Luke's 4th Month

This month Luke began grabbing and holding on to things near his hands - his bottle, his blanket, the clothing or jewelry of someone holding him, etc.  He started rolling on to his side, but not all the way over yet.  His bald spot started going away, and due to the craziness of the month, he stopped sleeping through the night.

Luke's baby blessing was this month, and he did a lot of thumb sucking.

He also spent a LOT of time in the car... you know, driving all around the Southeast and then back to Utah...

His little sister started playing with him more, which might have been more fun for her than for him.  (The following three pictures remind me of when Jack colored on Eliza's head, when she was also about 4 months old.)  Eliza chose different decorations for Luke...

But my favorite development was that he started smiling more, and LAUGHING!

Month by month...

First Days for Ben, Cat, and Jack

We managed to get settled in at my aunt's house, which is about 30 minutes from the city where our kids go to school and where Ben's new job was located.  We were so very thankful that she had room for us and let us stay while we looked for a house to rent!  It was a huge blessing.

After worrying all summer about where the kids would go to school and whether we'd get it figured it out soon enough to get them in for the first day of school, they ended up right back at Cat's old school and we got to Utah 3 days before the school year began.  A bit of a nail biter, that one.

Cat's First Day of THIRD Grade:

Cat's first day of school coincided with

Ben's First Day of Work:

Because of testing for the 5-year-olds, it was another week before

Jack's First Day of KINDERGARTEN

Sugar!  Starting the day off right.

Cat with her teacher, Miss W.

Waiting in the carpool area after school.
They happened to be dressed alike on Jack's first day,
not surprising considering their limited options.

We got half price slushies at Sonic since it was happy hour.
What better way to kill time while waiting to pick Ben up from work?

We were a little late getting to school on Jack's first day,

so I got some better pictures on the second day.  :-)

Jack with his teacher, Mrs. F.

All lined up and ready to walk in.

Last word about The Trip.

Several months ago a parenting expert gave a fireside for the MBA students and spouses.  I didn't attend for one reason or another, but a friend shared with me one of the things she learned during the fireside: it is critical that our children be cast as a hero.  This sounds so simple, but I realized that I more frequently share humorous stories about my children than I do heroic stories.

During our trip, all of the kids had some issue or another at some point.  Nothing too serious, but of course it was an abnormal situation to be in and we all had our little ways of dealing with it.  Cat and I had been frustrated with each other and I knew that sharing a story in which she was the hero would help.  So one night at bedtime, I shared the following story, which is 100% true.  Not only did it help her to know that she is loved and appreciated and important to us, but it was a good reminder for me as well.

Once upon a time there was a family, who had to go on a long journey.  The journey was so long that they needed to bring lots of clothes: shorts and shirts, socks and shoes, sleepwear and underwear.  The journey was so long that they needed to bring lots of things to keep them entertained while they traveled: books and balls, movies and music, computers and cameras.  The journey was so long that they needed to bring lots of things to eat and drink: crackers and carrots, bananas and bread, walnuts and water.  The journey was so long that they needed to bring lots of things to help take care of their bodies: toothbrushes and hairbrushes, medicine and make-up, bandages and barrettes.  They needed lots of things.

Unfortunately, they didn't have a great big car.  They only had a medium-sized car.  They bought a carrier to go on top of their car to put all of their things in, but all of their things didn't fit in the carrier on top of the car.  They put things in the trunk of the car, but all of the rest of their things didn't fit in the trunk of the car.  So they put things inside the car.  And when they finished putting things inside the car, they squeezed themselves into the car.  All six of them.

Mom and Dad sat in the front of the car.  Big Sister and Baby Brother sat in the middle row of the car.  Big Brother and Little Sister sat in the back row of the car.  And because of all of the things in the car, nobody could move, including Mom.  Mom couldn't go to the back of the car to pick up dropped toys, to hand out snacks, or to gather trash.  She couldn't go to the back of the car to calm the baby or play with the kids.  She needed help.

So Mom asked Big Sister, in the middle row, to help.  A lot.  Big Sister handed everything from books to bottles of water to Big Brother and Little Sister in the back row.  She handed everything from trash to broken toys up to Mom in the front.  She gave Baby Brother his pacifier and made sure he didn't have sun in his eyes.

Sometimes Big Sister didn't want to hand things back and forth and take care of Baby Brother.  Sometimes it was annoying for her to help Mom because she'd rather be reading a book or watching a movie or taking a nap, but Big Sister helped anyway.  Big Sister was a great helper, even when she didn't want to help.

Throughout the journey, Mom was grateful for Big Sister and all of her help.  When they finally arrived at their destination, she made sure to tell Big Sister what a great helper she'd been.  She said, "Big Sister, without your help, I don't know how we all would have gotten through this trip.  Thank you for everything you did.  You are my hero."

Our (general) route.
9000 miles in exactly 7 weeks.

XC x 2 - Back to Utah

We left on a Monday afternoon in August, with the deadline of arriving in Utah in time to acclimate to the time change, shop for school clothes (the kids have to wear a generic uniform), and get settled at my aunt's house before school started for Cat the following Monday.

So as you might imagine, we were more aggressive with our driving on this trip than we were our first Cross Country Trip weeks earlier.  Therefore, I don't have a lot of pictures to show for it.

Dinner at Zaxby's on our first day of driving.
We had to make time for some good fried chicken before leaving the South.

Saturn Launcher at the Alabama Welcome Center.
No, we didn't stop to check it out, but it was cool to see a rocket on the side of the Interstate.

We drove through Nashville and stopped to eat at a restaurant from "Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives."
This place was definitely a dive, in an industrial part of town, and very small.  We were worried
about finding a table where the 6 of us could sit because it was really crowded, but it worked out,
and it was definitely worth it because the food was AWESOME.  After lunch we drove around
Nashville a bit, checking out the downtown, the riverfront, and Vanderbilt University.

Toe-nay-does at Arnold's.  Jack was happy.

We drove through St. Louis and called my cousin to see if we could meet
up for dinner and she did us one better - offered to make us dinner and for us
to stay with them.  So nice!  We loved getting to hang out with Stacie
and her family, and it was such a treat for the kids to be able to play with
cousins and enjoy toys and a playground.  We had a great time!

Jack, Aaden, Abbie, Cat, and Eliza.

Once again, we called friends near Kansas City to see if we could meet up somehow
and they offered to host us for dinner.  This is a sweet family we became friends
with during the MBA program and it was so fun to see them in their new home
and get caught up.

Elena even set up this cool slide & pool for the kids in the back yard.
They loved it!

Our family with Elena, Giglio, and Evelyne.

Look!  A truck!  At a rest stop!

Then Jack took about a dozen pictures that look like this.

And a few more that I like much better, which look like this.

We ended up with a few hours to spare in Colorado, and after poring over
tourist info from the Welcome Center, Ben requested that we go to the
Buffalo Bill Museum & Grave in Golden, CO.  It was really interesting to
learn more about Buffalo Bill's life.

And there were some fun things for the kids to do there too.

The view from the grave site.  Not bad, Mr. Cody.

Buffalo Bill's grave.

Ben and Cat were the only two brave enough to swim in the pool
at our hotel in Ft. Collins.  That water was COLD!  I stayed dry with Luke
while Jack and Eliza preferred the hot tub.

Lunch & running around at a rest stop in Colorado... or Wyoming...?

The Little America truck stop in Wyoming had a fun little
playground and 50 cent ice cream cones.  Perfect!

And we arrived in Utah on Friday afternoon.
(I remember distinctly the sinking feeling I had when we first
arrived in Utah in 2011.  I didn't feel much better this time...)

But I have to admit that those mountains make pretty great backdrops.

"Our trip is almost over!  Woohoo!"

Dinner in Midvale, UT.
You know you're in Utah when there are a gazillion high chairs
in an average-sized fast food restaurant.

It was much harder for us to leave the Southeast this time than it was back in 2011.  When we left back then, we expected that we would be in Utah for less than 2 years - just long enough to have an adventure and explore a different region of the country.  Ben's MBA program provided all of us with great experiences and we are very grateful for all of the blessings we received because of it.  We always knew there was a chance that we'd stay in Utah, and we came close to doing just that, but we hoped all along that we'd be able to move to the same region of the country as most of our family.  Certainly, when we left Utah in search of a job we had every expectation that we would end up in the Southeast.

The decision to move back to Utah made so much sense, and we felt that it was what the Lord wanted us to do, but that didn't make it easy.  The drive back was emotional for me - beginning with tears as soon as we got on the Interstate in Tallahassee.  It took me several weeks before I was anything but annoyed and disappointed about the whole situation.  Thank goodness, I feel better now.

As much as I talk about missing the climate, the greenness, and the beaches of the Southeast, it's really the people who make it special for me.  I feel so blessed that we had so much time with loved ones over the summer before coming back to Utah.  It was hard at the time, to be gypsies and wonder where we would end up, but we were very much aware of the unique privilege of Time with family and friends.  Conversely, my biggest regret is that we didn't see a lot of people who are very special to us, including a few family members and our dear friends in Georgia.

We will always cherish the memories from our Cross Country Summer, and I'm sure they'll help to sustain us in the event of another long stay away from the very special people and places in the Southeast.  But I'm going to be optimistic.  Fingers crossed... it won't be another 2 years before we're all back.  Even if it's only for a visit.