Getting here...

So this is our moving truck, it's the biggest we could get. All of our stuff acutally fit in this truck.
Here was my view for 5 days on the road. Tiff made us signs that, mine said "I'm with the Penske" it helped a lot to keep cars from getting between us. Mike had a sign that said "NH or bust" and "first time penske driver"
The 3rd day was a hard day Illinois weather did not agree with us. There were a few cars that had spun off the road and driving was scary, but we kept trucking through.
This is the swanky hotel we stayed at in New York. It was so nice, the hotel was just remodeled and we were the first to stay in the "new" room.

We have arrived!

After 5 days in the car we have made it to New Hampshire!!! I have so many pictures to come, but I just wanted to let you know we made it. The ward here is amazing. They welcomed us with cleaning supplies and meals for the first 3 nights.

I have to say when we pulled up to our new home I thought, "I feel like we are camping." There are trees everywhere. I mean everywhere. When you pull into a town you can't tell your in a town because everything is hidden in trees. My parents say it is similar to the Oregon coast, but I have never been. It's a little claustrophobic right now, but I hope we will get used to it. Our backyard is nestled up to the woods. Romantic right? Now, let me tell you about the ticks, chiggers, mosquito's, poison ivy and oak, and sumac. I have to coat my kids with "Deep Woods OFF" before they go out to play. Plus at night I have to do "tick checks" with the kids to make sure they haven't picked up any. Only 40% have Lyme disease. And the mosquito's still carry west Nile over here. I am thinking of inventing bug-proof suits. please send ideas for patterns.

Farewell to Boise; a top 10 list

It's finally time to bid Boise farewell, and I can't stop the tears from falling. Living in Boise since I was 3, with a few years exception, means there is a lot to leave behind. So here is my 10 ten things that will be missed. And believe me, there are way way more than 10!

10. I heard once Boise is the largest city per capita for Restuarants. You all know my obsession with food. Farmington, NH doesn't even have a McDonalds. Farewell Cheesecake factory, nacho's from Johnny Carino's, and burgers and fries from GoodTimes. Maybe without you all I might finally loose my extra weight.

9. Good bye to Valley View Elementary. The teachers were fantastic, the PTO rocked, and the parent involvement is amazing. And carpooling with Laura Wilson worked out so well, how will I replace you, Laura?

8. So long summer programs in Boise and Meridian. For the past 2 summers we have enjoyed eating FREE lunch in the park everyday. The Idaho Food bank provides free lunch for children 1-18 years of age, all summer long. You can't believe how much money I saved in the summers. Last year we discovered Movies in the park, in Meridian. With Shannon and her kids, we spent most Fri. or Saturday nights watching a movie projected onto a giant blow-up screen. The kids stayed up past midnight, eating popcorn, and laughing at the family friendly movie picked that week. Good Times!

7. I will miss having so much family close by for all the holidays throught the year. Frankie's house at Christmas time is amazing! The annual Christmas pageant at my Mom's will definetly be missed. The easter egg hunt, the BBQ's, and the birthday Bashes that put my house at Capacity.

6. "Good bye, Maple Grove Ward." I have loved being a part of such a wonderful ward that cares for each other the way ours has. When we first moved in I was pregnant with the twins and when they were born I was showered (not sprinkled, but showered) with gifts and acts of charity, from the ward. I always felt welcome in any circle of people and I leave behind many friends, who's lessons will stay with me always. I love you all.

5. I am going to miss having all my favorite stores within a 5 mile radius of me. Everthing is so close together and I can hit a lot of stores in a short amount of time. Grapples on Thursdays, Newberry street, Children's place, Target, and the entire Mall.

4. I will miss being around my Mom and her amazing ability to make my house sparkle. Whenever my parents come over for a visit my mom starts doing the dishes or folding clothes. At first it really bugged me, "Mom, just sit and visit, I will fold those tomorrow." "Put down the Windex Mom," But now it is the opposite of bugging me. I can call her whenever and she will stop by and pick up the slack. Everyone knows I am such a "mamma's girl."

3. Of course Sunday night dinners at my families house. I love having lots people around and Sunday night at my Mom's always helps me get through the week.

2. The Peterson family! They are wonderful. I love chatting with Frankie about Movies and books. Tom is always chasing my kids around, and nothing will ever top Halloween at Uncle Jeff's! Plus the Utah Peterson are just a hop-skip-and jump away.

1. And Lastly, the hardest part about this move, is leaving my little home. I can't believe when we walk out of the door on Monday, it will be for the last time. We will get to see our family and friends again, but we must say goodbye to our home. We have so many memories in this home and I know that it will be hard to leave it behind, but we have to move on. Right?

If you read this whole post thanks, I think it has been my longest one yet. I love you all and thank you so much for all the thoughts and prayers that you have sent our way during these past few months. It will be a week or two before I get to post again, but then WATCH OUT! I promised my family daily post about our New England adventures. Just till they get used to the idea of us gone.

Farewell Boise...the city of trees.

Peterson house this week

So the count down is on (8 days) and I am too busy to think about the emotional side of the move. All the boys head to the cabin tomorrow and that will leave the girls to do the packing. Elliot is not much help in this area, she just empties boxes as we fill them. I already have been packing here and there, but now it's time to do it all. We started in the boys room yesterday and packed up everything! They have no toys, except the 10 I let them pick out for the trip. So now I am realizing I have too much stuff, and I wish I could run everything I own to D.I. and just buy new when we get there.

A new look!

Since the 4th is right around the corner, I thought I would jump the gun, and enjoy a new background for a while. I love the 4th of July and this year we are going to attempt to spend it in Boston, watching the fireworks over the harbor. I have never seen it on TV, but Mike assures me that it is going to be a big deal.

Anyway, I love the 4th, the BBQ's, and staying up late lighting fireworks. Plus my favorite color, RED, is everywhere you see. Waving proudly with Blue and White. I love our Country!

The Air up there.

One of the neat things about Miles being in the GATE program is, they get to do a lot of extra things most kids don't get to in a regular class room. One of the things he did at the end of this school year is make a hot air balloon. They used tissue paper, which I was sceptical about, but turned out to be the perfect material. So the day they had the "launch" we arrived to school a few minutes early and the balloons started flying. Some were "duds" and didn't get very far, but one kids balloon made it out of the school yard. Hope the neighbors don't mind. I am so glad Miles got this opportunity and I know we will all remember the Hot Air balloons!

Caleigh Lou's 1st sleep over.

I loved sleepovers when I was a kid, but when the lights went out, I was always the last one to fall asleep. I could lay awake for hours listening to the sleeping sounds around me wide-eyed hoping morning would come soon. So for this reason and a few others I put off sleepovers. Since Caleigh might not, (it's too sad to say will not) see her friends after we move I thought she deserved a sleepover. So we shipped the boys to Grandma Marie's and we had our own girl pajama-jam.
This is the girls the next morning.
Finally they all fell asleep.
They had so much fun running thru the sprinklers

We had a jump rope contest and I think Caleigh was the last one to win. She was pretty good about it.

When we dropped the girls off the next morning Caleigh cried. She is going to miss all of her wonderful friends that she won't get to see for a while. One of the girls said when we were settling down for the night, "this is the best day ever." I know Caleigh would agree.

A new home

I just wanted to share a photo of the house we will be renting in New Hampshire. We were so lucky, with a little help from some friends, to find a real house to move to. I am so glad we won't be moving to a scary apartment were we don't know anybody. We have already made some contacts with some people in NH, "Hi, Emily and Chelsea!"

The kids have been asking that our next house have stairs, I was so glad to be able to find something that does! I don't know why they wanted stairs so badly, maybe it makes it feel like a BIG house. Right now though we are trying to do everything we can think of to make this move easier for them. Anyway we leave in 3 weeks and two days, I am getting nervous and excited. Anyone have good suggestions for the 5 day car ride? Especially for Elliot.

Funny things kids say...

Yesterday (Memorial Day) the kids were asking me what Memorial Day was? Personally I think they were looking for some presents or candy, thing of that nature. So I explained to them it was the day that we remember people who have died for our country. So Caleigh said...
"Oh, like Jesus?"
my reply...
"No, not really, we are supposed to remeber him everyday."

Guess it's time to get our FHE night's back on track.

Make us an Offer.

So...(drumroll) we got an offer on our house!! Yeah (balloons, streamers). It was much lower than we were hoping, but with the market the way it is, all I can say is, we are just grateful to have any offer! Our closing date is June 24th. Which works out perfectly because we are rolling out June 25th for New Hampshire.

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you for all the good thoughts and prayers. I know the Lord is watching out for us.

Two wheels are better than Four

Even Elliot got in on the act!

The Peterson household has been working on riding without training wheels for some time. Miles masters the skill last summer, but Caleigh was not feeling ready. And I wasn't letting Griffin try last year! But this year we are proud to announce there are no training wheels on any Peterson bike. Of course our bandaid budget has gone up significally, but I would say it was worth it. Just look at those happy faces.

Congratulations Mike!!

What an event. I am so glad Mike agreed to walk the line, I firmly believe you should celebrate all your accomplishments. One of the speakers, I can't remember which one, talked about all the different obstacles people face trying to get to graduation. Jobs, Kids, families, deaths, etc. It hit me how much Mike had to deal with while working on his Masters. I also like how the speaker said, "it's not by luck that your here today." I thought about how true his words were. Mike had to work so hard for every "A" he got it wasn't just luck. I am so appreciative to have such a great provider for me and my children.

Thanks everyone who could attend!

I figured it out!!

Mike's Graduation Announcement Photos

So this past Saturday we headed down to BSU to snap some photo's for Mike's graduation announcment. For all of you who don't recieve one in the mail I am trying to figure out how to post it on my blog. If it doesn't work, It's Saturday the 17th of May at BSU pavillion. Just in case you are in town. Anyway here are my favorite photo's from the "shoot."

Griffin and the Girls

Just another great day in our household. Actually Mike took these photo's of the kids. Something about Griffin Playing the Wii with his adoring sisters watching him was so cute. Do you love how interested Elliot is?
Caleigh is loosing interest and going back to her Magazine-how grownup of her.
The "twins." We always tell Griff, that Elliot is his twin. They both do look a lot a like. And it's a contest of who gets away with the most stuff with there shared smile!