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!

A new adventure

For the few of you that check out our blog page we have an update. I know I have said in the past that I have no excuse for not posting more often. Well here's the update:

Ryan finished his 1st season of soccer.

We had a wonderful graduation for Mike!

We had a wonderful mini vacation to California to visit Auntie L and attend a gorgeous wedding.

I am another year older. Boring!

Mike headed up to Utah for a week with Ryan to do some major demo in Papa Scott's basement.

Maya turned 3 and is sweet as ever!

Andrew has found a new love...Bounce U in Gilbert.

and last but not least....

Mike got a formal offer of employment!

He will be heading out to Maryland starting August 7th-September 3rd for some required training. While he is there he will be given an assigned location to where he is to work. So far the HR gal mentioned locations in Florida and Minnesota. The work in which he will be doing will only require a 18-24 month stay. Then we will be off to a new assignment.

So yes a move for the Moore's is in the works. Once we find out where we will be I promise I will keep up on this blog! I will have to since we will be far away from our family. I also will have the wonderful opportunity to be a stay at home mom. I am very excited for that. Mike says it will take me a good 6 months before I am ready to pull my hair out. LOL! We shall see!

But we are so very blessed for this great opportunity for Mike to continue what he has always wanted to be....a plumber...ha ha just kidding....an engineer!

ASU Grad!

Just wanted to share with you our good news for our family!

Mike will be graduating from

Arizona State University

with his

Bachelors Degree

in

Civil Engineering

We are so proud of Mike and this great accomplishment!

He finally did it and now its time to celebrate!

Please stop by

Friday May 13th

for a

"Sweet Celebration"

Come & Go

6p.m. - 8 p.m.

Mioni Residence

1530 E Glade Ave

Mesa, AZ 85204

Easter 2011

Cutest Baby on the Block

Do I need to say more?

Picture provided by a loving Grandma Dianna

Recap

I was talking to a really good friend last week that I haven't talked to in over 3 years. We talked about our families and the addition of children we have gained along with work and other items to catch up on. It was a good conversation that was long over due. I did mention to him I have a family blog. I was embarrassed to mention it since I never update it. Shame shame! So thanks to Matt I posted something new. So in recap...we had great birthdays in December, enjoyed a wonderful Christmas, had a great New Years with Lisandra, Herija, & DeMarco here. Drove up to Utah in January to see Mikes brother as he returned from a mission. That was a fun trip, especially the snow. Mike introduced his family tradition of candy bar bingo to a new crowd at a dinner party, enjoying our membership at the zoo, attended an awesome wedding, Mike taking the kids to St. George during springbreak while I stayed at home for work, and now planning a graduation. We have been just a little busy :) I am including some pictures of Ryan first soccer game plus I will add a picture of Maya and her ability to have curly hair too! I tried adding a cute video of Andrew but it didn't work. Next post will be all about him.

Go Bears!

10 years, Thanksgiving, Birthdays, Santa and an Exam!

There is so much to say that has happened in the last couple months that I would be here forever typing. Mikes computer got sick so it got sent back to the manufacture for some needed surgery. That should take another 3 weeks until we see it again. So I am here at work typing and feeling bad I can't attach a picture of our latest adventures. I know I really don't have to post a picture but it doesn't seem as personal. Oh well I will just have to flood you with random pictures next month.

Mike and I celebrated our 10 year anniversary on the 24th of November. Wow what a roller coaster ride its been. It was celebrated low key since we had so much to plan for in the coming weeks. But 10 years went by so fast. He is such a great husband, father, and friend! Thank you Mike for making me laugh everyday!

We had the wonderful opportunity to drive up to Utah for Thanksgiving and be with the Moores. So we took the trek to North Ogden where all of this happened. I do have to say the van provided us endless entertainment for the kids and enough room to tote everything up there.

It was very nice to be a part of a large gathering we haven't seen in a while. Mikes grandpa turned 70 and his birthday happened to land on Thanksgiving. It was a surprise to him to have all of his children, grandchildren and great grandchildren attend his special day. ( minus 2 on missions)

We stayed with family and friends and attempted to take a family picture outside. I will try to get that crazy event posted next month. It didn't snow while we were there ( no complaints here) but the white stuff sure was nice to look at. And yes it was cold.

We ended our travel in St George for a wonderful birthday party for our niece Michelle. I do have to say her mom did a good job with putting a fun evening together for her celebration. I think we were missing just Trevor... yup all of us were there. Even his girlfriend Brooke made an appearance.

We made it home safely and wondered why we don't visit Utah as much as we should. Then we came to the conclusion of Mike being a full time student. And since he is in his senior year at ASU he doesn't get a lot of time off. But hopefully that will end soon!

Andrew turned 1 years old on the 13th. He is so much fun. His personality is so different from his brother and sister. I do have to say he very clingy! I felt so bad while we were in Utah. He didn't want to go to anyone! Not even his own grandma! He cried and cried if we put him down or even left the room. I really hope he grows out of that stage soon! He now weighs 25lbs and is getting the courage to balance alone. We had a birthday party for him and he loved his birthday cupcake.
Ryan turned 4 years old on the 19th. It was celebrated at Peter Piper Pizza followed by cake and ice cream at the house. He picked his cake out himself. It was a "How to Train Your Dragon" cake, with Hiccup and Toothless on top. He loved his presents and his 2 favorite so far is the Nerf gun we got him ( which is in time out a lot) and the remote control trucks from Papa Scott. Even though he was sick on his birthday he was a trooper and it paid off.

This month went by fast because it included Breakfast with Santa, going on many small rides checking out the lights in the neighborhood, picking out a Christmas tree, our family party in Verrado, work party in Maricopa, attending a funeral, walking the Temple grounds and realizing its a small world when you bump into one of your best friends visiting AZ ( it was great to see you Traci!) leaving something for Santa Christmas Eve, opening presents, and of course remembering the true meaning of Christmas.

I might have mentioned back in October...maybe not I don't post much. LOL! But Mike took his NCEES FE Exam (EIT) on October 30th which consisted of studying really hard and enduring a 8+hour test at the old Civic Center in Phoenix. I remember when he got home from his exam I dragged him to a trunk or treat event and he was brain dead. It was like "the lights were on but nobody home" kinda look on his face. Well he waited 55 days to find out if he passed. On December 24th he received this in his email:

Michael Moore
NCEES ID: 12817-*****
State Board: Arizona
Exam Type: Fundamentals of Engineering
Exam Date: October 2010
Exam Result: Pass

Yes people he passed! I didn't doubt he wouldn't because he is super smart and it amazes me what a great engineer he will become. But this is huge for him! And I am so proud of him. He gradates in May and what a great day that will be for our family!

The Knight, Dragon, and Princess

Here they are starting at Aunt Cristina's for some Halloween candy.

Andrew was a very cute Dragon

Our October was full of the annual Mioni Halloween Party, Neighborhood Parties, Trunk or Treat, Pumpkin Patch and finishing it off at Verrado. We had such a good night trick or treating in Verrado at The Records house. We had so much fun with the Schletters too. I know Ryan & Maya loved putting on their costumes at least 10 times and running wild at all the parties. Ryan liked being a knight, "Dragon Slayer" and Maya dressing up like a princess. It took Andrew 2 seconds to rip his dragon headpiece off but as you can see in the picture below he liked the cat ears!

Pumpkin Patch 2010

This years trip to the pumpkin patch was really fun. It was held at a local farm that we pass by everyday but have never gone to. Ryan,Maya, and Andrew decorated a pumpkin of their own along with jumping in the bouncy house and getting their face painted. We waited for the sun to go down since it was still a warm day so it was a nice evening to enjoy being outside. Here are a few pictures of the kids having fun.

Its not Fall yet

I know I am not the best blogger on the block but hey I try. I have been getting some " when are you going to post " attitude lately so I thought I would do an update.

Things are the same o here in the Moore household. Ryan has been attending the elementary school I went to for about 2 months now. He is in the Headstart program there and is finally in a routine. He has school Monday-Thursday from 12:30 to 4. He had to make a huge adjustment from knowing his teacher Ms. Kathy last year and having the preschool "home" environment to the public school atmosphere. It did take a few weeks of getting use to things..especially making new friends and finding a way to communicate with his peers that don't know alot of English. He has adjusted now to the way things are done in the "big" school. But I know he misses the music time and all the neat crafts that Ms. Kathy had.

Taking Ryan to school

Since Maya knows now that Ryan is at school for half of the day, she rules the roost. She has my parents and her father wrapped around her little finger. She is still in love with Caillou and Dora. This girl giggles all the time and likes to sit on Andrew. I have no idea why she does that but she does. She tries to accomplish the sitting on her brother as much as she can. But when she plays with him she has a ball.

The shirt says it all

Andrew just cut his first tooth last week. Its on the bottom and we are hoping they will pop out all at once. He is almost 10 months and YES the kid just cut the 1st one. When I took him in last week he was 22 lbs and I can't remember his length. ( I am such a good mom. LOL ! ) I did advise the doctor he wasn't crawling yet but did say he is in the phase of any day now crawling... She wasn't worried. I just think he is so overly spoiled since he is the baby and last that he is just going to take his time. So his way of getting around is scooting everywhere. He is really good at it. I do want to add that he has curly locks on his head. Yes, I finally have a baby with curls. It so goes with his personality. It wouldn't be Andrew without the curls.

This picture doesn't do his hair justice

Mike is attending his 2nd to last semester at ASU...Hooray! He has a full load this semester and has his National Civil Engineering exam on the 30th. So his life consists of school ,homework, part time stay at home dad, dry cleaning slave for me, errand boy, softball league participant, anti-van driving ( makes him feel old ), study session for exam goer, backed up sewer unplug hero, dinner maker, fantasy football picker...I could go on. He amazes me everyday on how willing he is to make time for everything. Especially reading to the kids.

We are all doing fine and are waiting oh so patiently for the cooler weather. Not the tornado weather like Flagstaff got but the kind where going to the pumpkin patch doesn't require sunblock. I think we are going to try out Schnepf Farms this year since the Show Low/Taylor pumpkin patch won't be in our plans this year... we will have to compromise. :)