Some of this and some of that

We were on the 5th floor during our L O N G hotel stay. If you look to the left you can see the 2 stacks that stick out. That is the plant where Mike works.

Everything is green.

We are so close to the Everglades National Park that we decided to take a ride into it. There really wasn't anyone there due to the mosquitos and this hot sticky time of year. People canoe and camp here. It was a spontanious drive I really didn't take alot of pictures. I felt like we were driving on water the whole time. Oh and we passed a sign that said 4 feet elevation. I have never seen that before. Have you?

I thought it would be more of a swamp but it was so green. We got out once just to look around which was short due to bugs. Hooray! Booo!

I can't remember what this point was called. I think it was Flamingo. This is the very bottom of Florida. Also as you look out you can see all the small "Keys" out there. And there are alot! You can take your boat out there and they have docks you can reserve on certain Keys to stay overnight etc. The campgrounds we scouted out were really nice. Lets say its a different kind of camping. But I have a feeling we will enjoy doing that in the next few months.

This is the start of what was unpacked from a very large rig. This time it only took 3-4 hours to unpack the huge "Mack" and place boxes in our home. I put the stools into the kitchen and put the laptop up on the counter and the kids watched a movie while boxes were getting unloaded. It was sure nice to have Andrew sit in the stroller watching a movie and taking a nap. Yes they are invisible.

More stuff!

This was I think our 3rd day or so being in the house. Maya loves to fold laundry. She does a very good job folding towels. She sure has her way of folding too. I crack up everytime when I start to help her and she tells me I fold weird.

And then there is this.....

Andrew barking orders at us while we were folding clothes. I think he was requesting for his warm milk to be served!

The house that is waiting for us

The road into Waterstone where we hope to live in by next week.

There are lakes/ponds like this throughout the subdivision.

Here is the front of the house. My mom waiting for our realtor to let us in.

This is the backyard. I think its big enough for a nice big playset! (hint hint!) :)

Downstairs bathroom

Bedroom. The wood floors are really nice.

Kitchen. It is kinda small but at least when people come over they can't see the mess right away. LOL!

We like the tile on the first floor. The paint colors are nice to. The house is very clean. It has 3 bedrooms 2.5bath. I don't know why I didn't take a picture of the master closet...it could have been Andrews room! I will hopefully get pictures on what it looks like after we move in.

The Keys

We drove to the Keys before my mom left. It was a nice drive. Don't be to jealous...looks can be deceiving...it was SUPER HOT! My mom was saying that Arizona heat is like your on a grill and Florida heat is like you are in a boiling pot on the grill. It was a nice drivethough and we found a fun park with a nice beach to take a rest. All we did was sweat. I think we are just going to wear our swimsuits 24/7!

Ryan loves the water.

Andrew didn't want to go near it.

But Andrew found this and was happy.

I will have more pictures of the keys when it gets a little cooler I think....I hope!

Random pics on the road

Texas Rest Area

Walking out our hotel room in San Antonio.

Alamo. Trying to find Peewee's bike. :)

This is how close Ryan would get to the dinosaur. He wanted to pet it until it moved.

From Ryan's point of view...watching Princess and the Frog. Very appropriate for New Orleans.

Stopped at the New Orleans visitor center. A lot of history.

Maya and her new "Jazz" bag from New Orleans.

Don't have one for Mississippi, I think I was asleep.

Fruit & Spice Park and Biscayne National Park

Starting our journey through the Fruit & Spice Park. We explored the crazy jungle of lots of bananas, mangos, avacados, coconut, posionous plants and fruit. And of course...tons of BUGS! Did we come out alive???

Mike scratching bugs off of him. He did that all day long!

So green

Mangos?

This was Ryans favorite fruit....tree sausages.

From Biscayne Park is the view of Turkey Point Power Plant where Mike works. He gets the view of the ocean everyday!

This is part of Biscayne Park. Obviously the swimming areas are closed. When the kids saw this and the ocean they said this doesn't look like California ocean.

Sweet Andrew saying cheese. He loves the shirt that Auntie L gave him.

These signs are along all the bay area and around the picnic tables....nice. But I have yet to see one.

Ryan wanted to get his picture taken by the fish. This is the happiest I have seen him since we left Mesa. For some reason Andrew likes to make his lips into a trumpet. Maya was just along for the ride. She told me it was to hot for her to be outside. LOL!

Can you imagine walking into one of these webs??! Eeewww!

There were some nice rocking chairs at the visitor center at the park. I had to take advantage ;)

This the view of Downtown Miami from the park. Our home is about 10 miles from the park so Miami isn't to far by boat. Ha ha I am kidding!

Homestead Florida

Have you ever heard of it? Homestead, Florida??? Neither have we! When Mike told us where he was to be assigned the stress came pouring down. Mike has been in Maryland (yes he felt the earthquake) since the 7th and won't be back until the 3rd. So the wonderful blessing of a 2400 mile move got shifted to me here. Good thing Bechtel is generous and has mostly taken the burden off me. We just got our humble items surveyed on Monday which we are under our 18k pound limit. I don't think we even hit 9k including Mikes truck! LOL! The movers will be here on the 2nd to get Mikes truck, and pack all our things in a "Mack" as Ryan calls it and it will be on its way to Florida.
We won't be to far behind it. We are leaving Labor Day and have planned out 5 days to get there. With 3 kids and 2 pugs and driving 400+miles a day I wish we had more time. Since Mike starts his new job on the 12th we kinda don't have a lot of time to sight see.
Our emotions are mixed to be moving 2400 miles. But we have been welcomed already by members from the church there and most of the stress has been lifted. The service so far has been extended beyond my expectations. I have been in communication with a few sisters there regarding housing, hotels, schools, and what the ward is like. I have one member that works for a realty group so we have been receiving available properties for us to look at when we arrive. There are so many other things that have been extended to us and how wonderful to have most of the stress taken out of the equation.
So we are off on the 5th and hope to have pictures loaded onto Facebook or this blog soon!