Moving

I'm posting early because soon I will be gone from our new home in the basement of my in-laws off camping with Chris's best friends. I wanted to do a short feel of how it has been moving and being our of our first home together because it has been more of a big deal than I expected. Our moving day started with Chris going to his last final as I packed up the remainder of our possessions and had Claire running all over the place in a much more empty apartment than she is used to. When Chris got home, we packed up the trailer and truck we borrowed from his dad and my little car's trunk as well. The only things left out was a vacuum, broom, mop, garbage can, some cleaning rags, and a few things from the fridge to take with us. We went to our dentist appointments and when we got back Chris vacuumed the back rooms and left with the truck and trailer to start unloading in Blackfoot.

I finished the cleaning with help from Claire...haha not help exactly, but with the company of Claire for sure. I had our check out by the manager and headed straight to a graduation celebration at Texas Roadhouse, then headed to our new temporary home to set up a place to sleep for the night. The rest of this week has been unpacking a few things we will need for a few months and getting settled in of a sorts in the two rooms we have. I wasn't exactly excited about moving into our parent's basement for a few reasons, mainly the bad stereotype that comes with it and they aren't my parents so I'm not as comfortable with how the house is run of course. We plan on being the best children that have ever moved back into any parents house by helping with projects, cleaning, cooking, and anything else we can think of to make it easier and not be guilty about free rent.

Now onto the sentimental part of this post that comes from moving away from the first home Chris and I made together. Rexburg was the best starting place we could have hoped for and we were amazingly lucky to have moved in to that particular neighborhood. The people I have met and made friendships with will never be forgotten, and I am so grateful for the chance we had to start our family in the area. I would highly recommend surrounding yourself with people who are in similar situations as you like we were able to do with a married student ward. Our little home, for me, was fun to decorate with pictures and playing in the garden was a fun experiment and I was very happy to have the wonderful start we had in Rexburg.

Family Reunions

Palisades

I really should have been better at taking pictures for this trip! We had a fun time with our family being able to go boating, 4-wheeling, camping, and playing games together but I didn't think about taking pictures very well. Palisades is a beautiful area with many camp sights that are free, so Chris, Claire and I headed up as early as we could on Monday to snag the family a good one. Then we all set up camp and enjoyed a dinner and games that night with s'mores over the fire before my little family headed back to Rexburg. This was the last week of school for Chris and wouldn't have been very wise to skip out on classes right before finals! On Tuesday, we joined them there again after classes and got to go boating with a tube and 4-wheeling around the area. 

Packing

Wednesday and Thursday was dedicated to homework for Chris and packing as much as I could for me so we would be ready to move tomorrow! Ah! We are moving out of this apartment tomorrow! We did some of the major cleaning and feel like our counter space is constantly taken up by random items now that we cleaned out all the cupboards from the kitchen and are living on bare essentials. Window blinds, window seals, kitchen deep cleaning, baseboards, and light fixtures are all done so that tomorrow we can pack after Chris's final in the morning and clean after our dentist appointments. There is only the floors, bathroom, and doors, plus a few random things around the place that should be cleaned left to do.

Fielding Park

Yet another reunion, I didn't mention that we missed the bigger reunion that was on Wednesday and Thursday that was at Palisades, but we have school as a priority until tomorrow. Friday we headed to Fielding park for another even bigger family reunion and cooked breakfast as soon as we arrived. There was a 5k race that started a little before we arrived too sadly, but I'm not too sad about missing it except I would have liked to tease my nephew about being faster than him. Either way there were lots of other fun things there: a play ground, water slide, this weird volleyball looking game, delicious food, and lots of relatives! Claire learned to love watermelon during our lunch which is the only picture I got this entire week...so you get two! Everyone was commenting on how fast she can crawl away when she is on a mission and she is not afraid of the grass.

Half Marathon!

The Running

All the hard work and training finally comes to a conclusion because as of yesterday I've now run my first half marathon! When I started training for this I knew I would be able to do it and was excited for the new challenge and motivation to lose more of the baby weight. There were a few goals I had: lose 20 pounds (check), run a marathon in less than 2.5 hours (check), and not annoy too many people about it (hopefully check). Now that it is all over, I can say I don't think I'll ever do a full marathon and might never need to do a half marathon again either. If I do, I will need to protect my knees a little because there was a shooting pain in my right leg from ankle to knee through the last 5 miles of the race.

The Trip

Chris and I made my half marathon in Star Valley a mini vacation and went down early Friday to find a place to eat and then went swimming in our hotel. I really need to share how appreciative I am of my wonderful husband I am for supporting me in my training. He has encouraged my healthy eating by going on a carb cycling diet with me (that has been an adventure), and he has watched Claire and put her to bed so I could get some runs in during cooler hours. Sometimes I feel like he would kick me out of the house to make sure I get my runs done, but most the time he would ask how many miles I had to do each day. I don't think this would have been possible with his love and support through the whole process because he is my life.

The Claire 

This past week was also our baby girls 11 month milestone and having time together with her is so great. She loves to swim with her little floating device and with just a little push, can make it pretty far by kicking her feet. She is still a small fry compared to her two month younger cousin, but we love her all the same for her energy and attitude. I am amazed at how much she can change and grow in a month! She has become much more talkative and interactive when we are talking to her that I have to laugh sometimes. She has 10 times the normal amount of energy right before bed time and if there is enough going on around her, she can stay up so late! My parents visited and she was up 9 hours straight because there was so much stuff to do while they were around, of course then she crashed in 2 seconds after being put down in her crib.

4th of July

I love this time of year and the fun people have celebrating the freedom we have in America. Some people may not realize the true meaning of Independence Day, but I certainly think about how grateful I am to live in America, and how I am free to do so much. Our little family used the day off to pack up some nonessential and move some of our bigger furniture out of our apartment. I think we are very lucky to be able to move a little now and not have to wait for one big move because now I can get some cleaning done too. Living on the bare minimum has been an adventure already and I hope we can keep it simple when we find ourselves in a new place.

Claire got her first sunburn as we were outside for several hours at a community 4th of July breakfast. I tried to be her shade as much as possible but her lets are a little red from the day and I now know to keep sunscreen handy in the diaper bag. She also has big enough feet to finally start wearing the shoes we got for her baby shower almost a year ago! Initially she was confused by them and worked to take them off, but she got used to them and I eventually took them off when I noticed her feet were unusually hot. I just love her so much and seeing her learn and grow has made me the happiest I've ever been.

The Last Two Weeks

Major Happenings:

The past two weeks have been very eventful and I can't wait for you to read about the fun we have been having! Last Wednesday, I drove to Utah to pick up my 3 nieces since they are on vacation there for a family wedding and the fun began. They slept on our pull out couch/bed that night after a movie and spaghetti night, then left with my dad to go up to Montana. The situation wasn't ideal for gas mileage but for not missing work for Nana it was what worked best. We even got to play in a splash pad and at the park while waiting for the water to turn on so Claire tried her first swing ride! They were very into playing with their first cousin on the Cox side and Claire liked having attention, but not too much attention

We followed them up to Montana on Friday to spend the weekend with family and enjoyed walking to see a few of the waterfalls that Great Falls is known for. Had a Girls Night Out and got a little messy painting some cute sculptures and decorations. Then the next night we had a Girls Night In with movies and treats that some boys attended...Grandpa just didn't want to be away from them when this is the first time they were visiting Montana!

Fun times usually have to come to an end eventually and our crew came back to Rexburg Sunday, after church. I then took them back down to meet up with their mom and aunts on Monday which was another good adventure! We had to wait for the train that mom was in to arrive so we explored a little and found the painted horse that Ogden has at the train station! I would have loved to show them where their daddy grew up and take them more places but time didn't allow and soon they were giving hugs and kisses goodbye. It was a great and long weekend taking care of them and found myself enjoying being a mommy of 4 for the short while I had them. 

 Claire's Growth:

Of course she is still being the cutest thing on the planet and just as destructive by spreading every toy she can get her hands on all over the apartment. Her new favorite thing to do is remove all the magnets off the freezer and carry them where we can step on them, which means we should probably never get her Lego's! She fits in some of the shows we got a year ago before she was born and with all her standing on anything she can balance against, it's good timing. Her first encounter with stairs consisted of her crawling up the entire set in record speed. Bringing her back downstairs to play I found myself catching her half way up every time I looked over and Chris being so proud of his little girl.

Us and Stuff:

Chris is getting really excited to be done with school in less than a month and is still working hard to get a good grade in his classes. He is relieved to have finished his applications and we both look forward to hearing from the schools he applied to. Waiting in limbo for their answers back is starting to get tedious, but we try to stay away from dwelling on it so we don't stress too much. As for me, I've had a few knee issues in the past two weeks and have been taking it easy with running so I don't strain anything before the half marathon! I ran 12 miles yesterday and was very happy to have done the whole way, even thought the last 3 miles were rough. Two more weeks until I run the half marathon and I can't wait to be able to say that I did it!