WARNING this is a very long post.
JULY 2010 was a busy month. I thought I would document all that happened.
July 1st- I offically became a landlord. I moved out of my house on June 28th and turned over the keys to my little home on June 30th. I then immediately had to replace the refrigerator :) (it had been working on breaking down for a while...I am glad it waited until I actually was a landlord because then it became a tax write off :)) With the tenant in, and new fridge in place. I gave my house one last hug, told it to be good then worked on wrapping up my last week at work.
July 7th- was my last day of work! Good-bye Girl Scouts!
July 11th was birthday time. We have a plethora of birthdays in July in our family. We had my cousin Adam come down (birthday July 5th) his wife Jaci, and two adorable kids Grant and Grace (who also have July Birthdays) to come celebrate Kelley's birthday which actually was July 11th. It was a fun super July birthday party.
Mckay flew in from China on the 20th and I picked him up from the airport. I took him home let him do some laundry, shower and kind of unpack. I then put him in the car and we started our trip across the country. (He was exhausted by that point having been traveling for over 24hrs (he had a 12 hr layover in L.A.) He slept until Kentucky...where we ran into freeway stopping traffic (we only moved 1/2 a mile in 2 hours) a flood (where I almost killed my car engine...really don't drive through standing water it is deeper that it looks....really) a period of wandering aimlessly and arguing with the GPS....my road sign reading abilities trumped the GPS in this case, and a super huge storm. After taking Mckay through all of that excitement I figured he was awake enough to drive us through St. Louis. So somewhere in Illinois I turned over the car to him and tried to sleep, trying to not think about the fact that Mckay had not driven a car for over 2 years.
We entered Utah the morning of the 23rd which I personally felt was a great way to celebrate the 24th of July. The next two weeks were spent at Ann's house (who was an amazingly gracious host considering she had just had her 3rd child, how many people would invite 5 extra people into your home the week you also have a baby...Thanks Ann!) We had tons of fun with everyone. We kept Thomas and Hailey busy so Ann and Miles could sleep (Hailey really likes Miles) And Dad and James, and Mckay worked on the basement so the next time we all come it won't be such a tight squeeze, although it didn't ever feel too crowded.
After the beach Mckay, Kelley and I took Thomas and Hailey camping. It was tons of fun. We even went on a hike...which was quite an experience with a 4 and 3 year old.
Other fun things we did....Lagoon, Roy Water park, Museums, playing house with Hailey, and Star Wars with Thomas, and just holding and enjoying Sweet Miles (I might pull a Rebecca Steadman here and start referring to Miles in that way) It was a fun trip and we all cried when Dad, Mom and Kelley went to the airport. But luckily the weather man decided we could extend the trip one more day...their flight was canceled because of thunderstorms, and they were rebooked on a flight for the next day, so we went back to the airport, picked them up, and had one more day together...so we went bike riding at a beautiful park a couple of miles from Ann's house.
It was the perfect end to a perfect trip. After we took everyone to the Airport again Mckay and I packed our things and moved down to Provo. (Mckay is hanging out down here until my roommate moves in, then he will drive his car (which was in Utah) back to NC.
JULY 2010 was a busy month. I thought I would document all that happened.
July 1st- I offically became a landlord. I moved out of my house on June 28th and turned over the keys to my little home on June 30th. I then immediately had to replace the refrigerator :) (it had been working on breaking down for a while...I am glad it waited until I actually was a landlord because then it became a tax write off :)) With the tenant in, and new fridge in place. I gave my house one last hug, told it to be good then worked on wrapping up my last week at work.
July 7th- was my last day of work! Good-bye Girl Scouts!
July 11th was birthday time. We have a plethora of birthdays in July in our family. We had my cousin Adam come down (birthday July 5th) his wife Jaci, and two adorable kids Grant and Grace (who also have July Birthdays) to come celebrate Kelley's birthday which actually was July 11th. It was a fun super July birthday party.
July 11th-17th was my last week in NC. I spent it painfully trying to separate myself from all of my stuff. I had decided to only move what will fit in my Honda Civic. It was hard work deciding what I would take with me and what I would store in my parents attic for the next two years...needless to say there was a lot of unpacking and repacking that Honda. But I finally got the most important stuff in...although I am still longing for some of my pictures that were left behind. Here was the end result. (I wish I took a picture of the inside of the car...it was a masterpiece)
Mckay flew in from China on the 20th and I picked him up from the airport. I took him home let him do some laundry, shower and kind of unpack. I then put him in the car and we started our trip across the country. (He was exhausted by that point having been traveling for over 24hrs (he had a 12 hr layover in L.A.) He slept until Kentucky...where we ran into freeway stopping traffic (we only moved 1/2 a mile in 2 hours) a flood (where I almost killed my car engine...really don't drive through standing water it is deeper that it looks....really) a period of wandering aimlessly and arguing with the GPS....my road sign reading abilities trumped the GPS in this case, and a super huge storm. After taking Mckay through all of that excitement I figured he was awake enough to drive us through St. Louis. So somewhere in Illinois I turned over the car to him and tried to sleep, trying to not think about the fact that Mckay had not driven a car for over 2 years.
Apparently driving is something you never forget. Mckay took us through Missouri. And we ended in Kansas City where we stopped and visited some friend of his from Xinjiang. After that visit we took a small detour to Winfield, Kansas to see the McClures.
This is Anika and Nikita Jumping for joy. It was a great visit. I loved seeing how the kids have grown into wonderful people. Scott and Shelley are truly amazing parents. I wish the visit could have been longer, but we had to get to Utah because the most important Birthday in July (for this year at least) had happened and we had to get to a baby blessing on the 24th.
Here is Miles McKay Bradley
We entered Utah the morning of the 23rd which I personally felt was a great way to celebrate the 24th of July. The next two weeks were spent at Ann's house (who was an amazingly gracious host considering she had just had her 3rd child, how many people would invite 5 extra people into your home the week you also have a baby...Thanks Ann!) We had tons of fun with everyone. We kept Thomas and Hailey busy so Ann and Miles could sleep (Hailey really likes Miles) And Dad and James, and Mckay worked on the basement so the next time we all come it won't be such a tight squeeze, although it didn't ever feel too crowded.Here are some picture of what we did:
We went to a lake in Huntsville, UT It was even better that the beach because there was shade and no salt, although I did miss the waves.
but I would take the view over the beach any day (I guess I really am a Utah girl at heart)
Kelley and I even built a sandcastle. (I started it then Kelley really went to work )
After the beach Mckay, Kelley and I took Thomas and Hailey camping. It was tons of fun. We even went on a hike...which was quite an experience with a 4 and 3 year old.
Other fun things we did....Lagoon, Roy Water park, Museums, playing house with Hailey, and Star Wars with Thomas, and just holding and enjoying Sweet Miles (I might pull a Rebecca Steadman here and start referring to Miles in that way) It was a fun trip and we all cried when Dad, Mom and Kelley went to the airport. But luckily the weather man decided we could extend the trip one more day...their flight was canceled because of thunderstorms, and they were rebooked on a flight for the next day, so we went back to the airport, picked them up, and had one more day together...so we went bike riding at a beautiful park a couple of miles from Ann's house.
It was the perfect end to a perfect trip. After we took everyone to the Airport again Mckay and I packed our things and moved down to Provo. (Mckay is hanging out down here until my roommate moves in, then he will drive his car (which was in Utah) back to NC.I will talk about my new life in Provo in the next post. Because I feel this post is super long already.
How am I doing as a blogger? I had no idea how easy it can be.
I love it. Great summary of a great trip. And Ann was amazing, as was James, to put up with all of us - and act like they were enjoying it.
ReplyDeleteYay! Congrats on becoming a blogger!
ReplyDeleteCan't wait to see more!
ReplyDeleteBig changes! I'm enjoying the details. More, please.
ReplyDelete