Well we made it to West Virginia

It has been a crazy couple of months.  At Christmas we found out we were expecting baby number 4, but we were moving so that had to be expected.  I had a good couple months of all day sickness, which thankfully has gone away the last week or so.  We find out what we are having the end of the month.

We had a long (too long) time to prepare to move and it seemed like we were just hurrying up to wait until the last week came. Then things got crazy.

Before we got too busy though we had time for wrestling.

A trip to the Baton Rouge Zoo with the Aucoins on the first nice day in the months of rain we got.

A field trip to learn how to make King Cake.

A Mardi Gras parade in Metarie with some members of our ward.  It was an amusement park theme and Knottsberry Farm to Universal Studios to Sesame Street were represented.

Good photo bomb by Karli

And a preschool Valentine's Day party

Karli and Blake, being saints, kept the boys and Kyle and I spent an evening in New Orleans experiencing Mardi Gras.  The parade we saw was hours long.  We wandered down Bourbon street and didn't get flashed and had dinner at a really nice restaurant.  The parade we intended to see started late and we just saw the first few floats.  It was a lot of fun.  I would definitely go again.  The energy there is something you have to experience.  We also had a game night and dinners with friends before we left.

Then the move started.  The moving guys were great.  I thought the trampoline packing was pretty funny. They had everything packed and loaded and ready to go.  The car mover backed our cars down the street like this because he left without having me sign paperwork.  The car guys weren't so great.  The weekend before the move started out nuts.  I ended up in the ER because my uterus was blocking my ability to pee.  It is very uncommon--like hear about it in med school but never see it in practice uncommon.  I thought I was going to have to move and fly with a catheter, but was able to get it out after a couple days, then having another one, then getting it out, and have been ok since.  We went to breakfast for one last outing with the Johnsons.  I miss Karli so much.  She has been an amazing friend and blessing in my life.  We hopped on the plane on the 21st and headed this way. Our cars beat us to Charleston and the car movers wanted us to have a stranger get them for us so it didn't cost more money--that didn't happen since they shouldn't have been here yet anyway.  We got them delivered the next day and it was nice to have our vehicles back.  The house we are renting was a disaster when we first saw it.  They were still painting, putting up trim, moving out their stuff, etc.  The upstairs windows were broken and falling out.  It took a good week to feel like we could just sit on the couch and relax.  We will NOT be buying this house.  It is a tight fit and there is no yard, we are sure it is an electrical and plumbing nightmare, and the basement would take thousands to finish,  BUT the area is great so we will look for a house close by.  We are less than 5 miles from everything.  Kyle can get home from work in 10 minutes.  That has been a great blessing.  The ward seems really good.  Lots of young families and lots of kids.  We weren't able to get the piano in the house because the steps are so steep, so if anyone wants to come get that beast--you are welcome to it.

We got the kids in school.  Alexander's school is about 1/3 the size of Duplessis.  They seem to be leaning a lot of different things and I'm a little concerned that he is falling behind just because he is unfamiliar with the ways things work here.  Hopefully we can get him where he needs to be.  He seems to like the more relaxed atmosphere and not having to wear uniforms.  He has a couple friends in class and there is a kid down the street that I think he will get along well with.  I think he misses what he is used to, and of course Jacob.

Benjamin has fit right in at his preschool.  The teachers love him and say it seems like he has been part of the class all year.  His school is about four times bigger than Bizzy Bunch.  We sure love and miss Bizzy Bunch though.

Now we are just trying to get in the swing of things.  The kids have enjoyed seeing snow most the mornings we have been here--me not so much.  There is a deer across the street a lot of mornings too.  We found the ER here last weekend when Isaac work up with croup.  We have a for real ice rink, a 7-11 and Kroger and there is even a Tim Hortons.  So far we don't have any real complaints about Charleston, it seems like it will be a good place to live for the next however long Fast seems fit to keep us here.