Back to School

In the middle of closing on the house and repacking what we brought to the condo and moving to our new home, Mia started second grade! Crazy times, but the girls have held up well!! Mia rides the bus with several of the kids from our neighborhood and loves it!! Lily is in her last year of preschool, and we found a school that combines school with ballet and tumbling classes so she is in heaven! Her favorite part - she gets to wear her leotar and tights (and sometimes a tutu) to school. It has given me and Piper a few quiet hours together - well, it gives Piper a quiet nap while I unpack boxes! Soon we will have time together to play.

Mia on her first day of school!!




Lily on her first day of preschool!!

NEW HOME!

We have finally moved into our new home, and most of the boxes are empty! We are so happy here and know that this is where our family belongs. Mia and Lily are doing great in school, and have made lots of new friends. Piper has adjusted well and I can tell she finally feels like she is home and has learned her way around the house. Her first word has been "mom" and she crawls around calling and looking for me. So cute!! We have LOTS of stairs in this house, and she mastered those in no time.

Here are a few photos we have taken while getting settled:


Waking up the first morning in our new house.


Mia and Piper playing on the front porch.


Piper - loving the beautiful UT weather and playing in the front yard.


Piper isn't walking yet...but she loves to play around the kitchen floor under my feet.


Mia and Lily climbing the rocks in the backyard. And we love the fall colors that are taking over the mountain behind us.

Leaving Texas

So, to limit the amount of tears I will shed while typing about the hard time we had leaving our friends, home, neighborhood, etc. in Texas...I am going to post a few photos! I have to say a special thanks to my friend, Krysta, that came and took photos of the girls around the house and captured some of my favorite things about our home in Texas and the memories we have there!!







We had a wonderful goodbye dinner with our friends on our street and saying "goodbye" was so hard. Those friends of have been in our lives, and the lives of our children, for 6 years. They became family and we miss them dearly. But the good news - we have plenty of room in our new house for them to come and visit!!





We spent lots of time in our pool before the movers came. We were in the pool and playing with friends up until the truck was loaded and ready to pull out of Texas. Here are a few of our last pool memories:


Mia and Lily's and their buddies - the Pearce's (Elsa and John). Thankfully they come to UT to visit family so we can see them lots!!


Piper and Ella


Lily and Grace - again, another family that has ties to UT so we still get to see the cute Cannon girls!

We Are Back!

So, it has been a long time since my last post, and sooo much has happened. Here is a quick list of some of the exciting, and sad, events that has been going on in our lives:
- March: Jason got a wonderful promotion at work!! ( great news)
- With the promotion we found out we have to move back to Utah (sad news - so not ready to leave TX).
- April: Jason's dad got sick and we soon find out it's lung cancer. Six weeks later he passed away after a short, but painful battle with cancer (super sad news)
- Because of Jason now working in UT he was able to visit with his dad in the hospital and spend quality time with him through the 6 weeks of illness (good news)
- May-June: Girls enjoyed their last swim team season here in TX! Great season and both swam great!! (wonderful news)
- June: Sold our home in TX after just 3 weeks on the market (happy news, but sad that we really have to leave)
- Our little Piper is growing so fast and is now crawling and pulling up on everything in sight. Can't believe how fast the time is going.
- July: Made the move to UT, but with no new home yet we are living in my parent's condo in Bountiful. It just feels like we are on vacation. But enjoy being with family and friends.
- August: Finally found a new home and we move in next month (September). The girls can't wait to get settled into our new house!! (great news)

So there is a quick recap of the highlights. It has been a crazy, stressful and emotional few months, but we have so much to be thankful for!! I will post pictures soon! And my next job - changing the name of our blog....we no longer will we have tales from Texas. We are now UT residents, and I am still adjusting to that fact. :)

Lily and her little Buddy

With Mia away at school every day, Lily and Piper get lots of time together. And Lily is proving to be an incredibly sweet, caring big sister. Piper just adores her. Here are the latest photos of the two buddies!!




Lily told me the other day that she didn't want to go to jail (she is obsessed with policeman and questions about jail lately - I have no idea why) or to heaven because she would miss Piper too much. She has to give her lots of hugs and kisses when I drop her off at preschool, and again as soon as we pick her up. I can tell Piper is looking around and missing her, too, when Lily is gone to school. When Piper is napping Lily cannot wait to hear the first peep in the monitor so she can run up and see her in her crib.

I need to get more pictures of Mia with Piper, but she also spends lots of time entertaining her. She loves to sing her songs and to give her a bottle. At night before bed Mia and Lily each want a turn holding Piper and loving on her before they drift off to sleep. Most nights Piper will cooperate! :)

Piper Update

So, Piper has past her 3 month birthday and will be 4 months next week. She is growing and changing so much. The best way to describe her - fat and happy!! Check out the photos below and you will see.





She has started sleeping in her own bed upstairs - a hard transition for mom. :) And she wants you to sit and talk to her and make her laugh all day long. Luckily she has 2 sisters that fight over who can make her laugh more, so she always has someone giving her attention. She has also started to grab hair (not so fun for her sisters) and play with toys. She is so fun!!

Winter in Utah

We went to Utah for some skiing and time with family the first week of February. While we were there we had Piper's baby blessing - it was the first time everyone from both of our families were together in one place. It was such a special family event to have everyone there for Piper's big day. She looked adorable wearing the same dress that both Mia and Lily wore for their baby blessings.

We had a wonderful week of skiing and snow fun. The girls were in ski school on Monday to remember what to do from last year, and it didn't take them long! Jason and I skied and then picked them up a little early from class so we could take them to ski with us. They did amazing!! it was so fun to watch them. By the end of the day on Wednesday Mia informed me that she was bored with the green runs and was ready for more. We took the big lift up and she attempted a blue, and loved it! What a great day riding up the lift with my big girl and skiing down the hills together. I kept thinking of how fast she is growing up and how glad I am that we are friends and enjoy doing things together. Lily and Jason kept each other company, and by the end she could do the lift all alone and wanted to go down the hill with no one close to her. She is all about going fast and straight down the hill. Being up on the slopes as a family is the best! We even had Piper up there with us on the last day - thanks to my parents that came and kept her company in the lodge. :)

It was a great trip full of memories. We had lots of time to spend with Jason's siblings and their kids that we don't see very often. The girls were busy and tired, but were so good. And Piper got to meet all of her family members, since most had not yet seen her, and was constantly loved on and held. My sister kept her one day while we skied, and she held her all day long, she didn't even put her down for naps. Piper came home more spoiled than when we left. She survived the first of many plane rides and trips to Utah.

Here are some photos from our trip!