In Utah Without Brian

Well I have been in Utah now for a week and a half and I feel bad that I haven't taken very many pictures or put up a post for Brian to see pictures of his kids. So I figured I would take some pictures and send them off to him and let everyone else see them as well.

Saturday we got some snow so I decided to dress the kids up warm and let them see how they like snow. This is more snow then they have ever seen at once. Lizzie wasn't very fond of it however today she was much happier to walk in it.

Jamie on the other hand didn't seem to mind the snow much at all, even if his gloves don't stay on. He even complained when I picked him up or tried to convince him not to touch it.

The kids have gotten really good at climbing the stairs in the few weeks that we have been in the states and they have had stairs in the house to climb on. So I wanted to take a video for Brian to see just how good they are getting at it, sadly the lighting isn't very good so it isn't the best video, but it is still a cute one.

While we have been here we have gotten to help my mom decorate for Christmas. Much of the decorating of the tree I have missed out on as I have busied myself with going through some things that I have been storing here at my parents. Lizzie however has gotten to help quite a bit. Today I actually got to watch her help and it was so cute that I had to take some pictures of here puting on some ornaments.

I even took a video of it because she was being so cute.

After dinner I got a few other cute pictures of the kids that I thought I would throw in, just because they are smiling and cute.

Well we are enjoying being here in Utah, even though we do greatly miss Brian and are happy that he will be coming a day earlier then we thought he would be, Yea!!!! I have been through all 20 or so boxes that I have been in storage at my parents house and have thrown out about 6 boxes of paper and other unusable stuff as well as I have four overflowing boxes to take to DI of thinks that people may actually want or that could be used by others. Who knew i was storing so much junk. The good news is that it wasn't all junk and I do still have about 10 or so boxes of books and other memories/photos that I felt it was important to keep.

I have also been to able see all of my family that lives here, and I hope to be able to see much more of my family and many friends before we leave on the 1st of January.

Thanksgiving at Topsail Island

This year we were able to join the Hunters on their Thanksgiving Week Get Away. We went to a little island off of the coast of North Carolina called Topsail Island. It was great to spend the week with family, very limited internet access, and overlooking the ocean. The first day there(Monday the 24th) Lizzie wanted very little to do with the water or the sand and when we took her out to the beach she insisted on being carried. The second day (Tuesday) we got her involved in building a sand castle with everybody and she remembered that she likes playing in the sand and got use to the sound of the water. Jamie liked the beach but had a bit of a cold so I had to dress him up warm to take him outside.

Here are the kids playing.

And here is the sand castle with all of it's helpers. (The house we stayed in is in the background.)

Here is a cute picture of Jamie and his cousin Mathew, playing with a cooler.

Brian got to get a little fishing in and even cought the first fish of the trip (and the biggest, of course).

Thanksgiving morning I woke up early (meaning before the kids woke me up) and noticed that the sun was just rising. I got up and went outside to watch the sun rise and had the opportunity, as it was Thanksgiving, to think of all the many things that I had to be thankful for. It was nice to have that quite time to remember how truely blessed I am. The picture below is from Friday when I was again awoken by the beautiful colors outside, there were clouds on Friday which made the sunrise more beautiful and Lizzie got up to join me in watching it. It had been a very long time since I have watched a sunrise. I saw Wednesday's to but that was because someone had woken me up. I love sunrises the beauty of them and the peace of the morning.

This Thanksgiving the Hunters again ran their traditional Turkey Trot. Lizzie was able to perticipate in her first ever race and finished.

Here are all kids who ran the race!!! Great job kids!!!

And here is Brian finishing the race. Good Job Brian!!!

As for me I didn't run!!!

Brian also got to play a little football which gave him more respect for the game (and some sore muscles).

By the end of our time there Lizzie had decided that she did like the beach, as long as her shoes were on, and she even got pretty close to the water. She still got scared when it came so close to her, I guess she didn't want to get her feet wet, just like her father.

On Friday I felt that Jamie was feeling well enough to see how he likes the water. I found he is a boy after my own heart and he loved playing in the waves and getting his feet wet.

Just look at this kids smile.

It was so cute watching him play in the water and him walking out there that I had Brian take a movie of him. Here is Jamie jumping waves, before he can even walk.

Well we had a great time in this beautiful location and with the wonderful people that we are so blessed to be related to.

Thanks for making Thanksgiving a time to be very thankful for this year!!

Promise Land Here We Come

Well we have done it!!!

We have left the Mother Land for the Promise Land!!!

Our journey was much easier then those in times past, planes are much nicer to travel in then boats!!

It also helped that we had some sleepy kids who slept much of the way.

It was a crazy last day of packing before heading for the plane, we didn't even have time to clean the place up besides getting all of our garbage out. After an eight hour plane ride we arrived in New York in the middle of the night our time and the kids were very happy to get more sleep, until 5 in the morning. After a week of waking up before 7 then have finally adjusted to the time zone and today they even slept in till 9. That goes to show how much we tired them out over Thanksgiving.

Up to our Necks

Well it has been a while since I have given an up date and well this picture might just help you know why.

It has been a crazy few weeks as we have been getting ready to move. We packed all of our own boxes, so it took a lot of time and work and here is the end result from last night.

All of our boxes ready to be picked up early this morning. Crazy. Then again it hasn't been the easiest living in a house full of boxes either. Here are some pictures of the main last push of Saturday when Brian was home to help and much of the work got done.

Behind Lizzie is all of the stuff from the bathroom that Brian pulled out to clean it. Now we just need to take a lot of trips to the charity shops near by and pack our suitcases. Then we will be boarding a plane tomorrow evening to come home for good!!!!

We have also had many good times. Last Saturday we went to dinner at our landlords which was very nice.

Then on Sunday the wonderful Stamp family had us over for some of the best food ever!!! I have always loved home cooked Italian food.

Then this Friday we had dinner with my dear Ruth and her dad. I will miss those good English roast dinners.


Sunday we had a munch and mingle after church, with a great spread. It was wonderful. A previous bishop and his family happened to be there that Sunday as well.

As were others who I love. many others, but just thought I would add this one more picture.


I will very much miss the people in this ward and the great friendship and sisterhood that is here.

Monday night we had some friends over for dinner who were unable to make it on Sunday. We were happy to get to see the Peels again one more time in England. Even Lizzie warmed up to them.

So that has been our craziness. Hopefully we can just make it a little bit longer and get everything finished up before we need to get on a plane tomorrow.

I just wanted to end with this cute video of Jamie. I have began to notice how cute he is when he eats and just had to take a video of it. This shows more of just how cute he is in general, but oh well at least you will be able to tell that he is still cute.

Jamie Update!!!

I just wanted to give an update on Jamie. We took him to the doctor today and the doctor said that he hadn't had measles, as his rash is already fading. The doctor also said that his breathing sounded good. So basically it was all good news and besides finishing the antibiotic he is off all other meds!!!! Great news for us here!!!!
I also should mention that I packed one box today, yea!!!

Jamie Turns 1 year old

Well this week has been another crazy one. Just after I posted the blog last week Jamie started getting sick again. Tuesday I took him back to the doctors and was given some advice as to how to get him through this and a prescription for some antibiotics, in case if his fever got worse. Otherwise the advice was just to have him back on the inhalers.

Wednesday, he started to get a bit of a rash on his face and his fever was still staying high, no matter what I did. So we started him on the antibiotics. Thursday the rash moved to all over his body. Also on Thursday our boxes arrived for us to fill for our big move. And someone who just moved into the ward came over to get a bunch of the stuff we are clearing out, what a relief. Thursday was a very exciting day because all so that day Ebay started a week and a half of it costing 5p to put on an auction item no matter what the starting cost is. What great timing for us!!!! So away I went listing things on Ebay.

By Friday, Jamie was acting and feeling much better, but he still had this ugly looking rash all over. I on the other had stopped being able to stand well do to some pain in my lower back. It was a very hard afternoon. And I had even bought the ingredients to make a Halloween treat and couldn't stand to do it.

Saturday, was Jamie's Birthday!!!!! We had a very slow morning and then after lunch Brian decided to take Jamie in to see a doctor about the rash. He came back 3 hours later with a stronger inhaler and the news that the rash might be eczema or it could be measles. So now we need to take him to the doctor again on Monday so that he can be tested for measles. Poor guy that is no way to spend a birthday.

We then had a great pizza dinner and then brought out the birthday treat. (I had hoped to make a cake but again I must blame my back and my obsession with Ebay that I didn't get it made. I did have some times during the day when my back didn't feel to bad so that was a great relief.) So here is Jamie with his birthday treat of Belgium waffle, berries, ice cream and marshmallows.

Here he is blowing out the candle. I don't know many one year olds who can blow out their own candle, I am so very impressed with him. (Brian didn't tell me till later that he actually blew out the candle, I just thought all of the practice that we had been giving him paid off.)

The marshmallows were a little big for him!!

Brian came up with a great way to get the kids to look at the camera while he was recording.

We were shocked at how much Jamie ate, he ate almost as much as Brian or I can handle. We did end up cutting it into small pieces so that he could eat it.

Chocolate cake shows up much nicer for the messiness, but here is the end results all the same. (You may notice all of the red dots on his skin that is the rash that we have been worried about.)

Then, of course, the clean up operation. Lizzie was a big help!!!

Here is a cute picture of Brian and the Kids!!!!

And here they are laying around with me as I have been doing a lot of that lately.

I mention that on Thursday we had some boxes arrive as you might guess they are still folded up and empty, but we do have 20 things listed on Ebay.

Today was the first time that I have had to fast in 2 and a half years. It was kind of nice. We sadly only remember right before breakfast but it was easy to think of what to fast for. I was also released today. Sadly also we left right after Sacrament meeting because of the point that Jamie might have the measles and we probably shouldn't have taken him to church at all, but I didn't want any of us to have to miss it again.

Well that has been our week. Oh yea it has also been very cold so we haven't wanted to get out much, good combination with a sick kido. Well love you all!! It is lat and we are now going to bed!!!

Snow in October

Snow in London is such a rare occasion that every time it has happened in the over three and a half years that we have been here I have taken a picture. This week it snowed again. We noticed it snowing before we went to bed and this is what we woke up to. It was so cold that there was even a little bit of snow left the next morning.

The newsman said that he couldn't remember it snowing in London in October and he could remember 20 years ago when it snowed around London in October. I just tell you that so you can realize how rare of an occasion this particular snow fall is.