Moving Day!!!

I know, many of you thought that you may never hear from us again since we moved since it has been soooo long. I had some catching up to do, and then I will try and do some updated ones of us in Utah. We have settled and are enjoying being by family and friends we haven't seen for awhile. I had some older pictures I wanted to post from Iowa, so I apoligize for the long post. Here is Dallin and Kenna out the back porch waiting for the moving van to pull up. I think Kenna had spotted it.We had to make sure the most precious cargo was packed first. :)From Thursday afternoon to Saturday morning, this is our view out the back. Besides these 3 trucks (ours, Kimball's and the Vranes) there were 3 other families moving that same weekend.For some of the drive, Dallin was able to ride in the big truck with Daddy and Uncle Rob. It was only short lived because I don't know if he liked how bouncy and big it was, and he didn't have his little DVD player in the truck. Denny and Rob were in the truck and my mother and I switched off in the car driving and entertaining the kids. We are so grateful that my mom and Rob were able to come and wouldn't have been able to do it without them.Dallin and Kenna were such little troopers throughout the whole drive. They definately had their times, but for the most part did very well. Here is Kenna trying to keep entertained with some of her "friends" that were allowed to come.Dallin couldn't miss out and wanted his pictures with the same group. He could understand and knew we were going to Utah, so when we told him we still weren't in Utah, he would let out a deep sigh and know that Utah was a long, long ways away. Needless to say, we were very happy to arrive late Sunday night.

Quad Cities Triathlon

So, the morning that we moved, we got up at the crack of dawn and went down the West Lake and both did a triathlon. Denny did this same triathlon last summer and I decided then that I wanted to do it as well. I probably wouldn't have choosen to do it the exact day that we moved, but that's how things worked out. We both finished and I actually had a lot of fun doing it and would be up to doing another one. Brian, David, Marianne, Me, Denny and Logan were some of our friends that participated. Molly had been training with Marianne and me since we decided to do it, but found out she was pregnant and wasn't able to do it.

This is Denny with some of the people that he worked with in the Rehab department.

Dallin and Kenna--our two biggest supporters. My mom and Brother-in-law, Rob came out to help with the move and were able to come and meet us at the finish line. I loved seeing them at the finish line and gave me just wanted I needed to finish the last part of the race.

Last Days in Iowa

One of our friends, Robyn, planned the Palmer Wives Graduation. This was all of the wives of the Palmer students that were graduating or moving to do their preceptor. What a fun night.My dear friend Rebecca Browne, who already is busy with 5 of her own kids, volunteered to take our kids for a couple of the days while we were packing. Her house was a lot more fun then ours seeing as everything was in boxes. That helped out so much and I was glad that they were able to hang out with their friends before we left. One of the hardest things for Dallin about moving, is the fact that he won't be able to see his best friend Lexie at least once a day. We have tried to meet up a couple of times since so they don't go through too much withdrawal.

Same goes with Kenna and Jocelyn. Any time Kenna or Jocelyn were having a bad day, we would try and get them together to play and it was amazing how fast their attitude would change. With their love for dirt, water and mud, among other things, they were two peas in a pod.

It was such a blessing for us to have David and Marianne and their family out in Iowa with us, and for Dallin and Kenna's sake, we are happy that they are still close and can see each other often. This is Lydia, Dallin, Isaac and Kenna at the park.

Nauvoo

The end of May we went down to Nauvoo for the last time for a long time. What a blessing it has been to be so close to such a special place. We went with our friends, Brian and Molly, so we were able to switch off kids and were able to do a session together. We will miss being able to go down there and feel the special spirit that is in that entire city.I wanted to get a cute picture of Dallin and Kenna in front of the Nauvoo temple before we left. As you can see, Dallin was very willing and excited about the idea, but as you can see below, Kenna wasn't as cooperative and that was the best we could do.While Brian and Molly were in the temple, we took the kids over to the Pioneer past times so they could play while we were waiting. Here is our version of the Mack Family Pioneers. How Cute.Dallin was leading around his friend Lexie on the horse when they saw a real horse and carriage pass. They were pretty taken by it. We put those little clothes on them when we first got there and they kept them on most of the time. What a cute little pioneer.

Kids will be Kids

I got this bag from the hospital for Nurse's week-hooray. I wasn't too attached to it so Denny came up with a new use for it....TIME OUT. J/K (even though it would work nicely keeping them in one place. Denny carrying around some precious cargo

Kenna just "hanging out" !!!

So, this next picture needs a little explanation. While I'm singing songs to Dallin up in his bunk bed, Kenna has a hard time sitting still and always escapes. So, one night after I had sang to Dallin, I realized Kenna had gone downstairs. I went down to find her and this is what I saw. It's a lid to a shake we had gotten and I don't know if she was just trying to lick off any leftover shake or what, but I thought it looked kind of funny. She sat there for the picture as if everything she was doing was completely normal. Silly Girl.

Fun in the SUN!!!

We are loving the warm weather and being able to be outside and play. Dallin does really well on his bike. The other day we went on a ride down on the bike path. Dallin crushed on his bike and got a crack in his helmet. He is a believer now because I told him that is what would have happened to his head. Thank goodness for helmets Kenna hasn't gotten the pedaling thing down, but sure loves to sit on the bikes and tricycles and be pushed around. She was dressed at one point in the day, but it was later in the day and she puts up a fight whenever you get her dressed and undressed, so it just wasn't a battle I was going to fight at that point in the day.

Lexie, Isaac and Dallin enjoying eating their dinner out on the porch. Can you say CHEESE!!

Denny taught the kids how to push Tonka dump trucks that they are able to sit in up the hill and race down. It's a fun game and they would seriously do it all afternoon. I know it's hard to see, but that's Denny sitting at the top with a couple of kids and 2 kids pushing up the trucks for the next round.

Kenna and Jocelyn taking advantage of their older siblings bikes while they have the chance.

Madison, Wisconsin

This last weekend, Dallin, Kenna, my mother and I drove up to Madison to visit my cousin Darrin and his family. We had so much fun and the slide show that follows in the next post is all of our pictures from it. Denny takes boards this weekend and was in review on Thurs and Fri night and all day Saturday, so he wasn't able to come. We drove up on Thurs, only 2 1/2 hours away and came home on Saturday. Darrin and Stephanie were great hosts and I'm so happy we made this work before we move.

My mom was able to stay for Mother's day which was nice because Denny was in review from 8-4 that day. With that said, he still made me his famous "whole-wheat banana walnut pancakes" for breakfast and came home and made me an amazing dinner of roast chicken, mashed potatoes and veggies. Topped it all off with waffle cake with apple struesel and ice cream. I got some new running shoes for Mother's day and have a month from today to break them in for the triathlon. I love being a wife and feel so blessed to be Dallin and Kenna's mom. I love my life.