Instagram Bits

 Lincoln and Hunter weren't quite done with their Pine Wood Derby cars and so they built this little track out of our moving boxes.  There was a pillow at the bottom so their cars wouldn't break.  I was pretty impressed with their ingenuity.

 My boys are watermelon lovers.  One day they decided to have a watermelon eating contest.  Lincoln was the champ.

 McKay is such a hilarious kid, he is always looking to make things funny.  Each day he gets out of the shower and wraps his towel around his waist and gives a hula show to whomever will watch.  He even sings a little song as he does it.  Such a cute, nutty boy.

 McKay loves Cafe Zupas especially their chocolate covered strawberries.  He calls it the "Strawberry Restaurant."  He will definitely be sad when he discovers they don't have Zupas in Georgia.

 Packing, packing, packing.

 Palmer wanted a way to earn a little extra money so he designed this flyer, he was sad to realize he wouldn't be around to actually do his business as we were moving.  I thought it was cute he came up with it though.

 Hunter's mix and match day at school

 This is our fish, "Blitz" (Hunter named him).  The boys each got a fish to take home from Blue and Gold and this was the only one that lived.  We had to give him away since fish are known not to do that well moving across the country.

 Two of my cute friends threw a going away brunch for me and invited our ward.  I was so touched by how kind they were.  I have made the most wonderful life long friends in Syracuse.  These are some of the cute things they sent home with the guests.  Adorable.

Palmer entered a contest to design the shirt for our school 5K.  He and a friend won so Palmer did the wording and the friend did the picture.  He was so proud of it.  It also was the shirt for our school decathlon team, which Palmer happened to be selected for.  It was 2 boys and 2 girls from grades 4, 5 and 6th.  It was fun for him to wear something that he had part in creating.

 While I was in the lunch room for Palmer's 4th grade program, I noticed these sheets of the school top 10 in P.E. events.  Palmer was the fastest boy in the which he hadn't even told me.

 Palmer is 5th in sit ups

 Palmer and Lincoln both worked so hard to get Presidential Fitness, I was proud of them!

 Palmer is 5th in pull ups and Lincoln tied for 10th.

Palmer was 9th in shuttle run.  Wow, my kids are way cooler than I am!

Last Piano Recital of the Year

 Josh and I were so sad to miss the boys' last piano recital while I was house hunting in Georgia.  They have had such a great teacher and we have been so happy to see their progress in piano.

Georgia House Hunting Trip

Josh got to Georgia 7 weeks before we were going to move there.  A few weeks after he got there, I flew out to look for a house with him.  He had done the initial looking and pretty much we were both leaning toward this one.  I immediately fell in love and it's the only one we even looked at!  We definitely knew this is where we were going to live. 

 When we were living in Texas long ago, we loved Blue Bell ice cream.  This ice cream is heavenly and found mainly in the south.  We were so excited to see it in the groceries stores!  Josh bought a half gallon of cookies and cream and I bought a half gallon of peach and we spent our nights watching Iron Chef on You Tube and eating ice cream...we are party animals I tell you.

 The Greenway was another reason we were excited about moving to Atlanta.  It is a long trail through gorgeous wetlands and thick trees.  We would run here in the morning (and we still do), we saw all sorts of wild life and even came across a turtle on the path.  We knew the boys would love it. 

 I am a huge fan of the book Gone With the Wind, and super excited to visit the room where Margaret Mitchell wrote it.  It was sort of disappointing as it was only a small apartment building and most of the pieces in it weren't original to Mitchell, but it was still cool to hear the history and see some of the pictures of her life.  

 This is the room she wrote it in.

 It is so interesting that Margaret Mitchell looks a lot like Scarlett O'hara.  Apparently there were a lot of similarities in her life as well. 

 Margaret Mitchell and Clark Gable

Classic Scarlet 

 Later we headed to dinner and Benihana.  We spent the dinner on the phone facetiming the boys at their piano recital.  We were so sad to miss it but thanks to modern technology, we got to watch their performances.  We were so proud of them!

 Knowing I am a fan of high tea, Josh surprised me with tea at Mittie's Tea room one day.  It was such a darling place. 

We also got to do a session at the Atlanta Georgia temple.  It reminds me so much of the Jordan River temple only on a smaller scale.  The Jordan River temple was the one that I grew up closest to so I was so excited to have it be our new temple.  

We were so excited to move to Georgia and sad to miss Utah and all of the wonderful people there.  We definitely felt that Heavenly Father wanted us in Georgia and are excited about all of the new adventures that lay ahead for our family.

Easter 2014

 I have not been great at taking pictures of things for a while.  Thank goodness for my phone or I wouldn't have pictures of anything!  It was hard not having Josh with us for Easter as he had already gone ahead to Georgia, and we weren't looking forward to being on our own.  My parents and younger brothers usually come to our house as well, so it being just the boys and me was definitely different.  Josh sent me some beautiful Easter flowers the day before Easter, it was so thoughtful of him!

 The boys Easter baskets, this is McKay's

 Hunter's 

 Lincoln's

 Palmer's

 My sister was so sweet to take over the annual family Easter egg hunt and kite flying.  We missed mom and dad, but were so glad to be able to keep this fun tradition alive.  I am not quite sure what happened, but I got about 5 pictures of McKay and my nephew and that is it.  Sad I didn't capture this day.

 This year was the first year I felt like I totally was spot on with the boys Eater outfits.  Sometimes I just buy what I think would look good on them, but this year each outfit was very much for the boy that got it.

 Hunter is quite the colorful personality and LOVED these turquoise pants (although Lincoln surprised me and asked for some too...)

We spent Easter with my brother Steve's wonderful family and had such a good time.  It was hard without dad, but ended up being a very good day. 

This and That (Instagrams)

A few things to remember.  Josh got a job in Atlanta Georgia and headed out there.  The boys and I stayed behind so they could finish out school here.  It was so hard being away from dad!

 The night before Josh left, he helped Palmer get some of his scout stuff done and they slept out in a tent.  They made s'mores.  

 Palmer got up early one morning and made us some "Muddy Buddies."  They didn't turn out like he wanted the first time and so he made them the next morning.  They were delicious.  I was so proud of him for doing it all on his own (he did it at 6:00 am...).

 We finished reading the Book of Mormon for the first time as a family.

 McKay loves Honey Nut Cheerios and asks if he can have "honey bees" for breakfast every morning.

 The boys and I gave mini lemon blueberry muffins to their teachers for Teacher Appreciation Week.  we put them in these cute containers.  

 McKay is always saying funny things.  One day he looked at me with a completely seriously face (not the picture above...a little before that), and said "mom, I can't stop laughing."  

 My boys always brings me "flowers."  I know one day I will miss this.

 While Josh was in Atlanta without he he would always send me little presents.  I loved the tea warmer he sent.  

This year wasn't our greatest at the Pine Wood Derby.  Josh had to hurry and get as much of the cars done as possible before he left for Georgia and we didn't get the weights in right.  The boys didn't do well, but they were such good sports.  There may have been some tears shed, but in the end they were just fine.  I was so proud of them for that.