Permanent Residents

We are now residents of Utah....not just vacationing any more. (teehee) We have bought a house which we moved into in October; Halloween weekend to be precise. We love our new place. It is 5 bed 2 1/2 bath with lots of room to roam and play. The neighborhood is packed with kids. Heather and Trevor have no end of companions to keep them entertained. Our ward is AWESOME not quite as big as our Roseville ward but very welcoming and friendly people. Jon and I both have callings in Cub Scouts. Jon is the new Cub Master and I am the Cub Committee Chair. Neither of us have ever been in Cub Scouting positions before and this has proved to be challenging, but a challenge we have willingly taken on. With Trevor moving into to Cub Scouts in just a few months were are able to get a head start on seeing what he will be doing. 

Christmas this time around was different for our family. We very much miss the Christmas traditions we had in Roseville but it was also fun to do something new. This year we spent Christmas in Arizona with Jon's brother Paul and his family. Jon's sister Ann and her family were there for Christmas Eve as well. We had an enjoyable time and Heather and Trevor loved playing with their cousins.

This year in 4th grade Heather got to participate in a Science Project. She and I worked very hard to produce Sugar Candy Crystals, but alas they did not form. We tried several times, not sure what we did wrong, but it was fun anyway.

Trevor had to disguise a Thanksgiving Turkey so that it wouldn't find itself on the Thanksgiving dinner table. He chose to make his turkey a football player. ;-)

Jon turned 42 this year. Yes....42. Times flies when you're getting old. ;-) My brother Jeremy, his wife Paula and their little cuteness Zoe spent the evening with us. Trevor showed us all how to tame his latest toy. Not sure what it is called but he's got it DOWN.  Ice Castles was a fun sight to see. There are several of these awesome ice buildings in Colorado, Utah and New Hampshire. We went late in February when things were starting to warm up so it was more like a snow cone than and Ice castle. It was very drippy but still very cool to see. I can't wait to go back next year when it's colder and I can actually take some pictures inside the ice.  This kids like their school. They are still having a hard time with Year-round school, but they will get the hang of it.  Jon's job is going well for the time being. It has it's ups and downs as most jobs do but he is hanging in there.  January and February were big months for me as I made 3 baby quilts. That was quite the challenge for me and I usually like to spread out 1 quilt over a months time. Working on it here and there. It was fun though and I was glad to be able to do it.  Well I guess that's the gist of things here. Utah is definitely the place for us to be and I am very glad that we have moved here. I wasn't sure about it at first but this is definitely where Heavenly Father wants us to be. Now if more or our family would start following us out here then that would be even more to celebrate. We miss everyone back home. You are not easily forgotten. We follow you on facebook and love to hear from you when you have the time. Hope everyone is well 

Roskelley's                                    

 

Utah Thus Far

     We have been here for nearly 6 months now and it still feels, at least to me, like we are on a long vacation. Everyone is settling in fine. Our ward is very nice with a diverse people, I love it. We are currently renting a condo while we look for a home to buy. Maybe when I have an actual place to hang my photos and art work I will start feeling like Utah is my home. The kids like their school and are making lots of friends. Unfortunately when we buy a house they will be moving schools again and will have to start over. The positive side.....this will be the last time they have to move. School is mostly year-round out here. There are 2 charter schools in the area we are looking for a house and they are on a traditional school system. We are hoping to be able to get the kids into one of those schools. If we can then I can finish my photography degree. If not then we may have to put them in year-round public school and I will have to figure something else out. Jon's job is going ok. It has it's struggles, but he is getting through them as best he can.
     Since moving here we have spent a lot of time visiting places. We spend more time away from home on the weekend than we did when we were in Roseville. Being near lots of mountains means there is quite a bit to do and lots to explore.

Ok well....it's late and I have to get up early in the morning and wrangle kids
out of bed for school in the morning.

 

 I have been trying to get the slide show for this post ready for the past month. I hit some snags with the music. Also I was not able to put it on here as anything other than a link. So click the link at the bottom of the page to watch the slide show.


https://skydrive.live.com/?cid=1936104A3CED0A8C&id=1936104A3CED0A8C%21110&v=3

Game Changer

In October of last year Jon was laid off from his job so we hunkered down and prepared for the long wait that we were sure was ahead of us. Thankfully only a month later Jon's boss called him and offered him a Branch Managers position in the Utah Branch of his company. After much prayer and fasting we agreed that Jon should accept the job and so he moved to Utah for 3 months. He had 3 months to turn the Utah Branch around and if he did we would all probably be moving to Utah.

Well folks....things did get turned around and we are now residents of Utah (SLC area). Can't say that I'm personally happy about living in the snow again but the kids are very excited. Before we left California Trevor was telling everyone that he couldn't wait to move because we were moving to the snow. I love his spirit.



Front of our place

Back

After nearly 2 weeks we are mostly settled in. The kids are on day 3 at their new school and so far things are great. The kids have both made lots of friends and really like their new teachers. Heather unfortunately has a bit more homework than she is used to and isn't too fond of that. Trevor on the other hand has not had to bring anything home to work on. This adds to Heather's frustrations as Trevor is able to roam free after school while she is required to complete her homework before play.
School is year-round which is going to be an adjustment, but we may like it better than a full 2 1/2 month summer break; we shall see.

First Day of School

Last weekend we toured Temple square. At age 8 and 6 I would have been bored doing something like that, but the kids soaked it all up and loved every minute. We even ran into someone I know from Roseville. Sidney Hodgkin is serving her mission in SLC and for the time being is serving at  Temple Square. It was really great to see a familiar face. (Wish I'd thought to get a photo with her.)

 
 
 
 
 



















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Daddy Daughter Dance

This year there was a Daddy Daughter Dance at school. Heather was so excited to go. Jon was awesome about it; he even surprised her with a corsage. The two of them practiced dancing every night. Heather was sure to remind Jon, before he left for work, that he needed to be home early enough for them to practice before bed. Afterwards they went out for a banana split.

Playing Catch-up 4

When the kids had Christmas break Jon was able to get most of those 2 weeks off from work. One of the things we did was go to the Jelly Belly Factory in Fairfield. Unfortunately the day we went they weren't actually making Jelly Bellies, but we got to take the tour anyway. They don't allow cameras on the tour so these are the only photos we have of our experience. We are definatley going to have to go back on a day when we can watch Jelly Belly making in action. Still it was fun and very worth the trip. There is nothing like spending time together as a family.

During the tour you are required to wear these paper hats.

Playing Catch-up 3

Christmas flies by every year, but this year we almost missed it. 3 of us got the flu days before Christmas. Lucking we were all finished with it by Christmas Eve and we were able to celebrate properly. 

Playing Catch-up 2

This last summer Kristen moved into her own appartment and Trevor moved into his new bedroom. Here are the before and after shots. My kids seems to a very traditional boy and girl. Heather's room is all pink and Trevor of course wanted his room to be blue.

Playing Catch-up 1

Once again it has been many months since I have updated my blog......so here we go. A while back on Facebook I mentioned that I was turning an old dresser into a Blanket Chest, so here it is. This Dressor with it's hard to open drawers has now been turned into what looks like a dresser, but only opens on the top. It is now the home of our many blankets and pillows.

First Day of School

This year I sent both of my kidlets off to school. Heather is now in 2nd grade and Trevor is in Kindergarten. Heather is in a team teaching class this year so she has 2 teachers. Trevor has the same Kindergarten teacher that Heather had. I am so excited for him. His teacher is awesome. They were both so excited to start school. Heather, our social light, couldn't wait to get back to her friends. Trevor is also the little friend maker and jumped right in.

Our Busy Summer

Each summer seems to go by faster than the last one. With 3 of our 4 birthdays in the summer, camping and my brother Jeremy's wedding we had plenty to keep us busy. Heather turned 7 and Trevor is now 5.

This year for my birthday Jon bought me a tandum skydiving jump. I have been wanting to go skydiving since I was in high school. Jon thought for sure that I would get to the plane and want to turn right around and go back to the hanger, but I did not. In fact I never got butterflies once, which surprised even me. I thought that I would at least start feeling them once we were ready to jump, but I never did. It was the awesomest, and shortes, most exciting thing I have done or might possibly ever do.

Jeremy married Paula (pronounced, Pa-ooh-la) in the Oakland Temple on August 6th. We are so glad Paula made it here safe (finally) and that she is now part of our family. It was awesome getting to know her and getting to use what little Spanish we know.

We went to Yosemite National Park for a few days with friends and were able to camp and hike. I love being in the woods. Probably cause I grew up in them, but they make me feel so calm and happy. Being in gods country really is the best thing for the soul.