We're Still Alive

It has been a crazy last few weeks. We've taken some pictures but not enough to really document all we've been up to. We've wanted time to slow down in lots of ways, but at the same time we're anxious to be done with this transition and be settled.

Lance finally wrapped up his work here in SLC. His first morning off he celebrated by going golfing with friends in the very early morning hours. He came home to find 2 throwing up and whiny kids. Nothing like that kind of congratulations and welcome home. :) At least he got the golf in first. After a week of sickness we finally went in to the doctor and got a double diagnosis of strep throat. Then Lance decided to come down with a lingering stomach bug. It wasn't the best way to start off Lance being done with work, but better then that later we decided.

Since then we've been packing and packing and packing and packing....... But we've also tried to get in as many other fun things as we could.

One of the first adventures was Lance taking Kai fishing. Kai had been begging and begging to go. They didn't have much luck but Kai had a blast and talked about it for days.



Kai and Rori did a 2 week session of swim lessons. Matthew and Rori were in the Parents Tot class.





Kai was with Kennedy and Amanda and cousin Jack was also taking a lesson at that time. They had lots of fun and we were glad to get a session in before the big move. Kai's favorite things were mastering floating on his back without help and jumping off the diving board over and over.











Kai has been doing a summer school program at his preschool. Every week they focus on a new place around the world. Amanda is in his class and it has been great.

Mexico Week:


This week they are learning about Africa so Lance went in today and showed his class some of his African treasures. Kai was SOOOOO excited. Rori, Grandma Utah and I also went in to watch. The kids were so cute and Lance did a great job with them.







Last Sunday was our last day at our Church because of other conflicts. We will miss it so much. Here are the kids on their way out the door that day:


We've made it to Snow Shack a few times:


Lance took Kai to the driving range. I have a feeling this was the 1st time of many to come:


We made it up to the Cabin and had lots of fun being there with Grandma and Grandpa Utah. Kai could have rode the kids 4-wheelers for hours. The smores by the fire pit were awesome as usual.




The little backyard pool has provided some great entertainment:


We went to Fat Cats (which was high on Kai's priority list and took some time for him to earn) with Amanda and Matthew.



The Wilkinsons also took us out to dinner to Cowboy Grub. The kids has the best time playing in the play area there. Separating from these guys is going to be one of our greatest challenges with this move. Our kids have spent almost every day of their lives seeing each other so far. It is one of the big lumps in our throat about leaving.





We also made a trip down to Vegas and found a house to rent. We're excited about it and will be moving in to it in mid July. The trip down was extra fun because we got to see my two girlfriends from college- Jamie and Rebecca. Rebecca has a new baby so it was fun to meet her. Jamie let us all stay at her beautiful house which will be about 45 minutes away from our new home. It was fun to catch up with those girls.

We've got exciting things coming up in the next few weeks that we are really looking forward to. Pictures to come!

Who Needs Them

Currently one of our favorite family activities is to go up to the Church parking lot and ride scooters. Tonight we decided to branch out a little and also bring Kai's bicycle that he bought from a neighbor last summer for $10. The bike is slowly deteriorating which is fine since Kai will soon be needing a bigger size anyway. He hasn't riden it too much- probably since we live on a hill and our driveway is pretty steep too. We decided to try taking off the training wheels tonight since they were greatly out of whack anyway and look what Mr. Kai figured out in his first day of trying:

Memorial Day

We had a big Memorial Day.

It started with a (2 hour each way) trip down to Centerfield to visit Lance's grandparents graves with his parents. It was a beautiful day and we enjoyed checking out some of their other ancestors graves as well. By chance we ran in to Aunt Veone and Aunt Phyllis (Gradma Sorenson's sisters) at the cemetery. We broke up the drive home with stops at In N Out and Cabella's.











Kai got some good shots too: (I love the closer to the ground angle)








When we got home we replenished drinks and jumped back in our own car to head to the airport. One of my best friends from High School, Gabi, had a short layover in SLC. She hadn't seen Kai since he was a baby and had never seen Rori so that was fun. She looked great and we soaked in the short visit in the airport. We're hoping to see her again this summer- hint, hint. :)



Then we headed home for a super quick nap and some food before heading out again to help Uncle Tyler celebrate his brithday at the Bees game. The kids had a great time hanging out with their cousins and riding on the train. Rori decided to try on all of the other kids shoes and chose Tyler to be her assistant in this task. Happy Birthday Tyler!

Cabin Overnighter

Kai and Kennedy headed up to the Cabin with grandma and grandpa on Friday. It was Kai's first overnighter away from home so it was pretty brave of him to have it at the Cabin which is a few hours away. The Cabin is one of his special places though so he couldn't have been any more excited about going. They went in the hot tub, rode on the 4 wheelers, helped with work, and even went to sleep at bedtime. He had a blast and has been talking about it non-stop ever since. He's getting so big!

Kai and Kennedy had fun taking pictures with his camera to document the trip. We ended up with lots of shots of the inside of the car, the DVD player, the back of Grandma and Grandpa's heads, snacks etc. Here are some of our favorites:





















Thank you Grandma and Grandpa!

The Circus Comes to School

To celebrate the last day of preschool the "circus" came to school. Each class was a different performing group. Kai's class was the tigers. They sang a song where they got to R-O-A-R and they jumped through a hula hoop of fire. He was sad when the school day ended and he had to say goodbye to everyone. I was sad too. Happily we are signed up for a summer session that sounds super fun.

Daddy's Girl

Someone is a little Daddy's girl.

She helps him mow:


She calls him on the phone:


And she likes to look at him with this sweet face when she wants something:


The best is how she has figured out that if she cuddles him at night she can stretch out bedtime. She will even sit on the couch and pat it instructing him to sit next to her.

Teamwork

...is riding the little tricycle together. It is pretty cute.