What an amazing goodbye...

from St. Clair Shores, Michigan.

The last couple of days in Michigan was wonderful. Even though there was tons of stress with packing the truck and cleaning the house, it was a sweet experience. First, on Saturday, tons of men from Ian's work and our Roseville Ward came to help us load the truck. They were so fast and did such a great job. Yet, things continued to be crazy since we ran out of room in our Ryder truck and the Uhaul trailer was much too small so I had to go purchase a larger enclosed trailer for the move. This took more time than I thought so I was having troubles getting to all the events of the day. The boys had their Baseball pictures and there was the Maye's going away party. All I can say is thank goodness for my mom, my friends and our coach. My mom ran the boys over to the pictures without any money (I failed to tell her that she needed cash to order the pictures) so coach Todd and his wife purchased the pictures for us. I finally arrived, with the cash in hand, as they were getting ready to take the team photos but they refused the money -- they wanted to do this for us to show us how much they were "going to miss the boys and loved coaching them." How NEAT was that.

Then we were missing the party of the Mayes' due to the craziness so Russ left the party to pick up the kids. I just love the Mayes -- you can never have a better couple who will do whatever it takes to make sure we are well taken care of and there to give love and comfort and spiritual insights and the most amazing FOOD. I don't know what I would do without those guys.

The Uhaul trailer incident was such a disaster and Amy (my next door neighbor) jumped right in to help -- taking the trailer back to the ornery Uhaul man. She is the most amazing neighbor anyone could ask for -- she loves people, parties, and our Wednesday night "girls' night out". She is also my talking on the phone while I am doing dishes buddy.

That night we said our goodbyes to many of our friends at the Mayes' adult party. I can honestly say that Michigan is full of the most amazing people. How can you have 20+ best friends? Well, all you have to do is live in our neighborhood and go to our ward. The couple on the far right are the Hemmingways -- Tadj and Natalie. They are such a fun couple. We have shared 2 ski trips with them that are totally unforgettable. Natalie taught the kids how to ski and Tadj (the ski patrol) always got our kids out of a "pickel." Nat has such a funny laugh -- she cracks me up! She is so fun loving and just loves life. We are gymboree shopping buddies and love to share in the latest children's fashions. Tadj has a way to be so patient and kind-hearted. They are such a great couple.Hilary and Milo came by after the party to hang out one last time. They are our double date buddies. I will have to talk more about Hilary in another post. Mr. Milo is now Bishop Milo -- we wish him all the luck and blessings in his new calling. He will do such a great job. He is inventive, funny and such a peacemaker.

Dave and Daniel came to help us move and we are so GRATEFUL! I am sure spending 3 days in a truck with limited sleep and even more limited rest food (I hear Ian will not stop for anything) was awful but these guys took it all in stride.

There is so much more to say about our move and I will have to share it little by little.

*just a side note -- I have been trying to download pictures in a hotel and just cannot get them do download. I MUST try again later.

New email address and want blog address

Hey everyone. I have changed my email address to jenbrimhall@gmail.com. Also, since I am totally missing everyone from Michigan, I am wanting to get all the blog addresses from you all so that I can see what you are up to. Can you email me your links to my new gmail so I can list them on my blog. I miss MICHIGAN!!!

Farewell Michigan....

I will totally miss you. Tonight is my last night as a resident of St. Clair Shores Michigan. This past 5 years has been tough but also been amazing. I must admit that I am a much better person from living here and being friends with so many wonderful people. I am having a hard time letting go and want to stay right here, sitting at my little kitchen table with my windows open typing on my laptop. I will have to write more about all the wonderful people that live here and how they have changed my life but first I must finish cleaning the house and packing.

It was the GREATEST game ever played...

by Hunter and Kadan. Tonight was an AWESOME game for our boys as players for the Devil Rays. I am sad to mention that this was also there last game due to our move to Arizona but am happy that they left with this amazing game.

We have a very young team (maybe even the youngest in the league) where we had to pull 3 boys up from the 5 and under team to fill our roster. We knew that winning would not be easy but wanted our boys to learn the fundamentals and learn to love the game. I must say that they mastered both areas. They intently watch all the kids play, help each other out and cheer for the batter for encouragement. Never once were they too sad for losing -- they just loved being together and playing the ball. One mom from the other team even came up to me tonight and told me how she admired our coaching and how we rotated the boys infield and outfield positions so that everyone could play a great position at least once in the game.

Well tonight, everything came together. Hunter was an amazing 1st baseman catching all grounders that came is way and having no errors (I think that it got 7 boys out). Kadan did great at 2nd base with scooping up ground balls and throwing them to Hunter for an out at first.

Hitting was a little bit of a challenge for Kadan (he got 2 strike outs this game). He had never struck out this year but after a hand full of sunflower seeds (his "good luck food") and some cheers from the bench; he came back with 2 solid hits with 1 RBI. I just have to share a story about my funny kid. He was up to bat, swung and missed 2 times then took a "time" to get a sunflower seed out of his pocket -- he then pounded the base, took a couple practice swings and got into his hitting stance with all the parents laughing at how crazy he is.

Hunter rocked the batting tonight. Smashing all 4 of them perfecting past the shortstop and into the infield. He also had 2 RBIs. It was a joy to see his confidence as he batted.

The most glorious part of the game was Hunter's final hit the was crushed into the outfield bringing in the winning run. We all SCREAMED, jumping up and down. My mom was there to cheer the boys on and even started tearing with excitement. It was AWESOME. I am so proud of the team and proud of my boys.

Ian's graduation was definitely...

a nice night. Ian was honored as chief surgical resident and was told that he was the most "trustworthy, hardworking and honorable orthopaedic resident he (Dr. Scott) had been privileged to work with." What a great compliment! After the brief ceremonies we were treated to an amazing dinner at the Coach House (a restaurant some 70+ stories up that overlooks Detroit). We were honored to have John, Broc and My Mom at the ceremonies.

Chet Hunter, a radiology resident, is one of Ian's close friends. His wonderful wife, Julie Hunter, has been a shinning star and a great strength to me during the residency. The boys outside the Detroit Athletic Club.
Ian with Dr. Acker (a kind and genuine surgeon who took care of me when I had my MRSA infection), Jason (his ortho brother) and crazy Dr. Scott. Dr. Acker and Rich Stanley -- Rich is one of the most remarkable people and is married to a beautiful woman (Karen) that is just as remarkable. They have spent hours helping us with house projects and talking. Much of the gang that was able to come that night are seated here.
The joke is that you have to be at least 6 foot to be an ortho resident at the hospital. Ian is 6'3" and Jason is 6"5". Dr. Scott is lucky to be pushing 5'10" so he jumped up on their shoulders to get a picture.

Oh YEAH! The LIMO ride...

was a blast. Hunter won a limo ride for him and 3 of his friends a couple of weeks ago. Upon announcing the win, he was bombarded with tons of classmates begging to go with him on the ride. He had the hardest time choosing who would go since he is friends with so many children in his class and he did not want to hurt anyone's feelings. I too was having a hard time helping him decide so I called Mrs. Gaigalas (his 3rd grade teacher) to ask her if she had any suggestions. To make it easier for Hunter, we decided that he was not going to ask any classmates (instead we would invite them all to his end of the school year party) and ask only neighbor friends. Chadd Brado, Espen Mayes and Kadan were the 3 lucky friends. I too was lucky to go and went as a chaperon. We ate at Texas Longhorn Steakhouse (YUM) and road around dancing, laughing and being just crazy wild.

Kadan the RockSTAR was singing and dancing and turning up the radio the whole trip.

Espen and Hunter with the Limo driver. Hunter gave him a big hug and thanked him over and over again. The driver donated his time and the ride to the school and made sure that we were all treated like royalty.
The manager of the Steakhouse was so kind. He talked about the free lunch program. They donate hundreds of free lunches to schools each week. Now that is an organization to patron. The service was excellent and the food was delicious.Mr. Loria -- the best principal EVER checked in with us to make sure that we were having lots of fun.

"Ballerina girl, you are so lovely..."

This is one of those moments I have been waiting for since I was a teenage girl -- to watch my daughter perform in a dance recital. Yesterday was Addy's 1st dress rehearsal. As a mom, I was totally out of my element. Who knew that you could not have a part in your daughter's hair when it was up in a ballet bun? But, despite a few glitches, it was magical to see my daughter tip toe around in her little pink ballet shoes and her beautiful ballerina ensemble.

I have been having troubles with my camera since I took it out in a snow storm several months ago (definitely NOT a good idea) but I tried the best I could to get a relatively clear picture of Addy. Here are a few of my favorites....

A HUGE storm...

came through Michigan today. Many trees were uprooted and winds exceeded 70 miles per hour. It was crazy. One minute it was sunny and calm and the next minute the wind was blowing the rain sideways and trees were being knocked over. Then the tornado siren sounded. The kids all ran up from the basement in complete excitement and terror. They wanted to see the howling wind and possibly see the tornado. Ian and I sent the kids downstairs while we parked the cars into the garage and prepared for the worst. After a few minutes I went downstairs to check on the children. Hunter was under the day bed, Addy and Bo were under the desk and Kadan was huddled in a corner behind the filing cabinet. They were all talking about if the tornado was coming.

I turned on the TV in the basement to catch the latest weather news. With my kids all cuddled up beside me, we anxiously watched the Doppler news for several minutes until we heard the calming words "the tornado watch has now passed. The storm is moving up to the north eastern part of Mighican and Canada." Whew!

We all went outside to see if there was any damage down our little street. Just a few trees were toppled and several stray branches were in the yard but nothing really damaging. All that was left were large puddles and the sweet smell of rain after the storm.

Backyard play during lazy spring days...

are what life as a child is all about. I was making dinner and heard lots of giggles from my 4 littles ones coming from the backyard -- that sound is the happiest sound a mother can hear. I put the food aside so I could witness all the fun. They were each taking turns playing who was "it" during tag. Hunter, then Kadan, then Addy, then Bo. When it was Bo's turn they all pretended that she was so fast that they could not catch her. Then they fell "exhausted" in pile laughing so hard. I just love my kids!