Christmas Lights

 We went to see some lights this past weekend, and it was so much fun! We met up with some friends of ours, and enjoyed the Christmas atmosphere. The decorations were fantastic, and the kids loved seeing all the lights. It was a great way to start the Christmas season.

Leaky

 So....one of our pipes decided to leak, and because of the location we did not catch it right away, and it caused quite a bit of damage. We actually have had a Disaster Restoration company come in and help(with the approval of the insurance company of course!) They have had to rip out carpet, some of my wood floors, (sniff sniff), and trim. You can see they have placed fans and dehumidifiers in the house to help with the dry out. It is quite loud in our house right now. They also think they will have to tear out the kitchen as well, since the water went under the floor in there as well. So we might have to replace the kitchen cabinets too. Who knows what all will happen, but we are definitely in a mess!

Halloween 2011

Our kiddos! Plus, our friend Miera came with us Trick or Treating!

 Halloween snuck up on us this year! Carson was Death, Mara a witch, and Kale was Iron Man! It was fun going with them.

 Picking out the pumpkins. Not sure what they are doing. :)

Mara and her scary face.

Kale playing a game at the church Halloween Party.

Daddy and Carson getting ready for a the doughnut eating game.

You can still have fun, even if you are death!

Carson's First Race

 Carson joined the Running Club at school, and had his first race last weekend! He ran a 5k at the Tulsa Run, and did great. His time was fantastic, especially since he had only been training for 2 weeks, and there were a bunch of hills on the course. He still ran it in 30.31!

 Kale waiting at the finish line. It was a little chilly. :)

 Mara voicing her opinion on the cold weather.

Carson almost to the finish line.

 The finish line!

Way to go Carson! He finished 600 out of 2200 people who ran the 5K. Here he is right after the race, and  he does not look tired at all!

Our new house

 I am finally updating our blog! Sorry for the absence, we have been a little busy!  We arrived down in OK, and then did not close when we were supposed to, (surprise, surprise). So, we lived in a hotel for almost a week, and then FINALLY closed on our house. We love our house! The neighborhood is great, and we have a great yard again. I would take pictures of the inside to post, but we are doing some fixing up, and it is still a little disorganized. :) The kids really like their new school, and already are making new friends. I was worried moving them so much, but they had adjusted really well. They are great kids.

 This is the back of the house, on the side. No one has a basement here, so our house is a two story.

Another picture of the back of the house facing the porch. I love all the trees. We are adjusting well, and getting to know our way around the city. We are happy to be here, and glad to be moved. :)

Kindergarten

Our baby started Kindergarten! He loves it, and is so excited to go everyday, and it is full time as well. He gets to ride the school bus with his older brother and sister, and eat school lunch. He has been waiting for this for a long time. :) 

I will miss our days together. 

New School Year

School has begun! We are moving in a few weeks, but they still had to start school here. I did not want them to get behind. :) Carson is in 5th grade, and this will be his last year in elementary school. In Oklahoma they start middle school in 6th grade. He is excited to be the oldest in the school. 

Mara is in 3rd grade, and loving it! She is very social, and likes recess best.

Kale will start Kindergarten next week, and I will post pictures of him then.

Family Vacation

This year we had a last minute vacation, since we will be moving soon. We wanted to visit some places that we have been talking about before we leave West Virginia.

First, we went to Hershey, PA. Yes, where they make the chocolate. We visited their fantastic amusement park there. We had a great time! Unfortunately, we did not take many pictures of this event, but we played in the water section first, and then rode as many rides as we could. Our older kids are finally able to go on the fun roller coasters, and such, so we had a great time with them.

 Kale had some great fun on his own rides, but was still able to ride on his first roller coaster! This park was great because many of the rides Kale could still ride on. They had something for everyone.

The next day, we decided since we were so close, and it was on the way to our next destination, we would visit Amish country. We could not take any pictures of them, but the our kids were fascinated with their culture and the way they dressed. We had so much fun stopping at little shops and roadside markets. One of their small towns is called Intercourse.

Next, on our journey was Ocean City, MD. We have been wanting to get to the beach all summer. Our family has not been to the Atlantic Ocean before, and we thought it would be great fun. Do you see the dolphins in the picture? We arrived at the beach early in the morning, and the dolphins were playing pretty close to the beach.

We had a blast playing in the water, and the waves.

We had to bury each other in the sand.

 The water was a wonderful 75 degrees, and the weather was perfect. We had a great time!

We did get some sunburns, but it was really worth it.  It was a great getaway to end the summer.

We are moving....again!

 So it may come to a surprise to you, or maybe not, but our family is moving away....again! This time to Tulsa, Oklahoma. I know, Oklahoma. I have resisted this move for quite some time, but it has become obvious to me that we are supposed to be there. Lee has been offered a Supervisor position in the Geosteering division of his company. This will allow us to settle down, and buy a house, and not move for awhile. This has been our desire for quite some time. So, Oklahoma here we come.

The weather can be crazy there, and severe thunderstorms are very common.

We are moving to a part of Tornado Alley. 

 It is on the Arkansas river, and hopefully we can find many things to entertain us.

You can see that Tulsa is in North East Oklahoma. We are about 90 miles from Oklahoma City. There is a LDS temple in Oklahoma City, so that is closer than we have been used to. We are excited for the move, just not the moving part! So those of you who have been dying to visit Oklahoma, you soon will have an excuse to go.

Pittsburgh Pirates

 We finally made it to a MLB game. Carson earned free tickets from Sports Camp this year, and we took advantage, and went as a family. Lee was MIA though not by his fault. A major thunderstorm moved in right before his plane was supposed to land. He had been in Oklahoma for 2 weeks, and was coming home that evening. We were going to go and pick him up before the game at the airport, but his flight was diverted to Columbus because of the weather. He had to wait there for a few hours before he landed safely in Pittsburgh.

We went to the game, and waited, and waited for the rain to stop. The game started 2 1/2 hours after it was scheduled to. Luckily we were only there for the last hour of the wait.

 We were able to move up under the balcony during the rain. Many people left after waiting for so long, so we had our pick of seats.

 The large tarp covering the infield.

 The big screen at the back of the stadium.

 Finally the rain stopped and they were able to move the giant tarp. You can see how small the workers are to the size of the tarp.

 Cleaning and sprucing up the dirt.

 Yay! They are starting the game.

 We could have moved back down to our real seats, but they were all wet, and we knew we would have to leave soon and get Lee from the airport.

The Pirates are actually having a winning season this year. They are almost in first place. We had to leave after only 2 innings to get Lee from the airport, but it was almost 10pm anyway. We hope to go back soon, and maybe get to stay for an entire game!

Fourth of July Weekend

 We had a really fun weekend. We went up to Pittsburgh, and rode the trolley up the hill to see the view.

 The tracks led the way. It really didn't move to fast, the kids wanted it to move faster. :)

 The view was amazing. We could see all of Pittsburgh from the top.

 Carson is now the proud owner and wearer of glasses! He actually does not mind them! He does mention that he sees so much better now. In this picture he is wearing his sports pair.

 The trolley going down the hill.

 More of the view.

We also went on this great hike, called The city of Rocks. For some reason I did not take very many pictures, or of the fantastic picnic we had in our ward. We had a wonderful time.