Georgia - Here We Come!!!

Ready or Not - Here we Go

Well - it is official. Shawn is on his way!! We went this morning at 7:30am to pick up the truck!! We had ordered a 22 foot, but they didn't have one and so they gave us a 26 foot - IT IS HUGE!! It took about an hour to go through everything and get the truck. We pulled the car dolly to my parent's house to drop it off and then go home just after 8:30 to start loading. I was worried that we would be loading by ourselves with my mom - but then Bro. Rasmussen and his son showed up. A Tahoe full of Young Men showed up next and then Bro. York and his son and a few priests. We are SOOOOO grateful for the help we got. We were done loading the truck by 10:30am. The longest part was taking time to tie off different sections because the truck was so big, we didn't need all of the room. We had the front part loaded with all the boxes stacked to the ceiling, then we barricaded it off with twin mattresses and our box springs and then tied them off. Everything else was single leveled and our mattress got the back floor all to itself!

So, Shawn and I finished clearing out the condo (food from the fridge, vacuuming, etc.) and were to my Mom's house by 11:20. Everything worked out great. Because we had the extra room, we decided to go to Costco and get a Sleigh Bed for our mattress and new bedding. So - watch for pictures once we get that set up.

We got back around 1:30 and Dad and Shawn were on the road by 2:45 with the car on the trailer and ready to go. So - now they have a very long drive and I have a few days of rest and relaxation!!!

THANK YOU EVERYONE WHO HELPED - WE COULDN'T HAVE DONE IT WITHOUT YOU!!! (well, we could have, but we would still be loading!)

Good Luck Shawn and Dad and we will keep the rest of you posted once we are in Athens. Our Internet should be set up on Monday (Aug. 4th)

July Fun

Time to get Movin'

Some more pictures!

Ali and her uncle Steve at the 4th of July

Andie has been helping me pack - she is the best at unloading EVERY drawer she can get her hand on. She gets a confused look on her face when she goes for the kitchen drawer where the towels used to be, or under the bathroom sink - EVERYTHING IS EMPTY??? She decided she understood the concept, got an empty diaper box by the door and then loaded up her friends, Mickey, Minnie, Bunny and Goofy. She then got my finger and took me to the "tape" She motioned to me to tape up the box and started waving saying, "Bye! See ya!" It was funny and yet so sad. She was packing up her best friends. I thought to myself, I wonder what she thinks, we are getting rid of everything - that's life or does she know she will see it all again! I am sure it will seem like Christmas Day when we are unloading all the boxes again!So, lately I have had some really productive days and then days like today - I can't seem to get motivated. So, I spent the last hour or so (or at least I tell myself that's all it took!) looking at everyone's blogs enjoying their stories and renewing friendships once again!! You guys are ALL great! I haven't loaded pictures on in quiet a while - so today, you get a slide show to tell all that we have been up too. It has been fun and as you can see - my house is a mess because I am in the middle of packing it all up!!

My cute little Andie!!

Happy Birthday to me!! I had a great day! Shawn sent me on a treasure hunt and look at all the stuff I got. My two favorite gifts were a web cam and a wheat grinder from my Mom and Shawn! Thanks. I also went to lunch with my Mom and Liz and then we went and saw Mamma Mia - very entertaining!!

We went to ABBA last night at the Scera Shell - with Mom and Dad! It was so much fun. Little did you or I even know, Shawn loves ABBA and was singing to EVERY song. I accused him of this and he said with a big smile on his face, "Not every song!" Andie and Ali enjoyed the show as well. Andie got lot's of treats and was very hyper and clapping and screaming along with everyone else. We got done around 10:30pm and she was asleep before we got home. Did I take my camera? Of course not...I forgot! Oh well.

The Gospel is Great!

I wrote this to my brother serving a mission and thought it would be cool to share with everyone else too!

Well, our cool experience for the week happened yesterday in church. We walked in and I had to go across the chapel to get a tithing envelope. I looked up at the stand and thought to myself, "Oh, I wonder who our visiting authority is?" I came back and sat with Shawn and the girls and soon after the meeting began. Brother Rasmussen announced that we were pleased to have sitting on the stand "D. Todd Christopherson"....(I thought, Oh yeah, that's who that is, a member of the seventy, cool!)...he continued to say, "of the quorum of the twelve apostles!" I was shocked!! I looked at Shawn and thought - HOLY COW! What's he doing here! I had forgot that they put him in as a member of the 12. It was way cool. He was there because Brad Johnson (do you know him?) was going on a mission and speaking. Elder Chrisopherson is his great uncle!! Crazy huh.

It was cool. He spoke at the end and gave a great analogy of the sacrament (that was the topic for the day) He shared a story of remembering when he was baptized and at the age of 8 he promised himself he would NEVER make a mistake. He didn't remember how many hours after his baptism, that he had made is mistake and was no longer clean and pure. He said he felt SO horrible and that life was hopeless. Then he learned about the sacrament. He learned that through the atonement of Christ after we have sincerely repented we could be clean and pure EACH Sunday and have at least that whole meeting (sacrament meeting) to be clean and pure. It was great.

He also shared an experience that Elder Faust told him once. Our ward does a missionary choir when everyone leaves and those who sing are any preparing missionaries and any recently returned missionaries and they sing Called to Serve. So, Elder Christopherson said he liked that tradition, but challenged the ward next time to sing without the sheet music. He said, "It will make you sing with more heart, and I am sure you know the song!" He then told about a time when Elder Faust and President Hinckley were at a regional conference and the opening song was a familiar one. Elder Faust out of habit, reached down, got a hymn book and turned to the song. Then President Hinckley said, "Jim, you ought to know the words by now!"

It was really funny. He shared another experience about President Hinckley, but I can't remember it. It was really neat to have him there, he was so human and normal like the rest of us. Anyways, we went to Sunday School and the teacher was like, "Holy Cow, I have been a nervous reck knowing there was a member of the quorum of the twelve apostles here today." So, I apologize, we will see what happens. He starts the lesson and 2-3 minutes into it, in walks Elder Christopherson and his wife. The teacher gets BIG eyes, looks at everyone with the expression of his face of HERE WE GO!! He did a great job though and the lesson was excellent. What was cool was he would ask for volunteers to read a section of scriptures and Elder Christopherson raised his hand and read and then commented. He was participating like everyone else, smiling, laughing and enjoying himself. It was really neat to see. I had made a comment about a recent experience and said something like, "We are close...well for 10 more days until we move to Georgia!" Afterwards, I got up and was going to RS and Elder Chrsipherson shook my hand and said, "You're moving to Georgia? What for? What Part?" Shawn and I replied at the same time, "For school, to the University of Georgia in Athens" His wife then said, "Oh, you will love it out there. We lived in Tenessee for so many years and North Carolina. Oh, it is beautiful and green...Humid, but beautiful." I said, "Thanks, I hope so, we are a little nervous but know it will be great!!" So, that was cool that we got to shake their hands and talk to them! They had to leave after that and didn't stay for the last hour, but was a neat experience.

The Joys of Motherhood

Have you ever woke up in the middle of the night and not been able to go back to sleep because your mind is racing? Well, I have for the past week and fear I will continue to do so until we are settled in Georgia. Ali is kind enough to assist me in this, seeing that she is the culprit who wakes me up because she is hungry!! (Love ya littlest!)

We are on our 2 week countdown to Georgia (hence the mind racing). Everything is falling into place which is great.
FIRST and foremost...WE SOLD OUR CONDO!!! This is the biggest blessing of all. Last Monday while we were in St. George, we had TWO offers come in. We of course gave each party a chance to present their best offer and we went with the winner! We are so blessed. The appraisal came through just above our offer and everything checked out for the home inspection. We are set to close on the 29th of July - which honestly couldn't have worked out any better.
SECOND - Shawn passed his Master's Exam!!!! Way to go Shawn!! That is one less stress off the shoulders. He is still down to BYU for 10-12 hours a day working on his thesis, but he will get it done before school starts in Georgia! HA! It is great.
THIRD - Andie has given me TWO surprises in the bath tub in one week. YEP - twice, she has started to complain while in the bath, I turn to look and oops......POOP!! It is the grossest experience I have ever had. It is not bad until you drain the water so you can scoop it up with a paper towel. Once the water is drained - IT STINKS!! Then you have to scrub and disinfect everything before you can continue the bath - yep, that puts a damper on your schedule.
FOURTH - My dear little Ali - who by the way is over 26 inches tall now!! I have a strong opinion that her and Andie conspire during the night of their plans to cry at the same time during the day, refuse to take naps and demand 110% attention. Maybe it is the fact that I am trying to pack and actually get things done, but it seems like she has needed more tender love and care in the last week than ever. And of course, being a great mom - the packing has been delayed and the baby has been happy!!

All in all, I think it is safe to say that life is GREAT. We are excited to move and look forward to the on-going adventures of life.

What did I do Mom?

Good and Bad News!

Shawn defended his Thesis today and he did a great job. He studied the difference between online learning vs. face-to-face learning with two Math 110 classes. (Note: If you want further knowledge of his conclusions, you will have to ask him!) Andie, Ali and I were able to go and listen to his presentation and he did great. After his 25 minute power point, we were all asked to leave the room, Shawn included. He was then invited back in after about 30 minutes and the 3 professors started asking questions and really digging into the whole project. After quiet a while, Shawn was again asked to leave and later invited in for their decision. They concluded to put him on recess! (And this is not the recess you and I know from elementary school!)

So, this is good and bad. First of all the good.

Good because they want to "motivate" Shawn to go a little further. His project has a lot of potential and they want to prepare it to be used as a resource and not just another thesis on the bookshelf in the library. In doing so, they also want to pull a few articles from it to publish them. THAT IS GREAT!!!!!! They also want him to be able to present his Thesis in the annual Math Ed North American conference next summer (which happens to be in Atlanta!) These are AWESOME accomplishments and will boost his resume and reputation in his field. They all complimented him on his work saying that none of them had done so well on their thesis at his stage. WAY TO GO SHAWN!! So this is great....however, here is the bad news.

I guess it is more frustrating than bad because it means Shawn does not get a break. He has A LOT of work to do between now and when we move and also after we move. Each professor wants to work with him individually to correct and change parts of his thesis. After all 3 of them have worked with Shawn, he will then make the corrections and turn in another final draft right before we move. Then, they will review it and hold a video conference with him once we are in Georgia. Further corrections will most likely have to be made then and HOPEFULLY he will be done! He starts school in Georgia on August 17th, and most likely this will take all of his time between now and then to complete.

So, instead of giving him an assignment today, they suggestion he "take a break" for the 4th of July and then they will focus in on it. Shawn told them we were planning on going to St. George until next Wednesday, they encouraged him to keep those plans and then get ready to work "LOTS" when he returns until the day his leaves. :(

Shawn, we love you so much and support you!! We know it is lots of work and have been so glad you have had a few days off to spend time with us! We know this is a blessing in disguise, although stressful, but will be great to help establish his career!

Well, there is an update for all who are interested. Thanks for everyone's love and support!

Summer Fun

Hannah and Andie

Have you ever seen a white peacock?

Well, we had a great day yesterday. Andie and I went to Thankgiving point with Natalie and Hannah. The girls had so much fun together. They were laughing at each other almost the whole way there! It was fun. We will miss Hannah!! (and Natalie too, of course!)

Last night, we also went up the canyon and had a Family Night with my side of the family. Steve, Cammie and Logan are in town from Alaska. It was so much fun. Mom made Pork Chop Medley and peach cobbler in the dutch ovens. I didn't pull my camera out, but I will still some from my mom's and post pictures soon. Well, at least a video of David, Andie and Emma playing ring-around-the-rosie!! It was great!

Anyways, we sure love our friends and family. Doing such fun things make it harder to know we are moving to Georgia in 30 DAYS!!!!!!!! That's too soon! We still need to sale our condo....if anyone knows anyone, let me know!!

We look forward to more fun this week and going to St. George for Amber's baptism.