You know when you meet someone who has just moved to Utah and they tell you how scared they were of that first big snow storm—they didn’t leave the house and can’t believe you actually drive in it?  Well I was one of those people here in Missouri, only it was extreme rain not snow.  We have had so much rain here over the past week, so much that it actually flooded our basement.  One night last week the news reported over 8 inches.  We luckily didn’t get 8 inches in our basement but we had around 2.   Luckily we had all our belongings up on pallets so nothing was damaged.  Since it’s been so humid we are still working on drying the place out.  And since it’s so difficult to get it dry we started seeing mold on some things, so yesterday Tyler and I spent a couple hours cloroxing the highchair, bags, chairs, luggage, the kelty—-what fun!!! (these things will no longer be staying in the basement).  Unfortunately lots of people here were battling flooded basements.  It rained for 24 hours straight, but not only buckets of water but intense thunder and lightning.  I can’t believe the kids slept through the night, Tyler and I sure didn’t.

This picture is our backyard.  The rain and wind was so intense that it knocked down huge branches.

Here’s Jackson enjoying being a kid after a rain storm.

Tyler and I found this to be hilarious when we found these in our yard this morning.  Mostly because today is Wednesday and Tyler just mowed the lawn Monday night.  Goes to show how wet, humid and hot it’s been here—anything will grow.  Jackson thought there were jelly fish in our front yard.  I have never seen mushrooms this big.  Don’t worry I didn’t keep them to eat but we did sell them to the local high school kids!

With all the weather excitement I am grateful we are all safe and so far no tornadoes—I’m hoping I never get to experience one of those

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It’s hard to believe that 4 months have already passed since Olivia was born.  We are so grateful for this beautiful healthy baby girl.  She has been such a blessing, once they are in your life you wonder how you ever lived without them.   Jackson adores her and she also adores him.  He can get her to laugh just by talking to her.  Whenever Odee wakes up Jackson has to be the first one to greet her.  He climbs up into her crib and lays next to her.  By the time me or Tyler get in there she is all grins.

She has enjoyed the upgrade to the crib and out of the pack n’ play.  She’s an awesome sleeper.

She is quite fond of her tubby.  I think we will soon have to make the move from the sink to the bath tub because she splashes so much.  This girl is all smiles.

At the pool.

She is starting to grab everything that is put in front of her and it goes directly into her mouth.

She is such a happy content little girl.  She of course has her crabby moments like all babies but for the most part is pretty good.  Sadly ever since we got to Missouri she has started to lose her hair but of course she’s still adorable

We love you Odee!!!

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Well now that life has settled down a bit I finally had some time to post some pics of our new house. Jackson still refers to it as his “new house,” but pretty much everything he talks about these days starts with “my new house,” “my new friends,” “my new store.” But he is definitely still the same old Jackson. The house is great and we are loving it. It’s a lot of work (i’m sure all of you that have a house are laughing at this comment, mostly the fact that we just are figuring this out). Tyler and I both have lots of ideas of what we would love to improve on the house, but for now here it is.

Master bedroom

Master (yet small) bathroom—so nice having 2 bathrooms

This is our wardrobe, we had to bring this with us since there is no closet—but it works great

Jackson’s room

Olivia’s room. We need to get her some decorations, but she doesn’t seem to mind.

Hallway from the master bedroom looking into Jackson’s room

Main bathroom or the boy’s bathroom as Jackson says

Family room

Kitchen

Outside the house

Our deck

Our mail carrier delivers mail on foot

The backyard

Only in the midwest will you find these storm cellar doors

Tyler spent hours cleaning this out and he did a great job. I can’t believe we have so much stuff

Well that’s it in a nutshell. If the pictures aren’t enough, well then I guess you need to hop on a plane and come and visit us (we will gladly take any visitors)

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Well so far things here in Kirksville are going well.  We survived the 4th of July with no family and friends.  We actually met some very nice people (students) who were kind enough to let us join their bbq and fireworks.  Jackson was in heaven with all the little kids to play with.  Before the bbq we went “down town” to watch the Kirksville parade (now that is something to be seen) :)  We had a great time and Jackson made a haul on the candy.

Tyler started school this week.  It’s been hard to have him gone all day after 2 weeks of having him home.  Everyday this week when Jackson has woken up he asks “where’s my daddy?”  He misses him too.  Ty is staying busy and is already working hard on finding his research project.

Here’s Ty on his first day of school—so handsome

The other morning after a rain storm a birds nest and 2 baby birds fell out of our tree right into our driveway.  It was so sad and I felt so helpless for the little birds.  It was pretty heartbreaking for Jackson  as well.  One of the babies had a rough go, I wont write what happen to the poor thing because it was to sad but when Ty got home he put the nest and the other bird back into the tree.  The bird was gone the next morning and we told Jacks it’s mommy came back for him—I’m believing the story too.   I’ve never felt so sad for a little bird, maybe it was the way Jackson wanted to help it so badly.

Odee is thinking she’s pretty strong and thinks she’s ready to sit up.  Here she is “trying” to lift herself up—she’s going to have killer abs.

All in all were doing great.  We take lots of walks and love watching the fireflies (or lightning bugs as the locals say) We’re enjoying the house—we even like going to the Home Depot.  I’ll post pics of the inside soon.

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Well we made it Kirksville. We are finally feeling a little settled and organized, thanks to all the hard work from mom Reeder and mom and dad Smith. I never knew moving into a new house could be so much work. Not only the moving but also the cleaning. I always knew we had it good in the basement but I never knew how good until we got here and had to clean other peoples dirt. But everything is starting to feel like our own and we are loving the new place. The kids are adjusting well, Jackson thinks his new house is pretty awesome. He has informed us that he wants to play with some friends so hopefully we’ll find some soon Once again I’m going to be posting a bunch of pictures, they show more than I could ever write. We miss everyone in Utah and appreciate all those who helped us pack, load the truck and help us travel. We love you all!

Goodbye little basement

The kids thought the big moving truck was a pretty fun toy. This pic of Tyler is the morning him, Jeremy and mom and dad Smith started their 1200 mile journey to Missouri.

After Tyler left me and the kids had a few extra days to hang out with family.

Jackson was so excited about riding on a plane, he had been talking about it for months. The kids traveled great. I was grateful to have my mom with me, don’t think I could have done it alone.

Tyler and I felt so lucky to have our parents here to help (my dad couldn’t make it out this time but can’t wait to have him come out soon). They worked hard inside and outside the house. Tyler had a big job of cleaning out the storage, while dad Smith mowed and the girls got the kitchen all organized.

We have the best moms. They weeded our flower beds and my mom helped me plant my new flower pots.

Our cute little house

We did let them take a break from working We went out to dinner a couple times and took a trip down to the farmers market. Thanks again to our parents for all their love and help.

Thought I should post a pic of our little Olivia. She is growing so fast and is such a good baby.

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