Well, so our time in South Carolina is almost up. This has been one crazy summer. I'm sure our next will be crazy too. But who's thinking that far ahead? So this past week and a half or so, I spent the majority of my time at home on the computer and on the phone talking to rental agents and home owners and viewing pictures, and sending my brother-in-law and his lovely wife on trips to check places out for us, ALL so that our little family can have a home to move into when we arrive back to good old Utah. I'm not good with this sort of thing when we can't see the places where we'll be staying, or decide which city to live in. What a nightmare. And I'm sure that's what my husband thinks of me right now as I do happen to be extra hormonal. It must be the nesting phase. Problem is it's impossible to nest when we're about to move and have no absolute destination. And it's not over after that. After packing up here and getting everything loaded into a trailer, I have a 30+ hour trip home to look forward to, a new little place to set up in less than a week if possible, and a husband to ship off to Indiana for a month so that he can do an extended month of sales while I wait around at home with two little kids, at 9 months pregnant. Hopefully I don't go into labor early. I know. We're crazy.
Well, at least my labors are long. But I am grateful that we've finally found a place to stay in for at least a year. Possibly two. For the last four years of our married life, this will have been our tenth move, staying at places for no longer than 6 months. We actually moved into one place for only a month once. At least that was when I only had one child. I'm ready to settle into one place for a longer time now. So this next YEAR, we will be in Pleasant Grove. I just love saying that. A WHOLE YEAR. And possibly longer. I really look forward to that. Pleasant Grove. What a pleasant place to go back to. YAY!!! Okay. Got that off my chest. Phew! I can be excited now. Now that I know where we are going. And we found the cutest little place. I look forward to actually setting up a baby/boy's room and a little girl's room. We'll see how much I can get done before this next little boy enters our lives. Wish us luck. And if you can, please pray for my sanity to remain somewhat in tact.
Thanks Hunny for putting up with me. Putting up with a pregnant woman is a scary thing. I'll be the first to admit it.
From left to right, Chrysalis, Elise Cheesman, Claire Bennion, and Orion. 
And down below, squriming around on the floor was little Caleb Bennion. 
It would seem a tradition of the families who come out to do sales with their husbands is to periodically get together every now and then and host playgroups and yummy potlucks. This was one of the last ones out here in Columbia. Each summer we meet so many different people from different walks of life and it's always so much fun and interesting to get together and discuss things like where we came from and where we are going, what plans we have for the future, and how we ended up doing this crazy job. While the husbands are all out in this horrid, humid sun, we wives are always looking for ways to keep the little ones entertained and ourselves from losing our minds. I always forget to take pictures but among some of the things we did this summer were, going to the children's museum, the zoo, the peach festival, the beach, the lake, the parks, smoothie cafes, the bookstore, the pool of course and since Angela Cheesman brought out her entire nursery it seemed, we were happy to spend quite a few days over at her place with the abundance of toys and puzzles and things to play with in order to stay out of the heat. She even had a bounce house. My kids never wanted to leave. And because I happen to carry a lot of extra insulation these days, I was very grateful to have ways of getting together that didn't mean having to spend a lot of time in the sun. This past Sunday we had another fun little potluck/get together and I tried to capture a photo of the sweet little faces that now will part and continue their lives in many different directions. The McBride's little girl Scarlett was also included in many of these events but she left a couple weeks ago so I probably should have taken out the camera sooner. But if and when these sweet little kids cross paths again, it will be interesting to see how much they've grown. Some I'm sure we will run into as we will be back in Utah and most of us are going back there. Others, who knows. But in an attempt to preserve a little of our history, here are a few photos of the last of our days in Columbia, with people who for this particular moment in time all happened to be in the same boat, sharing the same memories. Thanx everyone for including our little family in all the activities out here. It wouldn't have been the same without you. 
