Leaves on the family tree: January

2011 begins!!!

The day after New Years we began the trek home to Missouri. Dylan came home Sunday morning and Mom and I enjoyed our last 5 hours stretch together driving back to St. George. She dropped me off in St. George and we got to spend the next week visiting my in-laws. It was fun to visit Great Gma and Great Gpa, Dianna and Chad and their sweet kids. I got to go to the temple with my Mom-in-law in St. George where I just had such a wonderful and amazing spiritual time. My bro-in-law Bryan and his new wife visited and I loved seeing everyone!!

Our farewell dinner with my Mom at Cafe Rio.

Had a great visit with Grandma Linda.

My in-laws took me to the "Forgotten Carols." It was such a fun time. We got to go with Great Grandma and Great Grandpa, Diana and Chad.

The whole group of in-laws in St. George.

The week I was in St. George was amazing for our lil' family. We found out that Dylan got into Thomas Jefferson! He scored in the 87th percentile for all his tests (reading, comprehension, study skills and math). The financial aid package we got was sufficient to cover 1/2 of his tuition and he could start as soon as we got home! We also found out that Darin got the job he was praying for!! It was the job that he was most qualified for and the wage was higher than what he was earning in Utah and for a company he wanted to be with so badly!!! With each of these miraculous things we got blessed with, we needed a new car to tote Darin to and from his new job 40 minutes away and Dylan to and from his new school. We found a perfect car for us, a used 1993 Toyota 4Runner. It had 150K miles on it, but every review I read for it, it would last us another 100K miles. It was in prime condition and it was within the budget we had planned for it. We felt comforted that it was the right one for us and got the Go-Ahead to purchase it. Lastly, we FINALLY got the confirmation to go ahead and find a place for us to settle into.

We searched for more places online and found a bunch of houses to rent for a lot less than any apartment we could rent in Utah!! For perspective, a 1-bedroom apartment in Utah can run, on average $600-700/month!!! We were looking at 3 bedroom HOUSES for the same price!

Darin visited the places and walked through them with the landlords while I was online "walking through" with him on Skype. Isn't technology AMAZING! We felt the best about one place and went ahead with the down payment and signing the lease. After months of searching, pondering, praying, fasting, trying and more trying, we finally had the home, the job and the school we needed. I finally felt like we were settling down and were where we needed to be. I could breath again! Oh, it was nice. That week was the most euphoric week ever for my nerves. Darin spent the rest of the week moving in for us while I was in Utah with the kids. What a blessing! I didn't have to do any of the heavy lifting.

At the end of the week, me and my pregnant self and two young kids in tow made the trip home. My awesome friend from Vegas, Kristine, drove up to St George, picked us up and we shacked with her over night until it was time to go to the airport. She came with us to the gate (thank you so much!!) and hung out until it was time to go. We got on the plane and had a great trip home. We were SO happy to see Dad! It was amazing how much I had missed him. He wore his new suit and shaved just for me. He's so funny. That day, rather than enjoying the time home and resting, we had to pick up the new car, sign and pay for the new school, turn in the lease and contract for the new home and utilities, end our lease with the storage unit and ... THEN, we got to enjoy being home. We went to Red, Hot and Blue to celebrate - YAY, finally found one since Virginia's location shut down. It was a great day.

Yup, there I am ... pregnant and barefoot in the kitchen ... lookin' for something to EAT. I'm always hungry these days.

Finally, I got to see the new house. I LOVE it!! Darin, ya done good!!! I learned, too, Skype doesn't give you a great picture of all things. The house is so much better than it appeared online, bigger, too!