We moved!!!

 There is tons to say, and this should probably be in about three separate posts, so if you want to just skim through pictures, feel free. :) 

We FINALLY moved! We got HOA approval at 3pm on Friday, I ran to the bank, got a cashier's check, got it in to the office (downtown Miami) by 5pm--so that we could move in on Saturday. Otherwise we would have had to wait until Monday, which Sterling didn't want to do because he didn't want to have to take off work. Then it was a CRAZY couple of hours doing things like switching our mail to the new address, the internet, the water, the power, turning everything off at our old apartment, and getting our move planned--a U-haul, guys to help, boxes finished packing. 

Sterling and I stayed up til midnight Friday night first cleaning at the new apartment and then finishing up all the packing that I hadn't done because we had no idea when we would be moving (mostly the kitchen and main bath) and then got up at 5am. Sterling worked on taking down shelves while I went to the new apartment and finished cleaning a bathroom. Our wonderful Killian Ward elders quorum showed up at 8am (there was a baby shower at 11am that several husbands were watching kids for, so they preferred early. Works for me!!) and we were basically moved by 1030am. We spent the rest of the day unpacking, putting up shelves/beds/tables, and cleaning some more. 

The apartment was actually REALLY clean, but it is Miami. So there were some Palmetto bugs (don't even google that...trust me, they are cockroaches on steroids and you don't want to see) and a TON of ants (everyone has to spray regularly here for ants, it's just the way it is) and then just the usual wiping down of things. It was beautiful. SOOOO beautiful. I kept having flashbacks of showing up to our old apartment, 7 months pregnant, and having six things leaking, dirt and grime ten inches thick, etc.-----and I could not be more GRATEFUL for our new place. Its gorgeous and I love it.

We were basically moved in by Saturday night. We were so blessed that one of our friends took the kids from 8:30am-noon and another friend took them from 2-5 (after their naps) so we really got a lot of time to focus on the house. Sunday we enjoyed a nice family walk and FATHER'S DAY and on Monday I unpacked pretty much everything else. Then on Tuesday it rained ALL DAY LONG. Wednesday we swam, Thursday we swam, and today we went to the beach. True Miami living, right there. :)

Here are some photos, my phone photos are mixed in and they haven't been dumped on here in a while, so it dates back a couple of weeks.

Could our temple BE any more beautiful?!?! I just LOVE it so much!  

Our BEST little friends the Kelloggs finished up residency and moved to Texas for fellowship. As much as we miss them, we are so so happy for them! Before they left we had a lovely primary party and ward party (two saturday's in a row) where we got to spend lots of time with them! YAY!

Ruthie and Claire throwing water balloons. 

Our adorable little primary! Made up mostly by the five Hadley kids and the five Kellogg kids. Haha. The little guy kneeling in the front is Sebastian. He's my lifesaver. He translates for me when the other kids are struggling with English.

Oh I'm just so sad Claire moved! Ruthie and her just had SO much fun together!

And it's definitely summer time. Ugh Miami summer rains.

Before the move there were some lovely tea parties. 

At the ward party we had some three-legged races. Which the Hadley twins won. I think that's an unfair advantage. :)

And some sack races!

The Hadley girls babysit for us all the time. We love them!

Me and boxes and Nemo head phones :)

Driving Sterling to work (he was driving, I was taking photos haha) because in the midst of all this, we were getting our van fixed and didn't have it for two weeks. It's all better now, and I am SOOO glad I don't have to do that traffic four times a day! See all those cars in the distance? 

Saying goodbye to the Kellogg's on their moving day!

Man, I am going to miss that lady. She is an absolute saint. If I can be half as strong and supportive and good a person as she is during this medical journey, I will be doing well. I look up to her so much! (I came straight from the gym. No judgey. )

Molly helping me pack by getting stuff everywhere. HAHA 

Cutest little swimmers ever. Will begged me for this alligator and he was not disappointed--he LOVES it haha.

Park day. We were there at 9am and lasted an hour before we absolutely melted. 

Moving day! 

This was our Sunday walk. Our complex is really interesting. So everything in Miami is gated communities. But usually, like our last place, it's all one set-up. This has condos, townhomes, apartments, and several different HOA's all in one space. But it is beautiful! We had a wonderful time walking around and exploring our neighborhood. 

Daddy caught a frog and everyone got to pet it.

Ruthie helping Molly pray in our new house!

First day swimming in our new pool. It ginormous. Which is actually really nice because there are stairs in every alcove which makes lots of places for my kids to play. The closest area of water in the picture is ALL three feet deep, which Ruth can touch and that makes her LOVE this pool cause she can get around without floaties. It is also nice because if there are lots of people there (which there has been because school is out) it still seems like you have a corner all to yourself. There is also a kiddie pool in the far corner (which felt like a HOT TUB yesterday) which Molly LOVES, so that's fun. 

The super huge frog (its seriously the size of a bowl) that lives in our backyard. Molly, especially, adores this guy. We've named him Jim-Bob and she frequently goes and checks on him. :)

We saw this guy on our Sunday walk. You can see his black tail all the way to the concrete column. He is BIG.

Another MASSIVE frog we saw on our Sunday walk. Those things are SOOO huge it almost seems like they thud when they hop.

 Today my friend Tricia and I called a beach day, because 1)WE LIVE IN THE SAME COMPLEX NOW! which means we will do stuff together every day....oh wait, we already do :) and 2)we are both headed out of town for several weeks and we needed to fit one more in!

That girl!

Our little slice of heaven today. It was HOT but beautiful and serene and wonderful. Oh beach, I love you.

Those two are my favorite girls. 

Sister Hadley said her girls had outgrown this dollhouse (Fisher Price! I looked online and it is pretty pricey!) so we gladly took it off her hands! All three kids have been playing with it nonstop for three days now, so it's a huge win!

Our new front door. To the right there is a duck nesting, her little chicks hatched yesterday and the kids love looking at them every time we go in and out.

This is across the parking lot from us, but it looks the same as our side. We are a corner unit, so we only share one wall. I like that. It's also all one floor--yay for saving on our a/c bill!

This looks small, but it's a pretty big room. This is looking in from the front door. You can see the kitchen on the left. The master bedroom is to the left of that. The kids bathroom is in the center of the photo, one bedroom is to the right, and the kids bedroom is to the left. 

Kids bath.

Living room.

Kitchen.

Backyard. Behind that tennis court is the pool.

Into the master bedroom. Which has a GINORMOUS walk-in closet and a bathroom separated with a door from the sink (which I really love). 

Basically, it's beautiful. We love it SOOOOOO much!!! We even had a broken oven and I was almost happy about it because they fixed it in a DAY! Can you imagine? Our last place would have been five months at least! We also have a FULL-sized washer and dryer. I find laundry to do just for the heck of it. HAHA. 

It's hot and so, as you can see, we are just living in the water, enjoying our new place, and spending one last week before we head to Utah!! YAY!