Settling into our new home.

This is our happy girl. Brad edited her nakedness perfectly . She probably won't think this pic is so cute when she'd older, but right now I am considering having it made poster size cuz it is so cute.
Chloe starts rice cereal. We were pretty excited. I think we thought it would provide the miracle we were hoping for to help her sleep through the night, but it didn't. She still is a night waker.

Steve and Nancy came to visit. They attended the white coat ceremony for Brad. We are all so proud of him.

We convinced them to play games with us everynight becuase we knew our game playing would have to end for a while, plus, we can only handle our 2 person games for so long.

The last picture if of my cute medical student on the first day.

Ode to Utah

Things we will miss about Utah.

Aside from family and friends...in no particular order:

1. Bike rides up emigration, Millcreek, Big and Little Cottonwood canyons (Brad made a little sad, sulky face when I wrote this)

2. Bike riding along Wasatch Blvd.

3. Being a 15 minute drive from cooler temps

4. chicken frieds steak from Ruth's diner up Emigration Canyon, sausage sandwich from Cinegrill, sopapillas from La Cocina, Taco Time, and the ultimate sandwich from Gandolfos.

5. The perfect running routes

6. Sunday dinners with family

7. Starsky's perfect throwing stick.

8. Fresh veggies from Dad's garden...corn

9. Chloe sitters

10. closeness to temples

11. The cabin in the fall and summer.

12. Bear Lake (have fun over labor day)

And now, these are some things we are liking about our new home...

1. They have these wading pools that are about 2 feet deep. They fill them everyday and drain them at night. The kids LOVE them. I will love them next summer, I am sure.

2. I can pretty much walk everywhere (groceries, bank, pharmacy, Brad to school)

3. The people we are meeting

4. The sunsets.

5. It is a slower pace of life here and I am serious when I say everyone smiles and says hi.

6.It will leave 6-12 blank because we are still discovering...

The first thing you will notice about this place is the sound. I remember this sound from the mission. It kind of sounds like a power line is down. It is a high, constant, ringing sound coming from...bugs. They get louder and softer and then louder again. It is kind of a pleasant white noise once you get used to it. Well, one night we had a run in with one of these cicada's. (suh-kay-duh) Brad tried to tough talk one that was mating on our patio and it rammed the door which I had closed, luckily, then it went straight for Brad's head. He had to run around the house to the back door to safety. I thought I'd research a little about this bug. So here you have it. I particularly like the part about 'not dangerous' and 'edible'.

A cicada also known as a "jar fly" is an insect with large eyes wide apart on the head and usually transparent, well-veined wings. There are approximately 2,500 species of cicada around the globe. Cicadas are one of the most widely recognized of all insects, mainly due to their large size and remarkable (and often inescapable) acoustic talents. Cicadas are sometimes incorrectly called "locusts"[1], although they are unrelated to true locusts. They are known as "dry flies" because of the dry shell they leave behind.
Cicadas do not bite or sting and are not considered a pest. Many people around the world regularly complement their standard diet with cicadas: the female is prized for eating as it is meatier. Cicadas have been eaten (or are still eaten) in Ancient Greece, China, Malaysia, Burma, Australia, Latin America and the Congo. Cicadas are employed in the traditional medicines of China and Japan for hearing-related matters. *(from Google)

Kirksville, Missouri 63501

Okay, here is the big update...
We basically new we were moving to Kirksville, Missouri in like December. Well, the time kept approaching, it kept coming, and then finally, it was like July and we needed to start packing. Brad brought boxes home a little at a time and I packed a little at a time. All of sudden...we had to start packing a lot more than a "little at at time". Here is a pic of Chloe. We needed a safe place for her while we were packing and the laundry basket was perfect. She really liked it.
on August 9th we rolled out of Cresthill Cir for the last time with the knowledge that we had 1200 miles to drive. Mom and I drove the little car with Chloe and my dad and Brad drove the truck. We made it to North Platte the first day by 9pm. We slept hard and then got up at 6 to get on the road. The second day we stopped at Winter Quarters and saw the church site and the new temple. It was a nice break from the car. Chloe really was an angel. My mom and listened to Harry Potter most of the way (surprisingly we only got through 4 CD's) and sang to Chloe and chatted. The drive seemed pretty fast until about 60 miles outside of Kirksville. Chloe was just done. We pulled up to our new home at about 9 pm. The original plan was to sleep there, but we decided, unanimously, to just go to a hotel and sleep well and start early in the morning. This was a good plan because my mom and I managed to avoid lots of the unpacking because we went to Wallmart and bought some stuff. This is us in our new place.

Mom and dad's help was priceless. Here is picture of the kitchen nook. Mom is sewing a pillow I made some time ago but never finished. She also sewed the bathroom curtains, kitchen curtains, and we picked some curtains for chloe's room. She made sure the mirrors were clean and the rugs were vacuumed. She made us yummy desert and fried chicken and made sure I got all the good cleaning supplies from Walmart...you know, all the "mom stuff" that makes you feel taken care of and makes your realize that you need to start doing the "mom stuff" on your own.

Dad and Brad put together all the IKEA stuff. Don't ask Brad about the ease of assembling IKEA furniture unless he is in good spirits. I guess there are lots of unlabled boards and parts and 85 screws that go "somewhere". Brad was a trooper. The 2 of them never sat down it seemed and they got the place in shape in no time.

Thanks Mom and Dad!This is the living room. Everything in this room is new, except for the pictures. Crazy after 3 years of marriage we never owned a tv or living room furniture. We like this room. It is oh so comfy.

We found time for some fun amid the unpacking. Here we are at Thousand Hills State Park. It is a beautiful lake with lots of thick trees and trails. We were only here for about 10 minutes because it wasn't a degree less than 8 million. Humidity kills. But...the beauty and experience will still be here for us to enjoy when it isn't so hot. We drove Mom and Dad to the St. Louis airport. St. Louis is on the east border of the state of Missouri, we live at the northern border and Kansas City is on the west border. The 3 cities form a triangle FYI. The Gateway Arch is pretty amazing.
Here we are at the top of the Gateway Arch. The arch is 660 feet high. That is the tallest structure in the US. The next closest is the washington monument, which Brad and I have also been to the top of.
You ride a little tram/cubicle up to the top. Here we are. The whole experience kind of reminded me of being like Judy Jetson in her futuristic cartoon world.
The sunsets in Missouri are as amazing as I remember from when I lived here 5 years ago on the mission. You really haven't seen a sunset like those in the rolling hills of the midwest.

"Last minute" fun for Mel and Brad

This summer we wanted to fit in as much as we could before we moved. We took many memorable trips, had lots of family dinners and outings, and found time for jogging and bikeriding.
This is a picture of the family reunion. We went to this girls camp at Heber. A goodbye party for Brad and Mel. Thanks for all of you who came and said goodbye. We love you all and are so grateful for all of your love and support for us. We will miss you. Please keep in touch because we need that, okay.
Fun for Brad means...bike riding. Here are a few pics of his bike adventures. Brad's brother Jeff named this ride the CCC (Cottonwood canyons classic) They had originally planned to ride all of the Salt Lake canyons, but thought otherwise. So their CCC included riding to the top of Alta, back down, then up to the top of Millcreek, then back down.

This picture is at the top of the Park City Hill Climb, a short little race to test your climbing legs. Brad did awesome. I pretty much took this picture as I was driving behind him. Nice, huh?
Brad and his brother Jeff at the Coalville ride. Jeff's wife Holli, Chloe, and I were their number one fans as we drove along the route cheering them on.

These are a few more Sun Valley pics, but I can't figure out how you insert them after the blog already created. Any advice would be appreciated. While we were on vacation, Chloe learned to roll over from her back to her tummy. She is such a happy, good baby.

SUN VALLEY, IDAHO...We love Sun Valley!!

A couple of years ago we had an opportunity to buy a time share at a condo in Sun Valley, Idaho. Mel grew up going to Sun Valley each summer, so we are super excited to be able to carry on the tradition with our new little family.

This is a picture of our nephew Jaxon and Brad playing "domino surprise". Brad pretty much spent quite some time creating an elaborate domino rally set up and then we all gathered around and Jaxon pushed the key domino down. I think the adults got a little too into it.

This is Chloe's cute new friend named Jackson Smith. We had great fun with our friends the Smith's. And...I had to throw pictures in of the geese (swan). We saw the mom goose try and bite a lady walking on the road. She was trying to protect her babies.