True Willow-- Our Kentuckiana home, 10 days in (house tour)

Crazy but true fact: the floor plan of our home in Utah was called Willow, which is what we called our home in Utah. Then after picking out our house in Kentuckiana we found out the name of the floorplan... ALSO called WILLOW. What are the odds? I asked the kids how we would distinguish between the two and Lan settled on calling the one here in Kentuckiana "TRUE Willow" (because they are on a "True and the Magical Wishes" kick, probably) so the name stuck. Similar to my car being called Sally, this is something only the kids and I do, Drew does not ;)

It is hard to believe we have only been in this home for 10 days. I was able to unpack everything out of boxes within 48 hours and have just about everything out and in its proper place and hung up within about 6 days. I still have a lot of work to do, but I am happy with where the home is at and feel like I can enjoy myself in my home for the most part without worrying so much about projects I need to complete.

I also have to say, so much of this home perfectly fits the photographs and art that I have collected and love so much to have in my home. Like having this little family collage in the entryway.

 Anna mentioned my couch looks much bigger here... it does! Because the space is much more open and I think a bit bigger too. I love being able to prep food and watch kids and TV at the same time. It makes the whole living space feel so connected.

 I love that we now have a real window in addition to our faux Boston skyline window... which part of me still feels like is a bit too night but also it is completely out of reach for my third child which is always the goal if I want to keep something from being completely damaged.

 That TV console really is something else... I have been eyeing it for two years waiting for it to come back to Costco after seeing it once! Then there were none available out here so I drove up to Indy only to realize it would not fit in my car, and Derick and Anna thankfully offered to drive it down for me with his truck last weekend! 500 pounds of gorgeous and it brings me ALL THE JOY as long as the twins aren't touching it!

 We did downsize on our pantry... which was probably a really good thing since half our pantry in Utah didn't even have food! It is the perfect size for us with room to grow.

 I thought it would be odd to have my master bedroom off the main room but I actually really love it. Still working on that headboard though...

 The boy's room is still a work in progress but A's room came together flawlessly!! Still need to get that girl a bedskirt...

 This is my favorite room in the house.... to NOT be in! Ha! I love sending the kids down to the basement where they can run around, play tag, scream, whatever they want to do! It has been a lifesaver on rainy or too cold days (which combined have been ALL the days we have been here).

 I saw these gold pineapple curtains and it was LOVE at first sight. That's all this basement bathroom needed to make it perfection!

 Basement bedroom...D's bedroom (eventually when I can convince him to move down here) AKA the guest bedroom. The little navy chevron lamps were again, love at first sight just like the curtains, the TV stand and those art prints.

That's all I have for now, but I will hopefully catch up with the office and boys room eventually!

The Six Pack's Big (first and hopefully last) Cross Country Move

Similar to not wanting to share too much around the time our house was on the market, for fear it wouldn't sell, because of our experience in Ohio where our first buyer backed out due to financing issues (which led to a whole domino effect of difficult things), it felt like Drew and I were holding our breath till the day we drove away from our home, the day we closed. We mini celebrated the night before with some Crumbl cookies, a staple of the last nearly 2 years here in Utah. We loaded the truck with the help of the sister missionaries in the pouring rain a week before we were planning on driving away, and then spent a lot of the last week in Utah sharing meals and spending time with some of our favorite people in the area. The night before we left, Becca came over with her kids to shower us with parting gifts (I think she purchased half of the Target arts and crafts section!!!). It was such a sweet and thoughtful gesture and the treats and snacks lasted through the entire three day drive, and the kids, while not perfect during the trip, did infinitely better than I expected because of all that stuff! The YW also stopped by with little notes for me and some snacks that came in handy (even veggies!). We were up cleaning and packing the car way too long for my liking but that is what I get for trying to go this whole moving thing mostly solo. I felt bad about moving and I felt worse asking for help in leaving the people who shared so much love with me.

The three day drive was snowy the first day then flat and uneventful the next two days. We were so blessed with good weather for January, We were able to stay awake for three full days of driving nonstop except for gas and bathroom breaks and occasionally food breaks too (we had a lot of snacks so we only needed to stop about twice a day for meals). It was quite an adventure. We closed on our house officially on Friday afternoon and arrived in Indiana in time on Saturday for our walkthrough and then spent two days in a (surprisingly kid friendly!) AirBnB. We closed on our Indiana home Monday afternoon and were pleasantly surprised to have three members of our congregation come to help us unload the truck (and bring us cookies!) and we ended the day having pizza (a nice sit down dinner compared to the fast food we had been eating the last few weeks!). It was crazy but filled with blessings and wonderful people at our new church, gym and school(s). The kids started school a little late (they missed a week total!!) because of crazy cold temperatures but are adjusting well.

 pre-bedtime setup at Jasmine's house in Denver. Only one of these kids ended up sleeping the night in this room! (the rest made their way up to the bedroom!)

 So so sweet of Jasmine to let us crash her house!! My kids were nuts but had so much fun playing.

 Our second night we stayed at a Mariott... we didn't end up swimming like we promised them (we got in so late and wanted to leave early so we could make it on time to our walkthrough) but we got an amazing continental breakfast and the kids agreed it was worth it to make it on time to our new house!

 especially because we got mail in our new mailbox! Also pictured: mcdonalds treats to survive one of the afternoons of driving. SO. MUCH. DRIVING.

 Okay all these pictures are out of order... this was visiting cousin Alex and his wife Gabi in Kansas City (where we stayed at the Marriott night two). They treated us to some amazing BBQ in their home and the kids (as usual) went nuts running around the place.

 Waffle at Marriott hotel and first piece of mail in our new home from our dear Ohio friends <3

 First night in our new home we had delicious pizza!

 And Graeters because when in Rome!This mirror was from the farmhouse in Indiana. I loved it!

 Comfort in the midst of some craziness

 Also I loved this setup for the laundry room... I think I could build this myself so I am leaving it here to remember to put it in my projects.

 There could not have been a more perfect hymn for the first Sunday in our new state and congregation.

 Sunday lunch... Mexican food! Luckily we did not have to go out to dinner since a family from church invited us to their house

 Monday morning....

 And monday night... all 3 boys  (that lasted about a week until today when I decided I am OVER it)

That's it! We made it from Utah to Indiana in one piece with all our stuff. Miracle of all miracles.

December 2018 in pictures

we made our way over to Brooker's for some Vineyard Ice Cream!

 Little A basically announced my age to the world... Lan struggled in the no nap department

 Drew and I went on a house hunting/work trip to Kentuckiana...

 <3 all the airport decor for the holidays!

 I made a day trip up to Ohio midweek to break up the house hunting (soooo many houses) and have panera with my mom and sister!

 Visited Churchill Downs on my own because... why not?

 even made some coins for my baes

 Anna and Derick and Lindsey came down from Indy and we had BBQ

 and dessert because, YOLO

 How we both felt after this "vacation" (like we needed a vacation!!) we worked hard, house hunted hard, slept very little (we had to wake up early to get to the warehouse each day) and crashed when we got home.... in time for pictures for A's recital!

 Lan the photographer!!

 more artmaking

 little D had a cowboy themed musical performance at school!

 more art making and trying to get sleep when we can...

 practicing curls for the performance! ... and a late movie night just for kicks

 Our "last morning" of having to clean the house (or so I thought... it took one more showing to get the house in contract) I wanted to celebrate getting breakfast at Einstein Bros Bagels. We never go out to breakfast (especially on a school day!) so it was such a treat! That night was A's dance performance and she was AMAZING! Nellie and Sarah came too and we had a blast watching all the dancers.

 (night mode on my camera... it was pitch black and since she changed right after the performance we couldn't get a pic inside)

 CHRISTMAS DAY at school! (and A getting a visit from a furry friend)

 We had a scare with Kevs... we took him to the vet before he flew out with my parents and he had lost a bunch of weight, I spent the night crying while we waited the weekend (right before Christmas!) to find out if he had kidney failure, diabetes, etc. He didn't! Best (And most expensive) christmas gift ever! Ha!

 I got to run A's class Christmas party, complete with seeing her teacher and BF and BFF.

 Mike and Laura stopped by to drop off Christmas gifts for the kids... sunglasses!

 Feeling immense guilt for sending Kevs with my parents, I got him a basket for Christmas. He loved it for the week he got to hang out in it. I wanted to make him one but basketweaving stuff is a lot harder to find than it was 10 years ago when I took the BYU class...

 Kids got cute christmas cards from my sister and grandma (Lan practiced writing his name in it too)

 THIS. By little A, on the back of her homework....

 going to miss my furry friend so much....

 Christmas! Headphones from darsi and mike and boots for Lo from GGJ, among other things.

 Robots from Blake and Nat and Graham!

 Someone found my lipstick and phone on the way to the airport day after christmas...

 Made it for one of our last bucket list items in Utah... to see our favorite polar bear Nora (from the Columbus Zoo in Ohio who got sent to the Hogle Zoo in Utah the same time we moved to Utah!)

 Few things beat a free zoo day.

 "Astrid got me a little sister!!"

 Drew and I went to see aquaman but A still wanted to take a pic with her BF Jason <3

 went up to SLC to see christmas lights

 and we took one last family pic of 2018 before Kevs flew across the country with my parents to hang with them for a month!

 2018 had its ups and downs but overall was a decent year.... Drew got a new job, I did a lot of work towards recertifying for my teaching license, the twins got to start prek and A got to start Kinder. The three youngest got to play soccer, little D got to play basketball and coach pitch baseball. We put our house on the market and got it under contract in just over two weeks. We are so incredibly blessed and excited for what 2019 holds in store for us!