Georgia House

Here are some pics of our little house in Statesboro, Georgia. We live in a little dead-end road in the middle of town, but because there are so many trees you feel like you are in your own world. Kevin is just about 10 minutes from campus. We have Wal-mart and grocery stores restaurants and everything else within 5 minutes, and the church house is just up the road. It reminds me a bit of St. George, it still has a small-town feel but with lots of conveniences, and it is a college town. We have sweet neighbors who are so nice, and my only complaint is that there are no sidewalks here.

We have a 3 bedroom, 2 bath house with an open kitchen and living room. We have a 2 car garage but it doesn't yet have a garage door, which is strange. The girls love to ride their scooters and bikes on the driveway.

Outside of the house

Backyard

Washroom

Kitchen and dining room, with my new table my Mom picked, and I absolutely love and am paranoid when we use it that it will get scratched

Living Room/Office

Couches and chair my Mom gave us, and we are glad we aren't sitting on camp chairs and milk crates

Braelyn's Room

1st Bathroom

Berkley's Room

Our Room, still working in here

Big, scarey gooey moth bug that welcomed us here!

Oquirrh Mountain Temple

We got to go through another temple open house this summer. I think it is fun to take Braelyn though and show her all the beautiful places inside. She kept asking in every room if it was where you get married? I try to point out the pictures and things she will recognize like the baptismal font, but I she mostly just likes to run from room to room. She does talk about when she will get married there, and she she still thinks Elder Greg lives with Jesus at the temple, and I just want her to associate temples with happiness at this young age.

It was a very hot day, and some people Rachael had invited were late so we had to sit in the tents for a long time. We finally just started pouring ice water on the girls so they wouldn't overheat. They show a great video before and I learned some new things. I love hearing the apostles speak about their families and being together forever, it brings such solace to me.

Kevin's cousin Sarah was with us, and she was recently diagnosed with cancer and has been through some very difficult treatments, but she is one of the most positive people I know. She always wants to know what the girls have been up to, and she was willing to let Braelyn ride with her on the wheelchair. Braelyn had insisted on bringing her doll, and there were lots and lots of stairs so we were so grateful we didn't have to carry her.

I thought the inside of this temple was beautiful, I love to see how each one is decorated and this one used a lot of crystal chandeliers, and they had paintings of quakees which are my favorite trees. It was a great family activity and both the girls were worn out and napped on the way home.

Midnight train to Georgia

Okay so it wasn't a train and it was actually 11:30 in the morning, but that song played through my head the entire way down. . .
Taryn stayed with us and then drove us to the airport, I couldn't believe how nervous I was that morning. I was anxious to get through security because I was too cheap to check a bag, even after my parents offered to pay, and had stuffed 2 carry-ons and a HUGE purse with all of our remaining stuff. I also had our big stroller, and just wasn't sure how we were all going to get through. Taryn walked us to security, and then we both cried as we said good-bye. I couldn't seem to stop my teary eyes, and the man behind me quickly rushed to help me get all my stuff onto the conveyor. I asked Braelyn to hold Berkley's hand and they stood holding hands together as I loaded everything, it was so precious. I was relieved that they didn't ask me to unpack my bags or throw anything away, and the nice man helped me load up after. I had prayed all week that I would have nice people around me and God sent an entire fleet my whole trip! We got half-way down our terminal before I thought to stop and check and they had switched our gate so we swerved our way back up. Braelyn had to use the bathroom and it is ridiculously hard to get a huge double stroller in those, but she had been having stomach problems and I didn't dare risk it. Then we took the long walk to our new gate. It was packed so I took a seat that said RESERVED, and they quickly began boarding. I'm used to traveling with my dad and since he is a platinum flyer we just board whenever we want, but I didn't want to break the rules so I asked the gate agent what zones were boarding. She quickly told me not to worry about it and said I could get right on. She grabbed my stroller and took me right to the front of the line and helped me get all the way to the plane where the airline attendant grabbed my bags and took them right back for me. I was so grateful for the help and we easily got settled in. I had wrongly assumed that we would each have TV's on the seats, and we didn't. Braelyn enjoyed her toys but was pretty antsy without a movie to watch. I saw and older man in a suit come towards us and I couldn't help thinking, "Not here, not by us." But he ended up being another wonderful surprise, he was so nice and told me to just kick him if he fell asleep and we needed something. We actually did end up waking him for another potty run, but he was so nice about it. As we landed he said, "Well you did it. They sure are busy kids. I thought you would need a tranquilizer but you didn't, you all did great." The girls hadn't sat still for a moment so I was glad he had a sense of humor about it, it helped me not to be so stressed. We had a lot of turbulence, and at first Braelyn thought the bumpy clouds were fun, but after awhile she turned and yelled to the pilot (who she thought was in the speaker) "I don't like this, let's land now!"
We had a layover in Atlanta, which is my least favorite airport, and again they had switched our gate. So instead of just being 5 gates down, we had to find a new concourse, find an elevator which are nowhere near the escalators, walk and walk and walk, ride a train, get off and again find an obscure elevator, walk and walk some more (this airport is huge!) We ordered some dinner and finally got settled at our gate at the very end of the terminal. The gate attendant seemed very busy and grumpy, but she saw Berkley and walked right over to help me get my stroller checked, she told me how cute they were. Everyone was so nice. Berkley needed a change (she poops as soon as I put a clean diaper on her) so we loaded up again and trekked to the bathroom. A lovely southern gentleman caught up behind me and said, "Hi there pretty girl. Do ya need some help?" I laughed and said it looked worse than it was, and he replied, "I know you can handle it, but do you want help?" I was again so grateful for the willingness of a stranger to make an effort to reach out to me. I think it helps that I was wearing a dress, it makes you more approachable. After getting into the bathroom we discovered Braelyn had left a little skid mark in her panties, so we slid them into a ziplock and she thought it was so funny that she didn't have panties on under her pants. We got to our gate for the second time and Braelyn found 2 little boys to play with, and they had the most adorable southern accents! They even shared some gun with her, and their mother helped me get my bags onto the plane when we boarded. We sat next to an older lady, but the airline attendant said we could spread out because the flight wasn't full. The lady turned to me and asked if she should move. I told her to save herself from us while she still had the chance and she replied, "You won't be offended?" How sweet that she even thought to ask that! I told her of course I would not, she should be able to enjoy some quiet. We flew through a rain storm and had lots of lightning that would light up the entire cabin, but the flight was very short. When we got off the plane Braelyn announced that she was freezing, though it felt like we stepped into a sauna, and some of the locals around us laughed. I told her if she wasn't warm here, she wouldn't be warm anywhere. Then she asked if the airport was our new house. Poor thing had no idea what was going on.
We were so excited to see Kevin waiting for us. It had been 2 long weeks without our guy. Braelyn ran all the way to him, but Berkley was nervous. She would stare at him and then wiggle back towards me, she wasn't quite sure what to make of him. But after I went into the bathroom, he knelt down to talk to her in the stroller and she grabbed his finger and held onto it as we walked out.
It was pouring rain and dark so it was a difficult drive home, because you can't see 20 feet in front of you. The girls slept and were not happy to be woken up once we got there. My parents had gotten there earlier that afternoon, and through the help of some ward members they had all the boxes off the truck, and all our beds set-up and our furniture in place! It was so nice to walk into something that looked like home. We were excited to start our new adventure here.

Here we come ya'all

Just a quick note as I sit among piles of boxes and stuff, Kevin didn't get the job he was hoping for here in Provo with IHC, so we will be moving to Georgia for the next 2 years while he gets his masters in kinesiology! Such a change but we are excited for our new adventure, and will be near Savannah. He has a graduate teaching job which will pay us a little every month, and will save him $40,000 a year on tuition. Kevin leaves tommorrow to drive down, start training and find us a house. My parents will be driving the moving truck down in 2 weeks and I will leave last to fly down with the girls.
I am so grateful to my parents, and siblings who have been so helpful and supportive of all the craziness we've been going through lately. I am so glad I got to see extended family last weekend as well. They were so great to help me feel like we could do this, and they are always such fun to be with. We are so lucky to have them. My parents will be such as help as they are going to pay for their own travel expenses, so I don't have to drive 31 hours with 2 little ones. I am so lucky to have have such unselfish love and kindness from them. They have always made sure Kevin and I can feel like we can do anything, and have helped with whatever we have needed no questions asked or strings attached. I am also proud of Kevin for getting the things done that he needed to so that he could have a really great oppurtunity to improve our lives in the long run. I know he will take care of what our family needs while we are down there!
Wish us luck, I know the Lord has work for us to do, and we are ready to roll our sleeves up and get to it!