Welcome Home Nick

these posts are out of order, but I realized I didn't post pictures of when Nick came back to Utah after being gone for 5 weeks!!!

the reunion was better than either of us had anticipated. I drove around the corner at the airport and saw him...I couldn't stop the car fast enough!!! I got out of the car and jumped in to my honey's arms and we just held each other so tight and for so long!!! It was perfect.
I woke the kids up in the car since Nick's flight arrived at 1140pm and they were sleeping. Their reaction to seeing daddy again was classic...Ashleigh grabbed on to his arm and squeezed him so tight. Nick was happy to see that the kids really had missed him! ;-)

The next day the kids couldn't get enough of daddy. Giving him hugs and chatting his ear off every chance they could.


Nick usually cuts his hair about every 2-3 weeks...he just couldn't bear to pay for a haircut in WA so he didn't...he let it grow out a bit. It got pretty long after 5 weeks!

Us being silly....and Preston watching... Ash took these pics. :-)

Nice guns babe!!!

Driving to WA

On Friday April 15th we woke up fairly early and finished loading up the last of our items in to the Penske truck and loaded my little Corolla with our overnight bags for the trip to WA. We let the kids play with their friends for a couple of hours while we packed.
Nick left first in the Penske while I gathered the kids up and we said good bye to their friends...

Lincoln Bonham (age 3), Preston (age 4), Bentley Bonham (age 5)...next door neighbors...Preston's best friends!

Hailie Dangerfield (age 7), Ashleigh (Age 8), Jasna Hooke (age 7)

Hailie lived 2 doors down from us and Jasna lived on the corner just down the street from us. They have been Ashleigh's best friends since we moved to that house 3 years ago. I HATED taking Ashleigh away from them...it was SO hard watching Ashleigh say good-bye to them!!! She and I both had a good cry as we were driving away. I hope those girls are like Vanessa and I are and keep in touch through out their lives!


We had a few things to do before we headed out of town, but finally, we were off...

The kids were PERFECT on the drive this first day. There was no fighting, no arguing, no loud noises, etc. Just perfect kids. I was SO happy. :-) I took a couple of pictures along the way and I also gave Ashleigh the camera to take pictures as well...she did a great job. lol. there are some cute pictures. :-)












We entered Oregon before Nick, after catching up to him in Burley, Idaho, and headed towards our hotel in Ontario, OR. We got ice cream for the kids and Pizza for dinner and Nick arrived only 30 min after us! :-)

Once we got settled in at the hotel and had our dinner, we decided to go swimming. The water was really cold at first and we had a hard time getting Preston in the water. We got him to trust us that we wouldn't put his head under the water and then he loved it! I tried to teach Ashleigh how to swim a little...apparently the swimming lessons she took 5 years ago didn't stick. ;-) We had a lot of fun and wore out the kids good! They slept great that night (they always sleep great, but I think this time it was a bit of a deeper sleep!)


The next morning I took the kids down to have the free continental breakfast while daddy slept and then we took a few pictures of our hotel room. The kids LOVED being at a hotel. it was so cute. :-) We could see the Penske truck from our window so every time daddy went to the truck they waved to him.








After a few hiccups in the morning and a very irritated mommy, we were finally off, only 30 min behind Nick. I thought for sure we'd catch up to him, but we didn't. We arrived about 10 min behind him when we stopped in La Grande, OR for gas....had to load up on gas before we hit the Blue Mountains (although I didn't realized until we got there that going to WA we go down hill over the blue mountains...not up...thankfully...that sure helped with gas mileage in the truck!!!

We left daddy in La Grande and got about a 5 min head start towards Portland. I took pictures again along the way and got more and more excited as we got closer and things started looking familiar to me...the beautiful trees, the hills, the Columbia River, and the "toilet paper trees". lol. It was like heaven driving through there again and knowing that we were going back to stay, not just to visit!!! :-)





The kids were a bit more active this day on the drive and Preston was a little stinker...touching Ashleigh, bugging her, whining, etc...It drove me nuts, so we stopped at a couple of "view points" so I could let the kids out and I made them run around for a few minutes to get their energy out...didn't work! :-(


The one place I knew I wanted to stop at before we made it to Vancouver was Multnomah Falls. It was always such an impressive waterfall growing up and I knew the kids would enjoy seeing it. Daddy arrived about 15 minutes after we did and we got to enjoy the falls all together as a family. The variety of people and the energy there made me feel instantly right at home! I love Portland! :-)



And then....we arrived. :-) and my camera battery died....so I haven't taken any pictures, except with my cell phone since we arrived 4 days ago! lame... Overall it was a FUN/busy/intense/sad/exciting move from Utah to Washington. We miss our families, but we are happy to be home.

Moving Day

Moving day started early on Thursday April 14th. We got up, ran a few errands and got our Penske truck. Nick started loading up boxes while I kept boxing things up in the house. We make a good team! Preston even wanted to help... :-)



Preston and Ashleigh helped load boxes and then Nick gave them boxes and they would push them to the front of the truck. It was so cute to watch them wanting to be SO helpful!
Quinn came over first and jumped right in and helped. She was a HUGE help to Nick especially, helping him move all the big heavy things from the house to the truck! I was so impressed by her strength and dedication! I know Nick really really appreciated her hard work!!!

She also helped the kids set up a Powerade stand where they tried to sell them for 50c each! It was so cute and I was so surprised to see how much money they actually made! (Picture with Preston's friend Colton)





Full room....
Empty room...

Mama Call came over and so did my mom and dad and Tamsen with her kiddos. :-) I was so happy to see them all and to have their help!!! Everyone did so great helping where they were needed and doing some heavy moving. What a blessing it was to have all their help and we thoroughly appreciated it!!!




Randy came over soon thereafter and helped Nick organize the truck so that everything fit well inside and so that it would be evenly distributed to get the best gas mileage. He was all business, as Nick was, and they got things moved and loaded up quickly! I was very impressed!


After we said our sad good-bye's and everyone left, we settled in for the night on our make shift "bedroom" for the night and the kids had a sleepover in Preston's room. Nick and I slept horribly on this hard mattress, but hey, it was 1 night, thankfully, and after such a long day, we were just happy to have a bed to sleep in. ;-)