A Long Goodbye

What a crazy couple of weeks!

So much has happened,

it's hard to believe it all happened in

such a short amount of time.

Let's recap.

First of all,
check out Ellory in her dress
for her first day at church.
Cray-cray ADORBS.

The last few weeks we were

in Ellensburg were

HOT.

We went to the little

lake in town with the 

Smith family.

Kale and O'neil enjoyed throwing

rocks together.
I didn't get a picture, though.
My bad.
Later than night we chilled
at the Smith's house
and had dinner with the missionaries.

Ellory loved Lily:

And Kale chased a bunny:

We went to the water park in Moses Lake

with Kristen and Bauston and Stephanie.

That was really really fun.

Kale loved it.

He still is asking if we

can go to the waterpark.
Earlier in the week when we went
to the lake we had gotten
one of  those half tents
so we could keep Ellory in the shade.
It worked well at Moses Lake too

Even poor Ellory was hot.

Kale needed something

so I just set Ellory down for a second

to help him out.

When I came back to pick her up

she was like this:

Kale loves Ellory.

And it's adorable.

The week before I moved

we had a Girls Night Out.

Rachel asked me what my favorite

desserts were, and then she

and Emily Hall teamed up to make them.

I am SOOOOO spoiled.

Can you believe the great friends I have???

First up:

That's right,

there's nothing like some

delicious cookie dough

to satisfy my sweet tooth.

And, although it wasn't the 

smartest thing,

I ate it all...

Next up:

I love me some oreos,

especially double-stuf.

But I never expected something

as delicious as this here cupcake.

I have no words.

They were AMAZING.

The whole night was really fun.

It was nice to hang out with

these awesome ladies one 

last time.

If any of you ever move to Ellensburg,

know you'll be in good hands.

On our last Friday in town we 

went to our ward campout at Ensign Ranch.

The only catch was that

the campout was cancelled.

We went anyway and so did a few

other families in the ward.

We had a BLAST.

I love this picture because

Blake (the boy in the tube)

was freaking out because he couldn't

get back to shore

and Rachel was showing him the motion

he needed to make with his arms and 

hands. 

That's motherhood, looking silly and

not giving a crap who sees 

because it's what your kids need.

Rachel is a great mom.

There was a rope swing at  Ensign Ranch

and I was constantly telling Kale

he needed to stay back 

so he didn't fall off the platform.

I said it so many times that O'neil

decided I needed some help:

O'neil looks naked, 

but I'm 90 percent sure he's not.

Rope swings are always fun.

Always

Corigan did awesome on the 

rope swing and even

managed to strike a sweet pose.

Why so serious, Kale?

Sometimes it still blows my mind that 

I have TWO kids..,

Kale took the following picture.

I guess he didn't want me in it.

Did you see the bassinet in the 

background?

That's right, I had a whole setup.

The bassinet was on my side of 

the air mattress along with

a camping chair and my laptop.

That night Ellory slept the best 

she had in her whole life.

She only woke up to eat 3 times and each time 

she just went right back to sleep.

It was wonderful and

I was so proud of her!

In the morning we headed for the 

slip'n'slide!

Last year Tyler didn't get to participate,

so this year it was all him.

There were a few moments

where Tyler had to take care of

other things,

so Corigan was nice enough

to take Kale down for us.

What a good kid!

Kale was NOT happy when 

we had to leave.

Our last Sunday in town

was Ellory's baby blessing day!

It was wonderful, and even more 

wonderful that my parents could

be there for it.

Ellory looked so cute in her blessing 

dress, which happens to be 

the same dress I was blessed in.

Isn't that cool!

I think it's super cool.

I'm so glad my parents were able to come
out and help us pack, clean,
and, most importantly,
keep Kale entertained.
A move is hard to explain to a 2 year-old,
especially when he's already
adjusting to a lack of attention
due to a little sister.

On our last Monday in town,

(do you like how I keep saying that?)

we hiked Manashtash Ridge with

Rachel, Aaron, Mindyn and Brian.

It was brutal.

Let's remember that at this point

it hadn't quite been 6 weeks since Ellory was born.

And, the last time I exercised was in........

November.

This hike was only 2 miles but

it was STEEP. 

Aaron kept us laughing the whole

way.

Brian and Mindyn brought their baby,

They were crazy.

I think I would have died carrying

that baby up that ridge.

But we made it!

It was so hot,

and we were all so sweaty

and tired

(except for Rachel and Tyler).

I mean, they were stinky and sweaty,

just not as tired as the rest of us.

Tyler got to the top before

the rest of us.

And he apparently decided

to take a picture of

us taking a selfie...

I love it.

Tyler got so far ahead of us
on the way down
he got bored and climbed a tree
and watched us go past.
Then he took a picture
from behind.
Creeper.



Look how cool I am.

On our last Tuesday in town,

Kristen and Bauston came over to play.

Kale and Bauston 

had fun playing water guns

and running in the sprinkler.

We miss them so much already!!!
Kristen is just the greatest
person and friend.
I'm so happy I got to be a part of her
life during such a huge
part of it!
Seeing her get married in the temple
was wonderful,
and she became someone
I could really relate to and talk with.
We'll be friends forever :)
And maybe Bauston and Kale will be, too!
 

My parents arrived on Saturday,

but I apparently didn't start taking pictures

until Tuesday.

My dad was so cute with Ellory,

and couldn't wait to hold her.

Look at those good snugs!

This is the new game Kale and Grandpa 

love to play together:

Tuesday night we met up with
Stephanie at Winegars (a GREAT ice cream place)
for Dollar Scoop Night.
The place was hopping so we
to our ice creams to
Stephanie's house
where Kale charmed the pants
off of everyone there.



We love Stephanie.
We didn't know her long,
but what an awesome person.
We joked about her coming to Utah
to visit,
but I hope she really does!

On our last Wednesday in town,

we went to hang at the Smiths house 

for a little bit and say goodbye.

That was hard.

I never imagined we'd make 

such great friends in 

our short time in Ellensburg,

but we really did. 

Rachel and Aaron are great people

and the best friends.

We had a ton of fun with them

and their kids.

I miss them a lot.

Especially Rachel (no offense to Aaron).

I'll admit I cried when we said 

goodbye.

It's hard not to cry just writing this.

Goodbyes are hard,

especially when you don't know when

you'll see each other again.

I'm glad we at least got to see

them one last time

and say our goodbyes.

Lily was so cute with Ellory,

I'm glad I had my camera with me!

Kale obviously didn't understand

what moving meant 

regarding not seeing his friends anymore.

But, when we left he gave O'neil 

a big hug and said goodbye.

It was great.

Nana was SO happy to be holding

Ellory again.

And Ellory was happy too.

She loves Nana!

And then it was time to move.

We packed up all our stuff in a Uhaul 

and headed out.

Tyler and my dad drove the Uhaul,

My mom and I drove the 

car with the little ones.

That was quite the adventure.

We drove to Boise on Thursday 

and stayed the night in 

a hotel and made the rest of the trip

on Friday.

Thursday was....interesting.

My mom and I ended up making 5 stops.

2 of those stops were to feed 

Ellory.

One was a bathroom stop.

One was an emergency side of the road

stop so Kale could poop.

One was an emergency side of the road

stop so I could climb in the back

and sit between the two car seats

and calm Ellory down.

I sat back there for the last 100 miles to Boise.

Our car isn't exactly spacious.

My butt hurt by the end.

Dad and Tyler beat us to the hotel.

It was about 9:30 by the time we got there

and Kale was WIRED.

So, we took him to the hotel pool to tire him out.

It kinda worked.

Friday was a bit better. 

Mom drove most of the way

so I could handle the kids,

and because I was so tired!

We stopped in Ogden at my 

grandma's house so my mom

could pick up her car.

We were able to convince Grandma

to come to Orem with us

and stay the night with us.

I'm so glad, because I love my 

Grandma and I wanted her to spend 

some time with all of us!

She is the sweetest lady

and was so cute with little Ellory.

Grandma has a bag of blocks at her 

house that Kale loves to play with.

He remembered exactly where they 

were.

The kid is too smart for his own good.

Dad and Tyler beat us to our 

new apartment.

In fact,

by the time we got there it 

was completely unloaded.

We had so many people show up

to help!!

All except a couple of Kale's cousins

were there and they

were so excited to see Kale.

I loved it.

And then, Grandpa Pat got them

all popsicles.

Cousin love!

My parents and my grandma went
to the Ogden Temple Open House
on Saturday while
Tyler and I went to his cousin's baptism.
Before they left we had to
get a picture of 4 generations
of women!
(Pardon my frumpyness)



It was really sad when my parents
had to leave.
So much had happened
it seemed like they hadn't
been with us long at all.
It's hard having them live so far
away.
I'm grateful for Skype,
because Kale knows his Gerber grandparents
and recognizes them right away
since we Skype so often.
The same will go for Ellory!
This move was so much easier
because of their help.
I love them!

So I probably haven't mentioned
yet that our new place
is just up the street from Tyler's
sister Laura and his Mom!
It's so crazy to go from
no family even close to tons
of family everywhere.
I'm pretty sure Grandma Pam is just
over the moon,
and so are we!
She came and walked with us to the nearby
park so that Kale would have a playmate.
There's a cute duck pond
and Tyler snatched this even
cuter picture of Pam and Kale.

What a great Grandma she is!
Kale loves her to death
and never wants to leave when he's with
her.

There was more that happened.
We went to eat at P.F. Changs and
my cousins Kristen and Trent
came with their spouses
Cory and Nicole.
Kyle and Heather came too
but they sat at the far end
of the table so we didn't get to
socialize with them.
Dinner was fun!
I LOVE my cousins.
They are a riot and I can't wait
for some Grandma dinners!!!!!!!!

We love our new place.
It's a basement apartment
with way more space and
actual CARPET.
Also, the kitchen is gorgeous
and there's a dishwasher.
Also, it's beautiful.

PHEW! That's about it.

We've had a few outings this past
week and I actually have
taken some pictures,
so, another post to come
relatively soon!

Thanks to everyone who helped
us move and to everyone
in Ellensburg who
took us in and helped make
our time there wonderful.