Utah

Visited Temple Square

At the Temple doors

4 thrilled children

Visited Maria at her amazing home on the side of the mountain, so good to see her!

All the kiddies together

Visiting Grandma Jacobs!!!

Ohh the mountains

Dropped by the oh so romantic spot where David proposed at 7 am on the way to an exam

What I saw and heard for 90% of the trip

Also what I saw for 90% of the trip

I have really been wanting to visit Grandma Jacobs the last couple of years but we were always so far. Now that we are in North Dakota it seems like a hop, skip and a jump to Utah (really 1000 miles, but who is counting). After they extended summer vacation for 2 weeks because of the flood, I was ready for a "break" and decided we would hop in the van and drive to see Grandma. David took off work, I packed the van with clothes, food, and entertainment and a way we went. On the way we took 2 days, stopping half way in Bozeman, Montana to stay with friends. On the way home we were ambitious or maybe just desperate to end the misery of being in the car with #3 so we drove straight for 17 hours. I will just say that we made it and everyone is alive and that is what counts, right?

Highlights from our trip:

Visiting grandma and her cute little duck pond

Touring BYU, visiting the Bean Museum--EJ cried the whole time because she felt sad for all the dead animals, buying BYU parafernalia--EJ and JuJu found the tackiest hats in the store

Visiting friends from David's mission

Visiting the places we lived when we were first married

Park City--went down the Alpine slide and coaster, the coaster is so much fun! Imagine a one cart rollercoaster on tracks, super fun!!

Lunch with Maria at a delicious little cafe across from the temple--I am still thinking of that

salmon burger and the ginger carrot soup, so delicious.

Visiting the Cope's little farm and eating amazing Indian food!

Finally seeing the last Harry Potter movie.

It was a great trip. A lot of work, but worth it.

Children Cleaning and a New Kitchen Table

Just to let you know...(Shelly)

The quality of our pictures has been poor since April because they are all taken on my phone.

My camera was left in the realtor's car when we came up to look for homes in April.

She said she would hold onto it until we arrived.

Well, the building she worked in was evacuated and evidently the camera is in the secretary's desk which is in some storage unit. There is a huge dike around their building still so I don't expect to get it back any time soon.

Also, those big spaces between texts and photos started a few months ago. I have tried to work with the layout and format but can't seem to fix it. Sorry it is kind of obnoxious looking. I will continue to work on this problem.

Good news!

We have a Kitchen Table, which we haven't had in 2 years.

In Miami there wasn't enough room for a table, we just had barstools for the kids so David and I have been standing or sofa eating for 2 years, Imagine the Joy when this Beauty showed up. Loving the table and the stools. The living room is still empty and probably will be for awhile. Right now it makes for a great wrestling arena, tickling pad, and gymnastics mat. Ella Joy almost has her cartwheel. Por fin! I was beginning to worry since I spent most of my childhood doing carthwheels, handstands, and flips.

Summer was extended for 3 weeks due to the flood-- now school doesn't start til September 6. So the kids have been helping me around the house. They actually were fighting over who got to scrub the toilets, we had to take turns. Sure hope this enthusiasm continues. With the extra summer time we decided to take a trip to Utah to visit Grandma Jacobs. I am very excited about this trip, not so much the 1000 mile drive one way, but getting to see Grandma, BYU, family, friends, and mountains.

Hoping you are enjoying these last days of summer.

The weather here has been beautiful here.

I just hope its not cold when we get back next week.

Think the fall may only last for a couple of weeks and I don't want to miss it.

Noah is TEN

We celebrated Noah's tenth birthday at the North Hill Bowling Lanes.

He invited his new friends Charlie, Simon, Dallin, and Luke.

Noah was in heaven-- bowling, pizza, soda, cake, and icecream.

They had a special dinosaur that helped the girls roll their balls straight as well as plastic sides to prevent gutter balls. These only came down when the little girls bowled...so JuJu had the high score on our team. It was a fun night. Georgia spent most the night in the stroller chewing on pizza crusts which miraculously disappeared despite having no teeth.

I can hardly believe it has been a whole decade since Noah was born.

I remember his Birth day so clearly.

I remember looking at his sweet face and falling in love instantly.

I remember in the next moment becoming overwhelm with emotion as I realized that the great love I had for him was only a small taste of the love Heavenly Father had for me and all of us.

I remember the feeling of wanting to be a better person, my best me.

I remember perfect fingers, toes, the Jacobs chin, and McCarthy nose.

The memories are so clear and the feeling fresh.

Now 10 years later it is even more amazing to see the young man he is becoming.

He is an amazing brother--I love seeing him with the girls. He plays with them, teases them, and protects them like only a Big brother can.

He is responsible with his chores, concientious with his schoolwork, and reliable with time. When I tell him to meet me somewhere or be home at a certain time he is always punctual. Thankfully, not following after his always late mother. He loves basketball, baseball, rockclimbing, crafts, and creating miis on his wii. OH how I love this boy! And do you know what his birthday wish was....

A Baby Brother.

Can we get to Georgia's first birthday, Please!

Arrived in the Magic City

Sunset from our kitchen window

Georgia being oh so cute

Georgia stands

Found old Halloween costumes

Georgia crawls

JuJu repelling down the Y rockwall

JuJu's first climb

The amazing wall

Downstairs living room/playroom

Garage cubbies--oh how I love these!

Finally.
We are here.
In our cute little town of Minot.
Honestly I don't think we could have handpicked a more completely opposite place than Miami.
We are loving our new home and I am particularly loving the space.
So just as I noticed in my 2 short visits before --the people here are SO NICE!
Really its hard to explain until you experience but everyone is really nice. It feels a little like Leave it to Beaver where everyone is smiling and trusting and just happy to be alive.

Few examples:

Upon arriving we were welcomed by several people from the eye clinic with balloons, and a huge basket of treats

Our mailwoman brought by the mail key that I was supposed to go pick up from the office but she dropped it by so I wouldn't have to go down there.

Bonnie,our builders wife, who is a wonderful sweet grandma herself, watched all 4 of our kids while we closed on the house. Then I asked about lakes to visit in the area and she sent me a list of 5 different lakes with info numbers attached.

Our neighbors brought our trashcan in because it looked like it was about to storm.

Drivers are polite and courteous. They let you over when your blinker is on and everyone takes turns nicely at all the 4 way stops.

The ladies at the YMCA childcare are wonderful--nice, sweet, hold the babies, play with the kids, always smiling.

Men everywhere hold the door open for you. (I don't think this happened once while I lived in Miami.)

Got my new driver's license in less than 10 minutes from a really nice, helpful, happy govenment employee. Yes they exist and all 10 of them work at the Minot DMV. Everyone in the office was smiling and laughing.

Walmart cashiers chat like you are the only person in line--really. Its kind of weird. There is huge line and they take their time and no one is annoyed-- just waiting patiently.

Called the elementary school to find out what I needed to bring to register the kids for school. Did I need to bring proof of address that we lived in the area for the school? "No, we trust you." Almost dropped the phone on that one.

So the list could go on but I'm getting tired.

One thing that I didn't notice when I was here in January and then again in April(perhaps because of the winter clothes) were all the tatoos. Seriously I have seen more tatoos in the last 3 weeks than I have my whole life. Did I miss something while I was in Miami? Have tatoos become really popular? Or is this just signature Minot? Everyone and their grandma has tatoos, literally.

Anyway, we are excited about our new home and a new adventure.