Life in Idaho

after Evie's baptism

It's been way too long, I know, but I refuse to completely give up on blogging. We've been in Meridian, Idaho for a month now and I'm liking it a lot. Coming from the crushing humidity of Texas to here has been a big change--I love it! We can actually play outside again! I don't know how the winter will be here, but I'm excited to have real seasons anyway. The best thing, though is to be back together as a family again. I was reunited with Clark in Greece, but the kids didn't see him until we met in Salt Lake on the 4th of July. It was such a fun reunion with them running to him and throwing their arms around him. Even Leila, who wasn't even walking when Clark left, ran towards him saying "Dada!" It was great. That night we went to the Bees baseball game with Clark's brothers Russ and Ellis and his sister and her husband and little boy. So fun! We watched the game (kind of) and saw some great fireworks afterewards.

We're renting a house just a mile or so up the street from Russ, Clark's brother, and his awesome wife Jammie. It has been so fun being around them! We've always wanted to live near each other so we're pretty excited that it's finally happened. Russ is a dental lab tech so it's been fun for Clark to give him some business by ordering his crowns and so on from him. Clark likes the dental office he's working at. It's been a little slow lately, which he doesn't like, but they keep telling him it will pick up a lot more once everyone comes back from summer vacations and school starts. His hours now seem so great after dealing with a Navy schedule for the past three years. Goodbye Navy! Goodbye forever! Yes!

Another great thing to come of moving here is that the original Invisible Swordsmen have been reunited! For those of you who don't know, that's the name of the band that Clark and Russ started years ago. They've kept it up long-distance through the years, and have even managed to make a few CDs, but it's so great to see them playing together again. They have a gig Saturday night playing in a coffee house in Eagle.

Another great milestone--Evie was baptized and confirmed by Clark on Saturday. She turned eight back in May, but we waited until Clark was home to do it. She looked so pretty and was so excited. She got to be baptized on the same day as Clark's cousin Isaac, since we are in the same stake. We had lots of family around and it was a wonderful change from all those years we lived in the East when we celebrated milestones with just our own little family. I wouldn't trade those years for the world--we really grew as a family and as individuals--but it sure is nice to have some family around to share these great moments with.

I miss my parents and my sisters and brother, who I got to see more of while we were in Texas. I'm so grateful to my parents for putting up with us for those five months while Clark was gone. They are wonderful! I'll put some pictures on soon of some of our great times together. For now, I'll put a few more recent ones.