Well, we are here.
Oklahoma.
We left our home in Texas in the hands of a real estate company, packed a pickup truck, our Explorer (with all the seats down), one ten foot trailer, one 20 foot trailer, Matt's car, and a 26 foot long U Haul truck with all of our stuff (SO MUCH STUFF!!!) and drove five hours up the road to Fletcher, Oklahoma and our new home. Since we have been here, we have had fun unpacking. And unpacking. And unpacking. I swear, nobody should have this many worldly possessions. And the scary thing is, we actually use it all. Our Goodwill pile is incredibly small. Scary.
So here are ten exciting, "Let's start our new life" pieces of news:
1. We are still alive and tornado free! Apparently we moved to Oklahoma during tornado season and let me tell you, it is exciting! As of yet though, we have only had several tornado watches and a few tornado warnings. But no actual tornadoes, so that's good. We did get caught in a pretty massive hail storm a few weeks ago and I was sure our car was going to be totaled. I almost had the boys down on the floorboards with blankets over their heads. It was scary. But we escaped without a dent, yay! Our car is Superman! And yes, we do have a storm cellar in our backyard, so I feel much more confidant living here than if I were hiding in a bathtub or something if we do get a bigger storm. Matt is in heaven since he finally has his "bunker" and already that little cellar is prepped to go with cots, blankets, MRE's, water bottles, flashlights, propane tanks, etc. I almost hope we do have a tornado just so all of Matt's hard work doesn't go to waste. Bennett would be pretty happy about that too, sine he thinks it is a clubhouse where we hide from tomatoes that can blow us up. Something got lost in translation there...
2. Matt is LOVING his new job! His boss (Colonel Roberts) is awesome and down-to-earth and just a really great guy and boss. A good boss makes a big difference. Matt is having a lot of fun hanging out with all his dentists and running the dental clinics on base. I think he is over five. Me and the boys visit him every Wednesday and have lunch with him in his office, so we are getting to know the people there, too. They all love us. I think because they have to. Matt is their boss. Matt is also on the baseball team his unit has and we got to go to his first game this week. It was a blast. Bennett was very impressed with the entire event and kept loudly yelling out things like, "GET A POINT, DAD!" and "YOU CAN DO IT, DADDY!" We made a lot of friends on the bleachers, (and probably a lot of enemies on the field, since he kept yelling while they were trying to concentrate.) In the end Matt's team lost their first game, but Matt himself had two home runs and assisted in several outs. I guess the high school baseball skills have been resurrected.
3. We have some AWESOME parks here that the over-the-top safety people haven't discovered yet. Like they still have all the big metal slides and merry go rounds. Bennett and Matt have both fallen off the merry go round already. Both have scars to prove it. Maybe there is a reason all the over-the-top safety people remove those things.
4. I have joined the "Workout Group" in our ward, and go/try to go/will probably go at some point every Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday at 8:30 in the morning. It's a bunch of women from the branch who get together in one of the ladies' garages and do weight and strength training and stuff. I guess she was a personal trainer at some point, so she has all the equipment and routines ready to go. It's a lot of fun, and Bennett and Patton have a blast running around with all the other kids who are there with their moms. Sometimes Patton cries, so I just switch him out for some of my weights and bench press 18 pounds. I am going to have some great biceps.
5. Speaking of our branch, it is great. And small. And far away. Church is at 10:00am, but we leave the house at 9:20 to get there in time. Because we have to drive 35 minutes to get there, three towns away, on back country roads in Southern Oklahoma. It's a new thing for me. Luckily we are expert travelers, so a little Sunday drive is sort of nice. We have lots of time to talk about what we learned in Sunbeams. Like how I am thankful I can smell and taste because my blood is salty and I like that (?).
6. Along with the new branch, comes new callings. No, Matt and I do not currently have callings, but trust me, we are being put to use where we are needed. We moved into our house on a Monday, and they called us on Wednesday to ask if we could sub for the youth Sunday School class on Sunday (all of the youth are together in one class, because there are only four of them. Total. Did I mention it is small?) That same Sunday, I lead the music in Relief Society. I guess I did a really great job, because the next week we were there I was asked to lead the music in Sacrament, substitute teach Sunbeams (It's just Bennett in there all by himself, so no big deal) and then be the Primary Chorister. This week we said the opening and closing prayers, I lead the Primary in their sacrament Father's Day music presentation, substitute taught one of the Jr. Primary classes (I think there are only two classes total) and be Primary Chorister again. It sounds busy, but it's sort of fun bouncing around. And I think I have met almost every person in our branch now, and they are all super nice.
7. Since we have moved here, Griffin and Ashland have been able to see us at our house once, and we have been to their home twice to visit. Bennett and Zoey are really getting to be great cousins, they are fun to watch. Patton and Darcy are learning to play, too, but it's more like follow the leader as they crawl around the house together. Matt and I have fun too, staying up way too late and watching movies and talking to Griffin and Ashland. It is SO FUN being closer to family!
8. We have had a lot of fun exploring the area and finding new things to do and new people to play with. We have already made a lot of new friends and it is fun to live out in the country where kids ride four wheelers around the neighborhood and there are cows across the street. On that note, Matt found a tarantula spider yesterday that was the size of my hand, and I single-handedly killed a snake that was hiding in our backyard. I used a hoe, and I was not a very good aim. That poor snake had a pretty bad death. But we also have a little birdhouse with a bunch of baby birds in it in our backyard, and the cutest little wild bunny who decided to live by our fence that Bennett named, "Bunny who Runs Extra Fast"...but we just call him Briefy for short. He is very tolerant of all the noise we make and only runs away when we get a little too close. For Father's Day Bennett, Patton, and I surprised Matt by planting his vegetable garden for him, which is something he has been wanting to do, but just hasn't had the time. I sure hope Briefy doesn't eat our present.
9. About three days ago our house started to get hot. We had the air conditioning on, so we couldn't figure out why it was SO HOT! And then we figured out it's because our unit was broken. We called the rental company in charge of our house, they sent out a person, he said it was fine, it wasn't fine, we had to call back, blah, blah, blah long story--it just got fixed yesterday. THREE DAYS of NO air conditioning. It was pretty bad. One day, the boys and I just sat out in the car with the air blasting. It felt so good. But it is back now, and we are SO grateful. A cool house is a happy house. A much. Happier. House.
10. Our family as a whole has been so blessed to be here. We were sad to leave our good Texas friends behind, and to say goodbye to the first house that was truly our Home. The place where we brought our babies home and where we learned to be a real family together. We all miss it. But we are so so grateful to be starting our new adventure in OklaHOMEa and the great career opportunity it is for us. This is exactly where we need to be now, and it just feels right. We are happy :)
And there you have it. Hopefully I can get back on this blog thing now that things are a little less hectic. Even if there are no pictures, I am going to try to post at least SOMETHING every Sunday like the good ol' days. Because one day, Patton is going to grow up and discover what being the "second child" is all about when he compares Bennett's blog book volumes to his own pathetic little posts. Sorry, Buddy.
So Here's to new beginnings!
Let's do this!
Oklahoma.
We left our home in Texas in the hands of a real estate company, packed a pickup truck, our Explorer (with all the seats down), one ten foot trailer, one 20 foot trailer, Matt's car, and a 26 foot long U Haul truck with all of our stuff (SO MUCH STUFF!!!) and drove five hours up the road to Fletcher, Oklahoma and our new home. Since we have been here, we have had fun unpacking. And unpacking. And unpacking. I swear, nobody should have this many worldly possessions. And the scary thing is, we actually use it all. Our Goodwill pile is incredibly small. Scary.
So here are ten exciting, "Let's start our new life" pieces of news:
1. We are still alive and tornado free! Apparently we moved to Oklahoma during tornado season and let me tell you, it is exciting! As of yet though, we have only had several tornado watches and a few tornado warnings. But no actual tornadoes, so that's good. We did get caught in a pretty massive hail storm a few weeks ago and I was sure our car was going to be totaled. I almost had the boys down on the floorboards with blankets over their heads. It was scary. But we escaped without a dent, yay! Our car is Superman! And yes, we do have a storm cellar in our backyard, so I feel much more confidant living here than if I were hiding in a bathtub or something if we do get a bigger storm. Matt is in heaven since he finally has his "bunker" and already that little cellar is prepped to go with cots, blankets, MRE's, water bottles, flashlights, propane tanks, etc. I almost hope we do have a tornado just so all of Matt's hard work doesn't go to waste. Bennett would be pretty happy about that too, sine he thinks it is a clubhouse where we hide from tomatoes that can blow us up. Something got lost in translation there...
2. Matt is LOVING his new job! His boss (Colonel Roberts) is awesome and down-to-earth and just a really great guy and boss. A good boss makes a big difference. Matt is having a lot of fun hanging out with all his dentists and running the dental clinics on base. I think he is over five. Me and the boys visit him every Wednesday and have lunch with him in his office, so we are getting to know the people there, too. They all love us. I think because they have to. Matt is their boss. Matt is also on the baseball team his unit has and we got to go to his first game this week. It was a blast. Bennett was very impressed with the entire event and kept loudly yelling out things like, "GET A POINT, DAD!" and "YOU CAN DO IT, DADDY!" We made a lot of friends on the bleachers, (and probably a lot of enemies on the field, since he kept yelling while they were trying to concentrate.) In the end Matt's team lost their first game, but Matt himself had two home runs and assisted in several outs. I guess the high school baseball skills have been resurrected.
3. We have some AWESOME parks here that the over-the-top safety people haven't discovered yet. Like they still have all the big metal slides and merry go rounds. Bennett and Matt have both fallen off the merry go round already. Both have scars to prove it. Maybe there is a reason all the over-the-top safety people remove those things.
4. I have joined the "Workout Group" in our ward, and go/try to go/will probably go at some point every Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday at 8:30 in the morning. It's a bunch of women from the branch who get together in one of the ladies' garages and do weight and strength training and stuff. I guess she was a personal trainer at some point, so she has all the equipment and routines ready to go. It's a lot of fun, and Bennett and Patton have a blast running around with all the other kids who are there with their moms. Sometimes Patton cries, so I just switch him out for some of my weights and bench press 18 pounds. I am going to have some great biceps.
5. Speaking of our branch, it is great. And small. And far away. Church is at 10:00am, but we leave the house at 9:20 to get there in time. Because we have to drive 35 minutes to get there, three towns away, on back country roads in Southern Oklahoma. It's a new thing for me. Luckily we are expert travelers, so a little Sunday drive is sort of nice. We have lots of time to talk about what we learned in Sunbeams. Like how I am thankful I can smell and taste because my blood is salty and I like that (?).
6. Along with the new branch, comes new callings. No, Matt and I do not currently have callings, but trust me, we are being put to use where we are needed. We moved into our house on a Monday, and they called us on Wednesday to ask if we could sub for the youth Sunday School class on Sunday (all of the youth are together in one class, because there are only four of them. Total. Did I mention it is small?) That same Sunday, I lead the music in Relief Society. I guess I did a really great job, because the next week we were there I was asked to lead the music in Sacrament, substitute teach Sunbeams (It's just Bennett in there all by himself, so no big deal) and then be the Primary Chorister. This week we said the opening and closing prayers, I lead the Primary in their sacrament Father's Day music presentation, substitute taught one of the Jr. Primary classes (I think there are only two classes total) and be Primary Chorister again. It sounds busy, but it's sort of fun bouncing around. And I think I have met almost every person in our branch now, and they are all super nice.
7. Since we have moved here, Griffin and Ashland have been able to see us at our house once, and we have been to their home twice to visit. Bennett and Zoey are really getting to be great cousins, they are fun to watch. Patton and Darcy are learning to play, too, but it's more like follow the leader as they crawl around the house together. Matt and I have fun too, staying up way too late and watching movies and talking to Griffin and Ashland. It is SO FUN being closer to family!
8. We have had a lot of fun exploring the area and finding new things to do and new people to play with. We have already made a lot of new friends and it is fun to live out in the country where kids ride four wheelers around the neighborhood and there are cows across the street. On that note, Matt found a tarantula spider yesterday that was the size of my hand, and I single-handedly killed a snake that was hiding in our backyard. I used a hoe, and I was not a very good aim. That poor snake had a pretty bad death. But we also have a little birdhouse with a bunch of baby birds in it in our backyard, and the cutest little wild bunny who decided to live by our fence that Bennett named, "Bunny who Runs Extra Fast"...but we just call him Briefy for short. He is very tolerant of all the noise we make and only runs away when we get a little too close. For Father's Day Bennett, Patton, and I surprised Matt by planting his vegetable garden for him, which is something he has been wanting to do, but just hasn't had the time. I sure hope Briefy doesn't eat our present.
9. About three days ago our house started to get hot. We had the air conditioning on, so we couldn't figure out why it was SO HOT! And then we figured out it's because our unit was broken. We called the rental company in charge of our house, they sent out a person, he said it was fine, it wasn't fine, we had to call back, blah, blah, blah long story--it just got fixed yesterday. THREE DAYS of NO air conditioning. It was pretty bad. One day, the boys and I just sat out in the car with the air blasting. It felt so good. But it is back now, and we are SO grateful. A cool house is a happy house. A much. Happier. House.
10. Our family as a whole has been so blessed to be here. We were sad to leave our good Texas friends behind, and to say goodbye to the first house that was truly our Home. The place where we brought our babies home and where we learned to be a real family together. We all miss it. But we are so so grateful to be starting our new adventure in OklaHOMEa and the great career opportunity it is for us. This is exactly where we need to be now, and it just feels right. We are happy :)
And there you have it. Hopefully I can get back on this blog thing now that things are a little less hectic. Even if there are no pictures, I am going to try to post at least SOMETHING every Sunday like the good ol' days. Because one day, Patton is going to grow up and discover what being the "second child" is all about when he compares Bennett's blog book volumes to his own pathetic little posts. Sorry, Buddy.
So Here's to new beginnings!
Let's do this!
3 comments:
Hurray! I have waited so long to hear from you. Sounds like all is well and you have things completely under control. I had no idea Matt was such a great baseball player. They're probably so happy he's there, and your ward is also probably so glad you guys moved in. You are needed! Keep those posts coming, not only for sweet Patton, but for us too!
Yay! I am glad everything worked out well! Moving is hard but definitely exciting! That is crazy about your branch. Seriously, so different than Rexburg. Like the opposite. You will definitely have to blog more about your experience with that.
I'm glad things are going so well. It makes me happy to read your blog. Use a shotgun on the next snake . . . in the name of mercy and all that is decent. Snakes are people too you know. I love you guys. Dad
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