Decisons, Decisions...

So, it's Christmas time again, my favorite time of year. I can't believe how quickly time flies! We've been in Texas now for a year and half. And we have truly loved living here. Mark and I have made some wonderful friends, learned life-altering lessons, and grown together as a couple and family. But, I think our journey here is not over.

Since losing his job last week, Mark and I have been faced with some tough decisions, yet again. Do we stick it out here in Texas or do we head home to Utah and family? Of course we would love to go home. We WANT to go home. But as I said, I don't think we are finished here. When we made the decision to move to Texas, it was a no-brainer for both of us. We knew it was the right thing to do. We planned on being here for about five years and then heading back. Now that there is really nothing holding us here, the question presents itself: Do we go home? This time the answer is not so easy for us.

Dallas is a great place for Mark to be right now. There are tons of opportunities for him to further his career. There are not so many opportunities in Salt Lake, but I know there are some. It's not like there is a wrong answer here, and I think that is what is making this so difficult for us.

We've spent much time on our knees and in the temple. Mark thinks we'll be back in Utah by June, I'm thinking it will be longer than that. I hope not by much. The kids all want to go back and Mark and I do feel that longing to be near family. I just hope it is sooner than later.

Jackson

Jace

Caden

Brothers....

More Pictures From Our Cruise!

My Little Soccer-Man!

We took Jace's soccer pictures just before his game last Saturday. I thought for sure we'd miss out because the actual picture day was September 15th, when we went to see the BYU @ Tulsa game. We'd bought tickets for the game about 3 months in advance, so we weren't going to back out of that...besides, who wants to miss a road trip in the fun bus?!! So Mark and I figured we'd just take pictures of Jace ourselves and get pictures of the team during the games. We let his coach know that we woudn't be there and she was sad but she understood. Well, when we came home from our trip, Coach Liz told us that everyone wanted to re-do team pictures because they all wanted Jace in there too, since he was part of the team! I thought that was so sweet. So, we set a date and time and these were the outcome. What a cute bunch!

Our Cruise!!

What a Blast!! We had such a great time! We went with our dear friends, Gary and Karen. We drove down to Galveston on Friday night and spent the night in a hotel. Then Saturday afternoon, we jumped on board The Ecstacy for a 5 night cruise to Cozumel and Progresso, Mexico. In Cozumel we took the ferry over to Playa del Carmen to meet Gary's cousin. What a beautiful place! We hung out on the beach and did a little swimming, kayaking and parasailing! In Progresso, sorry, but we couldn't get back to the ship fast enough! NOT the most pleasant place I've ever been. I think it would have been better had we gone to see the Chichen Itza Mayan ruins, but Mark and I KNEW the kids wouldn't last the 3 hour bus ride...so we hung out on the ship for the better part of the day. The kids had a blast! They loved the kids club...well Jace and Caden did at least! Jackson wouldn't ever go. He hung out with mom and dad the whole trip. And it wasn't even cause he wanted to be with mom and dad! He was more worried about where Karen and Gary and "the girls" (aka: Lauren and Rachel) were the whole time! He absolutely LOVES them! They (Gary and Karen) came to the rescue, by the way! They watched the kids for us so Mark and I could actually watch a show and walk around the ship without chasing down little ones. That was the best part of the whole cruise! Is that so sad? I will ever be grateful to them for that! *sigh* Anyhow, we truly enjoyed our vacation! The food was great, the company was even better and it was so nice just to be away for a little while.

These are some of my favorite pictures from the trip! Enjoy!

BYU @ Tulsa

I know this blog is a little past due...but what can I say? I'm a busy gal! On September 15th, we rented a 15 passenger van with some friends, and made the 230 mile trek to watch BYU play at Tulsa. It was a sad game, but we had a blast in the "fun bus"! We went to the tail gate party before the game, got our faces painted and hung out with Cosmo and all the cute cheerleaders. Then we headed off to the game.

The boys had so much fun! Jace has been singing the BYU fight song ever since! It's hilarious to listen to him! "Rise and shout the Cougars are out! Go Cougars!!" And Jackson walks around the house yelling, "BYU! BYU!!" Yes, we are projecting on our children!

The game lasted until just after midnight...It was a long night for the little ones, but they were troopers! We stayed the night in Tulsa and attended a local Sacrament Meeting before heading back home. I must say that a road trip is always funner in a 15 passenger van! We are already looking forward to next years game at TCU!

Aunt Kelly and Uncle Tom

Tom, my sister Kelly's husband, flew out to Dallas for a short 12 hour visit last night. We were all so happy to see family. He is our first official family visitor. (Mark's parents helped us drive out here when we moved and they saw our house, but our truck load of things hadn't even arrived yet, so none of our things were in the house. Then they had to leave right away to catch a flight back to Utah.) Even though Tom's was a short stay, we were so glad he was able to spend some time here! The boys absolutely LOVE him! He taught them all sorts of things he shouldn't have...like how to grab 20 mints on the way INTO the restaurant just so you can grab MORE on your way OUT! And how to throw things over our balcony hallway to the open living room below. He even challenged Caden at one point to climb across the top of our double mantel fireplace...keep in mind that is about 15 feet off the ground! Ha, ha, ha! Of course it didn't happen...but all a young boy needs is to have ideas like that planted in their heads...especially Jackson. That kid thinks he's invincible! Yes, my boys loved him, cause they got away with things they never would have gotten away with otherwise. I told Tom that I was almost relieved that it was only going to be 12 hours that he would be influencing my usually mild mannered children. I was joking of course, I hope you know that, Tom! We really enjoyed having you here.

Then of course there is Kelly. Beautiful, sweet, wonderful, thoughtful Kelly. Who wouldn't let Tom leave without gifts for my kids. They are awesome! Everyone of them was a hit with my boys and they were very happy and grateful to receive them. Thanks, Kelly! You are an incredible sister to me and and awesome "Auntie" to my boys!

Hopefully, Kelly's entire family can come for a visit some time soon. We'd love to have you here!

Jackson LOVED his "Toy Story" and "Monster's Inc." cars. He carried them around for the rest of the night!

Jace slept with his Pokemon cards under his pillow.

He was so happy that Aunt Kelly got them for him.

Caden, Uncle Tom and Jace proudly displaying Caden's new Yugi-Oh cards!

Jace and Uncle Tom

Jackson laughed at Tom all night. "He's silly, Mommy!" he kept telling me.

Soccer Season!

It's soccer season again! This is Jace's first year playing. His team is called the Cheetahs. He has been SO excited to start. He loves practicing. Every day he comes home from school and asks if he can put on his "soccer shoes" and practice kicking his ball in the backyard.

Last Saturday was his first game. He did SO GOOD! He got right in there and wasn't afraid to go after the ball! Look at him, right there in the middle, he was so cute!


When he came over to grab a drink from me he said, "Mom! I never got to play a real soccer game before! This is so fun!" It was a great game! The boys play 4 on 4 with no goalie. It's hilarious to watch all the little guys on the field trying to figure out which way to kick the ball and trying so hard to follow their coaches directions!

It gets so hot here! Add the humidity to that and it's almost unbearable to sit and watch from the sidelines, I couldn't imagine running up and down the field for 60 minutes in this weather, but he never wanted to stop! The team rotates players for water breaks every 5 minutes so they don't get dehydrated and there were a couple of times that he grabbed a drink and ended up right back on the field! That's my boy! I hope he loves the last game of the season as much as loved his first game this season!

Pictures!!

Jackson, finding a way to ease the pain of missing his brothers!

As you can see, he has taken over Jace's gameboy! Caden's first day in 4th Grade. He is so excited and he is going to have a GREAT year!
Jace's first day in Kindergarten. He is just so happy to be here!!!

The First Day of School

So, all summer we have been preparing for this day! My 4th grader kept telling me, "Mom, I know you are going to cry." My reply was always, "No tears from me!" So this morning I walked Caden to his class, waved goodbye with a big smile on my face and walked down the hall with my kindergartner. As we were walking it hit me that I was leaving my baby in the hands of complete strangers!!! I dropped him off at his class, the tears just started to flow! Seriously - I cried like a little girl!! I was so mad at myself for crying. Jace just looked at me like I was nuts! He is so ready to for school and he's been so excited about it I know he'll do just great! I talked to his teacher and she assured me that he would be okay - I KNEW he would be, I was just a little more emotional than I expected!

So I got home and my husband gave me a look that let me know he was holding back from making fun of me! But being the perfect husband that he is and KNOWING his boundaries just said, "He's gonna be just fine."

Then there is my youngest who now has to adjust to life without his big brothers. I think it will be hard for him at first, but I'm sure he'll find a way to pass the time! He'll be busy with pre-school and all his friends that come to daycare. Oh, and of course you can't forget the Gameboy! That will certainly ease his pain!