Be Mine...

My dear friend Laura makes the BEST sugar cookies I have ever eaten. Being that she is back in Washington, I was going to have to bite the bullet this year and make my own sugar cookies (she's always so kind to have us over for cookie decorating) Well, we kept the tradition alive and I baked up some sugar cookies. To my surprise they were quite delicious. I whipped up some frosting and we were ready to go... well almost.

We had a nice dinner together first. Then, I encouraged the kids to get their pajamas on. We pulled out the fancy heart straws for our milk (thanks Turner's!) and frosted away.

When pigs fly... not in a million years...

That's what we heard prior to moving here, when we asked if South Carolina ever got snow. Yet, this last weekend, we got about 6 inches! I laughed a little when the weather was forcasting 3-6". I laughed a lot when the kids were sent home from school early because it "might" snow. I thought, wow, these people are worse than western washingtonians when they get a little snow, but at least they don't freak out until AFTER the snow. Here they prepare for the freak out. People were frantically buying up milk, bread and toilet paper. I calmly stayed at home, going about my normal day, and laughing all the while.

About 4 hours after the kids had returned from school (early, haha) it started to snow. Little tiny baby flakes. It gradually increased and continued, leaving us with a beautiful blanket of "when pigs fly" snow.

These are pictures of the trees from out my kitchen windows. It was late at this point, so the only light I had was the golden glow from the street lamps.

This was as the sun was coming up the next morning! Beautiful!

All Buttered Up

It was a fine winter morning. The boys were off to school. Ella was dressed and eating breakfast. Joseph was snacking on some rice krispies in his highchair. I was running around unpacking things here and there. I had been working mostly in the kitchen and ran upstairs to grab a few things. Everyone was happy and quiet. QUIET. That was strange, why were the kids so quiet? Usually there's at least a little jabber from Joseph and a bit more from Ella. They must just be enjoying their breakfast, right?

I walk over to check on their progress and to my surprise....

Ella is BUTTERING Joseph's head.

See the butter near the lower right hand side of

the picture? Half of that stick was very tightly

clasped in Joseph's hands, and he was eating it.

Eeww, gross.

They were pretty happy. And it was really cute to see Joseph sharing rice krispies with his sister.

But alas, all things must come to an end.
So I threw them in the tub (which Joseph detests baths.)
But yet again, I was greeted with two HAPPY bathing babies!

So glad I'm a mom!

Chicken 'n Biscuits ya'll!

There were two things that I noticed on every corner when we came out here to South Carolina for the first time. Churches and chicken. I mean, we are in the south, right?! So I thought it appropriate to climatize myself with my surroundings by frying up some chicken and homemade biscuits. I've got it down pretty good, wanna come join me for some more?

Fried Chicken Strips & Buttermilk Biscuits

They were SOOOOO delicious!

New School & Carolina Sunrises

My children have always gotten up early... ALWAYS. No matter what time they went to bed the previous night, they were always ready to hit the day running full speed - early. Well, move across country, move their school start time up an hour and a half, and all of a sudden I have to start WAKING them up. First time ever. I have been lucky enough to live a block from their school for the last few years, but now I am about 4 miles away. That's what happens when you live in the country.

So every morning I am getting the boys up at 6:30am. Why don't I have them take the bus, it picks them up right in front of our house? Because the bus comes at 6:30am and I would rather let them sleep an extra 30 minutes, and so they don't have to sit at the school an extra 30 minutes. I'd rather be with them as long as possible before they are gone all day. So I take them to school.

I get all the kids into the car, Ella insists on carrying her brothers lunches. We are headed off to school, often before the sun is up, Colonies blasting in our ears, the kids singing along. I race to the school (speed limit 45 mph - nice!) It takes me about 10 minutes there, 10 minutes back, just as long as I time it right. We pull into the school drop off line. Their school is a tight run ship. Everything works like clockwork. It is extremely impressive. I love it, they love it. Kisses & hugs and they are off for the day. We drive back home to begin the rest of our day.

So what is so wonderful about this early jaunt to the school and back? The hectic rush to get in the car? The fact that I now have a garage to park in so no more scraping ice or chasing Ella down the street?Although great, no.

It's the ride back. I get to watch the sunrise every morning. It makes the early mornings much more delightful. What a great way to start the day! 

Now, since I am often driving when I see the sun rise, by the time I get home, I am often too late to take the most colorful fuschia sky pictures... but here are a few that we shot as soon as we drove into our neighborhood last week. Often the lake has a really cool misty fog over it in the mornings. Everything is pink, magenta purples and blues.

Then all of a sudden as the sun peaks out over the trees, everything bursts into golden hues.

No matter how crazy and hectic it was getting all the kids ready and out the door on time, it's hard not to just stop and admire the beautiful sky and earth Heavenly Father has created for us.

It's a great way to start (or refesh) your day!

South Carolina here we come...

There were several times in the final moments of our move that we were faced with the possibility of being homeless. There were things that had to happen in a timely manner, things that weren't happening. Yet we knew we were to move. We had faith. Faith that everything would work out how it was supposed to; that we would be taken care of. We could only do as much as we were able, then we needed to let the Lord do the rest.

We were merely pioneers. Embarking on a mission to leave our home that we know and travel east with all the belongings we can fit in our wagon and faith knowing that when we meet that land we are unfamiliar with, he will provide. He will provide a home, employment and a ward that is anxiously reaching out their arms to embrace us.

Things did work out, we did move as planned. We were homeless for a few days, but it all worked out. I am so grateful for the Lord's hand in my life. Without him I can accomplish nothing. With him I can accomplish anything.

Here is a brief update on the move cross country. I wrote the entire story, then decided it was MUCH too long to post. I may eventually change my mind, but for now, the readers digest version.
Believe it or not, this is not the final shot of the back of the truck... amazingly, much more went in after that. Like Mary Poppins purse, it looked full, then a few more things would fit, etc... And no, Ella didn't ride in the back the whole way, she stuck with me.Devin & his dad drove this baby from Washington to South Carolina, towing his car. 4 days later, I left with the kids, equipped with my sister, lots of snacks, activities and the like on a day of flying across country. The kids behaved rather well, considering an hour of sitting still in church can often be painful for them, they met this challenge head on. Joseph and Ella even took a nap for part of the longer flight! It was amazing!
To read more on this trip visit Dani's version at dooleysdoodles.blogspot.com

We finally arrived in the south and after a couple more days of little hiccups and such, we were able to get everything worked out and move into our new home! We were welcomed into our new ward by 20-30 people that showed up to help unload our moving truck and bring us dinner! What a way to be welcomed. The hospitality hasn't stopped there. The people here are very warm and friendly. It's very nice.

I'm so glad my sister made this trip with me. It made it much more manageable. My kids love her, she is a hard worker, and she LOVES to move, so this was right up her alley. And when it was all said and done, she even took the time to make us some DELICIOUS homemade bread before she headed back home. Thanks for coming out here Dani!

And so, without further ado....

Our new home! Here are a few pics. I will surely post more soon.

Front of the house

Family RoomMaster BedroomBonus RoomKitchen
Kitchen & Sunroom

We are almost all settled in. Most things are unpacked and in a proper place. The boys are loving their new school, teachers and classmates. They LOVE the neighborhood, and are excited that there are a TON of kids in the neighborhood. We are slowly learning "southern" saying sir, ma'am, be good, ya'll and the such. Devin is enjoying his new job and I am looking forward to being completely unpacked and organized soon.

Be good & ya'll come back!

Pioneers! O Pioneer!

Pioneers! O Pioneer!
by Walt Whitman (1819-1892) in Leaves of Grass 1900

COME, my tan-faced children,
Follow well in order, get your weapons ready;
Have you your pistols? have you your sharp edged axes? Pioneers! O pioneers!

For we cannot tarry here,
We must march my darlings, we must bear the brunt of danger,
We, the youthful sinewy races, all the rest on us depend, Pioneers! O pioneers!

O you youths, western youths,
So impatient, full of action, full of manly pride and friendship,
Plain I see you, western youths, see you tramping with the foremost, Pioneers! O pioneers!

Have the elder races halted?
Do they droop and end their lesson, wearied, over there beyond the seas?
We take up the task eternal, and the burden, and the lesson, Pioneers! O pioneers!

All the past we leave behind;
We debouch upon a newer, mightier world, varied world,
Fresh and strong the world we seize, world of labor and the march, Pioneers! O pioneers!

We detachments steady throwing,
Down the edges, through the passes, up the mountains steep,
Conquering, holding, daring, venturing, as we go, the unknown ways, Pioneers! O pioneers!

We primeval forests felling,
We the rivers stemming, vexing we, and piercing deep the mines within;
We the surface broad surveying, we the virgin soil upheaving, Pioneers! O pioneers!

Colorado men are we,
From the peaks gigantic, from the great sierras and the high plateaus,
From the mine and from the gully, from the hunting trail we come, Pioneers! O pioneers!

From Nebraska, from Arkansas,
Central inland race are we, from Missouri, with the continental blood intervein'd;
All the hands of comrades clasping, all the Southern, all the Northern, Pioneers! O pioneers!

O resistless, restless race!
O beloved race in all! O my breast aches with tender love for all!
O I mourn and yet exult—I am rapt with love for all, Pioneers! O pioneers!

Raise the mighty mother mistress,
Waving high the delicate mistress, over all the starry mistress, (bend your heads all,)
Raise the fang'd and warlike mistress, stern, impassive, weapon'd mistress, Pioneers! O pioneers!

See, my children, resolute children,
By those swarms upon our rear, we must never yield or falter,
Ages back in ghostly millions, frowning there behind us urging, Pioneers! O pioneers!

On and on, the compact ranks,
With accessions ever waiting, with the places of the dead quickly fill'd,
Through the battle, through defeat, moving yet and never stopping, Pioneers! O pioneers!

O to die advancing on!
Are there some of us to droop and die? has the hour come?
Then upon the march we fittest die, soon and sure the gap is fill'd, Pioneers! O pioneers!

All the pulses of the world,
Falling in, they beat for us, with the western movement beat;
Holding single or together, steady moving, to the front, all for us, Pioneers! O pioneers!

Life's involv'd and varied pageants,
All the forms and shows, all the workmen at their work,
All the seamen and the landsmen, all the masters with their slaves, Pioneers! O pioneers!

All the hapless silent lovers,
All the prisoners in the prisons, all the righteous and the wicked,
All the joyous, all the sorrowing, all the living, all the dying, Pioneers! O pioneers!

I too with my soul and body,
We, a curious trio, picking, wandering on our way,
Through these shores, amid the shadows, with the apparitions pressing, Pioneers! O pioneers!

Lo! the darting bowling orb!
Lo! the brother orbs around! all the clustering suns and planets,
All the dazzling days, all the mystic nights with dreams, Pioneers! O pioneers!

These are of us, they are with us,
All for primal needed work, while the followers there in embryo wait behind,
We to-day's procession heading, we the route for travel clearing, Pioneers! O pioneers!

O you daughters of the west!
O you young and elder daughters! O you mothers and you wives!
Never must you be divided, in our ranks you move united, Pioneers! O pioneers!

Minstrels latent on the prairies!
(Shrouded bards of other lands! you may sleep—you have done your work;)
Soon I hear you coming warbling, soon you rise and tramp amid us, Pioneers! O pioneers!

Not for delectations sweet;
Not the cushion and the slipper, not the peaceful and the studious;
Not the riches safe and palling, not for us the tame enjoyment, Pioneers! O pioneers!

Do the feasters gluttonous feast?
Do the corpulent sleepers sleep? have they lock'd and bolted doors?
Still be ours the diet hard, and the blanket on the ground, Pioneers! O pioneers!

Has the night descended?
Was the road of late so toilsome? did we stop discouraged, nodding on our way?
Yet a passing hour I yield you, in your tracks to pause oblivious, Pioneers! O pioneers!

Till with sound of trumpet,
Far, far off the day-break call—hark! how loud and clear I hear it wind;
Swift! to the head of the army!—swift! spring to your places, Pioneers! O pioneers.