this was one of the best parts of our utah trip! the kids had so much fun. i have to say, though, that i am glad we left the snow far, far behind us. i like looking out my window and seeing green! ...and not having to wash a million pairs of wet jeans/socks/gloves a day!

visitors welcome!

just a quick note to let everyone know that 

visitors are always welcome!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

that would be very cool if you could find cheap tickets and come see us.  i would be more than willing to host a book club here.....

the house

per request, here are some pictures of the house. it's been fun setting things up, but we still have a long way to go, so ignore the empty spaces/pictures propped against the wall, etc. and the out of focus pictures.

the kids love everything about the house. so do i, for that matter (if i ignore the ants). it's technically all one level, which is fabulous. there are two steps to get 'down' to the playroom, so gretchen calls it the 'basement'. i guess she feels no house is complete without one! any way, here's a little glimpse into our florida (South) lives. maybe some of you will come see it in person?

in case any of you are still checking this blog, i wanted to let you know i'm back in action!  after much drama we got our internet hooked up yesterday, and i am ready to reenter the blogging world.  and now that i can finally post something, i can't recall any of the millions of things i've been storing in the remember-to-post-this section of my brain.  sooooooooooo, for now, i'll just do a quick update of the last month.

things we've learned about in florida:

1.  where we live is called South florida.  emphasis on South.  nobody says "welcome to florida".  it's always "welcome to South florida".  even in fast and testimony meeting. 

2.  South florida is warm.  the day we moved in the kids brought me a huge box filled with all their winter clothes.  they declared they would never, ever need them again.  

3.  South florida has a lot of ants.  tons of ants.  millions of ants.  all wanting to come into our house.  many have succeeded.  i am trying to get used to it.

4.  we have a fancy little toilet in one of our bathrooms.  there is a special french word for it, but my kids call it the "bottom washer".  it's one of those ones that you kind of hover over and it rinses you off.  i do not plan on ever using it.  but my children (gretchen) enjoy trying it out and then gleefully reporting on how it went.  pace just likes to turn it on and watch the water squirt up.

5.  school uniforms are not so bad, after all.

6.  most people here own a horse, a golf cart, a dirt bike/4 wheeler, or motorized scooter, and their children are all allowed to drive/ride these on the same road that i am driving my real car on.  it's caused my children to give up on their when-can-i-have-a-cell-phone quest and start a new when-can-i-drive-a-golf-cart one.  the answer is the same:  never.

7.  i should have paid more attention in my high school spanish class.

well, that's all for now.  i still have to go back and do some posts from christmas, but that will have to wait until later.  i am not used to sitting down for so long, and i feel lazy!  up until now, every second of the day has been spent unpacking, organizing, hanging pictures, etc.  i think there are only 20 or so pictures left to hang.  yippee!

we miss you!

i was just having a little "i miss virginia moment" and decided to post these pictures of our thanksgiving day celebrations.

we are having a good time in utah, but we do miss you all....

p.s. if any of you have any more pictures of us, could you send them to my email? you never know, i might be organized in florida and start scrapbooking right away.....