First Day of School

Madlyn's first day of 1st grade was Wednesday, August 26. We were all excited for her to get to go and make new friends! Her teacher is Mrs. Parker and is really nice and the room is very cute and organized (a definite plus in my book).

Madlyn was very excited about her 'first day' ensemble, especially the scarf!

Isn't she a cutie? We did her hair exactly how she wanted it, down with a purple Hannah Montana headband!

Some of Madlyn's favorite things about school so far:

"every day is P.E. day"
she has already made 5 new friends
she already has a "little crush" on a "cute" boy named Jeffrey with "dark hair"
tomorrow she gets to buy her lunch
getting to know her teacher better
the volcano science experiment she got to do on Friday (and then reenact with her dad & brothers yesterday)


I was pretty happy to receive a note from Madlyn's teacher on Friday that said, "I am so impressed with Madlyn. She is so sweet and is such a neat and a careful worker. We are off to a great start!" Of course, we think she is wonderful but it is so nice when others notice it too.

We miss having Madlyn around but are enjoying walking her to and from school every day and hearing all about what she's doing and learning. We love her so much and know she will continue to be great! And in other news, Cole starts preschool right after Labor Day and we feel so blessed to have found a group in our ward to do it with - it will be a great experience for us all!

Different House, Same Home.

First off, I just thought this picture of my niece Alli is stinkin' hilarious and just had to throw it in for her parents:) Apparently the kids got a hold of my camera at Grandma's house and had a little fun.

Since we've been here in Texas, things have been a little different. Our house is different. There are only 2 bigger kids' rooms instead of 3 teeny tiny ones, which means we don't have a toy room anymore:( I think that's why I haven't unpacked the toys yet, I'm just not sure what to do with them. There are 2 closets in the master bedroom, which gives Jeff reason to say he wants to rent this house forever. The backyard isn't fenced in (and we're on the corner so that's no good) but there's lots of nice grass to play on (nice, since we still hadn't planted grass in AZ). We have a working fireplace, which someone so graciously left a whole pile of ashes in for us. We have black appliances, which makes my white fridge look a little funny:) We have 3 HUGE "climbing trees" in the front yard. We have lots of extra closets everywhere, which I am LOVING! Check out some pics of our new place!

our lovely (can't you see the sarcasm dripping from that) green couch fits in perfectly in our family room

I finally got Maddie's letters hung up in her room (OK, my MIL did it but at least it's done). I've only been working on them for over a year so that's not too bad, right??

My piano fits so snugly on this wall.

It is the "lone star" state, ya know.

I love my family letters that I had made for my plant shelves...but they look pretty nice here too! (can you see my temple plate, courtesy of Sierra Ranch Ward Enrichment?)

My beautiful shelf that Jeff made me is finally living up to its full potential - I love it here in our dining room!

And this is where I plan to spend much of my time...just not making cookies :( I'm starting a wellness challenge tomorrow so I'm going through detox:)

And here is a nice view of the beautiful Brazos River that runs through Waco (and is also the namesake for Jeff's new employer, Brazos Electric).

We just had the most awesome rainstorm ever! It didn't last more than 20 minutes but dumped about as much rain as we might have seen in a good month in AZ! Maybe not quite that much, but it was cool!

Like I said, things are different here. But guess what? Cade still carries his blanket around and cries like a banshee when he wakes up from his naps. Lane still lights up when I walk into the room and cries when I leave. Cole still takes flippin' F.O.R.E.V.E.R. to do pretty much anything he does and tells me 'I love you' several times a day. Maddie still likes to have alone time in her room and to mother on her little brothers. Jeff & I still like to snuggle up on the couch and watch a movie after the kids go to bed.

So, we may have changed locations and live in a different state and a different house, but the feelings here in Hewitt, TX are the same as in Queen Creek, or Flagstaff, or Mesa, AZ. We are still a family. We still love each other. We are home.

How do I say this?

I've been trying to think of the perfect way to blog about this but it's too hard. So I'll just come out with it - we are moving our family to Hewitt, TX next week for a great new job! Jeff finished his last day at his old job yesterday, the moving truck comes on Tuesday, and we will leave for our new adventure on Thursday. We are super excited and feel so strongly that we have been prepared for this and led to this place in our lives. We will be living in the perfect little area, our dream of rural living combined with the conveniences that a city can offer, and couldn't feel more blessed with the opportunity Heavenly Father has opened to us.

The down side to this happy news is that we are leaving our beloved home, ward, friends, and family. We are leaving the home that we built, the place that we have lived in for the very longest in our marriage. We are leaving dear friends and ward members that we love so much. Friends we have rejoiced with, friends we have mourned with, served with, played with, ate with, laughed with, made cookies with, learned from, and had babies with. Friends who have watched our kids so I could be with my mom after an operation, and for many of my doctor's appointments last year in my scary pregnancy with Lane. Friends who have inspired us to be better, friends who we love.

We will miss this place. We will miss the memories and friends we have made here. To you whom we are leaving, you will always hold a special place in our hearts and we will never forget you. Thank goodness for blogs and facebook:)

Oh, and please take care of the amazing family who will be renting our house from us for a couple of years, they are wonderful people!