What does it mean when you offer to drive your kids to the library every day just so you can use the free wi-fi? ...addict??

Today we needed a break from unpacking, and it's not raining so we wanted to go to OceanCity. Until I looked up the distance and it was four hours away. I thought it was three and we could drive in the morning spend the day and drive back and it wouldn't be too late. Four each way seemed a little much. Bummer. Instead we went to Point Lookout State park which is only about 45 minutes away.

The kids had a great time. It was warm and they made friends and enjoyed the water and snacks. We caught some jelly fish, Brother caught one with his leg and cried.

We will be back. It was very fun!!!

quick update

we get our Internet on Saturday!! Yeah! and cable and phone line!!

meanwhile I am at the library, where we got cards first thing but I only have a minute, plus it feels weird to do this in public.

Anyway,
Maryland is lovely. Buggy, humid, tons of trees, The people are super friendly and the ward is nice. It's not Texas...but we will learn to like it.

last night we went to a free concert. It was a Celtic trio and we loved it. The kids all liked the music and it was nice to get out and do something.

The other night for our date Beloved and I went to the town pier and watched people catch crabs. It's on our list of things to do soon. Maybe even next week. I need to get some equipment.

We have been unpacking like crazy and making good progress. I am ignoring the fact that the garage is a mess and seeing only that they house is almost done!

We were invited to dinner on Monday evening and got along great with the Martines. Today Brother and H are over there playing. I am happy to have friends already. Hopefully we will be good friends . I think everyone will settle in...well I am not sure about Sierra. It is very remote here and the singles ward is 2 hours away and the institute is an hour away and everyone leaves for BYU or SVU for the fall. I want her to be happy, to make some good choices for her future, she is praying and thinking what to do...that's all I can ask. I am praying for her too. I love having her home but if I were her I'd be anxious to leave and I think she might be as well.

We have a new pet, a guinea pig. His name is Tommy and the poor creature is loved to death.

We had our first visit to the ER. Last weekend H was complaining about some pain and Lu was crying about her ear and we don't have a doctor and they don't have an urgent care so off to the ER for none emergency care we went. H had a UTI. Lu had a sponge stuck in her ear that had to be extracted and resulted in an outer ear infection. I have no idea how that happened. The doctor was very kind.

I like crab ravioli but soft shell on a sandwich is not my favorite.

I guess that's it, unpack unpack unpack is all we do. I am excited for school to start so the little urchins will have something to do. We have had fighting a plenty~ moving stress I am sure.

view from our bathroom window

ohio

Great Grandpa Thacker, Abba, Beloved, Cousin Michael and Brother

Millie arrived today. She is a little confused but seemed happy to see us. She ran straight to J's room and pooped. I guess the new house is broken in now.

All our stuff is here. Nana, mostly with a small amount of help from me, unpacked the whole kitchen. Now we have the colossal job of unpacking the rest of the stuff. Our house is bigger than our TX home but the storage is different and we have less garage and attic space. It will work out. We have a debris pick up in 30 days and I hope to send all the boxes off and some of them full of stuff we don't need.

J and Em left this morning. They will be in TX for a few days and then in CA for a week or so. They are looking forward to surfing, and going to a dance this weekend. I think they had fun travelling across the country together, well the last two days weren't so fun but the rest was.

I got tickets for Lu and I to fly to Utah when Tatum is born. I am excited! Then they are coming here in Oct!!! Yeah!!!!!

Right now the kids and Beloved are splashing in the hotel pool. We are checking out in a hour or so and I will be without Internet until some unknown, but hopefully not too far off, time when we have it at our home. I will have to spend that time thinking of a new name since I am not TxMommy any more. I am not MdMommy...who am I? This place feels strange almost like a different country. We are on to a new chapter.

shell beach

The truck came today with half our stuff. We spent most of the day dealing with that. Luckily Nana and Abba have been here with us and were able to keep the littles. Such a huge help!

When they were done we decided to do something fun so we went to shell beach. We didn't realize that it was a 4 mile round trip hike from the parking lot, but it was really fun and pretty and we saw a snake and deer and squirrels and got lots of shells.

Now we're off for more crab!

we're here

after many weeks on the road, and many miles, and many rest stop breaks we have arrived. Today we closed on our house and tomorrow our stuff arrives. It is green and lovely here. Hopefully everyone will settle in nicely and it will start to feel like home.

Tonight we had the best dinner: cream of crab soup, crap stuffed mushrooms, and lbs of crab legs!! Yumm!!

Harry Potter

Today we went to see Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. I liked it. Can't wait for the last movie.

We went to Olive Garden for dinner.

Tonight Abba and Beloved and H went to a Dragons game. The rest of us came home and made hair flowers.

It was a good day. We relaxed and had fun spending time together.

Hannibal MO. We drove down to have lunch with Uncle Brian.

Saw Mark Twain's boyhood home, as well as some other Twainian sites.

Home made root beer! Yumm!!!

After that we drove back through Illinois, Indiana and finally Ohio.

One more day of driving to go, after a few days of playing here.

Nauvoo day 2

In the afternoon we went back to Nauvoo and saw some more of the city. Really we could have spent a week, there were many things we didn't get to. We just decided to see what we could and enjoy it.

The kids all loved pioneer past times.

In the evening we enjoyed the pageant and the festivities so much. We played games and danced and had a pioneering good time! I can't believe how well done the whole thing was and how much fun we all had.

The kids cut wood, stick pulled, walked on stilts, played stick ball and tug of war and many other fun things.

The pageant was extraordinary. I would love to come back every year. I am so grateful for the rest0red gospel and the sacrifices of the pioneers who paved the way and suffered great adversity so that we could enjoy the fullness of the gospel and the freedoms of worshiping the Lord. I know that Joseph Smith was a prophet, that the Book of Mormon is true, that families can be together forever and that we are lead by a Prophet today. I look forward to the second coming of the Savior and living with my Heavenly Father again.

Tonight I am grateful for the wonderful time we have had learning more and experiencing more and spending time together.

Carthage

This morning Beloved and I went to the temple. Emma and J watched the littles and took them to breakfast. It was by far my favorite temple. It is so beautiful. We enjoyed our morning very much.

After we got the kids and went to Carthage. It was a solemn tour. The jail is small and seeing the bullet holes and the spot where Joseph and Hyrum died was moving.

Nauvoo

Our hotel is right up the road from the temple. We walked down after breakfast and enjoyed looking at how beautiful it is.

After that we hiked down the hill to the old city and mapped out our plan for the day.

We got to go on a wagon ride through the city. Lucy loved this part.

We saw a play, watched some bagpipers, visited some of the buildings, made rope, walked and walked and walked.

They have an amazing sculpture exhibit in the visitors center. This one was my favorite.

The weather was over cast and cool with rain on and off but it was still a very fun day.

We ended the day with a nice dinner and swim. Tomorrow we'll go to the pageant and to Carthage. It was a lot of walking and everyone loved it.

made it!

Iowa was lovely, green and quaint.

The great Mississippi river greeted us at dark and we crossed into Illinois and got to our hotel. This is our room. Four bunk beds! only in a Mormon town :) The kids are super excited and hopped on the top bunks ready to throw pillows and laugh loudly go to sleep.

Winter Quarters

On our way out of Nebraska we stopped at Winter Quarters. We only had a couple hours to spend but it was really nice. The temple was beautiful.

Next door to the temple is the pioneer cemetery. We walked through it and looked for the names and resting spots of those heroic pioneers.

The visitors center was neat and we had a fun tour and learned many things.

The kids enjoyed the hands on activities.

Here we are "sleeping" on what would have been our family's berth for the voyage across the ocean. What tremendous sacrifices our pioneer forefathers made to bring the gospel back to the earth in it's fullness. I am so grateful to them and I am grateful for this chance to trace their steps and learn about them with my children, to have gospel conversations, to share what is most important to me in a real and tangible way.

driving

Utah ~ Check
Wyoming~ Check
Nebraska~ Check
Kid throwing up~ Check
Long LONG day in the car~ Check

Three days of driving done, three to go, thank goodness they are not all in a row!

this picture may look like we are having fun, and we were but it's really just a lovely rest stop in Wyoming where we took a short break. Wyoming is a beautiful state.

dinner with friends

Today is our last day in Utah :( We have had such a wonderful time. It's been relaxing and pleasant and great to see everyone.

Tonight we went to our good friends the Butterfield's for dinner. Also the Howards were able to come. We were all great friends in Texas and they have both moved here since. Holly and Emma and Dani and Greg were able to join us as well and it was so fun to be together again.

Hanging out in the hammock.

eating yummy dessert in fruit cups. You can't tell in the picture but the coconut sorbet came in a coconut shell, the pineapple in a hollowed out pineapple, orange in an orange, etc.

Our family. We haven't all been together since D&G's wedding so we had to take a quick picture.

Lucy loved Chester and played with him for a long time. She fed him carrots and it was all fun until Chester peed on Beloved.

moon flower

we had dinner with our friends tonight and their neighbor has a moon flower. It only blooms at dusk in the summer and it takes about 30 seconds to open up. In the morning its dead. He called us over to watch and our whole group of 25ish people went over. It was pretty neat and worth the wait.

EFY

C.O.W.

company

friends

fun

MaryKay

J and M had a Mary Kay party today. They invited a bunch of their friends and their mom's over and the girls had so much fun doing make up. Julie, the MK consultant, did a cute job with them.

After we went to 7 Peaks. Beloved got to come with us and enjoy the fun of the park and the hot sun. We all came home a little toasty.

In the evening we had a BBQ. Dani and Greg came over and we played charades and MSV made me laugh my head off, as usual. She is so funny!

Temple Square

Today I took Ange to the airport in the morning. We got to pick Beloved up in the afternoon so rather than drive back and forth we spent the time between at temple square. We toured the conference center, which was fun. The kids were impressed with the roof garden. We got to see beautiful paintings and the huge center. Then we walked over to the administration building and rode up to the 26th floor for a great view of the valley.

After that we went to the Lion House for lunch and ended with a tour of the Beehive house. It was a fun day. The kids were so well behaved and enjoyed the whole thing.

They were excited to go pick up their dad too! and after we got him we went to BYU to buy some propaganda for future attendance~ tee shirts, hats and balls with BYU on them.

Tonight the kids are staying at Val's and we are having a get away!

We also got to meet Dani and Greg for dinner.

Our time here has been going so fast. Each day I have had such a nice time with my family and have been so grateful for them. It's been a real live in the moment kind of time where I have nothing to worry about, no mail to open, no house to clean, just the kids and my sisters and nieces and nephews and people I love. It's been wonderful. We are all in good health, the weather is lovely, we're enjoying wonderful church sites and cousins laughing together. Yesterday morning I woke up and went to the "library" I heard laughing in the bedroom next to it. The girls room had the girls in it and T had come in and they were laying down on pillows and blankets and just talking and telling jokes. I was struck by the perfectness of the moment and how glad I am that they can be together.