Random happenings

Random happenings. That's what our life has been made of here in St. George. We are tossed to and fro by the spontaneous opportunities that present themselves, and we thrive. 

Here's what's been happening with us lately..

SNOW CANYON.
The perfect place to condition your young kids for a life of adventure. We've loved exploring this place and taking the girls on small hikes. The girls love it, believe it or not. AddiLyn is awestruck every time we go, without fail. She loves the outdoors!
 I know Emma looks terrified in the picture below but she was actually really concentrated on putting her foot on Ryan's hand so he could pull her down. She's too brave for me to handle! She and Ryan are going to be serious hiking buddies when Emma is older.
Emma: "I'm a good hiker! I want climb like Daddy!"

Another very random happening I am choosing to include in this post: I cut the girls bangs... 

And I don't think I'll ever do it again. Emma looked in the mirror right afterward and said. "I'm a boy now. I really look like a boy." Doh! And AddiLyn's hair is curly so it takes a lot to get her hair to lay flat now. You live and you learn I guess!

Checking out the neighborhood. We have a seriously cool neighborhood. We are within walking distance to the library, an aquatic center, the elementary school (and the playgrounds) and near a bike path. Not to mention we have some great neighbors.

The Childrens Museum. 

If you are ever in ST. George and you have small kids, go to the Childrens Museum! It's so much fun and it's huge! It's a museum that is made just for kids fun and entertainment. We spent 4 hours there the first time we went. There's so much to do!

TRAVEL

I took a trip down to Idaho before we moved into our home. Emma is always begging me to take her to Idaho."I'm a Idaho girl. I live in Idaho!" AddiLyn did great there, she slept in my sisters room and didn't wake up once any of the nights. (Which rarely happens even when she has a room to herself.)

And last but not least we went up north to visit my dearest friend, Chelsea! It was so fun watching our girls play together, they are such sweet kindred spirits. And AddiLyn has been betrothed to Chelsea's son, Adam. Let it be written. Let it be so.

But seriously, there is something magical about watching your daughter become true friends (and so easily!) with your best friends daughter. It's like watching the stars in your life align and you see that this is simply how it is supposed to be. Love it! Life is good!

Thanksgiving 2015

So for thanksgiving this year I convinced my family to come to St George to visit us! We had it all planned out but then our kitchen got ripped out of our house quite unexpectedly. 

Which put a damper on things. 

So we called off the visit. I was super sad about it but someday they WILL come! Even if I have to go over there and pick them up myself! But I digress. Back to thanksgiving. 

So we spent thanksgiving at the Johnson home! It was so much fun. I married into a seriously great group of people! 

I enjoy cooking in a kitchen packed full of women chatting and laughing. So much fun! 

Aunt Cheryl and aunt Ruth came to our house and decorated it. Yeah, it's true, they really love us.

Anyways, here's one of the tables set up. We sat at the young folk table, we don't quite qualify to sit at the old folk table yet. ;) 

And this is the only picture we have of the whole weekend! Sad. No pictures of the delicacies made that day. No pictures of our hike. Or anything else. Oh well. It was a wonderful day spent with wonderful people! Life is good.

Pivotal Moments

Quick update!

We've moved to St. George, Utah!

After our visit this summer we were prompted to move. 

The week after we got back to Texas we put the house up for sell. It went under contract in less than 24 hours! We did not expect that but we were thrilled. So the end of September rolled around and we packed up and moved. We were initially expecting to build but found that it wasn't the best fit for us once we got to St. George. So we proceeded with house hunting while living with mom and dad Johnson. 

We were blessed enough to find a beautiful home in Santa Clara. To say I'm excited about it all is an understatement. Im so grateful for the inspiration that brought us to the point of finding something so perfect on our budget (price of living here ain't cheap!) 

We were about to settle for something we didn't love in an area we didn't like because our offers kept getting rejected. Then we  decided to turn it over to God. We asked to be led to where we as a family would be happiest and where we could serve those around us. And the next day we looked into Santa Clara, opposite side of the city we were originally thinking. We'd never been and just figured we'd check it out. And wow did we love it! 

Then we found our house in a great area. And we put in an offer (for exponentially lower than listed) with little to no hope of getting it. It hadn't been on the market for long so why would they settle? The sellers listing agent wanted to know details about us as people and as a family. It was unusual. We found out the next day they had received other offers much higher than ours.

But they accepted ours!!

It was such a blessing and it's been so surreal. We are so grateful to Heavenly Father for the guidance and tender mercies He's shown us.

In all aspects. 

This move has already proven to be an improvement. Ryan is doing well with the new situation. He never complained in Texas about anything but when he would talk about his day I could tell it wasn't the best situation. He's in more of a teaching setting now and comes home in better spirits and more motivated (even if it's late). 

Me and the girls are loving the idea of being closer to my family. They've already planned out a little road trip for this month, of course. I wouldn't settle for anything less ;) 

Life is good!

Summer in fast foward

So I got back to Texas from Idaho, and 3 weeks later we were on a plane headed to Utah!

 What? That's right. While I was gone partying it up in Idaho Ryan  got a little burnt out and was ready to get out of Texas too. I wasn't complaining about more vacation time, woohoo!

So we went up to Snowbird. We stayed in a beautiful timeshare nestled in a valley surrounded by mountainous terrain. It was for the Hutchings family reunion.

Don't mind me haha. I was so stressed out! We were at the top of the ferris wheel and AddiLyn kept trying to climb out. 

I'm sad I didn't take more pictures. I was on a phone/media fast and never had my phone on me. It was a fun week. We hiked, went to Lagoon, spent time with family, spent a day going on rides that Snowbird provides,  went wedding dress shopping for Katie (she's going to be a stunning bride!) swam, and I learned some new things. I learned that my daughter is a true adventurer. She wanted to go on the roller coasters over and over again, she trekked up the mountain like it was no one's business and she just didn't want to ever stop. She wore herself right out. Addi was great on the alpine slide too, she laughed the whole way down. It was such a fun discovery! My girls are so fun to hang out with!
The week went by so fast!

The next week I spent in Idaho and Ryan went up to St. George to work. I was ecstatic I got the chance to spend more time up there!

She was so proud of her muddy legs.

AddiLyn wasn't quite as pleased with the mud.

We spent a lot of time just relaxing, talking, going on walks, going to the fair, my girls got really dirty almost every day, me and my sisters became a moped gang and drove around on mopeds at night, visiting grandparents, just doing what we do best!

And then we spent a week in St. George. Wowza. What a great week! St. George is a good time.
We kept busy the whole week swimming, hiking, riding horses, exploring caves and petrified sand dunes, and we didn't even do all there is to do up there. 

What a great summer, on the go full time. And it's not even over yet! 

Life is good.

Idaho shenanigans part 1

This winter left me needing some rejuvenation. Some concentrated TLC. A little excitement. It had been awhile since I'd seen my side of the family so I planned a trip for me and the girls to go up to Idaho for 3 weeks. I tried to convince Ryan to ditch work  and runaway with me, but him and his responsible self simply could not do that. He was a little (OK alot!) sad about me going without him but he knew more than anyone that I needed to get out of Texas for awhile.

So I packed up my sweet little babies and caravaned to St. George with my in-laws. (They've left the ranch, moving on to make fun memories somewhere else.)

We stayed at their new place for a few days to recover from the drive and then I trekked from St. George to Sugar City on my own with the girls. 

Crazzzyy. I only stopped once, but it was for a few hours with my absolute best friend in the entire world and her babies! Our babies bonded, we caught up, it was perfection. Consider this a shout out to my main woman Chelsea!! 

Anyways, I stayed with my grandparents for the first  week, which was so good.
 We all slept in the same room.  I thought it was going to be a disaster, both girls are such light sleepers. But guess what? We slept just fine. 

It was nice being at my grandparents place again. I have so many fond childhood memories there and I got to relive a lot of them. It was so meaningful that they welcomed me with open arms into their home. It left me feeling a little nostalgic for the days way back when!

Playing with the same toys I played with as a 3 year old. :)

The next week we went to a time share in island park and stayed there the whole week. I think this was my favorite part of the trip. It's such a beautiful place!

It was so refreshing being in the wilderness. It felt real. Raw. Untouched. And to make it even better I was with some of the people I love most! Just eating, relaxing and catching up. Emma and Addi got a lot of concentrated love and attention from a group of obsessed aunts. It was perfection.

The next week I felt like I was in fast motion, trying to get all the fun things in before I went back home. By the end of the week I was exhausted! 

Don't mind the nudity. My 3 year old sees any body of water and she strips down completely, no matter where we are! :)

It was such a wonderful trip. I wish I could write down every day in detail to prove how spoiled rotten we really were but that would simply take too long!

The trip was jam packed full of fun and ended way too soon. 

 I drove from Salem to Colorado by myself with the girls. It ended up being a 12 hour drive. The girls did great. I may or may not have  cried a lot on that drive...

 The only time the girls really cried during that whole drive is when they saw that I had been crying. Poor things don't see me cry very often, they didn't know how to take it.  I'm so close to my family and the farther I got from them the more my heart hurt! 

(Keep in mind, I wasn't expecting to see them again for at least a year or so since I was "expecting")

So with that frame of mind, I was a mess.

But I kept myself together enough to drive safely and get to Colorado.

I stayed in a scary grimey hotel that night and somehow managed not to get mugged or robbed so that was good. 

 The next day Ryan met me in Denver and he instantly made everything better. 

The drive from Denver to Texas was a breeze. I felt better being with my eternal companion once again! He said he's never letting me leave his side ever again. I'll have to take him along with me next time. :)

I'm grateful for the opportunity I had to be with my amazing family and see them bond with the girls. My dad especially hit it off with them. It made my heart so happy.

It was a such a good 3 weeks. I feel like it woke me up in more ways than one. Going back to your roots, your foundation, once in a while is good. 

Life is good.