Tuesday morning we headed to the Tanners. The kids loved playing with Austin and Rowan, playing outside on the playground and toys, and taking rides in the 'Rhino'. They all got along so well together. I wish we lived closer so the kids could play more often. Again, we loved visiting with Grandma and Grandpa, sharing stories and memories.
We left Wednesday morning for Grandma Hiller's home. As an added bonus, Kristie and Lilah drove up to spend the day with us there. It was fun to see Grandma again, she's such an entertaining sweet lady. The boys loved Grandma's yard as always. I especially loved watching Emily and Lilah play together. They get cuter and cuter together the older they get. I'm really sad they won't get to see each other as much, but we'll take what we can get. We had a yummy dinner together that night and then said goodbye to Kristie and Lilah & gave hugs to Grandma who had her early temple session in the morning.
Thursday morning we got everything packed, and bathed kids. I was lucky to squeeze in a quick run, and then we were off to see Grandma Forman. Our original plans of taking her to lunch ended up not working out because our schedule changed- we were sad about that. But we were so happy we were able to see her, even for a quick visit. She looked as beautiful and radiant as ever. The kids enjoyed seeing 'Sister Forman' with her missionary tag, and we were able to take a couple pictures with the temple in the background. We sure love her and were glad we could see her.
From there we started our long drive. The kids did well- fortunately they're seasoned travelers. The only mishap we had along the trip was at one stop. We stopped to fill up with gas and get the kids some ice cream cones. Matthew wasn't paying attention very well, and walked RIGHT through a new section of concrete that had just been poured and smoothed. I had seen the guy finishing up right before I ran in to the gas station. Matthew had wet concrete all over his legs up to his knees & up to his elbows when he had fallen down. It was pretty bad. I looked at Jeff, speechless, then we just started busting up. I felt bad, but it was just too funny. Fortunately, we were able to get him cleaned up- and luckily the guy still had more concrete work to do, so he just re-smoothed the area and it wasn't a big deal. I'm a little sad now that I didn't take a picture, but at the time I didn't really want to bring any more attention to the situation.
The kids played, read, talked and laughed, and slept. They were happy to have a dvd player too. We wanted to make the drive as quickly as possible, so we just drove straight through without stopping other than to fill-up, and one stop for a stranded traveler*. We arrived about 4:30 on Friday morning- where Jeff realized the garage door pad wasn't working, so we drove around to try and find a battery at a gas station, then when we got back he realized he just hadn't been entering the code right. We finally got in, got kids in bed (our movers even set up our beds- thank heavens!) and we crawled into bed about 5:30am. It was nice to be home!
It worked out that we had exactly two weeks between our moving day and Jeff's first day of work. So we were able to spend a whole week enjoying time with family. A week goes by much faster than anyone wanted, but we did have a lot of fun together.
One night, we got together at the Stevens for a dinner/birthday celebration for Aunt Amy. It was fun to get together with cousins. Jeff even picked up a pinata to celebrate Cinco de Mayo. (more pics to come later)
One night we left the kids with babysitters, (Scott & Amanda have some fabulous ones!), and had a bowling date night for the adults. I love that our families are such great friends- it's fun to go all together.
Saturday morning we went to the park to enjoy some tennis. The kids enjoyed playing on the playground. Matthew & Gideon also enjoyed 'watering' all the surrounding plants- seriously, I don't know where those boys learn their shenanigans!
We also had a belated birthday celebration for Emily. She had fun opening presents. Mom and I found some cute outfits for her when we went on a quick girls shopping trip. My favorite present, however, was the darling little purse and bracelets my mom found for Emily. She loved them!
We're sure going to miss spending time with our families, but I'm glad we were able to spend the week with them.
April 30th was not only the end of the month, it also meant the close of another chapter in our lives. The movers came that Saturday and finished their work early on Monday morning. I won't lie, I didn't do much in the regards of packing. For the first time in our lives (and 15 moves) Jeff's new employer paid for movers and it was bliss! Usually I'm working like crazy, staying up many nights until early morning trying to get everything finished. This time I played outside with the kids enjoying the sunshine while the movers worked their magic. The only thing I had to do was pack suitcases and clean our home afterwards. I was feeling a little guilty, but I did feel better when they told us ours was one of the easiest moves they'd ever done- probably because we don't have much.
There are so many things I will miss about living here. Even though I'm looking forward to being a new home that we own, we are all going to miss our cute rental home. We have a lot of happy memories here.
And I know this sounds horribly vain, but I'm really going to miss my closet! Our master bedroom had dual closets, so I had this massive walk-in closet all to myself! It was so nice to have plenty of room for everything. When we get to our new home we'll have to share a closet again, but it was fun while it lasted. (Just excuse the mess- after getting back from our trip and knowing the movers were coming to box everything up, I just stacked the packed items on the shelves rather than putting them away)
Driving away Monday night, I snapped a couple pictures along the highway. It wasn't the most gorgeous place on earth, but it was beautiful to us. I'll miss the beautiful farm country, the dry sunny weather, and wide open country setting.
The Easter Bunny finally made it to our house the Saturday after Easter Sunday, since we were out of town the Saturday before Easter. The kids didn't mind waiting though, and I have a feeling the Easter bunny scored some serious deals on baskets & treats. 
Saturday afternoon, we went outside to play and enjoy the beautiful 70 degree day until it was time to go pick Jeff up at the airport. And yes, I am loving my sweet little girl and all the fun things that come with her- the clothes, the shoes, the bracelets, and the pig tails! I love it!
