Phoenix

Hello from sunny Phoenix! Since we moved in, we've enjoyed such nice weather, I can't complain one bit! It's really nice- we like our neighborhood, and our ward is incredible! They've been kind and reached out to us from the day we moved in. The elders quorum, and I think a few of the young men in the ward literally unpacked our entire 26 foot truck in an hour and a half!! We're mostly settled, just a few boxes that we still don't know what to do with. I really like our house-- I LOVE the kitchen!! I've never had so much space in a kitchen, and it's proved very valuable! I've also never before had the luxury of a Master bathroom. I'm definitely loving that! All the bedrooms are upstairs, along with the "office" which is really just the open loft at the top of the stairs. Hopefully the pictures below will do it justice.

Ben and Claire have finally adjusted. They've had a rough go, not understanding the distance between Phoenix and Salt Lake, or why we had to move. We took a trip back to Utah a couple of weeks ago for James and Janelle's wedding (Josh's younger brother). When we got into Utah County, Ben realized that there was snow on the mountains. "Mom, how can that be? There's no SNOW in PHOENIX." After which I explained that we weren't in Phoenix anymore (we'd been driving all day, so how could we have been?). Claire still sometimes asks to go home, but that gets asked a lot less frequently now. Ben and Claire really make me laugh with all the funny things that they say- every day brings a new bout of laughter to our home. Ben has begun the 50 questions about every little thing lately, which I'm extending my patience as much as possible with. It's good he's curious! He's beginning to do very well in Pre-school, and apparently HATES soccer. We will definitely NOT be enrolling him in soccer come fall. Claire's speech has improved so much that I can't believe it- every day she surprises me with the things she says, and even questions she asks! She's really excited to go to school (too bad she's still got 3 more years, hey?), and we're planning to enroll her soon in a dance or gymnastics class, to take advantage of her energy, agility, and flexibility. Both of our children amaze us every day, and we love them so much!

I don't have too much more to say. I'm really glad to have our family all together again. March was a tough month with Josh in Phoenix, and me, Ben and Claire still in Salt Lake. We've been very blessed, and are feeling very grateful right now for the support we've received through this huge change! We definitely couldn't have settled in so quickly without the help of our family- Thank you all, and we love you so much!!