Hailey turns 6...and some other good stuff too!

The last week has been filled with boxes, tape, and bubblewrap! I am so tired of packing. The good news is that we are basically finished. I have already had to say goodbye to many people and it breaks my heart to think about saying goodbye to everyone really soon. I think that it's even harder for me because I grew up here in this city and I'm not sure if we will ever live here again (and who knows when we'll make it back this direction now that my family is out West). We've had a lot of "Lasts" this week. Oh so sad.

I was asked to speak at Stake Conference last week which was fun!! I was stressed out until my talk was written, then it was fun! Yesterday morning I received a call from one of our Stake Presidency Leaders and he asked if I would give the talk again, in two hours, to the Young Single Adult ward. The topic was, "Not being afraid to get married," so it was really geared towards the singles in our Stake. I was glad to have the chance to give it to them, but still nervous!

There have been so many memories made with so many people. We have seen a few groups come and go in the time that we have lived here and I am so thankful to them and for their friendships.

These are some of the wonderful women who I have been lucky enough to have grown close to while here in Virginia. Jill had this going away party for me and I had a great time. Saying goodbye to these women is going to be very hard. I have already had to say goodbye to a few of them. It's hard to explain the feelings that come when saying goodbye to someone and not knowing when or if you will ever see them again.

For all you big jewelry lovers out there...isn't this necklace gorgeous!! I LOVE IT! Jill's aunt makes these awesome accessories and she got this one for me as a going away gift. So sweet! You can order straight from her blog here.

And here is my big 6 year old! We had a pool party for her and it was just perfect. I was looking for something a little bit easier since we are in the middle of moving and this was SO EASY! We invited 5 little girls (and their families) and ate lunch, swam, had treats, opened gift, and had minimal cleanup! It was fun to have her party on her actual birthday!

After the pool and Talon's nap we let Hailey pick which restaurant she wanted to go to for dinner. She wanted something fancy and we suggested Red Robin (well it's fancier than Chic-Fil-A or Costco's Food Court!)

We had them each pick something off of the kids meal and when the waitress brought out their drinks in plastic cups with a lid, Hailey politely said, "I don't need a baby cup." As I am trying to explain to her that the little cups come with the little meals, our sweet waitress swept the baby cup away and returned with a big, 6 year old glass!

We then headed to the park for some playtime before it was bedtime. Here's my favorite things about Hailey at 6 years old:

*She loves cereal...for breakfast, lunch, and dinner!

*She is still super duper tall...she is taller than many 3rd graders...and she is BeAuTifUL!

*She makes friends easy. It seems like she is always playing with someone.

*She enjoys making jewelry, just like her mom.

*She is always pulling things out of the recycling bin...her idea of recycling is that WE reuse it! She is always making some sort of project or craft with the junk :)!

* She is such a great helper. She can clean up an entire room in 10 minutes! Sometimes it takes some coaxing but once she gets going she's good!

Jill and her family left for Arizona last night! It was sad to say goodbye. I'm not sure when our paths will cross again but she is an amazing girl and I am so thankful to have had a chance to get to know her this year. She could do anything...and she does just about everything. I am grateful for all of the memories that I have with her and will always cherish them!

Today I was lucky enough to go to the hospital to visit an old friend, Dana, who gave birth to twins! They are handsome! I don't know how you keep track of two babies at once...I just kept looking around making sure that I wasn't going to bump into the other baby while holding one.

Hailey told me that she wants a sister...no a brother...no maybe a sister. Hmmm...sounds like she's not quiet sure yet! Either are we so it sounds like we are all on the same page! She also asked if she could take this sweet little newborn home with her. Nice!

We are going to Utah for 2 weeks and have so many fun things to look forward to! We are going to Bear Lake and staying at a beautiful cabin with all of John's siblings and their children (he has 9 siblings so that is A LOT of people). My family is all gathering for a family reunion at my parents house the next week. We have lots of friends to catch up with and lots of shopping and outdoorsy things on our agenda! Can't wait!! Then it's off to Erie, Pennsylvania!!

I actually did it, and now I'm sad!

As badly as you want to know what it is that I actually did...it's at the end of this super duper long post...so you'll have to hold back your anticipation for just a few more minutes!!

Okay, so let's just say that I am officially a slacker blogger. Let's go back to May...This photo is a picture of all the drugs that my doctor prescribed me when I was feeling super sick! Really....5 different meds? They did make me feel better which is what I asked for! I had been sick for over a week when I finally dragged my feet to the doctor! I'm pretty sure that I got my friend sick who was 32 weeks pregnant with twins and she had the hardest time because every sneeze was excruciating. I am so sorry Dana!

Now in June...far too recently...John hurt not one...but BOTH of his legs playing basketball. He couldn't walk for three days. Man was that fun for all of us! I wish you could hear the sarcasm in my voice. This is how Talon got in his playtime with Daddy.

Then Talon got sick...nothing too bad but he had a fever for two days and was GgGggGRrRrrrRRUuuUUMmMMmMPpPpPYYYyY! This picture was taken at 8am, just 30 minutes after he woke up for the day! Hailey got it a few days later which resulted in an early morning (5:30) call to 911 and a firetruck (with 3 firemen), an ambulance (with 3 EMT's), and a police officer all standing in our family room with a perfect little girl smiling up at them! She had a breathing attack and scared the crap out of John and I! Hailey kept freaking out because she couldn't breath and after 30 minutes of trying to help her (with her inhaler) we finally just called. As I am totally crying on the phone with the dispatcher she finally got her breath back and I tried to call off the entire RESCUE SQUAD! Too late...I heard the sirens...they were on their way! It was all way too exciting for us. We all went back to bed for a few hours. It turns out it was a bad case of croup! Hmmm...not even asthma. That must be why her inhaler wasn't helping! A dose of steroids and she's been fine!

John has been super excited about the Father-Son Camp out and couldn't wait to have a son old enough to go with. Is 1 years old...old enough? That's questionable! They had a lot of fun on Friday, well atleast while the sun was still shining.

Talon is carving a stick..with pliers! Hmmm...not a true boy scout yet if he can't tell the difference between a knife and a pair of pliers but John said he was having a great time!

This is when it was just not fun anymore! They slept in the back of our van which actually looked quiet cozy...we have  mattress that fits PERFECT back there (too bad for seat belt safety or we'd always travel like that!) The problem was that it was HOT and the bugs were horrible so he couldn't open a window for fresh air or they'd be eaten alive. The report I got was that Talon didn't fall asleep until 3 am and was up at 6am. He just fussed and cried the whole time. John said it was about as bad as a night could get! He also claims that they would have come home in the middle of the night but they had been blocked in by other campers.

The five of us had an amazing day at the Washington DC temple. I know...that's a bad picture...hmm.

Well, anyways John stayed home with the kids so that I could be at the temple for a special family in our ward who were all sealed together and also for a good friend who received her endowments. It was so awesome. I'm not sure if I've ever been in the temple as long as I was that day but we had a grand ole time!

Group shot...just a few of us who made it that day!

Hailey learned how to do the monkey bars. She was so excited about her new skill!

We took a trip to the Norfolk Zoo and had a great time!

The cute little girl on the end is Lorelie. My sweet friend Caroline watches her and she was a joy to have with us!

See those lions behind Hailey? They seemed SO close. They were definitely our favorite part!

Nothin'  like taking a ride on a golden turtle!

Caroline has been such an amazing friend and I am so glad to have had her in my life! She has taught me valuable lessons and is so generous and loving! It'll be hard to say goodbye!

You can't tell so good in this shot but Izzie is doing Talons hair with her play salon toys. And he is LOVIN' it. He gets in line when I tell the girls that it's time to do their hair each morning. Seriously...he's trying to butt in line to get his hair done first. He is so funny!

And here it is....what I actually did that has broken my heart. First of all...you know I am totally dramatic right?!?!  Well, if you didn't know that...you will now.

I actually sold my plants....all of them except my herbs...all 12 pots! I held back tears. My heart was beating a million times a minute. I wanted to scream. These pots and these plants have been a huge part of my life here in Virginia Beach. Selling them not only represented the time that I have had here and the stories of how and where I collected each one but it was also that I am actually moving. It's really happening.

t gets worse. WAY worse! I was going to try to bring all of my plants with me. I knew it was a stretch but I tried to think of every scenario of how to get these beautiful plants to our new home (I had already placed them all on our new deck! ahem....in my mind!) It just wasn't going to work but I thought for SURE that I was going to be moving with these.....

Yes, I know this is a rodent...there are two...sniff sniff...there WAS two. Rosie and Rutabaga were our sweet baby hamsters who we had taken care of since they were newborns. They were most certainly a part of our family. We are traveling to Utah for 20 days before our move and between finding someone to take care of them while we were gone and then having to move them with us, I knew that finding them a new home would take a lot of stress off of me. No holdin' back tears this time. Yes, I totally cried as I waited for their new family to come and pick them up. Sigh....still sad. It's for sure now. We are definitely movin'!