Utah Bound?

Well, it looks like we are headed for colder weather! We are still weighing all of our options, but Mark and I keep going back to Xcellerated Solutions. The thought doing things on his own is so rewarding to him and there is so much more work out there for him and Dan now. I know that the kids want to move back and Mark and I are excited at the thought of being near family again.

This has been a good move for us, to be here in Texas and among other things, really learn to rely on one another. We love Texas and all of our friends out here. The ward is great and I love my daycare kids, but Texas is not our home. By no means has the decision been finalized, but we are leaning towards South Weber. I am tempted at times to just pull the plug here, put the house up for sale and head back now but I know that it would be better for the kids to wait until summer when they are out of school. What we are thinking is that Mark will just go back and forth until June. I'll stay here with the kids and then in April or May we'll put the house up for sale. He can work from home and build up clientele in the Dallas area while he is here and he has plenty of projects lined up to work on while he is in Utah.

Obviously, he will still interview with companies in Dallas and it may turn out that we don't move back right away. But I think we are all secretly hoping that nothing out here really materializes because we are all ready to come home.

Our Texas Home....

I know we've lived here for a year and a half, and most of you haven't seen pictures yet. Many of you were asking to see them when we went to Utah, so, here they are!

Happy New Year!

We had a blast in Utah! It was shorter than we would have liked our visit to be, but we had such a great time! The kids LOVED the snow and they loved spending time with Grandparents and cousins. Like Mark and I, the kids were so sad to leave! But we are getting back into the groove of things here in Texas. We are excited for the new year and all the opportunities that it brings. We're still not sure where we will end up - Texas or Utah - but we should know in the next few weeks. It was nice for Mark to be able to put in some face time in Salt Lake, and now that we are back and the holidays are over, he should get some leads in Dallas as well. It is hard to say at this point what we will do with everything up in the air. I think either decision will be good for our family in different ways. Hopefully soon we'll see what the Lord has in store for us!

Here are some pictures of the family from the trip!

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