EAGLECREEK DRIVE

Jeff & I spent this last weekend in Peoria house hunting and we think we found our dream home. :) It's in a nice neighborhood, a good school district and it is brand NEW. We are so excited to not have any fix-up projects to do! Each of the kids will have their own room and we will have a finished basement with an extra bedroom and full bath -- plenty of room for anyone that wants to visit.....and we are hoping to have visitors!!

The yard is definitely smaller than what we have now, but there will be plenty of room for the kids' big-toy (we're taking ours with us) and we should still have lots of room for running around and kicking balls.

We think it will be the perfect place to call home!

IT'S BIGGER! IT'S BETTER! IT'S SPRING BABY!

That was the theme at The Puyallup Spring Fair this year. We spent the day there today riding rides, looking at animals and just doing Fair stuff.

Rena got her face painted with a beautiful purple butterfly. No one else wanted to have theirs done. Maleah got up in the chair, but then decided she didn't want to do it. Cameron wouldn't even consider having his done.

Maleah made a hat with antlers in the kidzone building.

Maleah and Cameron loved the Merry-go-round. Rena HATED it!

Maleah loved the helicopter ride. Rena HATED it!

Maleah and Cameron loved the slide. Rena HATED it!

Finally something Rena loved.........the trucks! They went slow and stayed on the ground -- perfect for Rena!

And last, but not least, Cameron took his first ride on a "big" ride. He and Jeff rode the Ferris Wheel and Cameron loved it! (That's Jeff and Cameron in the lowest yellow car.)

CAMERON'S VOLCANO

Cameron was the big winner of the raffle at preschool today. The prize was the volcano that the kids had made in class! He was pretty excited and could not wait to show us what can happen to volcano's.

Here's the dormant volcano......
OH NO -- it's becoming active.....And finally it's the big eruption.....

HOUSE FOR SALE

We finally got the house listed late last week! It took a lot of work to finish up some of the projects that we had started, to start some new projects in rooms that needed updating and to just get things organized and cleaned up. BUT, we luckily had a lot of help -- Stacy, Mike, Megan and Alex spent many hours here helping to paint and clean and our good friends Jill & Leif spent many hours watching our kids so that we could paint and clean.

We had a lot of interest in the house over the weekend. Now we just have to sit back and wait for the right person to come along!

A BEAUTIFUL DAY AT THE ZOO

We had some sunny, warm weather yesterday so the kids and I decided to spend the day at the zoo......along with everyone else in Seattle who was on Spring Break and wanted to do something outside! It was a little busy, but we still had a great day!

The Jaguar was a bit hit -- he was right up at the glass and the kids loved following him around (until he decided it was nap time)!

Rena climbed every statue that we passed.

Time for our picnic lunch in the warm sun!

Cameron was our "leader" and took his job very seriously. He never let go of that map!

Maleah spent most of the day in the wagon. Well, actually it was more like - in, out, in, out, in, out -- atleast I knew where she was whenever Cameron had us on the move to find the next animal!

TIME TO GO HOME!

PEORIA, HERE WE COME!

We are moving to Peoria, Illinois!!

Jeff was recently offered a job with Caterpillar, Inc. in their main office in Peoria, Illinois and we have accepted the position and are getting ready to move cross country. It was a hard decision to make -- leaving our family and friends and starting over where we don't know anyone, but in the end we decided it was a good career move for Jeff and a great opportunity for the whole family.

Jeff and I were able to go to Peoria a couple of weekends ago and look around Peoria and some of the neighboring cities. We saw a lot of nice neighborhoods, houses and communities and are confident that we will find somewhere that we will be able to call home!

My biggest sadness with the move is the family and friends that we are leaving behind. My sister and her family and Jeff's dad and step mom are such a big part of our lives that it makes it hard to go so far away. Luckily, it is just a short plane ride away and Stacy has already promised me a summer visit (and maybe even Christmas) that I'm trying to look on the bright side of this negative.

We have also met some wonderful friends since we have been here in Issaquah. We have enjoyed spending time with all of them and have enjoyed watching our kids grow from babies to toddlers together. There are many days where I would not have survived my "stay-at-home mom" days without these other moms! I will miss being a part of their daily lives as the kids continue to grow, but hope that we will continue to be involved through phone and e-mail.......(and maybe even a visit from them to Peoria!)!

On the positive side of family -- we will be only about 2 hours away from my Aunt Peggy and my cousins Tami and Kari and her family. We are definitely looking forward to seeing them more often.

As of right now we do not have a definite "move" date. Everything depends on when our house here sells. We just wanted to share our big news with all of our friends and family.

We feel very blessed to have such wonderful people in our lives and we hope that everyone will stay in touch with us after we are settled in Illinois!