Update :)

I will still update about Christmas with fun pictures of the holiday, including spending Christmas day in the ER with a sick Ross, but in the mean time, here you go. First of all, we're pregnant!! Due June 21st. Can't wait! We found out today that we will be having a GIRL. We are very excited. Still getting used to the idea of having a baby girl in the house, but are thrilled to add another little one to our family. Happy New Year all!! I'll say it here because let's be honest, I can't stay up past 10. ;)

Other Fall Happenings

Random pictures of my boy.

Fire Safety and Football

We had a great time learning about fire safety. Very exciting right? It was to Ross!

Firemen came to the library and brought a firetruck. They read books about fires and then the kids got to hang out inside the truck.

The next week, Home Depot had a kids day. I was expecting a little craft, which they had, but they also had a medical helicopter, firetruck and police car. Ross was in heaven.

We celebrated by making eatable firetrucks.

Two weeks ago, our friends gave us tickets to the Ole Miss vs. LSU game. It was SO fun! We left Ross with his first sitter since we've been here, and he did great.

This picture does not do justice of "The Grove" SO many people are packed in there.

Such a fun game to be at. And they won, even better!

Halloween Things

We had a great October and Halloween season around here. We did some Halloween themed play dates, went to a puppet show at the library, and visited the Farmer's Market.

Ross and Serenity (the girl I babysit)

Ross dressed up as a doctor for the ward trunk or treat. He had a blast! He loved going around saying "Trick or Treat."

He ended up with quite a bit of candy afterwards. He kept saying, "I got a lot of Halloween candy mom!!"

Walkin' in Memphis

We spent a day in Memphis. It was so fun. I loved hearing Ross say, Memphis. So cute.

 

Oh my gosh. These dry rub ribs were SO good.

Beale Street.

Ross loved walking around "wearing" my sun glasses.

 

The Mississippi herself. It was beautiful. We had a great time.

Visitors from Colorado

My brother Danny and his wife Suzy came to visit with their son Breck. We went to Memphis, the mall (which is 45 minutes away), went to parks, ate good food, and got to enjoy each others company.

Ross was constantly saying, "I need to hold him." It was so cute.

 



Ross got to pick his own fork. Of course he chooses the huge serving fork. Haha.

He is such a sweet boy. So happy and easy going. Exact opposite of how Ross was. :)

 

Dan brought his hammock and liked hanging it in random places.

Cousins

Another random hammock shot.

Ross crashed on the way home from the airport. We loved having them visit.

Hotty Toddy Ya'll

Yeah, Hotty Toddy is a phrase they use all the time here. Similar to "Roll Tide" usage in Alabama. So now that it's football season, we hear, and see it a lot. Another thing we see a lot is the latest trend here among the women. The outfit that we most commonly see is a woman looking like she was going to the gym, or just came back from the gym, but there was actually no gym activity at all. They wear tennis shoes, and then short, running type shorts, but then they were a big old huge t-shirt that basically covers said shorts. So imagine that. The t-shirts have to be either their husbands or their dad's or something, cause they don't fit at all. It's really funny, not flattering, but soooo common. Now you know what to wear when you come and visit. Those are just a few of the random things you'll see when you come out to visit. Speaking of visit, who is coming out to visit next? My brother Danny and his family are coming here in just two weeks! We are really excited to have them here. Although, we are a bit nervous about what to do while they're here. It's a REALLY small town. Oh well. We'll enjoy hanging out.
I am loving the area though. It's quiet, it's quaint and it's beautiful. The people are still so friendly. I babysit a 4 year old girl M-F. She is a cutie. She plays well with Ross and is very polite. I wish everyone could hear her sweet accent though. Only 4, but it's thick. I gave her a ham sandwich the other day and she said, "I loove hem sanwiches. My mama makes em fer me. Thank you fer cookin Miss Shauna." Adorable!!    I also just got called as a ward missionary. I've never done that before so I'm excited for the opportunity.
Dave is busy and of course overwhelmed with the school work that he has been given. He puts in at least a 12 hour day during the week, plus goes in for some time on Saturdays. Let's just say he's very busy. And that's not even including the additional research, and working for professors that he's supposed to do. Pray for him. :)  

My little sister Rachel is serving a mission in Indiana right now. She has told us about this sign that she always sees and it makes her think of us. Or maybe just Dave. She finally sent a picture of it!

I really enjoyed church today. In Sacrament meeting, there was a beautiful piano/flute number. It moved us both to tears. I was mainly thinking about how my Savior knows and loves us. Wherever we are, whatever we're doing, he loves us. Then in Relief Society, the teacher shared a story with us. She said when she walks her dog, she has a broader view of the surroundings. One day, she could foresee a sharp bush that the dog would have to walk through. So she was trying to pull the leash to guide the dog around the bush. It was a fight. The dog kept pulling back, even to the point of choking with the leash, because she didn't see the bush in her limited state of vision.  She likened that to our Heavenly Father. How he wants to try to guide and direct us, because he can see the broader view. But how often do we pull back, afraid or unwilling to take a new, unfamiliar route?     It just made me think. 

The New Place

we've been in Mississippi for 3 weeks now and are loving it. I'm posting this from my phone so it will be brief.

our new house and Mississippi license plates.

 



Dave up on campus. It's a beautiful place.

we went to a cute little sweet shop. Such character.

Exploring all the local parks.

Enjoying our ice on the porch. Yeah, it's been pretty hot.

We went to a childrens health fair. It was really cute and Ross got a bunch of free stuff. He was terrified of the mascots that were there.

Dave starts school today. I'm excited for him. As well as so proud.

Mississippi

We made it here safe and sound. Now that we finally have the internet set up, I figured I would update on how the trip went. Sorry, no pictures today. Too lazy to find the cord and upload some. Our first day we drove to Colorado and stayed with my brother and sister in law. They were so nice to let us stay. The next day we drove to Oklahoma and stayed with Dave's parents for about 5 days while the truck was being delivered to our new house. Ross enjoyed the one on one time with his grandparents. And just enjoyed being out of the car. Monday the 5th we all headed out to Arkansas and stayed over night there on the Air Force Base. It was so nice. Then we finally made it to our new home in Mississippi.We have loved it here so far.

For those of you who don't know, I came out here in April looking for a house, but we couldn't really find anything. So the house that we are in, we bought without seeing it in person. A little risky yes, but we couldn't be happier. We love the home. Thanks to Ross and JoLynn, we got the house cleaned, truck unloaded and the pantry stocked. It was so nice having them here for a few days.

Now we've been here almost 2 weeks, (a week alone as a family) and we've really loved it so far. The ward has been so great. We got 2 dinner invitations our first Sunday here. Dave has helped 3 families move in, we have gone to a court of honor, ward social, cleaned the church and had the missionaries over for dinner. We're trying to stay busy. Since Dave hasn't officially started school, we're trying to enjoy the time together exploring the local parks, library, and familiarizing ourselves with the city and campus.

The city really is beautiful. It's very small, which we're both starting to like. We feel so blessed that everything has worked out and that we made it here safely. We're looking forward to the next 4 years here! Dan and Suzy will be our next visitors in September and we're so excited to have them. Whoever wants to come in October, just let me know.

We're moving again . . . . .

It's true, Dave loves school so much that he's decided to go back to school to earn his PhD. The degree he'll be earning is called Organizational Behavior. Ultimately, he will be a college professor. I'm so proud of him for this big step and for his desire to succeed. I am so excited for our new adventure! We are moving to Mississippi! I know it will be hot, but NO snow! I went out to house hunt and the city is beautiful and has so much character. We leave the end of the month. We will miss our family and friends here, but we are anxious to be in our new home and have this great life experience. We also feel very blessed that we have this opportunity. Everything has fallen into place with the school, housing, etc. So if anyone wants to visit, let us know! Ross loves telling people we're moving to "M'ssippi."

Cabin

We took Dave's sisters and their families to my family's cabin a few weeks ago. We had such a good time! It was nice to relax, (as much as you can with 5 little boys running around) and we enjoyed spending the time together.

 

This was Ross on the drive up. He actually did really well. The drive home was a different story.

 

 

The first day, the Olsen's came up so we took the boys to the park. They love to hold hands when they go down the slide.

 

We got ice cream at the Dairy Keen. Ross enjoyed his.

The favorite Aunt Lisa playing games with the boys.

 



 

On one of our many walks. We're glad that we could spend this time together.

 

 

We spent one day in Park City and hit up the Alpine slide. Good times.

 

 

 

Water Fun

Ross got some really fun toys for his birthday (another post to come with his birthday stuff) So we invited some cousins over to play. The kids has a blast!!

 

We took Ross to the splash pad on base. He was more into the playground, but still had a good time getting wet.

After the splash pad, we came home and just played with the hose. He probably had more fun with that.