Okay, since so many people have been asking, I might as well make it formal here. Yes, we are moving, and soon. Corey is going with In-N-Out to open Utah. Salt Lake/Provo open up this fall (November). We found out that it was a sure thing in June, so we put our house on the market in the middle of June. Right after putting our house up, I went to California with the kids and then on to Utah and was gone for a little over 2 weeks. During that time, we got several offers. One of them went through. The bank counter-offered, the buyer accepted, and now we are closing on August 21st.
The buyers, when they looked at the house, they said they would be willing to rent it back to us, if we were staying in the area, because it was so well-kept and clean. When we found out that we are having to be out by August 21st, we have talked to the agents to ask the buyers if they would truly be willing to rent it back to us through the end of September, so we could wait and move up there all together instead of me having to move up with the kids, leaving Corey here to work until he's needed up there. We haven't heard back yet, so as of right now, we are going to be moving on August 21st.
Corey and I are going up to Utah August 7th through the 11th to try and find a place. Then coming back, packing up and moving. I personally hope we can stay through the end of September for a number of reasons, the biggest, of course, being that we won't be up there without Corey for 2 months.
So now you know the full story!
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Water Park Wednesday
Westley had a half day of school today. Corey's sister Leslie and her two kids, Felicity (6) and Savannah (1) have been out in Arizona this week staying with Corey's other sister Jamie, who lives in Casa Grande. So they came up for the afternoon. We ate a pizza lunch and then when Westley got home from school and the babies were all up from their naps, we went over to the Mesquite Groves Water Park in Chandler, a little water park built right next to a high school. If you're ever in this part of Arizona (Chandler/Gilbert, Queen Creek, San Tan Valley), you should check it out.
We had a blast. With Corey there too, plus his sister, we were able to spread the kids out between all of us and really enjoy it. There's a lazy river and two big water slides, as well as a great kiddie play structure in the play pool, which goes to 0 depth. Since it was about 108 today, it was the perfect activity, also because it's quite cheap! It was $8 for all 4 adults and 6 kids! It was also nice to see all the people from our ward that were also there taking advantage of the half day of school.
I wish I had some pictures, and I even remembered to bring the camera, but I forgot to use it. More like I was too busy swimming to use it. I need one of those Sanyo underwater cameras that my brother (who works for Sanyo) keeps trying to get my to buy.
I'm sad that our fun-filled Wednesday is coming to a close and that Westley has a full day of school the next two days. Bah, humbug!
We had a blast. With Corey there too, plus his sister, we were able to spread the kids out between all of us and really enjoy it. There's a lazy river and two big water slides, as well as a great kiddie play structure in the play pool, which goes to 0 depth. Since it was about 108 today, it was the perfect activity, also because it's quite cheap! It was $8 for all 4 adults and 6 kids! It was also nice to see all the people from our ward that were also there taking advantage of the half day of school.
I wish I had some pictures, and I even remembered to bring the camera, but I forgot to use it. More like I was too busy swimming to use it. I need one of those Sanyo underwater cameras that my brother (who works for Sanyo) keeps trying to get my to buy.
I'm sad that our fun-filled Wednesday is coming to a close and that Westley has a full day of school the next two days. Bah, humbug!
Jenna's Night Off
I have forgotten my camera a lot lately, so I have no pictures to go with these fun events. :(
On Friday, July 24th, I took the night off. Corey got home from work early because he had to go to the eye doctor for his horrible eye infection that lasted forever. It's finally gone now because the eye doctor gave him the right medication. Anyway, he got home and I took off to meet my mom in Mesa for dinner. We went to Outback Steakhouse for dinner and then went to this gelato place my parents love for dessert. I had the passion fruit gelato and it was scrumptious. After dinner, we went back and visited at my mom's house for a little bit. My dad had gone to San Diego for the day to take something to my brother, so we timed it just right.
After dinner, I left and picked my friend Lindsey up for ice skating. Yes, ice skating. She had called me the day before asking if we could get together because she needed a break, and I knew I could use one, so we decided to do something active instead of just going to dinner and a movie or getting our nails done. We both searched the web and found the same place in Tempe called Oceanside Ice Arena, which had a "open skate" on Friday nights from 8-10 pm. I haven't been skating since high school sometime, so I was rusty and I'll admit, the skates kind of hurt my feet. We really didn't try anything, we just skated around and talked. It was nice because we were inside a freezing ice arena when temperatures outside were still over 100.
I hope I can find friends in Utah who enjoy being active like me and would rather go ice skating than get a pedicure. Not that pedicures aren't nice, but sometimes a little bit of exercise can really cleanse the soul!
On Friday, July 24th, I took the night off. Corey got home from work early because he had to go to the eye doctor for his horrible eye infection that lasted forever. It's finally gone now because the eye doctor gave him the right medication. Anyway, he got home and I took off to meet my mom in Mesa for dinner. We went to Outback Steakhouse for dinner and then went to this gelato place my parents love for dessert. I had the passion fruit gelato and it was scrumptious. After dinner, we went back and visited at my mom's house for a little bit. My dad had gone to San Diego for the day to take something to my brother, so we timed it just right.
After dinner, I left and picked my friend Lindsey up for ice skating. Yes, ice skating. She had called me the day before asking if we could get together because she needed a break, and I knew I could use one, so we decided to do something active instead of just going to dinner and a movie or getting our nails done. We both searched the web and found the same place in Tempe called Oceanside Ice Arena, which had a "open skate" on Friday nights from 8-10 pm. I haven't been skating since high school sometime, so I was rusty and I'll admit, the skates kind of hurt my feet. We really didn't try anything, we just skated around and talked. It was nice because we were inside a freezing ice arena when temperatures outside were still over 100.
I hope I can find friends in Utah who enjoy being active like me and would rather go ice skating than get a pedicure. Not that pedicures aren't nice, but sometimes a little bit of exercise can really cleanse the soul!
Friday, July 24, 2009
Family Picnic
The In-N-Out Family Picnic is an event we look forward to every year. Here in Arizona, we get to go to a water park. We also get to eat as many INO hamburgers as we want made in the cookout trailer, which just seem to taste better. There's also tons of fruit, corn on the cob, and ice cream. The picnic this year was on June 8th and 9th at Big Surf Water Park in Tempe. We went on the first day. We got there in the early afternoon, since Corey was singing in a competition that was new this year--In-N-Out Superstar. He sang "With Arms Wide Open" by Creed. Actually, he downloaded the music and practiced it on the way to the picnic. He did very well in the competition and was a crowd favorite.
We left Travis and Eliza with my friend Lindsey for the afternoon, since they can't swim and we wouldn't be able to do much at the water park with such young kids. We were able to go down a few slides, but Caleb wasn't tall enough for one of them and Westley was barely tall enough. All in all, it was a fun day. I wonder where the picnics will be in Utah...
We left Travis and Eliza with my friend Lindsey for the afternoon, since they can't swim and we wouldn't be able to do much at the water park with such young kids. We were able to go down a few slides, but Caleb wasn't tall enough for one of them and Westley was barely tall enough. All in all, it was a fun day. I wonder where the picnics will be in Utah...
Ward Campout
More than a month later, I'm finally getting around to posting about our ward campout that took place on June 19th and 20th. We are not campers. My camping experiences are limited to going camping with my family no more than twice, if even that many times, girls' camp through my church each summer from Summer of 1990 through 1995, and going once with a few friends over the 4th of July in 1999. Corey has even less experience. So we borrowed my parents' tent and sleeping bags, bought some sleeping bags for the kids, and finally opened from the box the propane camp stove and lantern we got as a wedding gift 8 years ago. We loaded up the car and headed out. We were fortunate to set up camp between several very experienced campers. The kids were in their own wonderland--the woods--one of nature's best playgrounds. They loved exploring and collecting pine cones with their friends from the ward.
Corey cooked up some dinner for us on our camp stove--hot dogs and hamburgers. A little later, we had s'mores by the fire. The weather wasn't exactly favorable, we had quite a bit of drizzly rain that started just after we'd all eaten a fair share of s'mores that lasted into the night until about 1 or 2 am. It was also pretty cold for us Arizona-hot-blooded people. I had meant to grab our jackets on the way out the door but forgot, so other than the bedding we brought and long pant pajamas for the kids, we had nothing else to keep us warm during the night. I made sure to have the kids wear jeans, but in the morning, it was pretty chilly just in a T-shirt and jeans. Our kids were up at the crack of dawn, or earlier, I think around 4:30, so at 5:30, we finally got dressed and got up. Corey quickly took down the tent and loaded the car. We ate breakfast, scrambled eggs, bacon and orange juice and then left.
The kids were gloriously dirty and we were able to go swimming later at Grandma and Grandpa's house when we stopped to pick up Snoopy. It was a fun experience, though a little stressful to us because of our inexperience, but we hope to make camping a tradition, something we do at least once a year.
Corey cooked up some dinner for us on our camp stove--hot dogs and hamburgers. A little later, we had s'mores by the fire. The weather wasn't exactly favorable, we had quite a bit of drizzly rain that started just after we'd all eaten a fair share of s'mores that lasted into the night until about 1 or 2 am. It was also pretty cold for us Arizona-hot-blooded people. I had meant to grab our jackets on the way out the door but forgot, so other than the bedding we brought and long pant pajamas for the kids, we had nothing else to keep us warm during the night. I made sure to have the kids wear jeans, but in the morning, it was pretty chilly just in a T-shirt and jeans. Our kids were up at the crack of dawn, or earlier, I think around 4:30, so at 5:30, we finally got dressed and got up. Corey quickly took down the tent and loaded the car. We ate breakfast, scrambled eggs, bacon and orange juice and then left.
The kids were gloriously dirty and we were able to go swimming later at Grandma and Grandpa's house when we stopped to pick up Snoopy. It was a fun experience, though a little stressful to us because of our inexperience, but we hope to make camping a tradition, something we do at least once a year.
Father's Day and Anniversary
Because I went out of town on June 22nd, this post is really late in coming. Not only was Sunday, June 21st Father's Day, but it was also our 8th anniversary. We didn't really do much to celebrate. We order take-out Chinese on Saturday night and I made a nice dinner on Sunday. The kids and I made pancakes for breakfast on Sunday morning. We spelled "DAD" with letter-shaped pancakes for Corey.
One of Corey's favorite things as a dad is snuggling with the kids.
And here is our engagement picture:
One of Corey's favorite things as a dad is snuggling with the kids.
And here is our engagement picture:
Thursday, July 23, 2009
School Days
Westley started school on Monday. I didn't take any pictures. I forgot. I didn't even get him new school clothes this year, since most of his nicer stuff from last year still fits and wasn't too worn. He did need a new backpack after going through 2 cheap ones last year. We ended up buying a cheap one again, the more durable, higher-priced ones don't have characters on them, like Spider-man.
Westley loves first grade, as he says, "First grade is more better than kindergarten!" I think the fact that the material is actually interesting and a bit more challenging is good for him. We have to settle into a new routine because he has a lot of homework. I don't understand why schools think they have to give an hour of homework to a 6-year-old. Seriously? He started his homework yesterday at 5 pm and at 6 pm, when we sat down to dinner, he still had a little bit of one packet left. He's already been in school for 7 hours! And on top of that, we still had to read for 15-30 minutes, which we do anyway, but for accountability, I have to write down the title of the book we read on his Reading Calendar.
So now he has 9 weeks of school until a break at the end of September, at which point we will probably be moving to Utah.
Westley loves first grade, as he says, "First grade is more better than kindergarten!" I think the fact that the material is actually interesting and a bit more challenging is good for him. We have to settle into a new routine because he has a lot of homework. I don't understand why schools think they have to give an hour of homework to a 6-year-old. Seriously? He started his homework yesterday at 5 pm and at 6 pm, when we sat down to dinner, he still had a little bit of one packet left. He's already been in school for 7 hours! And on top of that, we still had to read for 15-30 minutes, which we do anyway, but for accountability, I have to write down the title of the book we read on his Reading Calendar.
So now he has 9 weeks of school until a break at the end of September, at which point we will probably be moving to Utah.
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