TEXAS!

The night before we left on our Utah vacation, Lance's company offered him a job promotion-- which included relocation to Houston, Texas.  After fasting, prayer, and a trip to the temple-- we accepted.  Lance left for Houston the day we returned from Utah.  The kids and I stayed behind to finish work, school, and pack up the house.

 It was a whirlwind of stress and excitement.  I flew to Houston for 3 days to help Lance find a place to live.  Houston is the 4th largest city in the United States.  We had a LOT of options.  It was overwhelming.  By chance, we ended up working with the GREATEST REALTOR EVER.  We found ourselves in Kingwood-- a master planned community located northeast of Houston.  It is truly gorgeous.  I am in love with Kingwood.

 The drive out here was LOOOOONG.  The moving truck's governor kicked in at 70 mph.  Tobin threw up in the middle of an Olive Garden.  The bank screwed up and cancelled my debit card mid-trip.  We drove through Louisiana.  We found out the power would not be on once we arrived at the new house.  It was a harrowing couple of days.

My view for two days

But we are here.  And we are happy.  We miss Florida.  We miss family, and friends that are as close as family.  We miss the beach.  We will miss hockey games.  I really miss my city on the bay.  Lance really misses hog hunting.  But Houston is working out for us.  Its a fantastic area.  We are very blessed.

Now come visit!

 

Utah 2012

We took a fabulous trip to Utah in May.  We were able to stay for 10 days and see and do so much.  Here are the highlights:

Airplane:  Ok, not a highlight.  It was long-- I think this picture says it all (there is a whole story behind flying in a diaper-- its not the norm.)  But the kids were well-behaved and I have to say that it is wonderful not to have any more babies to fly with.

Rasmussen Family: I love the Rasmussens.  We got to play with cousins, go hiking and shooting.  And the food.  Oh my goodness, the food.

 

 
Slovaceks:  We got to see my parents' new digs in Lehi.  They have a gorgeous house.  I miss my parents.

Grandpa Dickson: I have the best Grandpa.  Because of distance, we don't get to see him very often.  He drove to Utah from Seattle (he's 91!) for the weekend.  My kids were finally able to meet my amazing Grandpa.

Friends: We were able to see many (not all) of our friends in Utah.  I loved having lunch with my old roommates. I still can't believe it has been 14 years since Catie, Brooke and I were wreaking havoc in Raintree #344. 

Family Outings:  We took the rented minivan on many a tour through old Alpine, Alpine Loop, and Heber. We took the kids hiking up to Sliding Rock.  We found some really cool parks in Pleasant Grove and Alpine.  We also went shooting on the far side of Utah Lake.  Just a heads up:  don't give Slappy a gun.

We will be back in Utah in October for the wedding of these crazy kids!  Can't wait!

DJ Boyz

We had a cold spell this week.  The temperature was in the 50's in the mornings-- which is extremely rare in Florida in April.  The kids thought it was so funny to wear jeans and hoodies for a couple of days.  They acted as though they had never worn a sweatshirt before. 

Tobin and Chase insisted on having their picture taken in their hooded sweatshirts.  Tobin dubbed them "DJ Boyz" (okay, the spelling was my idea).  Without further adieu, here are a few blurry mobile phone shots of my DJ Boyz-- (when we asked Tobin what a "DJ Boy" was, he said its someone who puts on cds and dances).   

Spring Update

This blog has become more of a monthly/quarterly thing... I make no apologies. It is what it is. I don't know if I will ever stop blogging completely-- this has become such a great family journal for us.

Lately---

Lance:This year we split Tampa Bay Lightning season tickets with another couple, so we were able to get to 20 home games. It has been our favorite kind of date night. The season just ended, and I don't know what we will do with our evenings between now and October (when hockey season starts again).

Lance's travel schedule calmed down in 2012 (so far). He's been working local projects and has therefore, been around much more. We love it.

In his spare time, he has begun hunting hogs. No, I'm not kidding. Let the white trash jokes begin. He loves it and is apparently, good at it.
Kira:
I have completed 13.5 credits of my Master's in Education-- and I have straight A's! If this does not surprise you, you obviously didn't know me while I was completing my bachelor's at BYU.

I leveraged my new found knowledge in the educational realm and got a fantastic part-time job! A few days a week, I go into an elementary school in Tampa and I tutor kids who have been deemed "homeless". I have been working with about 15 kids ages 8-11 and they are awesome. I am thoroughly enjoying my work. BEST JOB EVER!

Also, I got my hair cut pretty short. I keep trying to take a picture of it, but I am the absolute least photogenic person ever... (at least that's what I tell myself). I am positive that I must be prettier in person than the grotesque image that appears in camera viewfinder.

Zoie:Zoie is now sporting a gap-toothed grin. She is 7... and everything that entails-- gangly, toothless, and just a tad obnoxious. But she is wicked smart and very helpful with her little brothers. She has even joined in on our new hobby: playing 'Words With Friends'-- she is surprisingly good.

Tobin:Tobin just turned 5. He loves his preschool. 5 year-old Tobin has decidedly more attitude than our sweet 4 year-old Tobin. Its pretty hilarious and maddening at the same time. He will be in kindergarten at the elementary school with Zoie in August.

Chase:With my part-time job, Chase is now in part-time daycare. He doesn't like being dropped off in the morning-- but also does not like being picked up in the afternoons. So... mixed signals. His speech is progressing, as he has become a little mimic. (I'm not going to lie, Lance and I have had moments of weakness in which we have Chase repeat some hilariously inappropriate phrases.)

As a family, we can be found almost every afternoon here:We love this neighborhood. Many days, we have the entire pool to ourselves. We just love our house and feel so blessed to be here.

This Weekend

I love Easter weekend. We had some egg dyeing, a couple of Easter egg hunts, went to my Mom's church, and had a glutinous Easter dinner with family.

This year, Zoie and Tobin are finally understanding the meaning of Easter-- so we had some great conversations about "atonement" and "resurrection". It was a nice change from all the questions surrounding the Easter Bunny (which is the one holiday symbol I hate-- having said that, he did, in fact, make a begrudging appearance...).

Anyway, good weekend.

The Big 0-5

Happy 5th birthday to my buddy.

A Valentine's Tribute

** Disclaimer: Serious gag alert. The following post is way cheesy and I would probably hate it if it weren't written by me. Don't say I didn't warn you.

Last night, Lance and I watched The Notebook. Cut us some slack. It was Valentine's Eve and tonight (actual Valentine's Night), we are watching the Tampa Bay Lightning play the Ottowa Senators.
Anyway, back to The Notebook: I have seen it before, but last night while watching it, a realization struck me-- I married my "Noah" (Notebook reference).

When Lance and I met in 2000, I was finishing up my bachelor's at BYU. He was a roofer and had not completed a day of college. I never imagined that I would marry the guy-- I was just dating him for his looks and dry sense of humor. But man, did I fall in love.

When Lance asked my Dad for my hand in marriage (he's old fashioned like that), my Dad's answer was something along the lines of, "Well... you already have 3 strikes"(no formal education, no mission, and a shaved head) . I may not have had my parents' strong approval initially-- but I didn't care.

When I decided to marry Lance. I didn't care about anything but being with him. I didn't care if we were poor for the rest of our lives. It didn't matter where we lived. I didn't care about what my wedding ring looked like. I didn't care about our wedding (except that it had to be in the temple), or reception. I just wanted to be with Lance every day. Forever.

I love this line from the movie, {Ryan Gosling saying to Rachel McAdams}: "You tell me when I am being an arrogant son of a (biscuit) and I tell you when you are a pain in the (neck). Which you are, 99% of the time. I'm not afraid to hurt your feelings. You have like a 2 second rebound rate, then you're back doing the next pain-in-the-(neck) thing. "

Aside from the mild obscenities, that is me and Lance. We argue and make fun of each other. But man, I love being married to this guy. He is sincere. He is honest and not afraid to call me out when I need it. He is hilarious. He challenges me. He makes me laugh harder than anyone ever. He is fantastically supportive. He is my best friend.
So, I took a risk on the 22 year-old who did not serve a mission or go to college. The risk paid off. My husband is a worthy Priesthood holder who takes me to the temple regularly. And as a bonus, his hard work and ambition have enabled him to make a great living for our family. He is an amazing Dad. (And I feel the need to say that my parents now love him and highly approve of my choice).

Happy Valentine's Day