Fourth of July Fun

We spent the Fourth of July at Chelsea and Mike's new house in Portland. We had fun playing with cousins and eating a delicious spread.
Ryan

I thought Peg was so cute in her red bandana headband.

This is Oliver the Great. It was our first time meeting him and he is adorable!

Madeline

Jade and sweet Eli

happy girl

Chels and Oliver

Cousins in a row. Aren't they adorable?

Seaside and Oswald Beach

One of the great things about our move to Utah is the proximity of our family! We had only been here a few days when we took a trip up to Oregon to visit and we made it out to Seaside, which is one of our favorite vacation spots and we all had so much fun. Shan's parents, sisters and their husbands, and nephews also came, but I have no pictures to prove it. (I decided I'm a terrible event photographer since sometimes I'd just rather enjoy the moment.)

One of the most memorable things on this Seaside trip, I wasn't able to photograph. Shan and I had gone on an early morning run (no camera) on the beach and we came upon two bald eagles feeding on a dead sea lion that had washed up on shore during the night. It was an amazing thing to see them so close and they were HUGE. And so beautiful. We couldn't get enough of them.

Playing at the Sunset Beach just north of Seaside.

The next day, we went to Oswald Beach.

It is more of a local's hangout and a short hike through a gorgeous fern laden forest. It was so beautiful but SO WINDY. It was hard to enjoy it since the wind was so crazy, and the kids pretty much huddled around until we left.

Except Bryce who was very brave!

I think Madeline's favorite part of Seaside was her carousel ride on the Seahorse. This girl dreams of being a mermaid, so it was a perfect fit.

And the rest of the kids loved the bumper cars and arcade.

She did it!

Do you see Marisa finishing the Provo River 1/2 Marathon? She's the one on the left. I don't contribute much to the blog, but had to post Marisa's 1/2 marathon. She has been preparing diligently for months and was ready for the race. This race had several thousand participants and was along a beautiful stretch through Provo Canyon along the Provo River. She beat her goal by 14 minutes. Way to go Marisa!
Marisa was able to run with her sisters Jen and Amanda. Amanda traveled from San Antonio and has a new baby James who is just a few months old. Jen works nearly full time, takes care of her 3 children and still found time to train. Nice job ladies!

(Addition from Marisa: I couldn't have done it without my incredible sisters who have supported me through this whole process and pushed me on. When we signed up to run the race, I don't think any of us realized how important it would be. We have ironically all had separate struggles this year, but we conquered this and it felt great! Sisters are the best.)

From Sea to Shining Sea

This was how the kids and I spent most of the first day- tuckered out from all the moving. Thank heavens for Shan and Doug who are steady drivers.

From NC, we went North through West Virginia, Ohio (above), Iowa (below), Nebraska, Wyoming, and finally Utah. I'm serious when I say that I love our cross country drives- the land of the free is absolutely beautiful! It's so neat to see the different places people live and this time I was especially inspired by the tidy farms in Iowa and Nebraska. Three cheers for the farmers there... they feed the nation and do the hardest work there is. Their farms are absolutely gorgeous. I couldn't believe how many hours we could be driving through corn fields! I almost panicked thinking about who was going to eat all of it.

Iowa

Doug drove the Penske most of the way and the kids took turns riding with him. Ryan ended up riding with him for most of the way. We got out the walkie-talkies and had fun bantering back and forth between vehicles. It helped immensely with the fun factor.

I was happy to see so many windmills along the way. We saw thousands of them, but the kids still got excited every time another one came up. They are so massive, they almost seem like they are from another planet or the future or something.

We took an unexpected stop in Nebraska to see my Aunt Judy and we had the chance to see the Omaha LDS temple and the visitor's center there. It is one of the sites where the Mormon pioneers camped for a very cold and difficult winter during their journey West. We learned about their houses, their wagons, and we got to dress up like them!

This is about the only interesting thing in Wyoming:)

Emma colored the whole way.

finally to the Wasatch Front.

And two months later, we're still unpacking! It's been a busy and fun summer.

The Big Move

We couldn't have survived our move without some of the best parents in the world! We were so lucky to have both of our moms come out for Ryan's baptism and they were a HUGE help! Not only did they pack like crazy, they watched kids, and helped me pick tons of strawberries, make strawberry syrup, and can it in the middle of the night during the move. Thanks moms.

Doug also made it out and he was a huge help to Shan with projects around the house that the inspector had put on our "to-do" list. Here, he was replacing a facia board. Doug's knowledge and usefullness never gets old... I am continually amazed. Thanks Doug.

This is the real face of the move: neglected. Hasn't bathed in five days. Who knows if anyone brushed her hair, teeth, or even fed her for that matter. Let's just say they survived.

Why is the last day of moving the longest day of your life? It's unbelievable the way the last "few things" can take days! So Saturday night, we had everything out of the house and almost packed into the Penske. Almost. At that point, we realized there were many things that would have to stay behind because the truck was full. I was unhappy to say the least. So Shan saved the day and rented a small trailer to pull behind the Sienna. (Go Sienna.) Sunday, we made it to church and then came home to pack the rest. Needless to say, it turned into a full day of work, and definitely not a restful Sabbath day.

I like the reflection of Emma's face in the window; very cool.

Shan was stoked about getting on the road. He has always wanted a truck...

Despite our late night on Sunday, we were ready to close on Monday morning and the house was spotless. In fact, it was so nice, I thought maybe we should move in. But, I reluctantly handed over the keys before I could burst into tears and off we went. This was our entourage.

Southern Pines Top 10

Despite the fact that I haven't blogged for over a month, we are alive and well! We miss all of our wonderful NC friends so much! Please email me for our new contact info: Marisagrimmius@yahoo.com. It has been a very busy month for us. We moved across country, traveled to Oregon for a vacation with Shan's family, and once we got back to our new house, we had my sister and her four children with us for a week. It has been a great time for the kids, but we are still trying to get things organized and settled. I've decided that I'm waning on the moving thing. 11 times in 11 years is a little excessive, don't you think? I have so many (like hundreds) of pictures from our adventures that I am overwhelmed in trying to blog them. So I decided I will do first things first....

Our top ten things we already miss about SP.

The things we will never forget:

1. Real Rainstorms. The kind that drench you if you are running from the driveway into the house. The lightning bolts that light up the entire sky and the kind of booming thunder that shakes the house.

It is this kind of storm that makes #2 possible:

2. Trees, glorious trees. We counted over 60 trees in our yard and most of them were huge. Emma became a little climber and developed a particular fondness of the Crepe Myrtle tree in front. (A little FYI: We now have one little miserly tree in front and it can't even hold Emma's tiny weight.)

3. Downtown Southern Pines. I could have included 50 pictures of all the cool places to shop. Antiques, book stores, and baby boutiques all mixed in together. I really love how downtown Southern Pines brings people together... families and friends browsing, biking, and sitting. The train station was darling and the regular trains that would blow on through were always an exciting thing to watch.
4. The Ice Cream Parlor. This one is also downtown, but we loved the ice cream so much, we had to give it a number all it's own. We stopped here after soccer games and school programs and simply for fun on Saturday afternoons. Once, Emma and Madeline had their picture taken for the newspaper while eating ice cream on a bench outside the parlor. 5. Equestrian beauty. The horses, and well kept white-fenced fields are so charming. We will especially miss the Christmas carriage parade with horses and carriages decked out with poinsettias, bells, and furs. Gorgeous.

6. Wildlife. This was Emma's favorite thing, for sure. We had cardinals, and blue jays, and robins and finches. We had way too many squirrels! We had a constant barrage of bunnies and deer who loved my garden. We saw turtles laying eggs in the neighbors grass, snakes, wolves, and even a mischevious fox. The kids loved to catch fireflies and it was so magical to sit outside after dusk and watch them light up like thousands of twinking lights suspended in mid-air. Add to that three kids fresh out of a bath and in their pajamas, hopping around trying to catch them... they looked just like garden fairies.

We also had constant entertainment from the little chameleon lizards that lived in our window boxes and on the sides of the house. The day we loaded up the Penske, the door was open almost all day and one must have slipped inside because the next day, we went back to get the last of the refrigerator items, and found one all alone on the hardwood floor. Emma caught it and let the poor thing go "back to his family."

7. Our lake and our neighborhood. We had such good times on the fishing boat, and even caught a few fish. We kayaked on it a few times, and had a neighborhood bbq there once, but mostly, we just walked down to it for evening walks, to throw rocks and see the geese.

Our neighborhood was quiet and peaceful and made me happy everytime I turned into our street. I miss my walks and waving to my sweet neighbors. We miss you Ms. Mary and Mr. Jere and Ms. Lin and her golden retrievers.8. Southern Pines Park. Our favorite place to play and socialize after school and during summer months. 9. Golf. It is Shan's favorite thing in the world and it does make for beautiful scenery. I think Moore County has almost 60 golf courses. And a lot of old people to go with it. Maybe we'll be those people in 30 years...

Pinehurst No. 2

10. People. I saved the best for last. The people we loved in NC are a part of our lives forever. There are so many that I can hardly count them all, and I certainly don't have pictures of everyone, but I think you know who you are. We love you.Jenn Cain and I.

Ft. Bragg women- as tough as they get.

Pinehurst ladies at a Time-Out for Women.