We really need to stop moving.......

Wow, you would think after so many moves (10 to be exact in 8.5 years) that it wouldn't seem like such a big deal! But it has actually been a very big process and I can't tell everyone who helped us out THANK-YOU enough. My parent drove the truck back for us while the kids and I flew, and then they stayed and helped us so much with everything for the few days they had back here. We couldn't have done it without them. Erick parents took us shopping before we left Utah and stocked us up on the essentials that can really add up, they really helped us out a lot. So to them and everyone else, Thank you!
With my lack of blogging comes a lack of following as well, so I can't wait to have a minute and catch back up on all of you!
However, We are here in Michigan and LOVE it. We have been so busy trying to get everything unpacked, and everyone ready to start going again that is has just felt so hectic. Erick and the kids got a cold and that slowed things down a little. Thankfully everyone is over that now. We have been looking for Erick a car, getting Bryn and Erick ready for school and Kyler ready for football!
We love our place, we feel like it is home and could just stay here for a really long time. The area is wonderful. The kids can ride their bikes to a park just around the block from our house. I have to run to keep up with them! The park is great, lots to climb on and play with and it is pretty busy so lots of kids to play with. We love our ward, there are a few medical students and residence in the ward. Kyler's sunbeam teachers are the best ladies ever. They are so fun and cute. Kyler has come home both weeks so excited about sunbeams. Bryn has some really fun teachers as well. She has made a lot of friends in her class already.
We have met most of our neighbors and they are all wonderful. Most of them are retired and have offered to be emergency babysitters!
The garage is now empty and will hold two cars, yea!! The basement is set up for the kids to play. We have lots of storage down there along one wall, but they have the entire room to play, and they have had so much fun down there while Erick and I have been putting things away and organizing. We have seen a little bit of the area just from driving around looking for cars, but we keep hearing how beautiful the fall is and we can't wait to really see things then.
It is a little chilly, okay it is freezing! I have been so cold, even Erick has been chilly so that tells you how cold it is. In the afternoon it does warm up a bit, but I haven't taken off my jacket since we got here! So all I can really say is thank goodness for layers.
Bryn will start school on the 8th of September, Erick starts on the 14th and that day he will have a huge exam called the competency so we are hoping that that will go well and then as he does 5th semester he will be preparing for the board exams. Bryn is also going to start on a swimming team on the 14th and Kyler will start football on the 19th.
Anyway, we are here and happy and everything is going well. I have some pictures to post, I will do that soon. I am finally back so I can be more regular again.

Another haircut at the Anderson's

When we first got to the Bahamas, Erick decided he was going to grow out his hair.  We got here in January, and in February he cut it REALLY short.  That was the last time he cut it.  In June, because it was getting a little shaggy, he cut the the back and sides.  He was starting to go to the hospital and clinics and wanted it to look a little more presentable.  He didn't cut anything off the top, just the sides.  The whole time I have been giving him a hard time about needing a hair cut.  Every time I would say anything, he would tell me, "No, I am growing it out."  A few days ago when he woke up, it was looking a little crazy.  He got up and said he was going to cut it.  I was so excited!  Doesn't it look so nice?  

Our little cover model

Bryn loves to dress-up.  I think she spends more time in a day dressing-up and getting make-up on that doing anything else.  A few days ago, I came downstairs and she was dressed-up, only this time in my things!  She was modeling in the TV.  When she saw me she said, "Can we try to find me some shoes like this and glasses like this and a hat like this?"  When I told her we would see, she said, "Oh, I really hope we can.  This looks so fabulous!"  What a cutie!  

Michigan.... Here we come!

We found out today that we will be making the next move to Michigan.

So here is how it works:  Erick is just finishing up his second year of medical school.  The first two years are the "book work" years.  He has spent some time in the hospitals and clinics and seen standardized patients, but for the most part, he has just been studying the basic sciences.  He will finish up here in the Bahamas mid August and then meet the kids and I in Michigan.  We will be living in Saginaw, Michigan.  Here, Erick will be doing what is called the 5th semester.  It is Advanced Introduction to Clinical Medicine, and is actually the first rotation of his third year.  The first day of 5th semester he will take an exam called the comprehensive exam.  Then once 5th semester is over, he will sit of the National Board exam Step 1.  After we get his scores back from step 1, we will find out where we will be for the remainder of 3rd year and 4th year.  We are unsure at this point where we might be, there are lots of possibilities and probably more than we even know about at this point.  So we will take it one step at a time.  

The kids and I will be leaving the Bahamas on July 30th, to come home and see family and gather our things!!!  Yea, I am so excited to have all of our things again.  It feels somewhat like we have been living in limbo for the last 18 months, so we are really excited about that.  After a few weeks in Utah, we will head to Michigan and get things set up and ready, then when Erick gets there, he will begin the study for the comp. exam.

Here is a map of where we will be.... We are really excited about how close we are to Erie. Lee and Jandi will be within driving distance!!!

View Larger Map

Guess who!!

One of the kids favorite games right now is Guess Who.  We were playing it today and I was playing on Kyler's team.  Bryn asked us the question, "Is yours a girl or a boy?"  I usually just help Kyler when he needs it, so I pointed to our picture and asked him the question again, and this was his answer:  "............(VERY LONG PAUSE).............um, a boy, with lipstick!"  It was so funny.  This is a picture of our guy.

My little "Fellas"

Tonight the kids were upstairs getting ready for bed while I cleaned up the kitchen.  When I went up to check on the progress, Kyler was playing with his toy bug collection.  As soon as I walked in he said, "I am just getting my little fellas ready for bed."  It was so cute to watch him, he was so particular about where each of them went in the jar.  After he got them all put away I put them in the closet on the toy shelf while he went in to the bathroom.  When he came out, he asked where they were.  I told him they were in the closet, he went and got them out and said, "My little fellas want to sleep by me tonight, and they want me to read them a story."  After we finished with our story and the kids were ready for bed Kyler began to read to his little fellas.  I went to get ready for bed and when I came back, Kyler was out. 

You can't see it very well, but he has his book in front of his pillow, we must have fallen asleep mid-sentence!  

Just as a side note, we have the best kids ever.  We are so grateful for them and their own little personalities.  Bryn is such a little princess and so sweet and kind.  She is always thinking of others and wants to do what is right.  And on top of all her beauty inside, she is so beautiful on the outside.  We love her so much.  Kyler is a very energetic little boy and I would not want him to be any other way.  He is so much fun, and loves to play.  He is a good boy and always wants everyone to be happy.  He is very sensitive if he thinks you are made at him, and has a very tender heart.  He definitely has a little attitude, especially when he gets into "character" but like I said we would not want him to be any other way.  They are both perfect.  Both very different, but both perfect.  

All about photography.....

In my last post I mentioned how I have been learning, or trying to learn photography. I think it is wearing off on Bryn more that I thought, tonight for dinner, she couldn't even finish her dinner because she wanted to get a picture of the sunset. She was facing the sliding door while she was eating and it was just pulling her out! She said she was done after about 3 bites, so I told her to go take the picture and then come back and eat. She got the picture and then finished everything on her plate!!! Then she went around the house while Erick and I cleaned up dinner and took pictures of EVERYTHING. She was pretending that she was in a photo contest and had to have the best picture to submit. I love it, and think it is really cute, but when she gets into something she is full speed ahead!
I started another blog to hold all my photos, I am hoping to eventually be able to make some money doing this, so I figured it would be easier to start it now and have it the way I want it to be when that time comes. The link is on my side bar, check it out and let me know what you think...

http://leslieandersonphoto.blogspot.com