Antelope Island

On Saturday we packed our backpacks and headed off to Antelope Island. Antelope Island is the largest island in the Great Salt Lake. You can drive over a causeway to get to hit and there are hiking trails, picnic spots and even an old ranch from the 19th century. We went for a two hour hike up a little hill that overlooked the ranch and the lake. We could see Salt Lake City from just a little ways up the hill. We ran across buffalo, antelope and lots of lizards. Addy wasn't so sure about the backpack at first, but after about 25 minutes she stopped fussing about it. She ended up really liking it and getting really giggly. Thanks Logsteds for the backpack! What a great gift! Here's a little video of pictures of our first adventure in Salt Lake City.

Addy's already starting to do her share of the chores around here. Here she was 'helping' me with the laundry. She's so much fun!

We've had quite a few days 'off' her schedule and even though she's been a trooper, she's slept really hard lately. I was trying to wake her up in this picture and she just refused! :)

Brad's been busy with work but when he's with us, he's fully engaged! This is Addy's outfit compliments of Brad. :) He says it really did match. . . hmm. Either way, Addy adores her Daddy and stops whatever she's doing to focus on him.

We have our home inspections this week and Brad continues to have meetings with his new supervisor team. Thanks for your prayers and enjoy your week!

Under contract & Addy's 7 mo birthday!

Well, we've received some mixed reactions about the house we've purchased, but here it is. I don't have interior pictures yet because I forgot to take any pictures when we were there and it's no longer on the MLS. It is just south of I-80 and the great park called Sugar House Park. I walked there today with Addy and she enjoyed watching the geese and seagulls. Anyway, the house is 3 bed, 1.75 bath with a HUGE 3 car garage. It's probably bigger than the house. :) It is owned by Mr. & Mrs. Crabtree and they apparently have great pride in their home because it's in amazing condition for a 1937 bungalow. The yard is bigger than our last yard by about 4 times (so not too much weeding to do but room for a garden and a compost pile. . . Brad's excited!). It doesn't have a white picket fence but the porch has that white banister thing so I think the Blog will survive as being 'behind the white picket fence.' Whew! I have no idea how to change a blog to a new name. It's a cute little house with some strange 'old' house features like you feel like you're in Alice in Wonderland's shrinking room when you go into the laundry room in the basement, but Brad thinks that will disqualify him from doing laundry so he's fine with it. And for any guests who come to visit, the guest bedroom will be on the main level with plenty of ceiling height so no one will worry about bonking heads on low duct work. :) Oh, old homes. How did people live in 850 sq. ft. with 4 kids back in 1937?! We're glad we have a basement!



We hardly have to do any work to the house because it was completely remodeled in the mid 90's. So with a little paint (and possible refinishing/replacing the original hardwoods that are under the carpet on the main level) we'll be ready to move in in early June. Hopefully the inspection process goes smoothly. We'd appreciate your prayers for that because Mrs. Crabtree is a bit hesitant to have us remove the basement toilet to have the sewer line scoped. Hmm. . .
Addy is doing very well in our little furnished apartment. She's so 'go with the flow' she puts me to shame! :) She's sleeping great (13 hours at night and 4 hours in the day!) and is really showing signs of wanting to crawl. She's mastered the nose-dive from her sitting position to being on her tummy when she loses the ability to hold herself up anymore reaching for something. She still pretty much lands on her face but she doesn't cry about it anymore. She's so darn cute!

This is her new 'avocado face' for any of you who saw her reaction to avocados before. They are her favorite green food now followed by peas. She'd skip green beans altogether if she could but I think once I figure out how to make them a little more smooth she'll be fine with them. She's still doing well learning her table manners (keeping her hands in her lap when I feed her and not spitting out her food in my face) and she likes it when I sing to her during her meals. She hasn't quite learned 'all done' sign language but she politely turns her head to the side and clamps her mouth shut pretty good (most of the time)! She's almost totally given up the whining to let me know she's done! Thank goodness she understands 'Mama said no whine!' That was driving me crazy!

Addy enjoys books and now she's starting to like the ones she can play with by herself. This is a castle book she got from her Great Aunt Zana. She thinks it's a great chew toy and luckily it has such bright colors that the sweet potato spit up blends right in!

This is a video of Addy 'chewing.' She started doing it the other day after watching me eat my lunch. Hmm.

We'd appreciate your prayers for Brad's job and our search for a church. 'It's on' now at work and Brad's starting to feel the weight of the task ahead of him. He didn't sleep too well last night and he literally jumped out of bed at 3:45am this morning to start his day. Also, there aren't very many options for a church near where we live. Please pray we'll find a community of believers we can grow with. Thanks!

We hope you all are doing well and enjoying spring. We'd love to hear from you!

The Big Move!

Well, We're in Salt Lake City. We had a great drive from Denver to Gunnison Wednesday night and then a really long but pretty drive from Gunnison to Salt Lake on Friday. We enjoyed a day in between the drives to relax and nap. It was really nice to have the help of my parents (and to have Dad drive the whole way from Gunnison to SLC!).

The apartment we're renting is furnished nicely and they have a weekly cleaning service! Yay! I still have a bit of organizing to do to figure out how to make it home but it's going to be a nice place to spend a few months while we look for a house.

This morning was Addy's first Easter and we visited a local Christian church. Addy had her first experience in the nursery and she did great (after only about a 30 min morning nap!). She played with the toys and watched the other toddlers run around.

After church we had lunch with my Aunt Deb and Uncle Scott at the Garden Cafe at the Grand America Hotel in downtown. Wow! There were even chandeliers in the bathroom stalls! The food was amazing and Addy joined us with some avocado and squash. She didn't make it all the way through lunch though, she sacked out on my shoulder. I know I'm partial but she is darn cute!

Mom and Dad just left so we're working on getting settled. Brad is gearing up for starting his new job tomorrow and I'm gearing up for a good lonely cry. :) We're having a hard time believing that we live here . . . It's going to be quite an adventure and we have a lot to learn about the local culture and way of life.

Thanks for your prayers. Please pray that we'd find a church home and a house soon. Also, please pray for wisdom for Brad in his new role and for a surge of extroversion for me! :)

Enjoy our video of our move.

Beyond the White Picket Fence. . .

Well, it's official, we're no longer Denver residents living behind the white picket fence. We left Denver yesterday on our way to Salt Lake City. The movers packed up all our stuff to put in storage and we're checking into a furnished apartment in Salt Lake Friday night.

Addy has done well with the transitions and upsets and she has reached another major milestone! She is going 12 hours between feedings at night! She eats at 7pm and not again until 7am! It has been perfect timing for that because I'm so tired and busy that this allows me to go to bed a little earlier. She's continuing to eat new foods (squash, avocado, green beans, and peas) and she's doing really well. She's enjoying playing with her grandparents in Gunnison on our way to SLC.

Addy has her own highchair at home that she loves but she wasn't too sure about the one at the Brown Burro in Fairplay! It was a little big.

This isn't quite the right face but Addy has this new grin that she makes by sticking her chin in the air and smiling. She's imitating her daddy smiling at her. :) She loves her daddy!

Thanks for your prayers. Brad starts his new job Monday and he's got his work cut out for him. All this while we work on the details of moving and finding a place to live. Please continue to pray that we would find a church and a community of friends in SLC. We miss our Denver friends already.

Avacado!

So, food #2 was less successful for the Addy Paddy. Check out this funny video of Addy's first taste of Avacados! She's not a fan yet but we're determined! Oh, and by the way, Addy finally rolled over!

BIG Week!

Last week was a big week! Addy had her 6 month check up and she weighed 16lb 6 oz (45%) and was 27 inches long (95%). The Dr. gave the all clear to start real solid foods (besides just rice cereal) and Addy only cried for about 1/2 second when she got her shot. The nurses were really entertaining her so she didn't even really notice when they stuck her.

Saturday we had our going away/birthday party. We had over 30 people show up with tons of food and we had a great time catching up and saying goodbye. It was such a whirlwind that I forgot to get the camera out to take any pictures. :( We're really going to miss our Denver friends! Thanks to everyone for coming!

Sunday we went under contract on our Denver house (yay!) and gave Addy Paddy pureed acorn squash. She LOVED it! Below is a video of her eating it.

We have a week left in Denver before we head to Salt Lake City. We'd appreciate your prayers for. . . everything!

6 months old!

Addy turned 6 months old this last weekend! Wow! It's hard to believe so much time has passed since she joined our family. She is such a blessing! Her favorite song is Patty Cake (although we sing it Paddy Cake since we call her Addy Paddy!) and she laughs all the way through it! She's practically jumping out of her skin trying to get at our food and she continues to grow like a weed! And yes, her hair looks like that all the time, it's not static.

Addy is experimenting with new faces and sounds. She's discovered what we're calling the 'fit face.' I thought I would share it with you because not only is it very unique, you can see her little bottom teeth! She makes this face when she gets really tired. Unfortunately that has been happening a lot lately with all that's going on and with us trying to cut her back from 3 naps to 2 so she'll sleep past 4am! It is working but the only way to get through the evening without the fit face or whining is to get out for a walk. Thank the Lord for warm sunny weather!

We've been busy! We have our house on the market, we've been back to Salt Lake City house hunting, we have a going away party planned for Saturday and we move to SLC for good on April 1st!

Although we didn't find a house during our trip to SLC, it was a success because we had a good time, Addy did great (even being tired, teething, constipated and having fluid behind her eardrums!), the weather was fabulous and we think we know where in the city we want to live. We're 99% sure we're giving up our white picket fence though. :(

Brad continues to have fun being Addy Paddy's Daddy. We crack up that she is so easy going (she must have gotten that from Brad!) because it doesn't matter what you do to her, she just goes with the flow! This is Brad's favorite thing to do with Addy and he's been doing it for months but he's added a new element lately where he lets her free fall into a cradle position. She loves it! Cheap entertainment that travels well.

We stayed in a hotel all week and Addy had the loft all to herself! She even had her own bathroom and she really did enjoy every bit of it!

Thankfully after a week of house hunting (and a full day of it before flying home Friday!) Addy had her own seat on the plane and she was much happier being able to wiggle and sit up on her own.

We'd appreciate your prayers for all the upcoming logistics: Brad starting his new job, finding a house to buy, selling our house, finding temporary housing in SLC, starting real food with Addy and all the logistics with the move. Thank you!