Our New Home

There's no Place Like Home...

We did it, we are finally in a home!! After 14 years of marriage, we decided that living in an apartment really sucks!! I couldn't stand the noise and smoking in the halls anymore and everything just laid out perfectly.  We were able to break our lease without penalty, and find a home that was the same amount of rent as our apartment within a few days.  The Lord was really watching out for us and everything just went perfectly with no bumps or delays.

 I have a few plans on how I am going to decorate the front yard, it is to plain for my taste.

This is one view of the living room and yes I know we have a ton of movies!

I really like the ceiling and how there is some character to it.

The other view of the living room...

Our dining room.  I can also start using my family home evening chart I made those many years ago.  Just never had the room to hang it up.  I do now!!!

 

The kitchen photo is darker than I had hoped but you get the idea of how it looks. We also have a bigger fridge/freezer than we have had in the past and I loooove it. Also, look at all that room, we can now cook as a family and not have to take turns of who can be in the kitchen. We all fit!!

Meagan's room. She decorated it very well and yes she does have a lot of stuff.

 

Jacob's room. On the other hand he does not have much "stuff" (and yes dad I know women always have more "stuff" than men :) ).

 

Master bedroom. Our bedroom got significantly larger and I am just fine with that. We needed more space in our room. Now I can finally have my drawing desk in the house. Also Josh now has space to play his ASL (Advanced Squad Leader) board game.

And we have room for all of our books!!! Which the kids are happy with since they used to be in their rooms.

I did not get a picture of the backyard, but I am just happy we have one now.  I am hoping to build some grow boxes and start to garden. We are just so happy to have our own space and a place to run around outside.  It has also been so nice going outside into the garage and get into the car on a normal day in Texas (90-100 degrees) and not burn ourselves on the steering wheel cause it's no longer in the sun.

I am very grateful to the Lord for helping us get here. Also, I am grateful to family and friends who helped.  I did go a little OCD on unpacking and had the house all in order in about a week and a half.  I hate living out of boxes and having things unorganized.  Thank you Josh, for putting up with me and having to deal with my stubbornness.  It really feels like we are finally home!!!

-Sarah

Girls Camp

Follow the Yellow Brick Road

2014

This was the first year Meagan had the opportunity to go to Young Women's camp. I will let Meagan tell you all about her adventures....

Girls camp was soooooooo fun, my favorite thing was the zip line. Our cabin was crazy the best day was the last when we had testimony meeting. The spirit was so strong and I know that I was supposed to go to girls camp to help those to feel the spirit and I can't wait til next year!

The crazy thing was they had to drive 4 and a half hours to get to girls camp!! That and they had cabins with electricity and bathrooms with showers (I remember having to jump into a freezing cold river to "take a shower"). All in all, I think she had a blast and many came up to me afterwards and comment on how impressed they were with Meagan and excited to get to know here better (our new bishop said he was so impressed with how she would give all the girls who bore their testimony and cried a hug, even if she didn't know them). We actually moved to our new home two days before camp, so she went with our old ward but got to meet some girls from our new ward and really liked them. 

 Before...

After...

Strep throat did go around and a few even went home early because of it. Meagan wasn't feeling good so I took her in the next day and sure enough she had strep. I asked her if this would prevent her from wanting to go next year and she said, "Heck no!" 

 I have such fond memories of girls camp and I was praying all week that Meagan would have a good experience and also that I would survive without her (it was my first time being away from her for more than one night in a row). Well I did survive and so did she. She even said she missed her brother and that she wanted to be a better sister to him (The Lord really does work miracles). :P

-Sarah                

Tennis Camp

Calling all tennis players...

 Before pulling Meagan out of public school she was taking tennis for P.E. and let's just say she loved it. When we started our adventures in homeschooling, she really wanted to make sure she could continue learning how to play tennis. I have been progressively getting to know and become involved in groups with other homeschooling families, and learned through the grapevine about a tennis camp beginning in June. I jumped at the opportunity and snagged a spot for Meagan, then surprised her with the info the night before. She was ecstatic.

I asked her after the first day how she thought she did and she said, "I am really rusty but it is slowly coming back to me."

The camp was everyday from 9 am til 11:30, and in Texas it gets hot early and I was dying just sitting there and watching her. She had to be dying, but she said she loved it and can't wait to try out for the team in the fall (yes, Lubbock has a really great program for home-schooled kids to do sports, they even play all the public schools).

By the end of the week, she really started to improve and her coach even commented on how well she was playing. She also said that when Aunt Elizabeth comes to visit she so wants to get her game on!!

-Sarah                     

Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day Mom!!

So I wanted to do something special for mom this mother's day, and I have always wanted to learn how to paint. As luck would have it, I have a really good friend who is an amazing artist and she was willing to teach me how to paint. I knew my mother really loves flowers, and I remember she would plant daffodils in the yard so I decided on that flower.

 The first stage of my painting. 

Let me tell you after each session I was discouraged cause it looked nothing like I had hoped. But Nicole said you can't judge a cake before it is baked. So I soldiered on....

 The Second Stage 

I am starting to see the potential. I was determined to do it right and I wouldn't give up til I did!!

 And as they say, Voila!! After many, many, many tears and hours I finished just in time to photograph it and show mom online the product she will be getting in the mail after I frame it. I really had a blast and learned so much. I was, even towards the end, seeing my mistakes and things that needed to be fixed before Nicole could show me what needed to be worked on. 

Mom I love you so much, and am eternally grateful for all you have done for me and for always being there for me. It means everything to me!

I can't wait to tackle my next painting. Thanks Nicole for your help and tutelage!

-Sarah            

...Wherein the in-laws venture South...

There are many stories told to couples in the midst of courtship about the dreaded "in-laws".  They talk about how EVIL they are and how much they dislike you for "stealing" their beloved son/daughter away and chaining them to you in the bonds of matrimony.

If these stories are actually true, then I may just be the luckiest guy on the whole planet.  Like, won the lottery without buying a ticket, lucky, because I have AWESOME in-laws.  And they took time and flew down to visit us after having returned home from their mission to South Africa, late last year.

For one of our adventures while we were here, we took them to the Lubbock Ranching Heritage Museum.  Dad tends to dig on history a bit and there's a fair bit about how ranchers and frontiersmen used to live to be learned there.  Old cars, old wagons, old houses, roughing it...  What's not to like, right?

Here's Jacob on one of the old freight cars that they used to transfer cattle and feed from location to location once they finally got track laid down.

Another day, we went to see a museum that I've wanted to see for quite a while, but whose hours are almost always when I am at work or otherwise occupied.  It was the Silent Wings museum.  Apparently, during WWII, Lubbock was the largest training ground for American glider regiments in the country.   I knew that glider-borne infantry was used quite a bit in landing troops behind enemy lines during initial campaign assaults (such as capturing Pegasus Bridge on the Caen canal at Benouville on D-Day).  What I didn't know was that such training began in America, having thought that it started during the preparation for the invasion of Europe in England.

The museum had all kinds of glider parts and even a few actual gliders one could look in.  Below, you can see the kids in front of an engine built around that time.  What kind of engine, you ask?  Why, Jacobs Radial Engine of course... :) 

Below, Dad and the kids are standing in front of a Douglas C-47 Skytrain located out in front of the museum. The propellers of the engine on either wing are bigger than both of the kids.

 Additionally, they were here over Easter Sunday, for which there is apparently a requirement that there are eggs decorated.  Naturally, with Mom & Dad here, the kids wanted them to participate.

Mom, however, is just too cool to do eggs, unless it involves the greatest potato salad in the world.  THEN she'll do eggs.  Come to think of it, I should have had her make some.  :(  Next time, I guess.  But for now, she's chillin' in the dining room while Grandpa does the hard work of posing for egg photos with the kids.

It was great to see them again.  We look forward to doing so in the future as well.  We love having them around and wish they were closer, but the distance makes it all the more special when we do see them.

- Josh          

The Shadow knows...

I have, for the entire time we've been in this apartment in Lubbock, been vehemently against getting a dog.  First off, we have a perfectly acceptable, sedate cat named Rambo (no, we did not name him), or if you're my mother in-law, Fred.  Rambo has figured out how things are going to work in this house and stays within the rules.  We very rarely have problems.  Second, I feel kind of guilty keeping a dog in an apartment.  I've always imagined that they would be miserable not having a backyard that they can just run free in as their nature would seem to dictate.  It seems cruel to me.  Third, did I mention Rambo was sedate?  We get along that way.

So imagine my surprise when, today, I get off work after a 10+ hour shift and come out to the van with my wife and kids ready to pick me up to find a dog among their number.  Meagan, appropriately, named the black dog, Shadow.  So without further ado, I introduce the newest member of our family:

We were told that he is a Cocker Spaniel/Schnauzer/Pug mix.  We think he also has some Chihuaua in him as well. Shadow is an active puppy and seems to have really warmed up to the whole family.  Well, the whole family except Rambo, who is no longer the center of pet-ly attention, nor the only non-human occupant in the house.  He ranges from ignoring Shadow to hissing and swatting at him depending on the level of the perceived "infraction" that Shadow has committed (walking in the same general viscinity, existing, etc...).  No harm has been done, and Rambo still has the run of the house after everyone goes to sleep, but it has certainly been an adjustment for him.

- Josh             

Homeschooling adventure

Homeschooling?

So Josh and I have been praying very hard lately as to how to better be parents and teach our children and help them learn to teach themselves. We have noticed things that have been going on in the schools and, well, for a lot of reasons we decided to start the process of learning more about homeschooling. Our plan was to wait the year out and start the next year of school here in the home, but as life usually goes, our plan is not the Lord's plan and things happened such that we pulled Meagan out of public school last week and began our adventure. I was not ready and very nervous but it is what needed to be done. Jacob is still in school until the end of the year (unless the Lord changes THAT too...). 

We have had one week so far and lets just say there were some bumps but all in all a very good productive week. 

This is Meagan now and I LOVE homeschooling. One thing that sucks is I don't get to see my friends at school very often. I have the best teacher which is my mommy. She is the BEST!!!!!!!!!! I can't wait to do new things next year. L8R!!!!!

I am still learning and I have a really great resource (my sister) to help me smooth the bumps along the way. She has been homeschooling for many years, and has given me great advice. 

One of the fun things we did was a science experiment using the scientific method to find out what makes the best material to use in a parachute, like the ones they use on the Mars rover to make sure the package arrives safetly. We used eggs as our package and tested cloth, newspaper, and plastic wrap. We dropped the eggs three times in each case and watched them crack, smash and some even scramble as they hit the ground. Oh by the way plastic wrap was the best choice!

The other "really fun" thing that we did, as Meagan says, is that she was not feeling well one day and instead of doing nothing, I thought that she could watch a movie and write a paper on the good vs. evil dynamic of the movie. She chose to watch Lord of the Rings, one of her favorites. Let's just say after her second draft, that paper really rocked. She blew both Josh and I out of the water with her thoughts and ideas. We both thought, "That came out of our sixth grader?" I wish I could write the whole paper but I won't.  I will, however, write her first couple of sentences:

"Everybody knows about the classic hero vs. evil stories. Does anyone know about the good and evil within ourselves? J.R.R. Tolkien has created a masterpiece to show exactly that....." 

She goes on to present a very convincing argument of how the movie shows this through the character Frodo Baggins and his struggle with the ring of power. It really was a great paper! We still have to work on grammar and spelling, but I am so proud of her.

This last week has had some really hard times (getting her to do math) and some really great ones but all in all I think that this adventure is going to be a good and rewarding one.

-Sarah