Macey feeding Isley

Macey loves cats. Here she is feeding the newest cat down at the Tuscon Black Shelter. ;)

On our way

Perhaps you haven't heard but my family has relocated away from the Arizona desert to the 'North Central Plains' of Texas. We were sad to leave our many friends and family, but excited for our new adventure.
As for our departure... Goodbye to the Gunns and Wrights. If you think that having a party with 7 boys (and 2 girls and an infant) inside is a good idea, then I suggest you try it for about 30 minutes! It was wild and crazy, but after lunch we were able to kick these hooligans outside so we could have a moment of peace!
Group photo. We are missing Macey because she was happily eating (and smearing ) a chocolate dipped ice cream cone.
Mom photo. I love these two ladies and I hope that someone else will come along and fill the GIGANTIC void I'm leaving in their lives. Ha, ha! At least I hope they can find someone else to call at 7:15 in the morning and say 'We need a friend to play with today!' (oh, and do you see how lovely these girls look whereas I look like I had been packing for 6 days straight...)
Moving day. It takes 8 hours to load our family's belongings on to a moving truck. Thanks to the Williams for letting us camp out at their house the night before and all day as we waited.


Goodbye Barons. Another thanks for letting us crash at your house.
Goodbye Frassas! We are glad we could visit you before we left for good.
We spent time with the Tucson Blacks, but got away with out any photos. So, thanks for letting us have a Grandma and Grandpa visit this summer before we left.
Here we are barely in TX eating lunch. Thanks Alyssa for helping me drive.


Macey loves Elmo. Here she is happy to have her own computer.
A night of fun at the hotel.
Ah, yes, and we have finally arrived! A beautiful house...
...full of boxes waiting for us.
Exploring everything is important.
Go to sleep already! It has been a challenge to switch to the time difference (mostly because it is light out until 9pm).
So, we are here and we are happy and we are safe. The boxes are slowly emptying. New furniture is slowly arriving. We are working out the kinks of where to put things. We are adjusting and Ryan is friend hunting!

Talent Show

Here is Alex performing for the talent show at school. Things to consider as you watch this...

1. He started taking piano lessons the 2nd week of January.

2. 3 weeks before this performance he had a panic attack at his first piano recital and nearly didn't perform.

3. On the day of tryouts he only had the right hand of this song 60% memorized and had forgotten his sheet music.

4. He had to do this twice: once for the K-3 and parents crowd and again for the 4-8 and parents crowd (about 800 people all together).

I admit that on the morning of tryouts I tried to comfort him by saying that when they called his grade to go tryout he could just skip it and not feel bad about it. On the way to the talent show he was in full anxious mode and said, 'I tried out because I never thought I would get picked.' And then I used it as a great moment to say that Heavenly Father knew he could do it because he never puts us in a situation we can't handle. Certainly we are proud beyond belief and excited to see where his piano playing goes.

Family Pictures

One of my friends was willing to take pictures of our family. I selected her mainly because Macey is familiar with her and I thought it wouldn't take long for her to smile for the camera. I think she did a great job. Thanks, Lacie!