O reports on her day in Nursery

Well, O still does not want to go to Nursery. Today, after Sacrament she was sobbing all the way down the hallway "I no wanna go to nusry, I no wanna....I no wanna". When we walked in she grabbed the door, and I had to pry her fingers off. But she eventually did alright and was all smiles when we picked her up. Here is her report: -

Our third week in Cedar City

YIPPEE!! - We're going to St. George.


We still know very few people here and consider ourselves a bit isolated out in the country. So, when Steve came home a little early on Thursday and suggested we go to St. George - we were ecstatics - ...we were going to join civilization again!!

We went to Olive Garden (our favorite restaurant) and went to see the new Narnia movie. Michael said, as we were walking out of the movie theater, that he felt like we were back in Riverton again. Life sort of felt normal again for a few hours. Oh well, we really do like it here - it is just different and new.


Since we no longer visit grandma's house on Sunday, the kids are having to find other ways to stay entertained. Here is a small tea party in progress.






Steve's old uniform being put to good use ....


Steve and I both gave talks in our new ward today and K played a musical number on her violin.

Steve's Progress

Steve would have already been done with his Private license if it were not for the weather. He has to complete two solo 'cross country' flights before he gets his license. He started his solo cross country flight to Mesquite, NE. on Friday, but due to terrible weather conditions he had to turn back when he got to St. George.





This is Steve flying over Lake Powell






Bryce Canyon - he really enjoyed these flights, but admitted he was nervous that there was no road nearby in case of an emergency landing.

Hurra for 17 Mai (May)

Since there was no 17th of May Celebrations here, the girls wanted to wear their Norwegian national dress to church on Sunday. 17th of May, is Norway's independence day. We usually attend a celebration held in Salt Lake - but I have yet to run into another Nordsman here in Cedar City.

M was a little too shy about wearing his costume. But here is an older picture of him in his.




These were taken about 2 years ago.

Flying over Zion's National Park

Steve took the camera on Saturday.


He came back with some great pictures.





Here is Cedar Breaks.





This is over the north-west part of Zion's.









This is Kolob Canyon, also known as Kolob's Fingers






Not to worry, some of these pictures his flight instructor took while Steve was doing the flying. Here is some footage of Steve landing, then taking off again.

FIRST SOLO FLIGHT

Steve had his first solo flight today. I was a little nervous but he was not at all, saying "I'm actually quite comfortable with it". He did great though --- no need to worry.

He did three take-offs and landings, and some maneuvers over the airport itself. The kids and I were able to go out on the tarmac and watch all of this.





Waving to the kids standing just a few feet from the airplane. O was jumping up and down shouting "I scared! I scared!" as soon as the engine started.

Our lazy Sunday afternoon

Before I get to the lazy Sunday part - thought I would post a picture of our Flyboy. Unbelievably, he is preparing for his first Solo flight next week - scary! Here he comes out after making a bumpy landing. Whenever he flies over the house, he flies real low, so the kids know it's him.






Here are the results of a lazy Sunday afternoon. While Steve and O take their usual Sunday nap, all sorts of 'goofy' is happening downstairs!









Don't we looks so cute - if you look closely, you can detect the traces of strawberry Sunny - D on the kids' face.

































This is right after our trip to St. George on Friday. It was 88 Degrees! Naturally, we stopped for some ice-cream - the remainder still visible on O's face. She continues to be as clingy as ever.

















As I am preparing this post, K is asking me to write: "Please call me! I am bored out of my mind!". So, there you have it. Anybody out there, please call K.


This is how we knew it was nap time:-

C City

We're here! Steve started school today, from 7 am - 5 pm, with almost 4 hours of that time flying. He came back a little queasy, saying that it was hard to see all the motion change around him, keep his eyes on the instruments and not get motion sick. At one point he got so caught up watching the instruments, landmarks, and making his maneuvers, that he forgot all about maintaining his air speed. His instructor nervously reminded him of this as they were dropping altitude.




Too young to fly, but she's ready for take off!





Since we are in a very new sub-division, there are many vacant lots and houses. We have very few neighbors, and have not seen any other kids on the street yet. But, they are happy to get their summer toys out.























M and K having Jeep trouble.














O is my perpetual helper, where ever I am.
She has been sick for the past 4 days with some congestion and fever. This has made her cling to me even more. Here she is feeling a little better, trying to show me what a good helper she is in the kitchen.





I got the kids signed up for swimming lessons today, which will start Monday. They are very excited for that. M gets to try out for a soccer team Wednesday - hopefully all will go well. The team is one player short for the Utah Summer Games (which are held right here in Cedar). And while we were out and about today, we visited the new Cedar City library. I was very impressed! The kids got their own library cards and were able to check out some books. There are definitely lots for us to do and see here. We have found many beautiful parks and the drive up the canyons is never far. Tomorrow we head to St. George for a much needed Costco trip.

The down side so far: ...there's only Walmart to shop from, and the radio plays only country. (I like country music - in moderation).

We wake up to beautiful morning views of the mountains. It is amazing how clear the air is. Last night we had a pretty rough rain storm. This morning when we got up, the air smelled like lavender and the fields were a moss green as the sun climbed up over the mountains.

A BIG thanks to Grandma (Price) for driving down to C City with us. With just the three of us to unload and unpack that big truck, I am amazed she was still able to drive back 2 days later. Congratulations to Danielle, who went through her graduation ceremony from SUU on Saturday. The kids were very happy to see Uncle Kyle and Aunt Danielle again so soon. Her parents treated us all to ice-cream after. Thanks!

The packing and the goodbye's

We've been here a week already! It has been an incredible 2 weeks packing up, and saying goodbye.
We enjoyed a nice family get-together at Kyle and Danielle's new apartment - it was the first nice weather we had enjoyed in a long time. The kids celebrated by putting on a nice show for us - mainly cousin E and E (they were born for show biz).



The older kids stayed inside playing games. For us, it was the end of a long tradition (at least for now) of going to "Grandma and Granpa's" (Steve's parent's) on Sunday's.















Then there were several other goodbye's from friends, neighbors , and more family. The night before our move, the girls got to spend the night with the Escobar cousins. Sonja even pulled her kids out of school so they could play longer.

Sonja making ice-cream shakes


None of the cousins were very happy about parting ways.
















While the girls spent the day with cousins, M spent the day playing with two of his best buddies - together they are known as the troublesome three.














A Very Big Thank You to everyone for their great help! The dinners, taking the kids, packing, cleaning, and the biggest one ...loading the very HUGE moving truck. We really missed this help when we arrived in C City... tired and lonely. With just Steve, Steve's mom, and me to unload and unpack - it was back-breaking!











M sweeping up his old room.