Detric gets Buzzed

It gets to be that time when the comb over just doesn't cut it anymore.  The hair is hanging over the ears, getting into the eyes and just needs to go.  By the end of September, it was that time for Detric.   He did really well through the haircut until the end, then he was just done with the whole buzzing in his ears thing,  I am sure the all the hair was tickling his neck, and he was just confused with what was going on.  As a consolation price, we gave him some vanilla ice cream...oh boy...life was good now...he loved that stuff!  It is always a little sad after your baby boy gets his first haircut.  Their little look changes so much.  They go from a baby to a big boy in minutes.

PS. Detric has 2 little teeth that came in on the bottom! We have tried several times to get a picture of them, but when you are trying to get a picture of something specific, they never cooperate!

Aparri is on 2 wheels

Aparri and her 2 wheel bike are inseparable.  Every day she asks, "Can I ride my bike?"  When we left Vegas she was just starting to try and ride without training wheels.  Clay would run beside her and catch her as she wobbled and toppled.  However, by the time we arrived in New Mexico, Aparri is a little 2 wheeling nut!  She can ride anywhere!  When we first arrived, we were taking the boys to and from school by riding our bikes.  Laura was convinced that little Aparri with her new found skill would not make the trip and we would be walking most of the way.  Clay said that she could do it and wanted to let her try.   So, try we did, and boy did she prove Laura wrong!  Not only did she make the trip there and back, but she made the trip there and back twice every day!  I tell you, this little girl just loves that little bike and is good at it!  Being 3 years old and riding on two wheels like a pro!  You go girl!

 

Seeing the Rainbows through the Storms

We were shocked as we drove from Las Vegas to New Mexico.  It rained THE WHOLE DRIVE. I kid you not..the whole way.  After Laura's driving accident several years ago with black ice, she has been a more hesitant driver...not liking or wanting to drive in any kind of weather other than dry and warm...  so she was not very happy when we had to travel through not just a little rain...HEAVY RAIN, Rain that pools on the road and floods rain.  They have been needing rain in New Mexico really bad, but still... Laura wasn't very excited to see it while behind the wheel.  As she prayed and prayed as she drove, God gave Laura little moments of happiness.  One being a double rainbow...in between two heavy storms, the rain stopped for a few moments...enough time to allow a double rainbow to form.  Laura knew it was Heaven smiling down!  It was gorgeous!  We didn't get a picture of the double rainbow, but we did get a snap of the full single.  We made it safely and without any accidents...we are truly blessed and watched over.

Treasures

It's amazing what you find when you move!  CJ came running up to Clay and Laura screaming... "Look what I found, Look what I found!!!"

Can you tell what it is?

 

It took us a few minutes, but after close examination we discovered it is.... (drum roll please)

it is part of Detric's umbilical cord.  The piece that dried up and fell off.  CJ found it in the carpet after the movers left the house in Vegas.  Wow...kinda gross....Treasures!

Exhausted....

 Moving is sooo exhausting - sorting, cleaning, packing, unpacking, driving, hotels, new school, new town, new house.... has just wiped us ALL out.  In the last few weeks, each of us has fallen asleep in various places through out the house.  Now, that we are unpacked and settled, and Our bodies have finally said, THAT IS ENOUGH! 

It's Official...

We are officially Home Owners!  We did it.... after 11 years of marriage, Clay was finally able to convince Laura to take the plunge and buy a house!  (There wasn't really an option for us to live on base this time...or the convincing would have been that much more difficult for Clayboy!)  Our realtor, Daryl Loewen, did a great job walking us through the home buying process.  This being our first time... we weren't quite sure what we were doing, but we are excited for the new adventure and the experience of being home owners!  Yipee....pray for no natural disasters, break down of appliances or any other major money suckers!  (if it is a really good experience, Laura just might do it again!!)   After we got the keys and the moving truck unloaded our goods...Laura had fun decorating yet another home!  She gets so much joy out of it...it is rather funny!  She doesn't allow herself to start decorating until most of the boxes are unpacked... needless to say, she works like a crazy woman unpacking, just so she can get to the fun stuff.  Poor Clay gets dragged into the "Fun" with her!  Hey, someone's got to hold the stuff up on the wall, while Laura tells them "higher" "lower" "no..that just doesn't look right. let's try something else"  "We have to move the couch over there"  "move this" "move that"  yep...LOADS of fun for Clay!!!  He is a good sport through it all!  When all is said and done, we all enjoy the house when all the "fun" is done!  

Load it up....and take it away!

 It is so weird to see all your stuff in boxes,  loaded up on a truck, and then driven off.... hoping you see it on the other end!  This move was exhausting!!!!  We had a few little hiccups, but luckily because Laura is so detail oriented, it all came out ok!  We had packers for 2 days...the first day was a joke - they were only there for 4 hours and got 2 rooms done...the second day was a FULL day...9+ hours.  Everyone was done by the end of that second day, but oh no... Laura still had to check the boxes...and wouldn't you know it - at least 1/2 of the boxes didn't have our name on it (so Laura took a sharpie and did it herself!), she found several (about 10) boxes that weren't inventoried at ALL... and then another few that weren't inventoried or labeled...hmmm.. a little fishy??  Then, on the day the loaders were scheduled to come, the packers and their company showed up unannounced and said that they were going to load our stuff into their truck and then the drivers would get it from their warehouse....hmm...again fishy.  Doubly fishy since we had already been in contact with our driver and we knew that they were on their way....and yep, within 10 minutes, we had 2 moving trucks, 2 crews, and 2 companies fighting for our stuff...well, we don't know if he had any say or not, but we were not very anxious to let the packing company...that had made so many "errors" the day before pack up our things.  We were relieved when Justin and his crew from Southern Nevada Movers demanded and kept our shipment.  They were amazing.  They took great care with our things, did everything that they could to make us happy.

Both packers and movers kept saying, "Wow..you have a lot of stuff"  "Wow, you guys have a lot of stuff"  "Wow...." yeah..we get it..we have a lot of stuff!  Laura didn't really get it until Justin the driver, pretty much told her that if she doesn't get rid of some big items, they were going to be over or extremely close to the weight limit.  One guy that Justin knew was 2,000 lbs over and had to pay several thousand dollars.  Well, that struck a chord with Laura's finance mind...and got her moving and pitching quickly.  We made some last minute executive decisions about what goes and what gets left behind....luckily, at the end of the day, we were right on the money with our weight...whew.  Thanks Justin.  You were great to work with and helped us not go over our weight allowance!  He even let Preston drive the truck when it was all loaded and ready to go.  In addition, Justin worked it out so we could have a door to door delivery with our stuff, which meant it was stored for a few extra days on his truck....thanks Justin, we really owe you big time!  We will definitely remember JUSTIN from Southern Nevada Movers....amazing. (in today's world, customer service is everything.)