Our First Blog

 I found this draft of my very first blog post.  It is crazy to think of how little the kids were and how strange it felt to be starting out in Florida. 

As you can tell, this is our first blog.  I have resisted as long as I could but taking the grandkids all the way across the country resulting in a sworn oath to create a blog to document the crazy adventures of the Hone kids.

We are now in Florida after 8 days in the car.  I'm not sure who had it worse - Marc in the gigantic and bumpy moving truck or me in the van with the three little ones.  Luckily, I had spent a month gathering up items to entertain and distract them which ended up working like a charm.  Of course the stops along the way helped - who doesn't want to see an enormous eyeball?

Lots of memories were made and then we moved in and are still slowly getting everything unpacked and situated.  It will help once we get more furniture.  Coleman has started school and is loving it.  Marc has started work and seems to be enjoying himself as well.  Campbell is anxious to find his preschool but has enjoyed the time playing and doing puzzles with Addison.  He gets to be the boss which seems to be working out just fine for him.  Addie is loving cooking in her little kitchen which we finally set up and being with "the brothers" as she often calls them. 

I will be the first to admit that transitioning from Utah to Florida was a rough road for me.  A wise friend told me to give myself a good year to adjust.  Patience isn't really one of my strong suits and that year seemed like one of the longest years of my life.  I was definitely starting to settle in and feel more comfortable in our routines but Florida was not home.

It was nearly a year to the day when it all just started to fall into place. And when I truly felt like Florida had become home and I was so comfortable with our routines - we had to move.  Of course, we were moving back to Utah - which was truly home, so you'd think it would be easy.  But it wasn't.  It wasn't the weather - however wonderful it can be, or the thrill of splashing in the puddles as we danced in the rain.  It wasn't the schools - although our children loved their teachers and had found fun friends to play with each day.  It wasn't the house - even though I know I will deeply miss the chance to swim at any moment and the thrill of midnight swimming in the spring.  It wasn't the amusement parks - although we enjoyed our fair share of Disney, Busch Gardens and Legoland.  It was the friendships.  I knew it would be difficult to leave my Dad, but I knew that we would see him in Utah and when we came out to Florida.  But being able to find a group of women who were all so different and unique and that I respected so much and enjoyed being with them - that I miss.  There are some truly incredible women down there and I'm so grateful that our friendships haven't ended just because I moved across the country.   

It has been wonderful to be back with our families and to renew our friendships with those we left behind a couple of years ago.  And to meet new friends in our new neighborhood.  It is still an adventure.