moving in...

Note: I have posted a LOT of blog posts today - so make sure you scroll through, and see them all

Moving in to our new place has definitely been an adventure. We have been so blessed to have family help us so much. John's parents own a home that they have been fixing up to sell or rent - so it worked out perfectly as a temporary place for us. When we got here, there was still some work to be done. Turned out to be a blessing that we didn't have our trailer full of stuff for a few days. It's much more liveable now!

(hanging out in the packed car)

Three days after we arrived, we were treated to a nice severe thunderstorm. The kind we remember from Texas. Only - obviously I had forgotten. My parents were visiting on their way back from Branson, MO, and my mom and I went to Walmart during a small break in the storm. (A warning to ya kids - really, DON'T drive in severe weather, REALLY). There was ping pong ball sized hail hitting my windshield. I honestly don't know how it didn't break. Sooooo scary. There was a lot of hail damage to roofs and windows around town.

When the trailer arrived, John and I started unloading a few things before we got help from people in the ward. John was carrying our heavy TV, and tripped over the dolly that was in the driveway. He really scraped up his leg, badly. Somehow he managed to not drop the TV, and gently set it down. His leg immediately began to swell. It looked terrible. We sent him off to a clinic, while people arrived to help. Dr. visit and xray later, he got back home just as we unloaded the last thing off the truck. I think he planned it, don't you? Even now, 2 weeks later, his leg is still swollen and healing (but not broken).

We are slowly getting adjusted to the move. Our place is still a wreck full of boxes, but it will get there. I'm definitely still adjusting as well. I miss our old place, and it's hard to think about it sitting there empty while we are here - but being around family sure has been NICE!

(can you see the dent?)

(this was taken just a few days after the injury - it actually looks much yuckier now)

moving out...

I'm not sure if I had ever mentioned on the blog that we decided to move. It has been a long couple of years for us. We have struggled with making a decision of what to do about John's job. He wasn't happy with the way things were working out at his firm - so we started looking. He interviewed in Phoenix, and Las Vegas, with nothing really working out. Most all of John's family live in Clovis, NM, and we always had the opportunity for him to work there (with his bro-in-law - an attorney as well). To be honest, we weren't really thrilled about the idea. It's a small town, and not really our idea of where we wanted to end up. We prayed about it, and knew that it was the right thing. (Even though I didn't want that to be the answer!)

We packed up the truck trailer on June 5th, Saturday. We had a lot of help from ward members, which was a great blessing. I somehow forgot to leave out tennis shoes for myself, so all I had were flip flops. Great for summer, not so great for carrying furniture. Our helpers will receive many blessings for carrying our heavy furniture (piano included) down our driveway and then climbing back up to get more. It went pretty smoothly.

The way the "trailer" works - you load it up, they pick it up, drive it for you, drop it off, you unload it, and then they pick it up again. So nice to not worry about having to drive a big Uhaul. However, it also meant that our stuff would not arrive at our new house until June 15th (which actually turned out to be a good thing). We decided to spend a couple days at home getting it cleaned and fixed up (since we are going to rent it out). So it meant sleeping on air mattresses, no tables/chairs/dishes. Just basically camping out in our house. It was a little rough on the kids, but we made it through. We ended up driving to New Mexico the following Tuesday, staying in Flagstaff, AZ overnight, and arriving in Clovis that Wednesday evening.

(Zane was sleeping in our room for a couple of nights, and we guess that Lily must have been looking for us in the middle of the night, and found Zane instead)

zane's birthday...

So - the day before we packed up the truck was Zane's 7th birthday. We have planned to only have big friend birthday parties when our kids turn 5, 8, 12, 16, etc. - you get the idea, milestone type of birthdays. However this year, since we were moving, we decided we would throw a big friend birthday for Zane. Since it was in the middle of packing and moving, we had it at a local swimming rec center. It worked out perfect, because they do everything for you - decorations, food - all you have to do is bring the cake! Zane decided he wanted an "only boy" party, and didn't invite any girls. He even tried to tell me that Lily and I weren't invited!! He picked out a dinosaur cake complete with volcanoes (of course). It turned out great!





For his presents from the family - he said he wanted a skateboard, hot wheels track, a club penguin membership (his favorite computer game), and books. What a lucky kid, he got everything he wanted!!




We let him choose a restaurant to have his birthday dinner as well. He picked Red Robin. We had a really fun dinner as a family (and great service too, which is always nice). Happy Birthday bud, you are such a wonderful kid!

lily's birthday...

Miss Lily turned three years old May 31st. We celebrated with cake and presents! She picked out her own cake. I have to admit that it is sort of a cake wreck (see this blog). But it was perfect for her. She wanted a pink tricycle, pink roller skates, pink shopping cart...are you getting the theme here? She is really turning into a cute smart little girl. We love her so much!

superhero day and school's out...

I'm catching up on my blogging, now that things have started to settle down. One of the last days of spirit week at school was superhero day. Zane dressed up as Super Z - his own brand of superhero. Silly!
Zane finished up first grade this year, and he did great! He has been doing really well in school. He's reading around a 3rd grade level and really enjoys his math. His teacher was just great and loved having him in her class. Thanks Mrs. Merrill. We will really miss the school!