Hello Everyone!! It's been too long since I have sent out a mass update of how and what we are doing in our lives! I promise I will try to do better so that all of our friends and family know that we are alive and well!

We have been in Philadelphia, PA (more specifically Bryn Mawr) now for a couple months now!  It took us a long while to get settled mainly because I had purchased a table on Craigslist before moving and it needed a total overhaul!  We had to wait for Grammy to come out for that so I could concentrate and have help to get it done!  Now that its finished we are all set up and feel like we have a home again!

We really like where we live.  We have a park right across the street with tennis courts that Rock and I have already been to a couple times and soccer fields and a trail to rides bikes.  It's a constant battle keeping the kids from sneaking outside to go to the park.  But we also have a big backyard too which has been a lifesaver for the kids.  I haven't been able to find a pool here that doesn't cost several hundred dollars a month so we frequent the sprinklers in the backyard instead.  My Florida water babies are quite sad about that!

In the short time we have been here we have been pretty busy...First, we left our house full boxes the day that the moving truck dropped them off and drove 16 hours to Nauvoo, IL to see my mom on her mission.  The kids did incredible and we were all so happy to see her!  We had a blast! And now I can't believe she only has 2 weeks left!! I already made her book a trip to come out here ASAP.  We can't wait for some Grandma time :)

We also have visited the Philadelphia Zoo, the Please Touch Museum a couple of times which the kids LOVE, and we took a trip to DC to go to the temple and to sight see as well.  It really is cool to be so close to everything and to be able to see all of the history and stuff.  We also took a quick weekend trip to Boston because we have Rock's brother Matt staying with us for the month doing a medical school rotation and he served his mission there....so what better opportunity to get a VIP tour of the city.  And Rock got what he wanted by going to the Red Sox/Yankee's game.  I totally fell in love with Boston...I told Rock he needs to start seriously studying for the GMAT or LSAT so we can go to school there.  I would be willing to become a poor student family again if we lived there!  Here are some pics of our recent trips....

Taking a break at one of the parks by Little Italy

Taking the Ferry back after finishing The Freedom Trail

Eating at Mr. Bartleys in Harvard Square - sooo good!

Boston Temple

Soldier at Shot Heard Around the World Monument

This weekend we are traveling to Virginia for the BYU football game...we are meeting some of our good friends from Florida there so it should be really fun! We are living it up while we are here in the east...we are almost as tired as we were in Florida going to theme parks and the beach all the time!

Once we finally figured out the right ward that we needed to go to we were able to meet a lot of really cool people!  We go to church right in West Philly-its an interesting drive but it really makes you appreciate what you have and humbles you to think of what some people don't have.  The ward is probably half Americans and half Africans, mostly from Liberia.  I just got put in as a counselor in Young Women's and all of our youth are Africans as well.  There are only a few active girls, but their testimonies and their desire to know more about the gospel is really cool! I have heard from other member of the YW that it is a tough calling because the girls have so much potential but sometimes lack the drive and encouragement from home to actually accomplish things so hopefully I can make a difference somehow.   It really will be an awesome experience for all of us.  I am seriously the most uncultured person so I find myself asking really dumb questions so hopefully I can get out of my shell and really learn and embrace what is here in Philadelphia.

Rock works right downtown in Center City so he rides the train everyday into work.  He is in the Treasury department and has already been put to work and is pretty busy!  He will be in this position for 6 months and then will transfer departments to get a feel for another part of Comcast.  Griffin has already made some friends from church and starts Kindergarten on Wednesday.  We went to Orientation today and he got to ride the school bus and meet his teacher.  He told me the other day when I drove him past his school, "Mom that school is really big.  I think I'm gonna miss you!"  But today he seemed more than comfortable and excited to go back!  They strongly recommend that kids ride the bus here but I'm not too sure how I feel about my little boy riding a bus by himself! It seems like so much responsibility for just a little guy!  He gets dropped off right in front of our house though so hopefully it works out! We are looking to keep him doing soccer and basketball here and then starting Maelie in dance as well!

We still really miss Florida and of course Colorado! We didn't quite escape the only bad parts of Florida (bugs and heat) because it is essentially the same here-haha!  Moving is hard and it takes a while for everyone to adjust but I think we will have a lot of fun here!  I'm especially excited for the seasons to change so I can wear winter clothes and boots again!  Sorry for writing a novel!!!.....<3 p="">

A new perspective on blogging...

     So the past week I have been reading the book Heaven is Here by Stephanie Nielson (Nie Nie) and I was obviously inspired by her story (if you want to know more about it click here.)  Blogging had been a hobby of hers before her accident that she actually had gained a lot of followers from and really all she was trying to do was to share her thoughts as a mother and wife since she was going to be far away from her family in Utah when they moved to New Jersey.  Annnnyways, I just thought maybe I should make blogging more of a journal of my life rather than a chore of posting pictures and using up so much time to make, as it has been in the past, yearly updates.  I used to write in my journal every day when I was in high school but since I have been worse than awful.  So if you want to hear the random happenings of a mother of three by all means keep reading, if not I wont be offended because I won't even know.  
 
I have been having a hard time lately with being negative....maybe its the screaming 4 and 2 year olds that make me feel gloomy but I wanted to post everyday what I am grateful for so that my perspective might change and I will be a nicer mama....(you know you need to work on something when after getting after Griffin for something he was doing, Maelie looked at me and growled as if I sounded like an angry bear! How embarrassing!)

First off, I am grateful for my hot husband who saved me way back then (yeah this picture is a little old, hence the skinny me) and still saves me everyday! He knows just when its time for me to get out of the house and head to the gym so that my sanity can be saved.

I am grateful for my Kindle Fire...stupid, I know, but I love it! Maybe just the fact that I can read in the dark made it worth the purchase. 

And last for tonight...I'm grateful that Maelie ate four bowls of what I made for dinner tonight.  That always makes life just that much easier!