Moran Family Fun

Today marks the one year anniversary of us signing a million papers and closing on our house. In that time we've done lots of work, most of it in the yard, to get this place looking more like our home than someone else's.  This spring we focused more inside the house when we redid the downstairs bathroom (see this post ) and shortly after that project was finished we moved across the hall to the master bedroom. So here's the before shot: The same curtains that were here when we moved in, bedding we've had since 2010, the walls  AND trim painted the same sad off white as the rest of the basement, and the ugly closet doors. Not pictured, the ugly bedroom door!  And now the after pictures! This room was actually a bit of a piecemeal project. We bought new curtains and bedding in February but didn't get around to choosing a paint and getting it on the walls until April. We owe a big thank you to Jared's mom who came for a visit and got roped into helping me...

Continuing with our recent tree theme - we built a treehouse! Jared's dad come for a visit in April and Jared mentioned then how with all these trees we should build a treehouse. The kids jumped on that idea, especially the younger ones, and this month their handy grandpa came to see us again and helped us build a treehouse. He started by having the kids draw their dream treehouse and then he made a plan based on their drawings. We headed out to our local lumber store and bought a truck bed full of supplies and then started building.  That first day was spent cutting boards and framing out the walls. In the beginning, everyone was outside helping but as the day wore on only Samantha stuck it out. She was measuring, marking, hammering, and working right alongside her grandpa.  I'm pretty sure she slowed down the work but he was so patient as he showed her the building ropes. The next morning the girls joined their grandpa outside again and worked together to add out...

The girls and I gave Jared a chainsaw for Father's Day. It's a gift that will get plenty of use in our yard that is mostly trees. In fact, he's already used it twice in yards not belonging to us and a few weeks ago was able to use it at our own house. We had a sad looking willow tree close to the bottom of our driveway. It had a quite a few dead branches just hanging around and the entire thing was leaning at a rather precarious angle. So we set out one Saturday morning to put it out of it's misery. Jared did all the heavy lifting and cut the actual tree down while the girls and I offered our encouragement and support. The most exciting part of the whole endeavor was watching the tree as it fell. Because we were pretty sure the tree would fall into the street I was posted on the other side of the road with the assignment to watch out for cars. I was to warn Jared when cars were coming and to get the drivers attention and have them slow down as they passed. I d...

Last month we had an extended family picture taken with my parents, all of my siblings, and their spouses and children. Being there for the big picture day was one of the main reasons we traveled to Utah this summer. It took quite a lot of logistical work to get all thirty-seven of us in the same place at the same time and in coordinating outfits to boot! It took so much work in fact that we were actually all together for only as long as it took to take the pictures, so for about two hours. Of course the finished photos were lovely, but my favorite shots of the day were the many candid pictures that were taken as we waited to take the actual pictures. The weather was a bit rainy as we were first arriving at the shoot location so we waited it out under some trees and kept our fingers crossed that our hair would stay pretty. Natalie loved the umbrellas that our photographer so kindly thought to bring to the shoot There was even time for the kids to play on the playg...

I'm trying to get my head working and write up a few more memories of our trip to Utah last month, but it all seems like so very long ago that the words just won't come. So, this post will be heavy on pictures and light on words. No trip to Utah is complete without a day in Salt Lake City so we made our plans for a fun day and headed south. Really the main thing to see was Temple Square and the other church sites there but we also added in a few stops at a couple of yummy food places. Lunch was at Bruges Waffles and Frites  where we enjoyed so-so waffles and really stellar fries. My sister Becca and her sweet family joined us there and I was reminded how thankful I am to be past the little kid and baby stage of parenting. She and Louis are right in the thick of it and really do handle things wonderfully, but I like not having  to worry about diapers, strollers, and nap times anymore! After lunch we headed over to Temple Square, parked under the Conference Center, ...

We decided to combine our big trip to Utah with some college visits for Madison. It seems a little crazy to think that she's going to be heading off to college a year from now! She's not really interested in many east coast schools but does like the idea of heading west for school.  I'm not sure if it's the distance from us, the proximity to extended family, or something entirely different that's appealing to her about going to college two thousand miles away from where she currently lives. Our first stop was the University of Wyoming in Laramie. The campus tour at UW was really well done. We were able to see pretty much all the buildings on the campus - but that's probably because the school is pretty small - we also had time to explore on our own in between the official tour and her meeting with the Education Department Head. At the end of the day we were able to meet with an admissions counselor to talk about scholarships, residency, and campus life. On the...

We made an extended stop in Wyoming on our way to Utah and we're so glad we did. It was so nice to spend some time in Cheyenne after almost seven years away. We were able to catch up with old friends, see what's changed and what's stayed the same, celebrate the Fourth of July, and recharge before hitting the road again. We left our hotel in Nebraska a little early in the morning so that we could make it to Cheyenne in time for the Western Hills Ward's annual Fourth of July pancake breakfast. We were a little late, but there were still pancakes left when we arrived and, even better, there were many familiar faces there! One of the wonderful benefits of military life is that everywhere we've lived we have been blessed to find great friends, but it's sad when we have to move and say goodbye to those friends. Something I guess I didn't think about before this summer's trip is the fact that thanks to our transient life we now have friends everywhere! It...