Late 4th of July

Left to right--Ethan Barlow,Haylie, Isaiah Buhler, Paige Barlow, Lexi Barlow, and Brooklyn Buhler

Zander being contemplative.

Blowing Bubbles

Duck, Duck, Goose!

I found these pictures and realized I should have written about this awhile ago. We were back in Boise over the 4th to get the rest of our things from our garage and also to pick up Dave's truck. It was perfect timing because we got to continue our tradition of hanging our with some of our favorite people for the holiday. I am pretty sure we will never find friends like the Buhlers and Barlows again. I love you guys!! We had a BBQ at Spenser and Laura's place, the kids played outside and we lit some fireworks. Haylie is afraid of everything that is loud so it was surprising that it was Zander cried and not Haylie during the fireworks. The trip was bitter sweet because the reality of the fact that we don't live there anymore really hit me and it made me sad. I have been really blessed to have great friends that are so much fun!

Every Day Life in Price

We have been slowly been getting used to living in Price. We have met a few new people and found fun things to do around our little apartment to keep us entertained. Zander had some money that he got for his birthday in April that we hadn't gotten around to spending yet. We decided to get a small sandbox that could go on our driveway on the side of the house. He has had a great time playing in it and so has Haylie. He doesn't know how to climb out of it yet so he just sits there and plays and plays and then he says his little word for "all done" when he wants to get out. So cute! I am not a huge fan of the constant layer of grit on the kitchen floor but seeing both of them enjoy it so much it's worth it.




We have been watching the neighborhood rabbits. Most of them are little brown ones but this one is either someone's pet or a domestic one that some one has let loose. It is about twice the size of the little brown ones but it just wonders around.

Sometimes we just hang out in jammies,
or sometimes we let Dad take us for a ride in the bike trailer.
When we really feel crazy we take a swim in our pool! We washed the car in the driveway and the water pooled up on the side of it. It started out as a little wading and ended in this. We felt really classy letting our kids play in muddy water off the car! They were having a ball!

Life is rough when you are the little brother

Zander is walking now and it has meant a change in the dynamics between him and Haylie. They chase each other around and I am a nervous wreck all day worrying that Zander is going to fall and get hurt. He loves it though and can take a pretty good hit before he starts to cry. Here is one of the hazards of having an older sister. Notice the lovely Disney Princess barrette in his hair.
Zander is now 15 months old and he is becoming more and more like a little boy instead of a baby it seems like as soon as he could stand up from the floor instead of crawling to something to pull up to that he grew up tons. He has been walking for about 3 weeks now. He also is saying lots of words. Some of his favorites are cheese, ball, fish, up, Haylie, dad, mom, stuck, sit, zip, and this morning when I asked Haylie the question I ask every morning, "What should we have for breakfast?", I was surprised when the answer I expected came from the wrong kid. Add cereal to the list! He is getting his own ideas about what he wants to do and when we doesn't get to do them he really can throw a fit. He had some good training from our professional in house fit thrower. He loves to climb the slide that is on Haylie's bed, and uses no caution at all when he gets on top of the bed so I have to either remove the slide or close the door to the room unless I want to stand by the bed all day. Life seems to never be dull with these to kids around. I love them so much, even when I want to scream! Here are some pictures that my niece Janelle took during our reunion in June. It is so nice to have a photographer in the family.

Zander was in serious need of some updated pics for the wall. Haylie claimed she was too busy to have her hair done for the pictures so she missed out.

My Mom and Dad and siblings

Haylie smelling the flowersHaylie and her cousin and good buddy Rylan in Grandma and Grandpa's backyard.

Our Humble Abode

We are renting the end unit of a triplex in Price while we are waiting for our house in Boise to sell. It could be a while but we are hopeful that it won't be long since over half of our belongs are sitting in a storage unit. It is a little weird to go to less than half the space that we had in Boise, but I only have to clean one bathroom instead of three! It is not much but it is nice enough. Here are some pictures of it. I just realized I didn't take a picture of the outside, the kids room or playroom so I will post that later.

Family Room

Our Bedroom...Since that is a futon you can imagine it is rather small. We are getting a bed this weekend now that we can haul it in the truck.

Flattering pictures of the kitchen. Notice the absence of a dishwasher. She was taking the picture!!

The lone bathroom

Sweet Haylie

These days Haylie is usually a trial of my patience. We don't know any kids in Price yet for her to play with and I overloaded her with buddies during the last few weeks we were in Boise since she went somewhere to play nearly everyday while I packed. So now she wants a playmate every second and she has decided that her best excuse for not obeying is "You know I am just a kid, mom!"
So today she did the sweetest thing and her recent behavior made it even sweeter. I had a bad day today, I was up in the night with Zander, and Dave was in Moab working until 3 in the morning so I had to deal with that alone. I was tired, overwhelmed with everything and just...frustrated. I let a few tears fall and Haylie came up with a doll burp cloth and started wiping my eyes and saying "there is no reason to be sad, do you miss your friends in Boise?" Then she started bringing all kinds of things into my bedroom and set up things for me to do or look at to make me happy. She had a book I am reading, my volleyball, a baby toy for music to listen to, a baby picture of her, a little family picture, some stuffed animals, and infant tylenol in case I started to feel sick. Then she said, "you can take a nap or have an early bedtime and use all of these things, ok?" and I said , "who will watch Zander?" and she said, "I'll watch him" then she pushed me in the room and shut the door. I could hear her close the bathroom door so Zander couldn't get in there and unroll the toilet paper and then she followed him around for a few minutes until I decided I better resume my parenting role.
What a sweet little girl I have. I know that it must be challenging for her to adjust to this new place, but she was so thoughtful. Each thing that she brought in was so carefully thought out. I will have a huge mess to clean off the bed before I go to sleep tonight but it will definitely be worth it. I even took her for some ice cream tonight. Can you believe there is a Cold Stone Creamery in Price, UT?

It is not the end of the world...I think I can see it though.

We made it to Price, Utah. The town is not as bad as I thought it would be. Trying to fit our belongings into less than half the house that we had in Boise is frustrating but I am working on it. I guess I was too busy packing in Boise to even think about leaving but the night we got here the reality of the situation really hit me. I absolutely LOVED everything about living in Boise and all of the sudden it was gone. I was beginning to think that I just couldn't do it and then, I was reminded that the Lord will carry our burdens for us. I prayed that I would be able to deal with all of the emotions I was feeling and have a positive attitude. Just like that I felt the strength I needed to get me through that day. The hymn Count Your Blessings came to my mind and I have tried to remember those words when I have felt like my situation is completely horrible. There are many challenges to this move but I do have much to be grateful for. I have to work to find some silver lining as I am cramming our belongings in to every space I can find and hand washing the dishes since we have no dishwasher here. One day at a time, sometimes that is all you can do. I am sure someday we will look back and say"remember that rental we had when we moved to Price?" I guess I should just work on making some fun memories! I will post some pictures once we get all the boxes out of the way to take them.

Haircuts and Moving

Notice anything different about Dave?? He shaved his goatee for the first time in 10 years!! The look on his face in this picture says how he feels about it. He can't wait for it to grow back, and now, three days later he is convinced that the hair on his chin and lip is the slowest growing hair on his whole body. I had never seen him without it so it was kind of fun. He just hopes it will be back in place before he starts his new job in a couple of weeks. Can you see the new bathtub in the background? I will post more pictures of that later.

Haylie also has a new look. She got her haircut last Saturday. She kept chewing on her hair so she decided to get it cut rather than having to have pony tails every day. I think it turned out really cute. Especially if she will let me curl it.


As you can see from the stuff in the background, we are in the middle of the tiresome job of packing for our move to Price, Utah. It is not the most exciting place in the world to be moving, but I know that we are supposed to be there. I had my denial stage when I was sure something would work out for us to stay in Boise. I have finally accepted that my plan is not always what Heavenly Father wants for me so I might as well stop fighting it and start trying to look forward to it. Dave will be working for Emory Telcom as a Network Technician. He is excited for the job. I am excited to downsize some of the junk we have.

I have to say though that leaving Boise will be a tough thing to do. What a great time I have had here. Thank you to all the wonderful people I have met here. Your friendship and kindness have meant so much to me. I almost can't bear the thought of leaving my big sister here. We have grown so close again over the past year. Thanks for everything Alyson. I love you. Luckily the miracle of the internet makes it possible for me keep up with what you all are up to as I continue to stalk blogs and read facebook status updates!