That being said, I am very excited to start a new chapter of our life!
Kasey flew to Erie, PA for the week right before our move - he didn't even get in the door when he pulled up in front of our house before we had to go get our uhaul. I had been packing feverishly all month and had everything pretty much ready to put on the truck besides the last few odds and ends. I also had packed our camper FULL of belongings just to save some time and space. It was surreal having that monster parked outside our house knowing that we were leaving in just a couple days. Isla's 4th birthday was our actual moving day, so we had dinner on Saturday to celebrate with my mom and Rod; we wanted to meet him because they were getting serious and since then they have gotten engaged! Congratulations to the two of them! Saturday night we all slept on Adiee's bunkbed... Now that was interesting - 3 kids on top, mom and dad on bottom. Needless to say, it wasn't the best night sleep we've ever had. We (meaning my mom, Brittney, and myself) cried until it was time for us to leave, the Brown's hit the road around 4 in the afternoon. I was extremely nervous pulling the camper behind me, since I had never done it before. Not to mention that it was very heavy with all of the boxes I had stashed in there, and the road construction at the beginning of our drive made the roads narrower than usual. I got comfortable with it after a while, and our trip was pretty uneventful, just straight through besides a quick stop when I saw the tires smoking from our kayak trailer which was from a kayak paddle that had wedged itself between the boards and rubbed on the tire; and a stop for gas and dinner in Evanston.
We arrived in Kaysville around 11 pm. Which actually was really nice since the traffic was minimal and I was navigating the freeway as a first-time camper puller (haha)... We got a room at the Hampton near Kasey's new office and dropped the animals off. We then took the uhaul, kayak trailer, and the camper and dropped it all off at our new house. We had the hotel for 3 days, while we unpacked. Our new neighbors were so helpful and a bunch of them came to help us unload the moving truck without hesitation. Another neighbor brought us dinner while we were moving... Neighbor kids wanted to have ours over to their house to play and while I didn't let them to leave my side, it was still a thoughtful gesture. It was definitely something out of the movies and something we weren't used to. Lots of space, fantastic yard, wonderful people, tons of things to do, gorgeous mountains... It didn't take any time at all for us to fall in love!
October 3rd: One of the most exciting days ever was followed soon after with one of the worst. Our dog, Sara, had to be put down. It was something we needed to do for a long time, but just couldn't bring ourselves to do it. She had hip dysplasia and we knew from the time she was a puppy that she was going to have problems; she was built differently - she had a thick trunk and short stubby legs that just weren't designed to carry around that much weight. After an afternoon walking around on the mountain, and a camping trip later we knew it was time. We rescued her from the pound only 7 years ago, when Kasey and I decided that Pete needed a friend. Now I don't know what planet you'd have to be on to make sense of that decision but Pete had spent some time outside when he was a pup because I had a brand new baby and little patience, he was driving me nuts and then I felt bad for him... We fell in love with Sara the second we saw her - she was so sad and lonely in that little cage, soaked in her own urine, and we couldn't leave that awful place without her. As soon as we brought her home, we gave her a bath and she seemed to come alive when we set her down to play with Pete. She was protective and loving. We miss her so much.
We spent her last day with us at a park all afternoon, and had her ashes spread on the mountain.
I baked Isla her birthday cake to her exact specifications... Chocolatey chocolate cake, strawberry frosting and chocolate sprinkles. I can't believe our youngest is already 4.
Mikenna and Adiee went to their first day at their new school the next Monday. They are wonderful teachers! I love everything about their new school - their teachers and the challenging curriculum is exactly what I was looking for! I don't know why, but I was extremely sad when I dropped them off, it was like the first day of kindergarten for both of them all over again... I missed them like CRAZY!
We spent an entire Saturday at "Scary Hill" which is just Halloween at Cherry Hill. It was awesome! We played a couple rounds of mini golf, kiddie maze, hamster haven, and climbed the rock wall.
We did everything there was to do during the day, went to dinner, then home and waited for it to be dark. We went back and re-did everything plus the haunted tractor ride. So much fun!
Another weekend, we went to Thanksgiving Point with my grandparents and my aunt and uncle who live down in West Jordan. I couldn't believe that I forgot our camera so the few pictures I have were taken with my iPhone. Bummer. But I think I got some good ones, and the memories are what really count right? We did some shopping, walking around, and went to the petting zoo. They got to pet all kinds of animals, feed the birds, ride ponies, face paint, wagon ride, games, and they even got to milk a cow! Funny story, we had just left the indoor area where they had a display about eggs. Adiee was pretty interested in all of it, then we went outside and there was a very pregnant pigmy goat and she says, "That must be a very big egg!" It was hilarious. I love how sweet and innocent they are!
Another weekend, we squeezed in Black Island Farms in Syracuse. This was the first time the girls and I had ever done a corn maze... We wandered around for a couple hours; Isla wasn't too fond of it because she knew that there was a scary part, and was convinced that we were going to go run into it.
Grain Chute!
Mikenna and Adiee buying us some bottled water!
ADORABLE!
Halloween costume dress rehearsal! Mikenna is 'Clawdine Wolf' she has the monster high doll and that was the one and only thing she wanted to be. Adiee was a 'Kitty Witch' and beautiful as always! And Isla was a cupcake baker/princess. Pretty dang cute if I do say so myself!
The weather was beautiful, in the 50's or higher so they didn't have to wear coats that covered up their costumes (I carried their jackets just in case if temps dropped or if someone got cold). I also had to jog to keep up with them in the beginning they were so excited! I was so sad that Kasey missed this one - the neighborhood is so festive, I've never experienced anything quite like it! There were literally hundreds of kids and their parents out trick-or-treating, music, strobe lights, scary scenery, fog machines... The whole 9 yards! The girls and I put out a bowl of candy for trick or treaters while we were gone and when we got home the girls had a blast running to the door to pass out candy. Best Halloween Ever!!
To be continued...
