Best laid plans...

I figured since I'm reading Steinbeck, I could use his same inspiration for my title.

I don't know about you, but just when think I have everything all planned out- large or small- I am reminded that I am not in charge. Someone with much higher power knows what's best for me. I seriously am reminded of that so often! Now I recognize it much more quickly and see the Divine intervention that it is.

I hope I don't jinx us here, but I think it is safe to say out loud that our house is under contract again. We briefly took it off the market for a few days to let it reset on the MLS with a new price. (During that time I had about 20 calls from other realtors trying to get me to sign with them. Poachers.)

Within a few days of re-listing, we had a bunch of showings and two offers right off the bat. We are now under contract, with a back-up handy. The same day, we found out that we got the house in Saratoga Springs that we put an offer on the week before. It isn't the house we were aiming for originally, but it is in the same neighborhood & ward. We tried to find every way imaginable to get our "dream" house there, but it was a little more than we felt we could responsibly afford. Short of selling organs, we dreamed up all sorts of ways to make some extra money. We try to live within our means and have been so blessed as we try to do this, and we were blessed to find a beautiful, well-maintained home in the same area. The bummer is that it is a short sale in the beginning of the process, which means it will be months before we can get in. I think the banks are so lame. Hello- willing buyer with money! Why drag it out so long? I can see if there isn't a buyer ready, but WE ARE RIGHT HERE!!!

Anyway, we'll see how the next few months play out, but we are so blessed! Even though things don't always go quite how I plan (like today, for instance) we are doing well. My day today was shot to a million pieces by kids that came home sick from school in two shifts, but I'm so glad I'm able to be here with them. I did get to mow the lawn since Jenna was inside with the younger kids. It all works out somehow.

We are excited for the next chapter in our lives. We will miss the people here terribly, but there's more out there for us. We want certain things for our kids that we feel we will find in Saratoga Springs. My sweet farm boy needs more open space, too! Everything worked out so quickly and all at once, that we are sure this is part of the Lord's plan for us. It will be great, whatever IT is!

First day of school 2011- 8+ weeks late

Shortly after their last day of school, Jenna and Aubrey had their first day of school for the new school year. Their school is year-round and we switched from the track that ends latest to the track that starts earliest, so they only had 3 weeks of summer vacation. Even so, they were SOOO excited to get back to school and friends! 

Jenna's starting off on the right foot.

Lydia is jumping for joy that the sisters are leaving!

Jenna is in 4th grade & love her teacher, Mr. Walton.

Yay for 2nd grade! Aubrey has Ms. Parker. Her class is a 2nd/ 3rd split, which has been so fun.
There are three kids from our ward in her class who are in 3rd grade.

They hadn't changed much since the last day of school. Eliza even ended up in the same outfit...

Aubrey still lets me take her picture outside the school!

4th of July festivities- Moroni

Here's a peek into our Independence Day celebration in Moroni this year. We headed down early in the morning for the parade with all the Prestwich cousins.

Molly  & Brett's kids

Eliza happy in her stroller

Lydia chose her red, white and blue bubble romper after much deliberation.
The red twirly skirt was in her bag, just in case.

Brett & Madi waiting for candy

A newly-nine Jenna

Eliza & Tim- it was just cloudy enough to keep the temp bearable.

Aubrey having fun collecting treats with all the cousins- immediate & distant!

Lots of Prestwich offspring

Jenna's bday "cake." She chose ice cream sandwiches, so I stacked them all fancy-like.
Best cake ever!

Our favorite indoor play place

/I'm going to let you in on a little secret. Here's our favorite McDonald's play land. It is different from any that I've ever seen. With a baby and vitiligo, it was great to find a fun place to place away from wind & sun.

It has a large climbing structure that looks like you are climbing through a tree, tall slide, toddler slide, basketball area and then this:

 This part has large musical instruments that make music! The slide plays a scale as you go down! My kids love this place!

For some reason, I didn't take pictures of all of the instruments, but there is a lot to play on. So fun! It is at the McDonald's across from the District in South Jordan. (10400 South, just east of Bangerter Hwy) You can thank me later!

A day at the beach

Warning- many pictures ahead!

In August, we had a fun afternoon and evening at Jordanelle with the Graves, Gibsons and my dad. Even though is was August, the lake was the fullest I have ever seen! We snagged the last picnic site with beach access, but it was hard to tie up the boat while avoiding the big landscape boulders under water. They would normally be quite a way up the beach! 

Eliza was so good in her hanging high chair for most of the time!

Uncle Tim helped Zach catch a fish!

This was as close to riding the tube as Eliza will be for a while.

Getting ready for Aubrey & Aunt Kat to ride the tube!

Kayla, Lydia & Nate played at the water's edge for hours!

Can you see them?

No trip to the lake would be complete without yummy treats!

The end.

Float Preview- In review

Have you heard that saying, "I'm so far behind, I thought I was first." That's me! I finally downloaded hundreds of pictures from my camera, so I'm going to blog the pictures and fill in the blanks- for posterity's sake.

Ever since we helped with the parade float a few years ago, we go to the Float Preview at the Southtown Expo center the week before the Days of '47 Parade, which takes place on or near July 24th each year.

In no particular order, here are some of the highlights from our outing.

I really like the Russian cupolas on this float

Lydia's favorite float

You have to get your face painted while you're there...

The girls an the mermaid- she gave them each a sea shell (below)

Cottonwood Heights float- shout out to my 'hood and to surveyors. Strange combo!

Since my kids had an extremely short (3 weeks) and boring (mostly spent cleaning the house for showings) summer, this was one of the highlights of our brief summer vacation.

If you've never been, plan on it for next year. It's free, air conditioned, and no one cares if your kids are loud. there are high school marching bands that wander the aisles playing their music and children's singing groups performing. No one will even hear your screamer!