we're back

*Adam took this on one of his weekend visits to Ogden.  I sure do miss being up close to those mountains!
These past few weeks I have thought a lot about when we moved away from St. George - 10 years ago this month! - and remembered how for so long I thought we would come back.  To be honest, after the first little while I wasn't a huge fan of the idea, even though it was SO HARD to leave some weekends after being with family.  But when I remind myself that I actually live here now and am not going back to Ogden, it has begun to feel a lot more natural.  So strange to think that we are back.
Comparing this move with our initial move to Ogden, it is crazy how much easier this has been.  Living with Mom and Dad so not having to unpack certainly is a huge factor.....but also being familiar with the town and already having a lot of support is so crazy.  We were far away for a long time.  The kids started at the neighborhood school (our first pick and where there's a good chance we'll end up buying a home was 'full') and were such champs about the whole thing.  They love taking the bus and having cousins close.  It's like they didn't really move, it seemed so easy.  We are still working on getting some friends though - this area has a lot of older families and our particular bus stop only has one other boy.
I am so grateful that we are able to be here.  Because of the time of year, our Ogden home probably won't sell until the spring (but we're still crossing our fingers), so to not have to worry about rent AND a mortgage is wonderful.  Mom makes things so easy.  She is always willing to watch the kids if I need to go somewhere, and does so many dishes.  Not to mention the company!  It is so fun to be able to have a friend to do errands with.  Isaac follows her around the house pretty constantly asking her to put on a show or a computer game, or to make him popcorn.  Hopefully he won't wear her down too fast.
Amanda was here the first week after I came down.  What a blessing!  She did all of the cooking and the kids always had something to do and Liz came around since it was Fall Break for us too and it just felt like a big party.  Very nice little breather before routines and schedules started filling up, AND a sorely needed break after a stressful move (has anyone ever had a non-stressful move, probably not).

This picture epitomizes why I didn't have a mini-breakdown and spend the entire week in my room having a pity party and wishing I was back in Ogden.  Just Mom is missing from the picture.
The next weekend, even though I hadn't exercised for 2 weeks straight, Liz and I did the SHAC Triathlon that I signed up for before I knew I would be living here.  It was weird looking at my calendar and seeing my note that we would be traveling to SG for the event.  Anyways, my time was 12 minutes slower than last time, not as bad as I expected since Liz pushed me a lot.  It was so fun to talk with her, and Ethan joined us the last 1.5 mile running loop, and was pretty funny.  Here are the stats: Swim (8:29), T1 (4:24), Bike (48:53), T2 (1:12), Run (34:16).  Total: 1:37:15

We took these family pictures the day before we moved.  I was pretty desperate to get them with my neighbor's foliage!  This year's fall colors were amazing up there.  This is my favorite of Lily, and I love Isaac's cute little smile as well. Lily has been quite the character; once she was with Amanda who asked her how she knew something.  Lily quickly replied "Because I am an expert and I know how to communicate and I can read minds."  Ha!  She was commenting last week on what she would do differently with Grandma's house: "The patio needs to be bigger.  Do you know that when I am out there I sometimes look down and it feels like I rule the city."  She went out and came back in a few minutes later, "I was just talking to my people."  Dad and Amanda said she should probably go into politics.  I am just happy that she is my daughter, and that she forgives me for a lot.  Wish I could handle our struggles better.