A Much Needed Vacation

As you can probably imagine our lives have been incredibly busy with all the business surrounding moving.  But, several months ago (before even considering a move) we had booked a vacation in Park City, Utah.  So, we gladly locked up our box-filled house and went to Utah for a week of much needed relaxation and sunshine!

I probably shouldn't be taking time out of my day to blog only 3 days before moving, but like my in-laws predicted I'm procrastinating!  So, here's a little look at our Utah adventure...

All settled in for our 14 hour car ride (we took the scenic route) to Park City.

As soon as Kai woke up, he wanted to know where the park was, since we'd been continually telling him the day before that we were driving to Park City :)  So, we quickly found a park and everybody (including Bryon obviously!) was happy.

Hard to see in this tiny picture, but here we are at a freestyle aerials show at Olympic Park.

Kai wasn't so impressed with the loud music and announcer.  But, he liked the skiers!

We ended off our first day with a picnic at Jordanelle State Park.  Kai was feeling very loving on this early Father's Day celebration. 

On Father's Day, Bryon's mom, dad and sister arrived to spend the rest of the week with us.  After they arrived, Kai wanted pretty much nothing to do with Bryon and me which made the rest of the week very relaxing for us!

My two favourite boys.  Thanks for being an amazing dad Bryon!

Out for a little hike at Deer Valley.

Loving the sunshine and the pools.

We went down into Salt Lake City one day and I was amazed by the Mormon temple.

After living with two very non-technological parents, Kai was amazed by his grandparents and aunty's iPads :)  

Kai loves these two so much!

Heading up the mountain for some alpine-sliding fun.

The birthday girl!

Giving the ball a little bit of help!

And out for some birthday dessert after a fun-filled day.

We did so many other things too, which weren't captured on the camera.  Bryon and his dad went mountain biking, we shopped, went on a date(!), and explored.  It was a lovely week!

Unfortunately, on our way home we blew a tire on our car which resulted in a 12 hour trip becoming a 17 hour trip.  Yikes!  Although our car was seriously "injured" and now in the shop for a week, I am just grateful that none of us were injured in the process.  

Moving!

Yes, that's right!  The story is long, but as of June 30th we will be leaving this sweet little piece of paradise behind...

...and moving on to new adventures here!

I feel like my days are currently a full mixture of sorting, packing, cleaning, fixing, throwing-out, checking things off of our never-ending "to do" list, and of course spending as much time with friends as possible.  The move is bittersweet.  We will be leaving behind so many things we love - friends, community, church, house, lake, mountain, job etc.  But, we hope that we will fall in love with our new place just as much.  And, we are thankful for friends, both here and there, who are making this move so much easier for us.  And, we're thankful for being able to rent our house out so quickly and find a cute little house in Portland that will hopefully be perfect for us (We've never seen it in person, but doesn't it look charming?!).

In the midst of the chaos, Kai is being a trooper.  He doesn't handle change too well, so I'm hoping and praying that all of the changes in the next few weeks (vacation in Utah, one last busy week in Sandpoint, one week with my family in Canada, then moving into a new house in a new city with all new people!!) won't overwhelm him too much.  Just this morning a friend suggested making a little photo book for him of our new neighbourhood, house, friends etc.  What a great idea!  I'll have to add that to my list.  

Anyways, I must get back to packing while the little munchkin naps :)

Hopefully more updates and pictures soon!

The Past While

Life recently has been busy (more on that excitement in another post!) and rainy which means there hasn't been a whole lot of picture-taking happening around here.  But, here's a little bit of what we've been up to a midst the chaos that is our lives at the moment.

My favourite little garden helper!

Taking advantage of an evening with no rain!

These two love each other so much!  And, they share a great love of collecting and throwing rocks too.

At the "Lost in the 50s" parade.  Watch Kai's progression of poses...

Although he loves cars, he hated all of the noise.  It didn't help that the people across the street were yelling, "Rev it up!" to every car that drove past!  However, despite his plugged ears and covered face he informed me at the end of the parade, "That was really fun!"

Bryon's annual work party at Priest Lake.  One of the bookkeepers brought toys for each of the kids, and Kai was mesmerized by the capsule/sponge animals.

Best toy ever!  Kai stayed busy giving all of the bigger kids rides.

Memorial Day hike to Copper Creek Falls.  I think Kai ran most of the way (not that it's very long)!

He kept track of all the numbers along the way (they were in no particular order) and  was excited to finally find missing number "3" at the end :)