Our crazy busy summer 2014

First off, our summer is only 6 weeks long.  Keep that in mind when you see all that we crammed into that short 6 weeks.  To me, summer isn't really summer unless you hang out at the beach, so even though we didn't have a ton of time for that we still managed to make a few trips out to the North Sea for some fun in the sun...

Next up - moving.  When we decided to sign on for another 2 years in the NL, we knew we would likely have to find another place to live.  The owner of our old place wanted to sell, and no amount of money or advance payment could convince him to let us continue to rent for 2 more years.  I really didn't want to go through the hassle of moving...but sometimes you just don't have a choice.  Finding a place big enough for our family in a European city center (near our school and work) is a huge challenge, especially when you factor in a budget.  But after months and months of searching (and making a few compromises),  I was able to find a place that was just right for our fam.  We made sure to have pwc arrange to move us, because let's face it - our elder's quorum is NOT equipped to move furniture in and out of tiny 2nd floor windows like these european moving companies are.  It's pretty fascinating to watch, but I basically left Ryan to do the supervising and kept the kids out of the house for a couple days.  We were also able to stay in a hotel for a few nights while they were setting everything up - huge plus.

Out and about in Rotterdam

Keeping busy at one of our favorite spots - the Maritime Museum

After everything was moved over to our new place, which is probably only 1 kilometer from the old one, I had to frantically unpack everything in a few short days before we needed to head to Texas.  Because Ry and the kids were coming back to start work and school without me (while I went to Jeff's wedding in Denver), I had to make sure everything was in order before I left.  It was a LOT of work!  These cute children just played and played and played while I worked my can off.  I was so happy that they were content to adventure in our new place so I could work in peace.

Anytime we fly home to the states, the first few days look like this...

Poor little Elsie couldn't even make it through the DFW airport without crashing on a nearby seat.

Meanwhile, back at my parent's house, things were about to get crazy before Cait's wedding.  Chris & fam had just sold their house a few months earlier and were waiting to get into their new place.  They were staying at my parent's house in the interim.  Plus, Caitlin and Bryan came home from Rexburg to work for the summer.  It was a full house and I was worried that it would be a little crowded for us to join the party, but it was actually super fun to have so many Carvers under one roof again.

One of many conversations spent around the kitchen table discussing important and not so important matters.

A handful of cousins at Nana's

I finally came clean about my pregnancy to the world (since I didn't have to hide it from my family anymore).  Not a moment too soon - I couldn't really hide that bump much longer!

All the kiddos got fresh haircuts before heading back to start school.  Carver begrudgingly said goodbye to his beloved "surfer dude hair," as he called it.  The girls got cut little bobs - easy for Ry to fix for the week that I would stay in the states.

My mom helped me with our annual "Back to School Feast," which I will post about later.  The next day, I would send them off to the NL without me.

 It was a crazy busy summer, but packed full of fun memories for all.  I'm so glad we got to spend some time with Chris & fam, Nicole & fam, Caitlin (before her big day), Bryan, and all the rest before we headed back for 2 more years in Holland.