More West Fest pictures

I'm still getting used to blogging. I should have done this entry before I posted the last one. These are the rest of the pictures from west fest (see the previous entry). This is Ryan on the carousel.
Here is Emily and her daddy on the carousel. She was too afraid to ride by herself.
Julia.
Emily loved this little Duck and Boat ride!
Julia decided since Emily loved it so much she better try it too, and any ride is better with a friend!

West Fest.

We went as a family to annual carnival in the city we lived in. I think it was June of 2006. It was the first time we took our kids to a city carnival and they had a great time. The rode the rides, got treats and saw lots of funny things. We were only there for about two hours. But they packed a lot of fun into a short period of time. Here are Ryan and Julia (the waving kids) on their favorite ride, the dragon roller coaster. And just so ya'll don't get worried, we have no idea who the little boy in the front seat is, I couldn't cut him out of the picture from the angle I had.

Hello Texas!

This is our new house in TX--complete with community swimming pool! The elementary school is right across the street to the right of the house. My kids were so excited to walk theirselves to school. But they haven't gotten brave enough to actually walk alone yet. I would feel a little bit annoyed, but the weather is so nice, the air is so fresh, my two youngest relish the walks back and forth (with a first grader and a kindergartener we make three trips back and forth during the course of the day), and I love that time of every day when we are usually all relaxed and happy and talk about a lot of things.

Goodbye Utah :(

This was my favorite part of our house in UT. The bay window with the flower garden in front. If I wasn't cooking, cleaning, doing laundry, or chasing after kids, I was sitting in our living room, basking in the sunlight from the window. The house was built in 1986, and was getting to the point where everything was needing to be fixed. It had belonged to my Uncle and his wife before us. We loved the house and were sorry to leave it, and our good neighboors across the street, The Porters, behind.

We really need to get another picture taken of our family. This photo was taken in November of 2005 to go out with Christmas cards. My husband, Scott, our son, Ryan, and I are in the back row. In the front row are our daughters, Emily and Julia, and our other son Benjamin.

Moving

We moved from the Salt Lake City, UT area to the Ft. Worth, TX area in August of 2006. It was quite a culture and a climate shock for us. But we love it here. We love the slower pace of life. People seem more able to take some time to enjoy the good things in life. We love the clean and fresh air. But most of all we love that whatever Texans do, they do with gusto!