A beautiful day for a wedding

Well she went and did it.

My fabulous niece finally tied the knot with her high school boyfriend.

Eight years later they exchanged vows in front of family and friends.

 

But before we can make it official, we had to practice.

Getting ready for the big day!

Mom, Groom and Mother-In-Law

With my nephew's Army release date being 2 weeks off too long, we Skyped the entire ceremony to him so he could be there.

 
 

Yes, once you sign that paper it is official!

With bribes of going to a water park after the wedding, my girls did a great job fulfilling their flower girl duties.

Congratulations Jodi and Larry.!
Marriage is hard.
No one ever said it was easy.
But if you work at it,
put your whole heart into it,
love one another,
honor one another,
keep communication open,
and always have each others back,
you will have a long and happy life together.

In limbo

Well we are officially OUT of our home, OUT of the motorhome and IN my mom's home. For three weeks.

I feel so in limbo right now. My old house (albeit we still own it), but it isn't MY house anymore. I can't go home to it. My new house is in another state and until I finish up work, I can't go home to it either. My mom's house, which was my home for the first 20 years of my life, and then another 3 years later on, doesn't really feel like "home" anymore. I feel like I'm renting a room from a nice lady with crazy cats! Yes that lady IS my mom, but the cats are still crazy!!

I hate the feeling of being unsettled. And that's how I've felt for a month now. Like a plant that can't stretch out its roots because it's in one of those black temporary containers you bring it home in from the nursery.

I WANT TO STRETCH MY ROOTS!!

Until then, enjoy some recent pictures!

Remember that crazy, busy weekend that Perk and I drove up and back to Idaho in one day? Ya well before that drive we spent the day at the zoo with my sisters. 

Oldest grandkid, youngest grandkid.

Both stubborn in their own ways.

Both blond with big cheeks as kids.

Love them!

Anna's eagle with the real eagle.

(notice how she has her stuffed eagle perched on her arm!)

This man is whipped. And he'll admit it.

Spending time with friends.



Anna and Lauren

Bear and the Wheatley farm dogs

The cutest thing was having Woody lay across my lap on the couch as I watched Days of Our Lives (don't judge) on my laptop as the girls took a bath. Good dog Woody!!

 

The Thursday before school got out, my neighbor Camille and I took all Anna's friends to Cherry Berry as a "goodbye". I think they had a good time!! Sure going to miss those little faces.

Our temporary home.

Glad it was only for a week!

The horse sneezed on Abby's hand just as she was about it feed it.

Look at her expression! Priceless!!

My mommy came and saved me from having to drive that big scary motorhome back to SLC!!

Happy 10th birthday Emily. FINALLY, someone who loves Monster High was much as Anna does!

p.s. Mike your cake was AWESOME!

Laziest dogs ever.

Okay actually the beagles are the laziest dogs ever, but these two are so big that you notice them always sleeping in the middle of the floor more than the corner sleeper beagles!

Big fat beagle thinks it's a lap dog.

Finding ways to keep us entertained.

It really is odd not to have a dozen neighbor kids around at all times.

Guess that's what the beagles and cats are for?

 And yes, Abby is in the stage of life where she want to be topless all the time

Fabulous Friends

Our neighborhood was the perfect neighborhood to start raising our young girls. So many kids live in our neighborhood. At times it was overwhelming how many kids there were. I felt my front door was a revolving door, that the minute we got home a GREEN LIGHT would come on and that a special kid signal went out to all the neighbors saying "THE PERKINS ARE HOME". Seriously, it was vary rare for the girls NOT to have a friend over every night.

 

But I loved it. I loved watching my girls bond and form relationships and be silly and crazy!

 

Anna was only 1 1/2 when we moved into our home. I saw her make her first friend next door. I watched the little girl across the street finally work up the courage to come over and play.

 

I saw boys be born into families as I welcomed my own little girl. I saw those boys become little buddies to Abby. I saw them try to keep up with her on days, and her keep up with them on the other days. I saw dirt removed from my garden, dump trucks in the yard, rocks piled up on the sidewalks and bugs in cups.

 

I saw these cute little toddlers become pretty little girls. One giggled over Justin Bieber, one loved the jump on the trampoline, another loved Monster High dolls. It was fun having these kids in my home day after day.

 

One of the last days in our home I was explain to one of them how we will be living with Grandma temporarily until the end of June. She said "I wish I was part of your family." I started to cry, hugged her and said "You ARE part of our family!"

 

This Crazy Life

At this very moment, I am sitting in my bed...in an RV. Not exactly what I thought I'd be doing when the husband first told me we would be moving to Idaho.
But as the Perkins luck would have it, his new position started May 1 and elementary doesn't get out until June 7. So here we sit.

 

But before tonight and after our initial furniture move...what was I doing?  Let me sum that up in pictures! Enjoy!

 

We 3 girls were sharing 2 mattresses on the floor.



We had a folding table for dining and just 1 chair to sit on.

We had a yard sale. A very successful one at that!

The neighbor kids were very sad to see our swing set go.

But I hear 2 cute little boys in Sugar House are enjoying it quite nicely!

 

After the yard sale we took another load up to the Idaho house and enjoyed the Memorial Weekend.

While the girls were off playing with new neighbors, Perk and I explored the "neighborhood".

Not a horse. Not a donkey. What is this?

We drove Petunia up to the big house thinking we'd leave her there.

We then drove Petunia back to the old house.

Long story...I'd be happy to tell you it over cocoa some day!

What I didn't yard sale or take with me on my latest trip north, I donated.

Lots and lots of donations!!

 

 I went to my home away from home away from home.

Several times.

Having no kitchen table, no pots & pans...we ate out. A lot.

Working like a dog for 2 days straight you really lose any sense of style.

Yep. Those are hiking socks with my Teva's.

Don't judge. It was comfy.

 

I had my "couldpossiblybemybrotherinlawatsomepointinthefuture"come up and help me with my HONEY DO LIST.

Mike put hinges on a door. Hung the door. Hung a mirror. Changed a sprinkler head. Helped tear up the kitchen tile. Shaved down closet doors. He was fast and I'm grateful that he had absolutely NOTHING else more exciting to do that day. 

I visited the Davis County landfill.

Twice. Once when it was raining. The only thing positive about that was it kept the smell of the landfill down. Got to think of a silver lining for every situation right?!



I chucked and threw and tossed and slammed.

Ya know, throwing stuff at the dumps and breaking stuff is actually a really good stress reliever!

I got a few looks from some of the men that were there, but I'm sure they recognized it as "That woman is on a mission. Don't mess with her!"

Of course I took time out of my non-stop HECTIC day to watch Days of Our Lives.


Look, you don't invest 25+ years of your life to something and suddenly give it up because the TV is sitting on the floor in the middle of a room with just 2 mattresses to keep you comfy!

I let my neighbors feed me.

Seriously, how nice was it that I had neighbors bring me dinner and another invite us over twice for dinner. I haven't cooked in so long it was actually nice to have a hot meal.

That doesn't come with a toy!

 

 This was my favorite part.

Pulling up the subfloor that caused our first set of tile to lift.

Guess who did this ALL BY THEMSELF???

Damn you subfloor!!!

I borrowed tools from neighbors.

You don't realize you might need them when you are packing up.

You think "what would I need with a crowbar or flathead shovel?"

Well apparently you need them if you are pulling up subfloor!



Oh look! Another visit to the Davis County landfill!

I did learn how to back a trailer up! 

Another sad day for the neighbor kids.

Taking down the trampoline.

On a positive note we learned that Abby is actually quite handy with tools!



We loaded up once more.

We said GOODBYE to the house we've called home for 5 years.

Okay yes I know we still own the home, but it's goodbye that we are no longer living in it or in the neighborhood anymore.

I cried in the backyard.

I'm a sap, what can I say!

I blame the husband for taking me down memory lane as we did one final sweep of the place.

I learned how professionals lay tile.



We found ways to entertain ourselves.

We did one final push to get everything up to the new house.

Who knew so much crap was left over after our first truck run?

Between the motorhome and trailer being loaded full, we needed to take a run in one day to unload. 

A visit to the zoo with my family, followed by a 4 hour drive to Idaho. 30 minutes to unpack and another 4 hours back to Utah. Made for one helluva long night. But we did it.

The girls slept the entire way home.

I attempted to sleep in the RV. If you've never tried sleeping in a moving RV before, then you don't know what a fun experience it can be. Seriously. Bumping and swaying and the NOISE.  

Good times right there!

But it's done.



Oh but before all of that fun stuff, we blew a tire on the trailer.

Thanks Mr. UHP for helping out. 



 We made new friends.

Abby is in horse heaven living at Wheatley Farms

Mmmm, dinner!

One night we came home and the chickens were roaming all around the yard.

I called my girlfriend. Are chickens supposed to be wandering around the yard like that?

Me: Um there are random chickens running around your yard

Farmer Virginia: it's fine, they go to bed at 7pm

Sure enough, 7pm rolls around and they make their way back to the coop.

Who knew?

We played with old friends.

I just love Woody. This dog is an old soul.

Casey makes me laugh. His legs are longer than his torso and he is just a bowl full of energy.

Sorry about your bone Casey. Bear says "yummy".

 

Seriously though, these past 2 weeks have been super crazy and for 3 days straight I worked on the Utah house morning to night. My bones ached, my hands were swollen, sleep was little and I lived off Diet Coke and PB&J's...but the end is nearing. Silver cloud right!

 

The home is rented to a great family. Everything except our clothes and kids is up at the new house waiting to be unpacked or put in its place. The job is winding down and June 29th is coming fast.

 

This crazy life is only going to get crazier. But at least the view will be BREATH TAKING!