Easter 2019

This was our first Easter in Iowa. I feel like I might be saying that a lot, "This was our first...in Iowa". But even though we were away from our families, we still enjoyed it with our own little family. We woke up and the kids got their Easter Baskets. They were filled with slippers, chalk, bubble hands, kites and a little treat. The kids loved them. Jason's slippers were "Cat Boy" slippers from PJ Masks. He thought they were so cool. Camille got little grey and pink ones with polka dots. They were cute and she loved having slippers as well.

We ate breakfast (Pancake bunnies) and got ready for church. Church is always good, but I especially love Easter Sunday. Being able to go to church and learn and feel of Christ and how be overcame death so that we can be forgiven of our sins and live again as well. The hope and joy I feel from that message always brings me such a peace of mind.

After Church we came home and played with all of the things the kids got. It was a windy day for flying kites. Almost too windy. Jason could hardly hold onto his kite. It made me giggle a little. Jordon was the real MVP of the day. He was in the field picking up the kites every time they fell down. Camille's was staying up really well, but Jason's kept falling down regularly.

We played with our bubble hands and chalk and it was a great day.

Jayden and Andrea Snyder invited us on a picnic for Easter Dinner. It was so nice of them to have us over. The park was so fun, and it was nice to catch up with Jayden. It is nice to have a little piece of home here in Iowa, even though we don't see them very often.

I feel grateful for all my blessings that come through and because of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Happy Easter!

Hills Iowa

Here are some facts that I have learned about Hills and the things we are doing in Hills right now.

Garbage- The garbage here blows my mind. Kevin will probably laugh that I am even writing about this, because he thinks I am getting hung up on the garbage thing. But they don’t do regular garbage here. You have two options, the first option is to but lots of stickers that cost $1.25 each. Once you fill up a garbage bag, then you put a sticker on it. On garbage day, you just stick your bags on the curb and the garbage man will come pick them up if they have stickers on them. Or you can buy one sticker for like $250 and put it on a garbage can that you buy. And then you can fill up that garbage can, and each week they will pick up your garbage can. We are now proud owners of a garbage can. In the end, Kevin bought a big dumpster for the office, and we are just taking our garbage over there. Then I don’t have to worry about stickers or things like that. Ha ha.

Bike riders- There are a bunch of people that ride road bikes here. The road right next to our house is one of the main “biking trail” roads. It has kind of been run to see people riding their bikes around. It kind of makes me want to get a bike trailer and start riding a bike as well. I guess we will see if that ever happens, but it is kind of fun to see so many riders.

Book Mobile- There is no library in the city of Hills. We have access to the Iowa City library, which is probably 10-15 minutes away. It is actually a great library, although I now need to research the books that I think I might like to read before I go to the library. It is harder to just pick one off the shelf. (No LDS authors here) and some books are too much for me. But the library does send a book mobile down to Hills every Tuesday. The kids have loved it so far! I need to just start requesting the books I want to read to be put on the bookmobile, and then we can go and pick them up there and still pick our books from the book mobile.

Internet- All of the choices for Internet in Hills are so expensive. We are only 6 miles outside of Iowa City, but hardly any regular companies cover here.

Rain- Since we have moved here, it has rained almost every single day or night. I am not even exaggerating. And it is not just a little sprinkle. It is a full on thunder storm that has pounding rain. I can hardly even sleep through it because it scares me a little bit. I am just glad that the kids seem to sleep through it pretty well. 

Rumble strips- Right outside our house is a fairly busy road, and on that road there are some rumble strips that warn the driver that a stop sign is coming up. It isn't too bad during the day. The noise it makes just melds into all the background noise, but at night and in the morning when I am sleeping, It seems to be so loud to me. What are people doing driving around at 3 AM anyway? 

Well, that is the first impression of what Hills, IA has to offer. We hope to settle in here, despite the funny way they pick up garbage. 

Nauvoo

The day after we arrived was General Conference. So we unpacked on Saturday and listened to General Conference. My dad helped me line the cupboards with contact paper, and my mom helped watch the kids. We got a lot done. We hung up a lot of decorations and got things going. On Sunday we decided to take the day and drive over to Nauvoo as we listened to General Conference. We drove over during the morning session and then came home during the afternoon session. We now live an hour and a half away from the Nauvoo Temple. As President Nelson came on to speak we had just pulled up to the Temple. It was kind of neat hearing the words of our living prophet as we were parked at the base of one of the earliest Temples. The kids were done being in the car, so we let them out to play on the lawn as we listened. After conference was over we got out to go walk around the Temple when the kids needed to go to the bathroom. We walked over to some buildings hoping there was a visitors center close by, but there wasn’t so we drove back into town to the gas station and went the bathroom. Then we went back to the park close to the temple and had a picnic there. After lunch we walked over to the Temple and walked around. It is truly beautiful, and I could feel the heritage it has to offer. After walking around, we drove down to the visitors’ center and it was actually open. We looked around and then did a quick driving tour of Old Nauvoo. I can’t wait to go back there soon and enjoy walking around and learning from all that is offered there.

We drove back, across the Mississippi River, and through all the country side back to our home. It was such a nice day, and I feel grateful to have been able to see it with my parents and with the kiddos.

It was our first adventure here in Iowa, but I am sure it will not be our last.

Moving to Iowa

Well, it finally happened. We made the move to Iowa. We have been thinking and looking and working on moving out here for almost a year, and we finally took the plunge. I feel sad to move away from family and friends and everything I have ever known. I feel sad that we are going to be missing so many family events. But I feel peace in knowing that we are doing what we think is right for our family and what I think Heavenly Father wants us to do.

My parents are so great. That is just a known fact. But they were extra kind and they drove out to Iowa with the kids and I. The trip actually went really well, but it probably was mostly because of my parents. We woke up early on Thursday Morning (like 3 AM so we could be going at 3:30) and that made a huge difference in the trip, I think. We actually got on the road at 3:30 when we were hoping to be moving. I had forgotten to fill up my car the night before (rookie mistake) and so we ended up stopping in Evanston before we got to the barren wilderness. Luckily, I guess that is the word, none of the kids had fallen back to sleep, so I wasn’t worried about waking them up. We stopped and got gas and then got driving again. About 10 minutes later Jason said he needed to go to the bathroom. We stopped at the next gas station and I took Jason in. He didn’t actually need to go to the bathroom. I think his stomach was hurting him. He wasn’t sick, but maybe a little car sick. Once he got some food in his stomach he felt a lot better. Traveling on an empty stomach wasn’t for him I guess. We finally got settled in, and the kids fell back asleep for a little while. As the sun was coming up and we were driving across Wyoming, I hear Camille in the back seat say, “I feel so lucky to be able to see all of these beautiful colors today.” I felt the same way. The sunrise was beautiful, and I was lucky to share it with Camille.

Since my parents had come with us, I didn’t have to stop the car to hand out breakfast. The kids thought the go-gurts were the coolest thing ever. And we kept driving along. I think we would have taken more breaks and stops, but the weather was so cold and SO windy. Every time we stopped we just ran to the bathrooms in blankets since it was cold, and ran back to the car when we were done. Then started driving again.

Grandma Haderlie and Aunt Diane had made little travel goody bags for Camille and Jason and Sadie. It was so thoughtful and kind and the kids really enjoyed them. Camille ended up using all of her pipe cleaners to create a “toy shop” above her head. She hooked the pipe cleaners onto the over the head handle, then she hooked all her toys to the pipe cleaners, then when she wanted a specific toy she just had to grab it and pull it over. It was very creative and took a long time to make, which was the perfect combination for this trip.  

The first day we made it to Grand Island. We stopped around 4:30. Made some dinner in the hotel, and then we went and played mini golf at this hotel. It was so nice to not have to get in the swimming pool. I really enjoy swimming, but with three kids that don’t know how to swim, I was going to be very nervous. So instead of swimming we played golf then went back to the hotel room. It was the perfect night and end to the first day of the trip.

 

The next day we got up and didn’t rush out of the hotel. We went and got breakfast and packed up our things and got ready for the car ride. We only had about 5 hours to go this day. We drove over to Omaha and visited with our good family friends the Olivers. Their house was beautiful and so peaceful. I was sad to not see Jeff, but it was good to see Denise. We couldn’t stay long because we still had a long drive. We headed back on our way. The rest of the trip was kind of uneventful. Although I do have to say that Utah and Idaho area greatly lacking in the quality of their rest stops. It is so nice to go to a rest stop that isn’t totally disgusting.

We did end up stopping in Newton, and I actually enjoyed it there. I think we could have enjoyed living there as well. But we just kept trucking along and eventually made it to our new home in Hills, Iowa. Kevin was here to help us out of the truck and that night for dinner we had Panda Express. I feel grateful for Kevin and all that he does for our family.

 

It is weird sitting here in Hills, Iowa. I am not familiar with the town or people yet, and the town doesn’t quite feel like home yet. But being with Kevin is my home. When he gets home from work, I feel complete. Wherever we live, my home will always just be where Kevin is. I feel comfort in knowing that. Sometimes life doesn’t go exactly how I planned, but through the ups and downs my home will always stay the same.