We're Getting There

Here are some updated pictures of our house. If you don't care about our house, you're REALLY not going to care about this post!  They were supposed to start drywalling Monday, which means we should have a firm closing date within the next week or two. We did a walk-through with the builder last week and he said it should be right around the middle of March!!!! I didn't want to dare hope for that, but now it looks like we'll be ready to move in about two weeks before our apartment lease is up. Sounds just about PERFECT to me. :)

From the front

The kitchen (or what will be the kitchen!)

The living room - looking towards the back yard

A bathroom

Side view of the house - check out that RED Oklahoma dirt!

There might be insulation in the house, but it's still cold!

Edward's all ready to take a shower!

Back view from the greenbelt (or should I say brownbelt?)

Lots Goin' On

These last few months have been CRAAAAAZY!!  I deeply apologize to anyone who lives for my blog posts, hehehe.  Since it has been so long since I've posted, be prepared for a doozy of a post.  I'm about to attempt chronicling our adventures since our roadtrip this summer.  Here goes. . .

August:

My brother, who is in the Air Force, was reassigned to San Angelo (I have since learned that even people in Texas don't know where that is - sad).  That must have been the most exciting day of my LIFE!!!  Finally, someone from my side of the family lived within driving distance - just 3 hours from San Antonio.  Needless to say, we have become very familiar with San Angelo since then.

Outside San Angelo's Museum of Art - Edward is trying to "recreate" this "work of art".

Sweet girl - as long as she doesn't know you're taking her picture, you can get a genuine smile!

At the Museum of Art again - just possibly we were hardpressed to find anything else to do in that city. ;)

Read them a book, and you're a friend for life!

Buddies - she really did like me better than she's acting in this photo.  Pinkie swear.

Apparently I'll do anything to win over a child's affection - including donning a pair of sunglasses 20x too small just to get a giggle.

The clones.



September:
Just 3 weeks after my brother moved to San Angelo, Edward received a job offer in Oklahoma City. Okay, so we were REALLY grateful for the job offer, because without it, we would now be living in a box, but at the same time, I was so bummed that we'd be moving farther away from those guys (and all of Edward's family in Houston). Nevertheless, we packed up our apartment and moved to the windy plains! And boy is it windy! I think we have a non-windy day maybe once every 8 days. Everyone here is extremely friendly, the traffic is WAAAAAAY better, and we have been able to experience a little bit of fall weather. Oklahoma is definitely growing on us. . .

Last night in our apartment - sleeping on an air mattress.

STILL cleaning at 11:00 the night before our move.

Almost everything is packed in the truck.

Our new Okie apartment all full of our boxes!

October:
We spent October getting set up in our new home and making some plans for the coming months. First, we are building a house!!! It will be ready sometime this spring (March or April). It is little, but it's our first, and it's OURS. We have fun driving to our new neighborhood and watching the progress made on our house. We've also spent a lot of time working on adoption - since we moved to a new state, our homestudy has to be redone with LDS Family Services. We have also started pursuing adoption through OKDHS, and hopefully will be approved with them early in 2013. The highlight of our month though was that Edward's niece and nephew came to stay with us for a few weeks. It was so much fun to have them here, and I'm pretty sure I don't have any unrealistic expectations about parenthood anymore!

The house that is pointed out in the picture is not our house - ours is on the other side of the street (it's obviously not there yet) and backs to the greenbelt - complete with picket fence and gate!

Our lot pre-construction.

What our house will look like. :)

Ward Trunk-or-Treat - I went as an early morning seminary student (along with the rest of the YW Presidency), and Edward went as an Occupy Protester. What a dork!

He was just awful while handing out candy to the kids - telling them to make sure and share with everyone, that they could only have their "fair share" etc. Poor kids didn't know how to react!

Making Mummy Dogs. . .Mmmm!

Someone liked my Biggest Loser workout video, hehehe.

Cuties all ready for church.

Putting together a puzzle with Uncle Edward.

Being silly!

At the zoo - those birds were scarier than they look, lol!

Waiting for the gingerbread cookies to bake.

The finished product. Turns out gingerbread dough is very sticky. I'm not sure what this originally was, but we have dubbed it "Mermaid Kitty". My sister-in-law has dubbed it "The Turd".



November:
Hooray, we got to head back into Texas for Thanksgiving! We had a blast (like we always do) at Edward's sister's house. Her kiddos are nuts, which makes for a very entertaining time. We came down knowing that Edward's grandmother was in the hospital. We were fortunate enough to visit with her the morning before she passed. And even more blessed because she was a part of our lives! The funeral was beautiful, and it was good to see extended family that we haven't seen in a few years.

Once again, the lengths we will go to, to entertain children.

Doin' the Bumblebee Dance!

Lookin' cozy.

I can't get it off!!!!!

Happy to be alive!

I'm so cool.

It must be love. . .

Summer Fun

Ever notice how when you get home from a vacation, you feel like you need another vacation just to get over it???  We spent the last week of June in Houston spending time with family, and a week later we picked up and left again for two weeks.  We had lots of fun, but it was sure good to get home!  Here are pics from our travels - we roadtripped it across Texas, New Mexico, Utah, and Idaho.  We even spent a day in Yellowstone (Is that Wyoming or Montana?).  I think we'll be sticking close to home for a while.  Enjoy the pictures (there just might be a lot of them)!

 We FINALLY went on the Bluebell Creamery tour - I now know that Homemade Vanilla is the #1 seller (I actually already knew that, cause it's so GOOD!), and Cookies and Cream is #2 (for good reason - I tried it this week, and it really is THAT good).

A riveting game of Jenga

Beach in Galveston - playing in the sand never gets old.

I can't believe I'm posting a picture of myself (or my sis-in-law) in our bathing suits.  She will forgive me someday.

Sweet brothers at play.  :)

Cutest grin EVER!

MomE relaxing in the shade.

Taking the ferry across Galveston Bay (just because ferries are cool)

We had to turn off the cars on the ferry, so ice cream was in order afterwards to cool down!

First stop on our next roadtrip - Carlsbad Caverns!

The entrance to the cave - there were thousands of swallows swooping in circles around the entrance.  Aside from the bird poop smell (ALL smells bother me), it was absolutely beautiful to watch.

Those are the swallows (not to be confused with bats!) that live in the mouth of the cave.

While we were hiking down into the cave, one of the swallows swooped over us and dropped some food for us.  Yikes!

Getting ready to go in.

Edward posing next to one of the bazillion really cool rock formations.

I don't care how safe they say it is - I would NEVER stand underneath that thing!

Pool formed from water dripping from the surface.  They said it takes about 3 months for a drop of water to reach the pool in the cave.

Okay, Edward, really, it's time to stop taking pictures.

All the rangers thought we were crazy for wanting to go on a hike.  We thought the weather was great - heat + no humidity = AWESOME WEATHER in our opinion!

The view made it well worth it!

Oh, spotting these guys didn't hurt either.

Next stop - Arches National Park in Moab, UT.  These guys are called the Three Gossips.  Love it.

Our first hike - Delicate Arch.  We were the only English-speaking people we met on the trail.  I think we heard Japanese (a lot), French, German, Spanish, and who knows what else.  That was kinda cool.

Stone age graffiti. 

Me balancing at Balanced Rock.

Edward balancing at Balanced Rock.  Boy, we're getting really original here!

Landscape Arch - I think this was one of my favorites.

The rocks aren't the only things shaped by the wind.

Stuck between a rock and a hard place.

Nestled in a perfect little nest!

Next stop - Idaho!  Time to visit family we haven't seen in 3 years!!!

Poised and ready for fun.

Last time we saw these guys they were eating dirt.

Skipping rocks.

You lookin' at ME?!?

Old Faithful

Hahaha - I couldn't help myself.

Our rainy hike around the geysers.

Back down to Utah - Steele Family Reunion time!  Isn't she precious?  She looks just like her mom.

Sisters visiting in the shade (I'm in the purple).

Good hair day!

Using my leg for balance.  :)

I was tempted to stuff this guy in my suitcase!

These girls played in the sprinklers and with sidewalk chalk for HOURS.  It is fun to play with cousins.

Time for a break.

Edward's Siamese Twin for the duration of the reunion.  I have to admit I got a little jealous!

Starting the hike up Timp.

Partway up the mountain.  Gorgeous backdrop, right?!?

These guys carried that log ALL THE WAY UP!  That's 7 miles one way, up a very steep and scary mountain. Just because.  Oh, and because I said I would pay for milkshakes if they got it to the top.  I guess that's motivation enough for a group of 14 year old boys!  And yes, I did follow through with the milkshakes.  They were well-earned!

On the summit of Mt. Timpanogos.  That was my 3rd time up, and I still can't get over the breathtaking views!  Can't wait 'til next time!