it catching up with some of my closest and dearest friends. Spending time with those who know you best and love you in spite of your faults, quirks, and flaws is the best thing in the world.  Allowing yourself to be vulnerable in front of others and allowing them to see you at your worst, all the while knowing they will love you and never judge you, is a friendship that will withstand any distance, time, or situation.  

To those I had the pleasure of spending time with last week, who I trusted with my emotions and insecurities over the years, I love you and treasure you.  I miss you terribly and can't wait to see you all again.    

And to my other bestie knew that I needed some TLC, thanks for the text messages.  I'm so thankful for you as well!  We need a catch up ASAP to get the details that a text can't express.  Love you too girl and don't know how I'd do life without you!

Fun Weekend Getaway!

My dad and I planned a fun filled hockey weekend back in October.  I met him in Harrisburg on Friday at the airport and from there we drove to State College.  On the way, we stopped in this tiny little town to get some ring bologna, ham loaf, meat sticks, and sausage.  Gotta take home a bit of PA with every trip, right?  Mom & Dad are going to bring my stuff down with them on their next Florida trip.

We unpacked and headed out for a bite to eat.  We headed to Kildare's Irish Pub which was on my "Eat Your Way Through State College" list for the weekend!  We had a fantastic Shepherd's Pie.

After dinner, we headed over to the Pegula Ice Arena.  Dad gave me the 10 cent tour.  It's a pretty awesome arena.  We watched the men's game vs. #10 ranked Michigan.  It was a pretty boring game because the men didn't play very well or aggressive.  

The next day we woke and headed in town for breakfast at Ye Old Diner - Home of the Grilled Stickies!  What a great meal.  We both grabbed a box of stickies to take home.

We did some shopping after breakfast - frankly we both needed to walk around after eating that huge breakfast!  

The next thing we did was head over to the Creamery so dad could stock up on ice cream to take home.  He filled a big cooler with ice cream and dry ice.  With the cold temps, not sure the dry ice was even necessary!

We went back to the arena to check out the girls ice hockey game.  They played really well, but sadly lost 2-1.  

After the girl's game, we headed over the men's lax game.  They were playing Michigan too.  The PSU men are ranked #10 and beat Michigan 22-7.  It was a great game and was crowded in the Holuba Hall facility - they played indoors since there was still snow on the ground!

After the lax game, we headed back downtown and went to my dad's favorite place:  Bill Pickle's Tap Room.  He loves their peanut butter wings...Sounds weird, I know, but they are pretty good.  

We headed back to the arena with hopes that the rematch with Michigan would prove better results.  Boy we weren't disappointed.  What a fantastic game!  The men's team beat #10 ranked Michigan 4-0!!!  What a difference - they looked like a completely different team!

Afterwards we went to Happy Valley Brewing Company to celebrate!  It was the first time EVER that my dad and I sat at a bar together and enjoyed a drink!  We had a number of drinks together over the years, but it was the first time I've gotten him to sit at a bar with me!  

What a fun weekend!  Sunday morning he drove me back to the Harrisburg airport so I could head back to SUNNY Florida and my sweet family.

Thanks for a great weekend Dad!  I had so much fun!  Let's do it again soon!

This Year's Valentines

Every year we do something creative for our Valentines.  This year K is giving the butterflies to her classmates.  We did these years ago, but decided to recycle the idea. 

Ra is still into the Minecraft craze so we made some fun Creeper cards for his classmates.  His have Hershey Miniatures wrapped in Creeper paper. 

Sweet Friends

Today I got a text message from my friend Lynn who's daughter is K's best little girl friend.  They were practicing writing letters during Library today.  They were told to write to someone who means a lot to them.  This was K's letter & picture to her sweet friend.  

When I opened K's backpack, there was a very similar one from G.  These two are the such great friends.  I'm hoping it's one that lasts a lifetime for them.  It makes my heart happy to know she's developing such strong bonds. 

Wax Museum

In 4th grade, the students have to research a historical figure from an approved list.  Ra ended up with Jim Elliot.  If you are like me, you are thinking, who in the world is Jim Elliot?  I had to look him up. It turns out that he was a missionary who was martyred at the age of 31 while trying to reach a very dangerous and violent Indian tribe in Ecuador.  

Ra had to research Jim Elliot.  He read a book from the school library over Christmas break and we also watched The End of the Spear movie that we found at the public library.  The movie is about Jim and the other 4 missionaries but told from the view of Nate Saint, who was the pilot of the group.  The movie showed us how dangerous this tribe really was and how Jim's wife was able to make more connections and convert many in the tribe after Jim's death.  What a great story for Ra to understand.  One part of the movie that stuck with me is Nate's son was asking his dad not to allow the Huaorani kill them - that his dad should shoot them if they attacked.  Nate's response was so important for my little man to hear - he said he wouldn't do that because if he killed the men of the tribe, that they weren't ready to go to Heaven, but that he was ready.  Wow!  To sacrifice yourself because you're trying to spread the gospel to the nations and know that if you defend yourself, you are defeating your mission...So powerful.  Because of their deaths, members of the tribe were saved and made gave their deaths meaning.

The students needed to write a 5 paragraph essay about their historical figure and then dress up as that person and recite their paper from the perspective of their figure as if they were in a wax museum.  The finale was that the entire 4th grade was in the gym, all dressed as their historical figures, and they had to give their speech when someone came by and pushed the button colored on their hand.  It was a great experience for Riley to memorize a 1-2 minute speech and work on his public speaking skills. He did a great job and we're really proud of him.

Here he is with his favorite spectator during the wax museum presentation:

Moving Right Along

I drove by the house the other day and noticed a Sal's Granite and Marble truck out front.  That could only mean one thing...COUNTERTOPS!!!

I really like how the kitchen is turning out.  The island countertop is granite that looks similar to Carrera marble.  I didn't trust marble with the family eating at the island daily.  It just seemed like too much maintenance with a young family.  The back countertops are my favorite!  We are so glad we splurged on them.  They are a black leathered Brazilian granite.  They have this great texture to them as well as flecks of gray in it to pull in the island color.  

This is my new kitchen sink and faucet.  I can't tell you how long I've wanted this look in my house!  I LOVE it!

If you click on this picture, it will enlarge so you can see it better.  This shows the kitchen with the doors and drawer fronts on the kitchen cabinets.  I can't wait to see the wood floor stained to get a better look at the entire room.

This is our new laundry room.  I've been wanting a countertop over my washer/dryer for years now.  If we had stayed in Utah, Andy and I were going to build something similar over my units.  I'm excited to be able to fold, stack, etc. on top of the washer/dryer and not lose socks behind the dryer, etc!

Here's a better look at the entire laundry room.  I love all the storage we'll have in this room!

My new tubby!!!  Think anyone would notice if I snuck over and soaked in it at night?!?  I can't wait to use this new tub and see the faucet installed!

I love all the natural light that will come in through the big window at the tub!  The window will have plantation shutters for privacy, but the light will still be great.  

 This is our master vanity...The color is a little less red than it shows here - hard to get good lighting because none of the lights have been installed yet.  This cabinet and countertop look awesome with the tile flooring we chose!  Can't wait to get the entire picture!

This is the downstairs bath vanity.  We are so pleased with the way this room is turning out too - especially since we picked out flooring, granite and cabinets all at different locations!  

Things are moving right along now, thankfully.  We'd like to try to move in the beginning of April.  We are hoping the timing works out so we can move out of the apt before our year lease is up and we end up paying more in rent to go month to month.  When people ask about our house, I use the analogy of being 8 months pregnant...You just can't wait for it to be over and start the next chapter.  That's how this feels.  We are getting so close, but still have about 2 months to go.  At least the big changes taking place help us see the light at the end of this year long tunnel.

Special Moments

Tuesdays are a special day for me and Sissy.  Ra has Bricks4Kidz after school so she and I have an hour together before we have to go back and pick him up.  Yesterday we went to check on the progress of the house and then headed to Cinotti's for a sweet treat.  We enjoyed our donuts together.  Her sweet little heart felt bad that Ra was missing out so she asked if we could get something for him to bring home so he could have it later...Love her.

Things Only Utahns Would Understand

This is HYSTERICAL!  I loved reading all of these items.  So many are unique to Utah!

Things Only Utahns Understand

Here are a few more that I thought should have been on the list:

Sad, but this is VERY true.  If you wanted to be able to breathe in the winter months during an inversion, you needed to head up one of the canyons.  This looks like Little Cottonwood Canyon.  I'd have a killer headache in the valley, drive up to ski and my headache would disappear until we got home, then it'd set in again...Ugh!  I don't miss that!

Another sad but true Utah situation.  Every summer at least one or two scouts would get lost or sadly even die while at scout camp.

Oh my...Genealogy is such a big deal in Utah.

So many places are closed on Sundays in Utah - every store is like Chick-fil-A!

Only in Utah would a church share a parking lot with a restaurant!

Yep - I've seen signs like this one!

In Midway, they would host a big gingy house contest and there was usually something church related there.  I thought I was crafty until I moved to Utah...home of the Cricut and the Silhouette!

If you think we are Disney people, Utahns think Disneyland is the best place EVER!  They go all the time!

So true!!!  Everyone there has blonde hair and most of it isn't natural!  Kendall fit in perfectly with her blonde hair and blue eyes!

These were a fun walk down memory lane of our 4 years in Utah.  As much as I was happy to get back on the east coast, I do miss some of things that makes Utah unique and a special place.  It's like no other place I've ever lived.  Utah is one of the most beautiful places - the landscape is breathtaking!  There will always be a special place for us - a lot of our kids' firsts happened in Utah.  

Most Exciting Suburbs in America!

According to THIS article, Jax Beach made the Top Ten list coming in at #7!  Whoo Hoo!  I love Jax Beach.  It's been a great transition place for us to live.  Don't get me wrong, Atlantic Beach is the ultimate destination for this family and conveniently, Neptune Beach and Atlantic Beach both tied for the #21 spot!  No surprise there since the Beaches Town Center falls in between the two locations!   I'm just happy to live on the island and feel the salt air and to live in such an exciting place!!!

Business Insider  has the article if you want to read the criteria to decide the best suburbs.  Cambridge and Quincy ranked #1 and #2 - and I'd have to agree, I love the Boston area.  Berkeley was #3 and Miami Beach #4.  Santa Monica was ranked #5.  Those are a pretty big top 5 cities to even be considered in the same category!