Driving to Texas

By request, here is another blog post. I will try to do another, better one soon :).

We took 3 days to drive to Texas. We left later in the afternoon on Thursday than I had hoped. Thankfully, Sally and Aaron were willing to let us stay at their house. Friday, Bryan's birthday, was our long driving day and we made it all the way to Odessa. We stayed at a lovely hotel and had a great birthday dinner of pizza :).
Bryan's parents were great. They offered to drive Bryan's car for us so it wasn't one adult with the kids for that long.
The kids were surprisingly REALLY good. So good that as we were about an hour away from our new home I commented to Bryan that I thought I could do it alone. I have thought it through and I could if I had to but I think I will try to plan road trips that long when I can have another adult.
I have 2 photos from our 3 days driving. Isaac is really packed in the back. When we left from CA, one of the big boys was in the back with him but I decided to change that. And when I was packing up in AZ I put Austin behind Bryan and Adam behind me, that way Adam could help with Isaac, who didn't seem to mind being back there alone.

The boys have been such troopers through the move and all the adjustments. I think they have adjusted better than me; and I have been wanting this for years. Now to just get some family to move here :)
My view when I turned around
Isaac packed in the back, I wish this had turned out better. I guess when the camera I have on hand is from my phone, I can't expect greatness.

Our New Home

*it is taking me a few days to write this and there are A LOT of photos.

We are moved in. Not quite settled. But we are here with our stuff with a lot unpacked- big thanks to Bryan's parents for driving his car with us and unloading, unpacking, watching kids, etc...
The big boys have started school. It was a little harder for Adam to start since needed 2 more shots, so he got those yesterday.
Austin is in full day Kindergarten now. And he loved it yesterday, so I am hoping he still loves it when he comes home today.
I am enjoying watching the cousins play. It was worth the 3 days that we took to get here. Being around a SIL is nice too. Hopefully, she will let me pick-up or drop-off :)
We don't have TV or Internet yet- thankgoodness for smart phones :) So I took some photos of the new place with my phone. And they are true to life photos= I did NOT clean/pick up before taking them. Kim requested photos, so here they are.



Dining Room with huge window looking out to backyard






Living room from 2 angles, first from the front door and second from the doorway of the office/playroom



Office/playroom the open door is a full bath



"Pantry" one of the closets in the playroom





Kitchen



Laundry room, between kitchen and garage



Garage



View from dining room of *fenced* backyard



Boys' room



Guest room



Guest bathroom



"Master" bedroom



"Master" bathroom



Playroom bathroom



View from top of stairs

Waiting for a Jet Plane

We, Bryan and I, are in the Denver airport. We got on our first flight at 6am CST. That is 4AM! to me- on the plane! We got to Denver early. We have been here for over 3 hours. Our flight has been delayed. And we have changed gates 5 times already AND the gate we are waiting at is probably not the gate we will be leaving from. I just want to get home and see my boys. I miss them. Looking at the photos and videos on our phones is NOT helping. But they are cute. I hope they are as cute as photos and happy videos clips when we finally get to see them. But if they "reward" us for being gone for a few days, I will try to be understanding- I am exhausted so no guarantees.

Leaving on a jet plane

I am sitting on a plane. The second one of the day. And missing my boys. I know they are being taken care of. Very well, I might add. But still I miss them. And really, how could I not?

Disney Parks Again

We went to Disneyland and California Adventure before Halloween while everything was decorated for Halloween. We had a good time. These photos are from the line of Toy Story. We also went to Monster's Inc and the Tron stuff was happening there so some dancing was going on. We also watched the World of Color. I actually liked it. Probably because my boys liked it. I would watch it again - hint, hint Dad.

Papa B's Retirement Celebration

Papa B retired in June (I thought I had already posted about this). So many of us were there. We missed those not there but we understand. Thursday was the start of the celebrating with a big, fancy, adult dinner. I had Jill watch my 3 older boys and then she brought them to the Luau on Friday. And then she stayed for the fun on Saturday, white-water rafting- just so it is documented, 2 times in a row I didn't go because I had just had a baby, not complaining just journaling. I only have photos from the Luau on this camera (I haven't checked the other camera) and I can't believe the only photo of Todd is in the big group photo.

Disco Day

Disco Day was not as happy of a day as Hippie Day. They were super excited about it the night before when we had them try on the clothes even comments like "I can't wait until I can put on the sideburns!" were expressed. Then after they were put on, tears. We showed the teachers the sideburns but then #1 had me take his off before he even walked into his classroom. #2 had his teacher take them off. I guess they are more like their dad than I thought.

Hippie Day

This week was Red Ribbon Week. I forgot about Crazy Hair Day on Monday and the guilt that accompanied that was overwhelming, so I called Jill. She was watching the babies while I helped in #2's class so she went some places and got some fun things for the rest of the week. I made the tie-dye shirts. I have a better idea of how to make them better next time. They enjoyed Hippie Day a lot. These are mostly for Matt because I was sure missing Matt's tie-dye skills.

Peace

Having a great time

Why can't we have smiles like these when we take "nice" photos?

This photo is to show how his tooth is growing in, I am wondering how all of his big teeth are going to fit :)

Lining Up

#3 has been lining things up like crazy lately. Here is one example of the lining up and wearing his "Matt" shirt, if he could he would wear it every day.

The Artist

My second son LOVES to draw. He LOVES to draw on the white board at my parents' house. This has been one of my favorites. Notice the baby is flying. And that everyone is blue but me, I am pink.