February Farewells .

Farewell # 1 -Zoey lost her other front tooth. The dentist
thinks it will be awhile before she gets her permanent teeth. 

Farewell #2- Our annual pass to the Indianapolis Childrens Museum expired.
We have gone there once a week for a year.  It is an incredible place and we will miss it 

 I am thrilled it is MARCH 1st!  Spring is slowly making its appearance and we have exactly 60 days until we move back to Utah!  However, March is sure to be a month of bitter sweet emotions for the Franklin family as we prepare to leave Indy.

February was a good but challenging month for our family.  Cabin fever, severe Midwest weather, and some sad farewells.

The new Dora exhibit has really been fun for the kids.

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Raising the colors.

Yo Ho Yo Ho a Pirates Life for Zoe!

Zealand loved the trains!

The cafe was always a favorite spot.

The Broad Ripple Merry Go Round is our favorite!  Zealand will miss watching the bell be rang.

Farewell #3-  Our sweet friends the Hansens are moving back to Minnesota.  Stacey was my first Indiana friend and saved me when we first moved here. She let me whine and complain a lot about how homesick and hot I was.
We always had fun going to the zoo, park, museum, or just hanging out.

We had a going away brunch at our house. The kids had fun and will miss each other.

We wish them good luck on their new adventure!

Lets hope we can meet up with them in Utah someday when they come to visit family.

Stacey- I will miss you!!! Thank you!!!

 One of the final February farewells happened the very last day of the month.
 Farewell #4 OUR SANITY!    Sunday night there was a severe thunder storm.  We all had a hard time falling asleep. Zealand was scared and ended staying up watching the Academy Awards with us till 11:00 pm.  We finally fell asleep despite the wind, LOUD thunder and lightening.
 At 2:00AM the tornado sirens in our neighborhood went off.  Not being from the Midwest, this was a very unnerving sound in the middle of the night. The sirens went on and off until about 4:00AM.
It rained and rained!  The kids were scared and woke up.  I decided to check our basement for water because we have had trouble in the past.  There was 2-3 inches of water!  I could hear it steaming in around the whole foundation.  It is an unfinished a basement, so we only use it for storage and laundry.  We had kept all our moving boxes, and they were just starting to get wet. Ty and I spend and hour bringing everything upstairs to our front room.  Then I spent another hour and a half shoveling water to the drain.  It was a nightmare!  Zealand was so scared after everything, he slept in our bed, which meant Ty slept on the couch.  Not a great way for him to start a school week with three exams.  The next morning the kids still woke up bright and early at 7 am, and I had to face to nightmare waiting for me in the front room.

After a few hours I manage to create some order again.

I guess, our sanity may stick around a little longer.

On the bright side I won't have to go downstairs for boxes as I start packing.

Farewell February, Front Teeth, and Friends!

Valentines Day

Zoey had such a fun Valentine's Day.
She made a cute "mailbox" at school and got some very special mail all the way from Utah

Plus, she got to exchange Valentines with her kindergarten friends.

Notice anything different about her smile?

We had a very nice day!

Love Is In The Air

I have always LOVED little mail boxes.  We made these sweet letter cookies a few years ago.
Target dollar section sells the mail boxes.
Zoey and Zealand love to get  little love notes everyday.

Valentine's Day is probably one of my favorite holidays!  Pink, red, lace doilies, heart shaped cookies, love notes, and CHOCOLATE makes for a very lovely day!

This has been one of the longest coldest winter in my memory.  It has given me lots of time to reflect on my life.  I have been reading and studying a lot about living your best life.
Call me crazy, but I love a good organizational book or television show.

Getting rid of physical, mental , and financial clutter makes you focus on what matters most in life.
Peter Walsh is becoming a hero of mine!  He is an organizational expert, author, and has a television show called Enough Already.
 I have been reading his newest book " Lighten Up". I would highly recommend it to everyone!  He makes a good point when he says "Wealthy should mean you are healthy, happy, safe. Happiness comes from family, intimate relationships,friendships, career pursuits, and passions."

I am a big believer that less is more. Relationships, not stuff,  make our lives joyful!

I have felt so much joy as I look back on past memories of my loved ones.

I am so happy for all the experiences that have helped lead our family to where we are now.
Many experiences were very hard and difficult to understand.  Looking back, I am pleasantly surprised they were all for our benefit.

As we inch closer to springtime, I am a bit overwhelmed to be moving cross country again. Yet, I am very thankful for our experiences in Indiana.  We have grown a lot as a little family. We have shared so many good memories.  The next year, will have its challenges. Ty will be doing 8 -- 6 week rotations, and flying back and forth to Indy.  However,  it is great to see the light at the end of the tunnel! I am excited for what the future will bring.

I was looking through iphoto and want to share what I LOVE most!

Zoey's 2nd Valentine's Day!

I LOVE her chubby cheeks! 

She has always been such a sweet little girl!

She is loving, kind, considerate, and adventurous!   

Zealand came into this world kicking and screaming.  He is very passionate to say the least!
I smile sometimes to think that we actually survived his infancy. 

He spent a lot of time napping in his swing.
It was the only time I could shower of get any little thing done.
 I realize now, I shouldn't have worried so much about getting all the little things done.
In the long run, you don't remember the laundry that didn't get put away or perfect meal for dinner.
You remember a tiny baby who loved to be held.

Zealand's toddler years are requiring endless patience.
Yet, I see it paying off when I see him being considerate and kind to others.
He is makes me want to be a more patient, active, and fun mom.
He is a joy to be around... as long as he has had his pancakes and a nap! :) 

"I Know That My Redeemer Lives" is his favorite song. He really helps keep the spirit in our home.

I love this guy!  I have grown up with him since we were six years old.
He has been the same kind, consistent, strong guy his entire life.
I love that we can share our hobbies, and our love of the simple things.
I am so proud of him. He is my best friend! 

My family is a huge strength to us!  We have missed them so much! We have so much fun when we are all together!
They are all good examples to us.

Grandma Sherry raised a wonderful son and is such a great grandma!
We have missed her lots, and are so grateful for all she has done for our family.

Grandpa Kris is always lots of fun to be around. He does a lot for our family, and we are so thankful!

While we have been in Indiana Grandma Betty and Pop have been such a support!
She is always so nice to send us a little handwritten note cheering us on.
We are so thrilled our kids can spend time with such wonderful great- grandparents.

Although, Grandma and Grandpa Pink have passed away, a day doesn't go by that I don't think of them.
They helped our family so much, and it was always a pleasure to get to help them out too.
I think part of the reason Zoey is so thoughtful and caring, is because she helped take care of them.

It was very hard to watch as their health declined, but we know we will be with them again someday!
We are thankful for the time we spent with them.

They came to the hospital when Zoey was born.  It was so neat to have 4 generations.

We say it a lot, but we LOVE our Annie!
When we adopted her as a tiny 8 week old pup, we didn't know those first few months
would be such a heart wrenching experience.
She was so sick with seizures, but turned out to be a miracle!
It sound's crazy, but it has been a huge sacrifice when we couldn't bring her to Indy.
We miss her everyday, but are just grateful she is alive and well.   

Happy Valentines Day! I hope it is sweet! -Zara

Iced In

Like most of the Mid-West... we are iced in.  The past few days have been a bit nerve racking.  

Ty and Zoey's school canceled school for two days.  

Grocery stores are bare of bread, milk, eggs, wood, generators, batteries, flashlights.

I am glad we were prepared with food, etc.... but I have been worried about the power going off.  

So far, we have been very blessed! 

Ty took the garbage out today not knowing if the garbage trucks would even be running.

Everything is covered in ice!

Thankfully, we have a small garage so the Xterra has been out in the elements.

It will really be interesting to see when things start to improve.

 Snow and winds keep creating more problems for Indiana and surrounding states.

On the upside of things, The Ground Hog didn't see his shadow, 

that means SPRING is coming EARLY!

We made these cute little guys to celebrate Ground Hog Day.  

The kids can make them go up and down in their burrow.

In the meantime, we will be hanging out in our "burrow" safe and sound.

January

I can't believe January is almost over!  It has been very freezing, and mostly gray skies all month.  

I am so happy to say, we made it though without too much cabin fever!  

I decided to get back into quilting this winter.  I did a lot of quilting before the kiddies came along.  

I follow a lot of quilting blogs, and they inspired me to start again.  I love all the modern fabrics!

Most quilters now a days have expensive sewing machines to quilt with. 

I don't, but I really enjoy doing it the old fashion way. By hand.  

This took me about 3 weeks. It is only size of a small lap quilt.  

I love to have a project waiting for me at night after the kids go to sleep! 

This is a smaller doll quilt I made.

I love how this little quilt turned out!

My mom came at the end of the month for a week long visit. 

The night she flew in, it was very snowy. Ty went to the airport to pick her up. 

The kids were so excited that Nana was coming. They sat by the window for an hour waiting for her. 

She needed a vacation, and we had a very nice time. She helped me get stuff ready to pack up.

Zealand is learning the art of fly tying from him daddy.  He loves to sit with Ty and tie some flies!  

He uses his Thomas crane and Play Doh scissors so it is safe.  

When Ty was on winter break he would go get Ty out of bed everyday,

 and drag him into the kitchen to tie flies.

Zoey loves going to art class at school. This project turned out very cute.

We got to decorate this bear as a family for her classroom. Go Dawgs!

Zealand insists on pancakes every morning. He gets his favorite two Mrs. Butterworths, the Bisquick, a fork  and sits down to wait for his 6-9 pancakes.  I try to switch it up with french toast or waffles.
Thank heaven Nana bought us a plug in griddle for Christmas! It is a lifesaver! I can make 6- 8 pancakes at once!
He will not eat any veggies or meat so I really go crazy trying to think of things he will eat.
He is growing like a weed so the pancake diet must be working.

After pancakes he loves to watch Polar Express.  

Our backyard

Our Front Yard.  The city never plows side streets. Drives me a little crazy, but the Xterra loves it.

The kids showing off for Nana in the snow.

Is there anything cuter than a little kid in sleepers?

Zealand watching Zoey and the girls at gymnastics. I think we better keep an eye on him. 

He is a charmer! 

A lady at gymnastics asked if he was 3 or 4. I said he was 2 and 1/2 she was amazed. She said he talks so well and is so big. It is hard because he is still little in a lot of ways and is very tender hearted for  looking so grown up.

Nana took us to our favorite place to eat, Steak N Shake!  We are happy because we heard they opened one in Las Vegas.  That is the closest one to Utah. If PA school doesn't work out, Ty and I are going to open up a Steak N Shake in Ogden. 

 It would be huge hit!

Yummy!

After lunch, Nana took us to Chuck E Cheese.  I have to admit this is only the second time I have taken the kids there. I am a bit weary of germs, and Chuck E Cheese seemed a little frightening.  :)

 However, this one seemed to be very clean, and not crowded at all. The kids had a blast! 

Their favorite game is bowling. Zealand loves to wait for the ball to roll out.

He got a little nervous for some reason.  

He chased Chuck E around the whole place.

This kid LOVES music! He can sing just about any song he hears.  He loves to bang his drums, but we like it better when he strums quietly on his sister's guitar or piano.

Nana went and ate lunch with Zoey at school.

She has lots of cute friends.

She is such a good girl to pick white milk.

Her classmates are baffled why she doesn't get chocolate or strawberry. 

She is very good at making good healthy choices. 

It was No-Name Calling Week so they were supposed to wear yellow.

This little handsome guy is one of her best buddies, Marcell.  

At pick up time he comes and opens her door for her.

She is really going to miss her friends when we move in April. 

Her teacher said the kids will be sad to see her go.

Silly kids.

Zoey is doing a great job in kindergarten. We have so much fun listening her read all by herself. 

She has mastered her Dick and Jane books!  

At night, we have been reading chapter books aloud together. 

So far we have read: Stuart Little, My Father's Dragon Trilogy, and now we are reading 

Charlie and The Chocolate Factory.

It is fun because then we watch the movie together.  

It is very hard to believe we have about 80 something days left in Indiana!

I feel like we have had "the best of times and the worst of times" here.  

We are excited because maybe just maybe spring is just around the corner. 

 I guess we will see on Ground Hog Day! -Zara