Saying goodbye to Arizona

A good friend took my kids pictures right before we left Arizona.  They got lost in the shuffle and I'm just now getting around to seeing them.  I loved that she captured these moments right in our neighborhood, Thank you Leyla!  Such good memories and I can keep my kids this age forever :) Hallie 3 1/2, Jackson almost 6, Mariah 15 months

12 on the 12th August

1. My day started with an early morning run.  I've been getting bac in shape and running almost daily.  It is always hard to get it shape again, but it is worth it and I've enjoyed the stress release.

2.  We're official Texans with the texas plates!  It is so strange to see it on my car, but I guess it is reality now

3.  We went to the American Airlines museum.  There is a Lego castle exhibit on display right now.  The kids loved building and building.  My kids like to show me every couple of blocks.

4. Mariah went up the steps and down this slide a million times.  She also pushed a stroller all around which means mom following behind keeping her and everyone around her safe.

5.We invited and met friends from our new ward at the museum.  We took another boy that is around Jackson's age because he was worried he wouldn't have friends there.  We are excited to meet more people around here.

6. We ate lunch outside (in the shade).  It is HOT out, but the inside buildings are so cold we could handle it for a few minutes.  The kids love playing in rocks and sand.

7. We got a treat in our lunch of cheetos.  A favorite food of mine

8. We are decorating our bathroom in "beach house" theme.  I love the style and colors.  I love getting a hot shower every day and will enjoy looking at this.
 
9.  I took a nap during quiet time. The kids were remarkable quiet and didn't disturb me and for 45 mins I enjoy a cat nap.   Jackson read an entire Magic Treehouse book.  So proud of him.
 This is our new bedding we got.  I like it, but not love it.   I am always so hesitant to commit to something because I feel like it limits me.  I wished I found something I loved, but not to be, YET!

10. We ate dinner in the closet just to have a change of pace.  We hid from Daddy after I called him to dinner so he couldn't find us for a while.

 11. Mariah is so loving to me and gives me hugs and kisses throughout the day.

 12.  Our family played "Life" the card game.  My kids love games, but Daddy... not -so -much.  He is a good sport mostly. 

First Visitors and a trip to Austin, TX

I was so excited to have our first visitors in Texas.  I'm not sure how often people will come here and I love hosting, so I was glad they were able to come so soon.  PLUS, we got to see my sister who we have been missing so much for the past 18 months as she was serving a mission in Ukraine (and recently transferred to California when it got dangerous).  

This was great motivation to get the house clean, boxes un packed and a few decorations up.  It was fun to plan meals and live a 'normal' life for a few days while they were here  

Melinda is awesome.  She is a great, interactive and attentive Aunt. 

First, I took them to Fort Worth to explore.  We saw the stockyards and sweated like crazy there.  We ate a picnic lunch, explored in a candy store while my kids picked their favorites and walked the strip.  We saw the long horn cattle walk down the street (Jackson was so disappointed that they were not running).   We topped it off with drinks from Sonic and relaxed at home. We played games that night.

The next day we spent hanging around home.  We  went to see a movie "Heaven is for Real" I really liked it and it was super clean, but Jackson was terrified of the little boy almost dying.  He sat on my lap and I talked him through the whole movie.  That night he couldn't get to sleep until 10:45 and he was really scared.  I felt so bad I scarred him.  I shouldn't have taken him, but to me it is so spiritual and uplifting I didn't think it would affect him so much.  Jackson is really sensitive soul. 

When flights weren't looking good I was looking for more options of things to do.  We went to Dallas for the day on Thursday.  We saw a large model train display, ate lunch at a gorgeous and peaceful fountain plaza and rode the trolley to uptown Dallas.  The kids loved the splash pad we found on the way back.  Such a great way to cool off. 

 By Friday flights were still filling up with Stand-bys stacking up, so we were getting really worried.  Dave decided to take the day off and we drove a FULL 8 people in our van to Austin (3 1/2 hours away) to get them on a flight from there.  We spent the afternoon at Barton Natural Springs pool.  It was cool and pretty and so big!  We had a great time cooling off there.  

We checked flights as we were leaving and there were more seats on the earlier flight so we rushed out and took them to the airport.  Melinda didn't even have time to change out of her suit (and of course, that means that she got the pat down at security!).   They had a 4 hour delay, deplaning, cancelled flights that affected theirs and then another delay in Phoenix until they gave up at 1 am and went to Tylers.  They got out fine the next day.  We were so relieved and happy to have them home (although so sad to see them go).   Hopefully, they are brave enough to try standby again. 

Our little family spent the evening in Austin at the capitol building and grounds.  We also waited and watched millions of bat leave the Congress Street bridge.  

The next day we went to the military museum, hiked Mount Bonnell for a great view of Austin and walked around a sculpture garden. 

We headed home and stopped at Inner Space Cavern to check it out and eat lunch.  The kids fell asleep almost the whole ride home.  Successful trip.  We really fell in love with all that Austin has to offer and hope to be back to check out more natural springs, caverns and other sights. 

Our First month in Texas

We're Texans now I guess, so we are learning all sorts of things that Texans take pride in.  It is fun to be in a state that is so proud of itself.  We took a trip into Fort Worth, where the stockyards are.  We learned a little about the long horns and ranching (although it helped when a local ward member brought us back and actually explained what it all meant)

I was so happy Melinda and my parents could see our new house and visit with us.  I wish I had a better idea of what to show them, but we had fun exploring, both in Dallas and in Fort Worth. 

This is how I had to grocery shop one day.  It went smoother than I was anticipating (dreading) because I brought a couple of phones/electronic games. 

With the reading program, the kids earned a free pass to the museum of Science and History in Fort Worth.  It was a good museum.  I'm glad we got a chance to go, but I'm not sure we will get a pass or anything. 

I was also happy to meet a friend from Phoenix here and have someone who I feel comfortable with to talk to.  Thanks Jen!

The library had some fun summer science camps as well as some presentations.  This one on raptors was very interesting and had at least 3 people in my family spell bound the entire hour.  (Mariah wasn't too interested).  I love watching my kids learn new things!

One day it rained so much!  We ran and ran in the rain.  The kids took some prodding and teaching (Who knew growing up in Arizona would produce rain-running-skill- lacking kids?) and I had to lead by example, but soon they got the hang of it and had a blast running and splashing. Mariah never did like being out in the rain, but observed all the fun from under the safety of the front porch.  I LOVE our cul-de-sac street!

Mariah is learning to 'jump'.  She hasn't gotten off the ground yet, but she is adorable!

We've had 2 ward members have us over for dinner.  We've met many of our cul-de-sac neighbors who are very friendly.  They all know each other well and it seems to be a great little neighborhood.  We are driving around and getting to know where all the important things are (the mall, costco, McDonalds, Gas stations, Library, etc.).  It is starting to feel a bit more familiar and I hope someday I call it home and really feel it.

12 on the 12th July

Jacksons Birthday!! From Left to Right
1. Jackson officially turned 6 today.  We had a birthday party before we left Mesa, so it was a bit anti climatic, but we tried to make it fun while still trying to accomplish a lot of unpacking on our first Saturday in our new home. He got a magicians costume, a Magic treehouse book, Spot it Jr Game, a soccer outfit and a lego set. 
2. I got a new vacuum for my birthday and bought it used it for the first time today.  It really sucked and I love it!
3.  Hallie got me a jewelry organizer.  It is the first time I can see my jewelry and maybe I will wear them more frequently.
4.The guest room closet is being used as a storage closet.  There are no storage closets in the house and I am wondering what we will do once we get another kid... cross that bridge when we get to it I guess.
5.  We set up the kids room and it feel good to have at least one room with matching furniture, bedding and a bit of decor.  I love the colors.
6. We went through boses in the garage and I am so hesitant to throw away old memorable things.  I took a picture so I could 'have' this forever.  I remember making it with my best friend in High School, Kristen
7. Dave is a really hard worker.  Even in the blazing heat and humidity, he organized the garage and the boxes so we could make sure we werent missing any inside boxes.
8. Hallie 'ran into' this kid and we kept calling for Hallie and this kid would respond.  Turns out his name is Ali and he thought we were talking to him.
9.  Jackson chose McDonalds for his birthday meal, mostly because they give out beenie babies in the happy meal and he is obsessed with collecting them.  He was thrilled to get another one and to play with Hallie with them.
10. Mariah toddling around and being cute.  I love watching her.
11.  Getting some sonic at happy hour.  Moving into a new house means not being prepared with meals and food so we've had to go out a lot more.
12.  Jackson with his new beenie baby (called beenie boos by him).  He loves playing these with Hallie.  He is a good brother.

Road Trip from Mesa, AZ to North Richland Hills, TX

We started our move to Texas by staying in an awesome hotel in North Scottsdale.  We invited my brother and his kids to come up to play with us.  We loved being close to Tyler & Kacey and his kids while he was in Law school.  We met up frequently for Sunday dinners, during the week playdates and other events.  Our kids really love each other so much.  I love those cousin relationships and am so sad to take my kids away from that.   We swam in the pools and lazy river.  It was super crowded since it was the 4th of July weekend in Phx.

 Tyler and Kacey watched our kids so we could go get massages (that came with the room).  It was SO incredibly nice to relax so fully.  I wish that could be part of my weekly routine :).   We went to dinner at the hotel and ate to our hearts content.  It was so nice to be free to order whatever we wanted and enjoy a relaxing evening.


 We crashed for the night and despite our plans to get off early, we slept in and took it slowly.

We made it as far a Tuscan before we stopped to walk by a display of old military airplanes.  

We went to church and met a family who was also moving to the Dallas area.  Jackson bore his testimony in Sacrament and we snuck Mariah in to nursery and she never cried a bit!!  Such an enjoyable meeting!

We then drove through the Saguaro National park.  It was cool to learn about the cactus we've been living around for so long.  Jackson liked the Jr. Ranger program and we enjoyed taking photos and looking around. 

 Finally, at 5 pm we were on the road again.  We found a place on the drive and call in our order so by the time we pulled up in Lordsburg, our table was set with food, a high chair, and kids coloring books!  It was great to sit down and start eating immediately!  We should do this more often! 
We got back on the road for a couple more hours and spent the night in El Paso.

Once again, we were planning on getting up early, but we slept late, ate Texan waffles and took a quick dip in the pool.  We finally got on the road to Carlsbad Caverns.  This was out in the middle of no where.  The drive felt like we were never going to see civilization again.  We ate at the cafe at the park and then headed to the caverns.  We were a bit disappointed that we could do all the hikes since our kids are so little, but we were thankful for the elevator making it easy to get to the best parts of the caverns.  We did hike all around inside the caverns.  It was amazing.  The structures and creations were fabulous.  Once again, Jackson loved the Jr. Ranger program they provided.  He is a little lover of learning and it is fabulous to be around him.  Fortunately, our kids were a bit creeped out by the cave, so they were subdued and well behaved.
We hit the road again and made it to a random pizza buffet along the way.  The kids loved it and it was a perfect pit stop.  We headed to a park to get more wiggles out (we had to break into an elementary school park after trying 3 other locations that GPS was wrong about.).  We got into the car as the sunset and headed for Abilene.   We debated heading home, but were exhausted by the time we stopped.

Once again, after a slow morning, we headed out to our home.  We ate at Chick fil a for breakfast and a long 2 1/2 hours later we were in north Richland Hills.  The kids were thrilled and ran around the house finding all the things we had told them about.  We tried the swing set and the loft bed.  Everything was so much bigger than I had remembered it.  It was interesting to see it with our 'stuff' in it.  This is really our house now!!

The vacation was over.  I started cleaning out the fridge and then we took a huge shopping trip to have something to eat over the next few days.  I spent the rest of the day cleaning out cupboards and trying to get the kitchen in working order.  I realized that I have NEVER put a kitchen together on my own.  I felt lost knowing where to put everything.  Dave wasn't much help because he was focused on sorting out boxes, mowing the VERY overgrown lawn and getting our beds in order.

The next day was so overwhelming.  Dave headed to work and I tried to get motivated to get boxes, but the house was so dirty, I couldn't stand to unload with the condition it was in.  I spent over 5 hours cleaning baseboards, window ledges, windows, doors, closet shelves and other dusty nooks and crannies.  The upstairs was completely finished and I didn't know where to start to I just kept cleaning.  Literally, not a single box was unloaded this day. I was still overwhelmed (stress-paralyzed?) But at least the house was clean.

We met a kid at McDonald's the week before and I saw him again at the library.  This may seem insignificant to most, but I have always said that I feel at home in a place when I run into people I know randomly.  When we moved to Arizona, I ran into 5 people in the first week I happened to know (this never happened as frequently as that first week).  I felt like God was showing me that I was 'at home'; that I belonged.  When we were moving here I realized that I knew NO ONE so there really was no chance of randomly running into someone I knew.  But meeting someone and then running into them again showed me that God is aware of my needs and he is doing His best to meet them.  This happened again with a neighbor that I met and then ran into later.