I saw this on Holly and Trish's blogs and I had to do it, because I have nothing else to do (Ha!). They were chocolate and vanilla, so I was wondering how many different flavors there are? What are you?

So my format is kind of shot on these, since we were at Lake Powell when Tessa turned 8 months, and I don't have my printer set up now to make the signs for her turning 9 months. But format or no, Tessa is 9 months. Her first tooth has finally cut through (just barely) and she is dangerously close to walking. Here are a few of her favorite things:
Food: paper (shopping lists don't stand a chance)
Place to sleep: the high chair (harder to keep moving there). (Hard floors work well in a pinch).
Least favorite place to sleep: her crib
Favorite new nickname: "all-terrain Tessa" (She 4-wheel crawls over anyone and anything in the way of her objective)
Pasttimes: housekeeping inspections (she will find any spec of anything left on the floor), taste testing (all of those things immediately go to her mouth), bouncing, dancing, mooching for food (anything that big people are eating), flirting
New tricks: waving "hi," saying "mumm, and dad."
Current objective: To press the pretty blue button on Mom's computer (and ruin all of her work).
She really is a happy, friendly baby, and is so much fun, when she isn't eating choking hazzards, and now that she is over her ear infection/pink eye/diahrrea/virus/teething/diaper rash/etc. that was going on during the move and Utah trip.

At times, it is painstakingly slow, but I really feel like we are making some good progress. (Here is a shot of our white board to do list).
I still have this to greet me each morning, but I also have this...
For those who voted, you can see that we went with the black appliances to match the cooktop and sink (and because we found great deals on them). The fridge is the smooth front, so I still have to deal with the fingerprint issues, a bit, but so far I am loving it!
Just incase you think I stole these beautiful pictures from a magazine :-), I am including a shot with Tessa in the high chair, and the messy corner, I haven't really gotten too, yet.

So I am feeling encouraged and optomistic. It also helps that the children are well again, and Tessa is actually taking a real nap at the moment!

In other news, we have a washer and dryer! And have ordered the replacement interior doorknobs. I believe with enough persistance and determination, you can find anything you need on craigslist. And if you can't get it there, you can use a combination of ebay and amazon to get what you need (door knobs). I will post pictures when we get those in place.

As for our other home, I am expecting between 1-3 applications to be turned in today. It is my goal to have someone living there by Aug. 1, and I have every reason to believe that that will happen.

So as the big fires are being put out, I am feeling like I can take a deep breath and spend a few minutes each day doing stuff like, catching up my blog, commenting on my friends blogs (I still love you all!), reading to my children, thinking about the fact that school is going to start in no time, and thinking about parties/events that are coming up. I have also decided to offer voice lesson and master classes this fall through Johnson Peforming Arts Studio. Hopefully, I can get my music room ready in time!

Back from Utah, back from family reunions (and tons of fishing for Barry), back amongst the civilized world that has internet service (as of Monday after a couple of nasty phone calls to provider. But what is up with our telephone? It has been out most of today!), and back in the blogosphere...a bit.

Life has been so full of tremendous blessings and tremendous challenges over the last little while and we aren't to the end of the ride yet. I don't think I've cried tears of gratitude and tears of desperation with in such a close period of time before. The basic update is that we made the move! Yea! We wouldn't have made it if I hadn't sent out a desperate email for help the night before the movers came. Tessa had been sick all week (I finally got her in to the doctor on Monday and she needed all kinds of antibiotics, etc.), and I just couldn't get it all done. Thankfully, we have so many wonderful people in our ward who check email, who pitched in and got us moved.

Some highs:
We are LOVING our new home!
People are continuing to bless us with service!
We are recognizing the Lord's hand in our lives more powerfully.
Kids are having to use their imagination since no TV or computers are connected yet.

Some lows:
We are exhausted!!!
Tessa's sickness meant no sleeping (she is doing much better).
Barry's Dad had surgery the same week, and we couldn't help each other at all.
It looks like our renter is backing out last minute.
We won't have phone or internet for a couple of weeks!!!

We are going to go to Utah for family reunions, even though we can think of about 100 reasons not to go. Hopefully I can catch up on blogging, when we get back, get our internet, and get a new renter. I still have pictures from Memorial Day, not to mention Lake Powell, the move, and all the stuff from Utah.

I'm pretty sure when all the dust settles from this move, we will know it was all worth it! Thanks for your prayers and support.