On the Move

So this is long overdue, but we moved!!! We moved out of our place the end of June. It was a long process during the hottest part of the summer. We moved everything to my parents house only using our cars. There was a lot of driving back and forth and the kids were real troopers. We borrowed a friends truck for the big things. The last few nights we had already moved most of the stuff there so the kids had fun having a sleepover in their empty room.

We were getting rid of the kids matresses when we moved so they were the last things in the house. Me and Prince slept on them in the living room.

nap time.

These kids worked so hard! They were awesome about the whole thing, always wanting to help. Love them!

Prince finally got to park his car in the garage :)

We are really going to miss this place. We grew a lot as a family here. Our babies became school-going kids at this home. We became a family of 5 at this home.

We were really busy our last day, but we had to make time to go swimming one more time. We LOVED this pool. My kids learned to swim in this pool.

The whole moving process was long and stressful at times, but it was a lot of fun too. We made a lot of great memories and spent a lot of time working together as a family. We are so excited for our new journey, and making even more memories!

Vegas first day of school!

So our move to Utah that was supposed to happen in July has faced a lot of speed bumps. Lets start at the beginning: In May Prince was offered a job at a residential treatment facility for boys in West Jordan, UT. It is a new business being opened by Prince's boss here in Las Vegas. We decided to make the jump and were told that Prince would be starting end of June/beginning of July. It was perfect timing because our lease was up at the end of June so we packed up and we, along with all of our stuff, move into my parents house. Well early July turned in to mid July then turned into end of July and rolled into the beginning of August, then the end of August we had a set date. 3 days before Prince was to leave he recieved a call that his boss in Utah had passed away at 39 from a heartattack. So sad and tragic. Prince will now be heading up the first weekend in September. We are still really excited about this opportunity, but in the meantime we threw the kids back in school here for a few weeks before we move. Whew...so if you see us around town, it really is us :) Samarrah started 2nd Grade today! She is so excited and has many friends in her class.

Ayo is my precious first grader. He is so excited to go to school all day!

I found myself feeling more excited this year than anything. I wasn't as emotionally unstable as I had been the previous two years. I am so excited for them and all of the experiences they are going to have. New friends to make and things to learn. I will save all of the nerves for their first day at a new school in Utah :)

I love new backpacks for school! Samarrah decided on a messenger bag this year, really I was hoping for a Barbie backpack :) She is growing up so fast. Ayo LOVES cars!!! So glad we found a backpack he loved.

Here we go!

She is so great! I am so proud of her and the great kid she is.

Ayo is my sweet boy. We walked over to the line for his class, and started walking to the end of the line when his teacher called him over to stand by her. She was so sweet and introduced him to the other little kids around him. I was so grateful for her doing that. I know he was nervous, but I could not be more proud of him. He is so kind and well behaved.

I am SO excited to not have a Kindergarten pick up this year :) I hope they make some great memories in the next few weeks :)

Family Reunion Part 5: We are Family

For posterity's sake I am adding some photos of my whole family. We had a lot of fun getting pictures of everyone. My beautiful sister.

My older brother and his family.

My amazing parents!

My younger brother and his family

My awesome sister.

So blessed to have all of these people in my life. Families can be together forever, nothing makes me happier!!!

Family Reunion Part 4: Family Pictures

We took the opportunity while we were all together to get some family pictures. With 9 little kids it was an adventure. Here are a few of my kiddies and family. We were first to go and it was raining as you can tell from our shirts, and who knew it was so humid in Colorado? My hair was not my friend, but I am so happy to have these snapshots of memories to keep forever. The kids were troopers about taking pictures in the rain. I am so blessed to have such a great family! I have amazing parents who taught us not just by words but by actions that family is the most important thing in the world, I hope to teach my children the same. Other things may change us but we start and end with family!