Back to our regularly scheduled program

Andrew could not make up his mind about what type of birthday party he wanted. When he finally did make his decision, it was Spongebob all the way! Again we were fortunate enough to have Kara's family here, and we were able to celebrate in our new house. Happy (very belated) birthday Drewbie!!!

 

Do you validate?

My apologies for taking a break from our slideshow updates, but we just watched this at work and it left me smiling and I felt like sharing with everyone. Enjoy! 

Think about how much you smiled while watching others get validated. When something so simple can affect us even though we're not even the direct recipients, that's powerful!!! It's a great little reminder to take the time and effort to validate each other as much as we can because, hey, it makes the world a better place! That being said, thanks to all our friends and family out there. I'm sure we haven't said it enough, but all y'all are awesome! You're great and we sincerely appreciate what you've done for us in any way, shape or form.  Keep it up!

Raw Hide!

One of the only things we don't like about Texas is how far away from family we are. Though it is hard, it does make the time we do get to spend with them that much more enjoyable. Kara's family came by after the snow to see the house and celebrate Andrew's Birthday. Here's a few shots from the family's trip down to the Ft. Worth Stock Yards. 

 

Froze Over

When we moved down to Texas we thought we'd kissed the snow goodbye. Little did we know it would follow us! We've experienced at least 3-4 major (at least for Texas) snow storms in the past 4 years, and the one we had in February was the biggest to date! The boys (like their Daddy) love the snow, and despite not having winter gear, Kara and the boys made the most of it!

Andrew Turns 4!

Next in our series of pictures is Andrew's 4th Birthday. He loved bowling so much last year that we decided to take him again. The kid is a mean bowler! After the game we spent a lovely dinner at Texas Road House. He wasn't too sure about being put up on a saddle and having everyone sing to him, but he loved his favorite meal (chicken, fries, and sprite)

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

We have been called to task for not posting enough pictures on our site. It appears that certain family members are going through Andrew and Grant withdrawals. Being the enablers we are, we're happy to oblige. Over the next few days we'll post several slide shows chronicling our adventures during the past few months. For those of you who still need more, you can check out our photobucket page here, which has more pics and videos. We'll start with Christmas and work our way up. Enjoy!

Moving Home

Call me crazy, but I enjoy moving. There's something very exhilarating about closing one door and stepping through another. Sure, the process can be a little hectic and even stressful at times, but that's all part of the adventure. Packing up and moving our family over 1200 miles away down to Texas (which is another fun-filled story all together) will always be one of my favorite family memories. We were surprised as anyone, but when it came time to take the next step up in our lives we decided we wanted to stick around the area we've come to call home for the past 3 1/2 years. 

I'll spare you all the details, but our transition into home owners happened very, very quick. Within one month we went from kind of thinking about maybe looking at homes to owning one. Among the many blessings we've had during the process, we were fortunate enough to have nearly two months to move over to the house. Our poor cars served as mini freight trucks as week after week we mercilessly crammed everything we thought would remotely fit into them. Our goal was to only have the large and heavy stuff in apartment on D-day, and I have to say, we came pretty darn close!

It was kind of weird living in limbo between two places for so long, but moving day came soon enough.Amazingly it only took us a half hour to load up. Props to Denton 4th ward brethren who were moving machines!

Night before the move 

For his part, Andrew was incredibly excited about the move. This was due to two primary reasons: First, the house has come to be known by him as the place "he can run and jump in" (without torturing the poor downstairs neighbor). He could now practice his sliding and jumping without us getting all over his back! Second, and quite possibly more important, moving meant that he got to ride with Daddy in the truck!

 

Roll Out!

Boys love trucks!

 

The day was not without it's mishaps as Kara twisted her ankle fairly early on in the process. Also, due to a miscommunication on our part, there was no one waiting at the house to help us unload the truck. After pulling up and taking a few moments to rest, we took the bull by the horns and had just unloaded the truck ourselves. Kara was quite a trooper and "played through the pain" and we knocked it all out within an hour. 

When all was said and done it was another fun little family adventure that I'll always look back on with fondness. I'm sure we'll be unpacking and making the house our home for many more months, but the move is done! Here's to opening a new door in our first house!

Nelsens on the move!