Hasta Luego Utah!

We got back from San Diego at ~1AM on Tuesday April 3rd and left for Mississippi early Saturday morning April 6th. I was able to pack a lot of our stuff before our trip, but there were still a lot of loose ends to tie up before we could go. We chose to move ourselves, (a mistake in retrospect) and were grateful for all of the help we received from family and friends.

On Saturday we drove to Colorado and spent Easter with my family. I'm glad we got to see them, because we won't be able to travel very much for the next 13 months. Sarah and her cousin Angelina are only a week apart in age and are best friends. I wish we lived closer to them so they could spend more time together. Adam loved to hug adorable little Isabel.

I was thankful that we also got to visit my grandparents that live a few minutes from my parents.

On Monday morning we began our drive to Nebraska. We stopped in North Platte to have lunch with my grandma Alexander and some other family members. It was her first time meeting my husband and kids and although it was a quick visit I'm thankful we could do it.

While driving through Missouri we saw a familiar site on the side of the freeway. It was a statue of the Angel Moroni atop the Kansas City, Missouri temple. We pulled over planning on walking around it and were pleasantly surprised when we found out it is brand new and was having its open house. Sarah wanted to take a tour, so we got in line. :) It was a neat experience to be able to walk through a temple on our way to Mississippi.

After five days and almost 1900 miles traveling through Utah, Wyoming, Colorado, Nebraska, Iowa, Missouri, Arkansas and Tennessee, we finally arrived at our new home.

We are very excited to be here and look forward to this upcoming year. Although you could go to Disneyland for cheaper than flying here, (use the Memphis or Birmingham airport) all visitors are welcome. :)

San Diego part 3

On Sunday we couldn't attend church, because it was conference weekend, so we drove to the Mormon Battalion Visitor Center.  It is still pretty new and has a great interactive progressive tour where you "interact" with some virtual characters. It was informative and fun.

On Monday we squeezed in a trip to the San Diego Zoo. It was AMAZING! The animals were cool, but I loved looking around at the flora. It was so pretty. 

If you look closely at these pictures you'll see a butterfly hidden in the trees and perched on top of my dad's head and you might also see an elusive green monster.

I was a fun trip and I'm very thankful we could take it before starting Mike's flight training.

San Diego part 2

On Friday we went to Legoland in Carlsbad. We were hesitant to go because of the price, but it was worth it. Adding a second day is only $15, if we went there again we'd plan on two days. The amusement park is geared towards kids 3-12 yrs old, so there was a ton for the kids to do. (huh...I just looked through the pictures and apparently I was slacking on the picture taking. I must have been having too much fun. :)

We started out at Miniland USA. It was impressive! Steven loved all of the Star Wars sets.

On Saturday we wanted to have more down time, so we toured the USS Midway and went to the beach. A couple months after we got married in 2004 Wells Fargo sent us on a trip to San Diego. We stayed at the Hotel del Coronado, and the Midway was one of our excursions. Taking the tour with three small children added to the adventure. :)

 For some reason our camera is grainy when it takes pictures at night and I'm not sure why.

San Diego part 1

The week before we moved our family took a trip to sunny San Diego with my parents. (tip-inviting parents to tag along on a trip is a great way to travel. Two extra sets of hands are helpful.) Mike thankfully got home the night before, so we were able to travel together. We woke up EARLY Wednesday morning for our 6 AM flight. We had told the kids we were going to visit Grandma and Grandpa Stewart and didn't correct their assumptions that it would be in Oregon. Sarah was really disappointed and started crying when she found out San Diego was our final destination. (she got over it quickly)

My parents flight was delayed, so we checked in and then spent some time at the beach. Our house was only three blocks away, so we could walk there. Sorry for the picture overload, but I liked something about all of them and wanted to share.

Our second day there, Thursday, we went to Sea World. They have a great program for the military called, "Here's to the Hero's" and admission was free for our whole family. We let the kids be in charge of the day, so we started out on a ride and then played on the giant playground.

Next we saw the Shamu show. The older kids wanted to be in the "splash zone," and my mom gives them whatever they want, so the three of them ended up really wet and a little chilled. The warmed up in the giant life size dryers.

We also saw the dolphin show and one other show, but I didn't get any pictures. I think Steven's favorite place was the shark tanks. We went there a couple times.