School Days!

We left for school extra early and took some pictures by the lake.

Janae's first day of KINDERGARTEN!!!

Jacey's first day of 2nd GRADE!!!

WE LOVE THESE LITTLE PEOPLE!!! SUCH SWEET CHILDREN!!!

This is Eric's new FAVORITE activity: riding his scooter!!!

Pack It Up and Move It Out!

We were so blessed to have movers come and pack us up. The ladies that packed were surprised at how much we had stored in our little 2 bedroom condo! Hey, when you're a family of 5 living in less than 1000 square feet, you get good at storing things in every nook and cranny of the house! :) Here's before...

And after...

WOW!

The kids slept surprisingly well on the bedroom floor! And the next morning they were treated to a McDonald's breakfast - compliments of our wonder friend, Maria. Thanks Sister Altendorf!

Then, the road trip...

We drove, and drove, and drove. And saw some pretty amazing scenery!

This was one of the kids' favorite stops in Texas - "The Big Texan" - it's a restaurant.

Janae and Eric bought a few cowboy items. And then went to admire the huge stuffed brown bear.

They were a little spooked with all the taxidermy that decorated the walls!

Yeehaw!

Gideeup lil' cowpolks!

We were able to stop by and see our friends, the Hatches, in New Mexico. We met them at the zoo and had a great time catching up!

These two were best buddies back when they were 3 years old!

Then we finally reached our destination: ARIZONA!

Notice the awesome saguaro cacti.

This was our amazing make-shift table-top thanks to Dad's brilliance. (Our stuff arrived in 2 different shipments. The first one only brought the dining room table legs, not the table-top.) Good thing those moving boxes were pretty sturdy!

Getting settled...

The kids rooms always get done first. The girls' room turned out so cute. Thank you Michelle for the beautiful furniture pieces that fit just perfect!!

Saying Good Bye!

By far, this is the hardest part of moving: it's always so hard to say good bye to such sweet friends! We're so grateful for all our dear friends in Maryland. I wish I had pictures of all of you. We love you and miss you!!!

Having the last name of "Lemon" can be very fun! :)

Look at the AMAZING variety of lemonades. So tasty!

The amazing ladies who threw the party! Thanks Megan, Andi, and Sam! Love you ladies!

Thank you Juanita for the cute photos and to Michelle for hosting the event! We had so much fun!

Thank you all for the wonderful memories!!!

An Extra Special Project

This is something extra special that I started working on MONTHS ago. I got the idea from my friend, Karen, who had made a special binder for her children when they were going to be baptized. I decided to do the same. I wanted something that would be simple, personal, spiritual, and fun. I LOVED doing this! I would wake up extra early in the morning to work on a page or two. I studied from the scriptures, Church manuals such as Preach My Gospel, True to the Faith, The Friend Magazine, and tried to teach about faith, repentance, baptism, the Holy Ghost, prayer, the commandments, etc. It is a very powerful learning experience when you, yourself, have to understand things well enough to be able to explain it simply and succinctly. I included activities to do (coloring, drawing, stories from the Friend magazine, other activities from the Friend) with each section. This, I hope, will become a treasure to my children, as it already is to me!

A Date to Great Falls

So, Dane and I got a babysitter, not for two or three hours, but for an entire day! (Thank you Caytee and Sam!) :) We haven't done anything like that since ...well...um...er...much too long ago! Dane wanted to take me on a hike to Great Falls - which is along the Potomac River. It was SOOOOO nice to get out and experience nature. It's a hidden treasure just a few miles off the main freeway. My only regret is that we didn't discover this place 4 years ago! I would love to go back again some day. We walked right along the C&O canal and saw so many amazing things: turtles, grey herons, an owl (just a few feet from the trail), a snake slithering in the water, etc. The Potomac was at flood stage that day, so it made the rapids look absolutely breathtaking...and deadly! This was definitely one of my favorite dates with Dane and one of the highlights of our time in Maryland.