First day of Good Shepherd School

The kids start at their new school today - Good Shepherd Catholic School. My mom took almost all of the photos from this post and the past few posts. Thanks mom for always taking so many great photos.

Ethan's teacher, Mrs. Sue and the class welcome Ethan. Ethan was shy for the first few minutes but warmed up okay. Randomly there was another Ethan starting today as well and their birthdays are only a day apart. They are good buddies now and are glued at the hip every time I see them.
My mom caught Evie mid-dance. She took this when we picked Evie up from school. Obviously she had no trouble adjusting.

Good Shepherd School.
We met daddy for lunch and took a tour of X-Fusion

Ethan is patiently waiting for dessert

My dad, Joel and Ethan standing in front of X-Fusion

The back warehouse, bike repair/warranty and shipping area

Where daddy tries to get his work done.

So Evie gave herself a haircut for some crazy reason. Anyway, we needed to visit a salon to tidy up her new cut. Evie liked having her hair washed.

Ethan got a trim also. He sat so still and looked so handsome.

Evie liked looking at herself in the mirror.

After baths it was sweet to see my mom brushing Evie's hair...

And then Ethan thought it would be nice to brush grandma's hair. Poor grandma, he's not so gentle.

We love grandma and grandpa.

Planting our garden...

My mom and dad helped us get our little garden going. It was fun picking out flowers and veggies with my mom. The kids had a good time too.

Evie wears Ethan's bath towel like Rapunzel hair because it's long and golden. My mom is helping plant and Evie thinks her back is a comfy spot to bask in the sun.

Ethan, our Ninja cape wearing boxer likes jumping across the stones. My dad did some fancy brick work and chiseled some stones for the garden area. He was a huge help with projects around the house.

We are lucky to have planter boxes around the side yard too. One box is just for flowers for Evie to pick and the other box is watermelon especially for daddy, carrots and zucchini.

Leaving for CA..

Well, this is a long overdue post. We had a nice send off the day the kids and I left for CA. I was grateful for the help and the distraction at the airport so I didn't cry as we say goodbye.

The kids ran hot laps around the park outside the terminal. It was my sister Laurie's good idea for the kids to burn some energy before they got on the plane. It was fun to see the cousins running and playing.

Evie and Claudia
Louis, Ethan, Anderson, Evie and Claudia

Mandy and Laurie
The kids are excited about flying and did amazing for me. They also had lots of new fun toys and books to keep them busy.

We arrived in Denver and had plenty of time to stretch our legs and grab lunch before our next flight.

At lunch Ethan tried to show off his muscles by picking up the chairs. "mom look at me, I'm so strong"

Ethan is snoozing and Evie is being her sweet little self. Ethan is snuggled in the blankets grandma and grandpa potter made them to travel with.

And Finally, we get to see daddy. It feels like it has been longer than three weeks.

The kids were so excited to show daddy their new toys from their aunts. They parked it right where they gave him a hug and started pulling everything out like a picnic.

Joel was so sweet and had the kids new room all ready for them. This is the first time for them sharing a room but they are doing great. Some nights they chat for a bit and others they go to sleep right away.
After checking out Ethan's new room next on his list was to mow the yard. He got right on that.

tiny halloween costumes

So Evie was going through the Halloween totes, like she often does and she surprised me by putting on her old costumes from when she was one and two years old. This chicken is from when she was one.

And the monkey is from when she was two. I showed her a picture from when she was two and it actually fit her. Other than the length in the legs and arms I couldn't believe that it still fit her legs and tiny bottom. We got a good laugh. I can't believe how big my little girl is now.

My folks - on their way to CA

My folks stopped over on Saturday morning to drop off some adorable travel blankets and pillows that my mom made for the kids to take on the plane with them. They of course are super excited. Ethan went upstairs to his bed to test his out.

Evie - getting snugly in hers.

Evie even made Grandpa test it out. He looked pretty comfy.

My folks are making the long drive to CA with our truck and the remaining things that didn't fit in the sprinter Joel drove. We are getting a light snow as we packed the truck.

A huge thanks to mom and dad for driving to CA. for us. We look forward to seeing them when we get there.

Ethan's scoot

We have this bucket that holds blocks and the kids love crawling in it and giving each other rides around the house by the handle. Anyway, this time Ethan was using the wheels and giving himself a ride.

He's pretty top heavy when reaching the wheels so he would often crash...which I think he may have done on purpose too.

Evie is coloring which is one of her favorite things to do.

Bye bye Ethan.

New Sprinter van seat

My dad worked over time to find us the perfect seat for our Sprinter Van. Joel installed it before he left for CA. Ethan, his working buddy had to be right in Joel's armpit as he was bolting the seat down...how else could he see what daddy was doing...

The boys are taking a break after all their hard work. The seat lays flat which is cool feature. Thanks for all of your running around dad. The seat is perfect!

Our new rental in CA

Joel's friend in Santa Cruz took this picture for us when he when he looked at the house for us a few weeks ago. We're all curious about seeing the house for ourselves but Josh (Joel's friend) said it was in great shape. He did send some other pictures that I'll try to upload when I get them from Joel. It is only a mile and a half from Joel's work and the kids' school...and I guess it's close to riding and downtown Santa Cruz also. I liked that it has a backyard for the kids to play in. That was hard to find when we were looking. Joel should be there late Thursday or Friday. I'm curious what he'll think of our new home away from home.

Joel - on his way to CA

We pretty much packed the sprinter van front to back. . We are still surprised with how much stuff the van held. We originally thought we would need a small U-Haul trailer to tow behind the truck my parents will drive to CA in a few weeks but it's not necessary after packing everything in to the sprinter.

Ethan and Evie got a ride around the block from daddy before he started his trip to CA.

The kids giving daddy one last hug before he left. It was a rough good bye. The kids ran down the sidewalk crying for daddy. I have a feeling with everything that needs to happen before the kids and I go at the end of the month, these next three weeks will go by quickly.

The kids (our little monkeys) crawled all around the van as we were packing. I came into the garage to find them sitting on the forks of one of the bikes hanging.

My Punky Bruster

Evie nicely got herself dressed this morning. Ummmmm.....