Goodbyes

The hardest part about any big change is always the goodbyes. We were so blessed with so many wonderful friends in the Rio Grande Valley. We had a great little going away party at our pool (which I'm also really going to miss) and had many of our friends come to say goodbye and have some fun with. Its crazy to think we may not see some of these people again after they were such a major part of our lives for so long. Thank goodness for social media to help us all stay in touch so well. 

What party isn't complete without missionaries!? Really though, we'll miss the opportunity we had to always get close to our elders and have them in our home so frequently.

The sign says, "Adios Pan Y Heather!" Whenever we'd go out to restaurants, they'd have the hardest time with Brett's name and would say, "Bread??" so this became a joke. :)

These two have had the closest bond since they were babies! I'm so sad Kayla has to leave here friends. 

Chelsea and Heather! Oh how I love them both! They were both lifesavers our last night in town. 

No Valley in the RGV is complete without a pinata! And Kayla happened to match this one. :)

Jescee and I bonded over our homeland! I loved her sassy attitude. 

We didn't know the Mendoza's for long, but we bonded quickly! Kayla loved giving kisses to the little boy Evan. Hadinay was such an example to me in her testimony devotion.

I love the Barlow's! Kali will always be Kayla's first best friend! And Areli was such a great friend to me. 

We babysat Iosepa for a year and I love that little boy! His family became good friends of ours!

Kayla and her "Pepa"

Ryan Wilson was the first person I ever met at church in McAllen and Amber and I became quick friends through our stake YW callings. I love this family! Amber is such a treasured friend that was always willing to help out in so many ways. She taught me a lot. 

Chelsea and I were checking the flashes on our cameras at the same time and we each got a photo like this of each other. :)

Cassie was the best friend/neighbor I could have asked for!! She went out of her way to make me and everyone else feel welcome in our ward. She always shared her surplus of yummy food and desserts and was always there for me. She taught me a lot in our callings too. I'm so grateful for her and her cute family!

The Bray family became like family to us when Brett became their home teacher. Our kids love theirs a lot and Heather is one of the most loyal friends I've had. She'd give the shirt off her back to anyone that needed it. She was there for me through some tough times and I loved talking to her about anything. 

Daisy was one of Brett's favorite co-workers and friends at KGBT. We love her and Dillon and were so excited that they came so far to say goodbye to our family! Tiffany and Nestor were a part of the weekend team with Brett and great friends to him at the station. 

 

Chelsea is the talented artist that made this treasure! It's haning on my wall at our new home and I love it almost as much as I love her. Some people you meet and hit it off with right away. I think Chelsea may be like that with everyone, but she is such a sweet friend to me! The last night we were in town, our house was empty so she offered her home to us. We stayed up talking until the wee hours of the morning. She's one of the most talented women I know and can do everything!

 Sam and Anna were some of our first friends in the ward! They are so friendly and made us feel like family! I loved working with Anna in the young women! She's one of the happiest people I know! We will miss their whole family. 

 The Stocks moved in about a year ago and Kayla and Eva quickly became buddies! Brittany was also such an example to me with her testimony and devotion to her calling! We were grateful for their family friendship!

We went to story time one last time before we left and met the Barlow's there. These two girls just kept hugging and saying goodbye. Their relationship really is so sweet!

Moving day also came quickly! We had movers and they decided to pack and load all in one day, when we had planned on it taking two. Amber was awesome enough to take Kayla for the day, making my day so much easier! Here's a few pictures of the packing up. I was so sad to say goodby to our house. 

 

I hurriedly cleaned the house as the movers loaded up the last boxes so they could take the mop and vaccuum on the truck with them. It was hectic and busy and then we loaded the tired and displaced kids into the car. I then desparately wanted to take one last photo but we didn't want to unload the kids again, so it was just us. It was somewhat fitting though because it was just us and we began our time in this house. We brought both our babies home from the hospital here. They took their first steps here. We grew a lot as a family, in number and in our hearts. This home will always be so special to me.

We gratefully headed to the Bray's for a delicious dinner that night. The kids had a good time together one last time and once again, I was reminded how grateful I am for this family. 

As previously mentioned, we stayed the night at the Skidmores and then headed out early in the morning. The trip couldn't have started without one last meal of the famous Stripes breakfast tacos! One of the things I'll miss the most about the Valley! :)

Moving to Idaho!

My oh my! Isn't life just full of surprises? When we moved away from Idaho, we were both pretty sure that we wouldn't be coming back. It didn't seem to be in the cards with Brett's career. We came to deep South Texas and it was quite the change and a bit of a shock. Life here is a lot different in a lot of ways. Number one is probably the weather. I've really struggled with the lack of seasons and the brutal heat is something I haven't gotten used to. The culture here is also very different from home. It too took some major adjustments but I've grown to love it. I've eaten lots of delicious Mexican food, improved my Spanish a lot, and learned a lot about the Hispanic culture that is wonderful.

Then....a few months ago, Brett told me that he wasn't sure if he wanted to stay in the broadcast business. I was surprised but supportive. I want nothing more than for him to be happy in his work because I know how much that influences his overall happiness. With this announcement, he also told me he didn't know exactly what he would do. Literally two days later, Brett got an email from an old acqaintance in Idaho letting him know about this opportunity. We both figured it was a long shot but the more we looked into the prospect, the more excited we became! 

Lots of research, work, prayers, discussions, and fasting encompassed most of our energy. Fast forward to the present and Brett is now the Media Relations and Communications Manager for BYU-Idaho! Its all happening so fast! Movers will be here in a week to pack up all our belongings and ship it back north. When I thought about this prospect, I realized that this was a dream I didn't even dare have for fear of disappointment. Again, I never thought we'd be going back to Idaho. My entire family and Brett's mom and stepdad are all within a couple hours of Rexburg and its such an exciting prospect to be able to spend quality time with family. I'm so excited for Kayla and Tyson to get to know their family. We'll also get to spend more time wih Brett's siblings as they all come out to visit his mom. 

As I thought about the blessing it would be to be close to family, I came to really realize how much we will miss the 'ward family' we've been blessed with here. One of the best things about being a member of the Church is the organization. Wherever you go, you have an built in family full of people with similar lifestyles and goals. We definitely have that here and we will miss them all! We've both also have met a lot of great people through our jobs. There are a alot of people that have taught me so much here. I have created life-long friendships that I will forever cherish. 

Just this evening, I chatted on the phone with one of the young women from our ward that recently moved to college. She is a great friend and I loved being able to catch up with her and hear her testimony growing experiences. I love the people that I've been able to serve here in Texas. I've had a lot of service opportunities through church that I might not have had elsewhere and the experience I've gained is totally invaluable. 

This place will always hold such a special place in my heart because we began our family here! Both Kayla and Tyson were born here and Brett and I have grown together so much! Its been such a blessing to be here and able to establish our family as our own. I know that we have had our trials and opportunities to grow, but I can't deny how incredibly blessed we've been! On top of everything, it looks like we will be able to sell our house quickly and I'm so grateful! 

While there are definitely things I won't miss about South Texas, there are a lot that I will. I'll look back on this phase of life fondly and full of gratitude. Thank goodness for Facebook to keep us involved with everyone that we've come to love down here. Friendships and relationships are some of life greatest blessings and we've had those in abundance in the RGV. 

Now on to th next great chapter of life. One full of outdoors activites (camping, hiking, canoeing,etc.), family traditions, family activities, a better job and schedule for Brett, and the beautiful mountains we've missed so much! And the snow - yes, I've missed that too! I can't wait to have four seasons again! I know we will be so happy in Rexburg and can't wait to see what the Lord has in store for our family! 

Visiting the Texas Dimonds!

We just got home from a great little trip up to Temple, Texas! Brett's cousin and her cute family just moved there from Michigan and we were excited to spend some time with them all! We drove up on a Thursday morning and met up in Austin. We had lunch at Torchy's Tacos, which was delicious! We had to wait in line for awhile, but they had these fun lights for Kayla to play with so we were all happy!

After lunch, we headed to a children's museum called Thinkery. The kids all had a great time and they had a lot of great exhibits for fun learning. 

We took a turn on this cool swing on the playground outside and Kayla was a little nervous, hence the death grip on Brett! They had lots of pigs outside and Kayla loved playing on them. 

 

We played on the giant train track for awhile and then headed into the light and color room. 

My favorite area was probably the water room. There were several different water activities for the kids to explore and discover. Kayla loved it! Unfortunately Kayla dumped a whole cup of water on Henry. 

They had a tot area full of places to crawl and hide. Both kids loved this!

 

Kayla was always much more excited to snap photos with Jack then he was to take pictures with her. haha!

We drove to Diane's house where Kayla got to discover the fun of dressing up as superheroes! She loved playing with Jack and being Captain America. Tyson loved playing with the cars and airplanes. It may be time for us to start buying him some 'boy' toys. 

 

After the kids went to bed, we stayed up playing games with Colby and Diane and I loved it! I miss playing games with people all the time and love any chance I get to play games! Plus, these two are hilarious so that made it even better!

The next day, we were determined to wear the kids out so they would sleep well enough for us to get babysitter and go out on a double date. It started with time at this really cool wooden park. The kids had a blast! We then went to get some treats at a little sweet shop. 

Another happy photo experience! Haha!

We then ran home to change and went to the city water park for about an hour before lunch. 

Recreating an old photo from their childhood!

We went home for lunch and naps for the littles and then headed back for a few more hours. Kayla went down the slide over 50 times and also swam by herself with her little swimmer floaters in the lazy river. She kept saying that she was a big girl and that she was brave! At one point, she said to an older teenage boy that she was brave and so was he! He just laughed and swam along. I loved it. She's such a happy, sweet girl!

 

Our tactics worked and the kids were zonked right after dinner. I was worried because Tyson's teething and has a cold, so he's been waking up more often, but they all slept the whole time we were gone!

We went to dinner at BJ's and had a great time chatting and eating yummy food!

We got up early the next morning and headed to Austin again to do some exploring. We first went to Mount Bonnel outlook. Its a short walk up some flights of stairs, but Kayla was determined to walk the whole way up by herself. At the top she said, "I just walked up a mountain!" Uh, we need to get this girl on some real mountains! Haha!

I love the view from the top! Its so beautiful and the kids all loved watching the boats and jet skis in the river below. 

 

Thank you, selfie stick!

We headed to the capital afterwards and explored there for awhile. The kids even got some dancing in! 

  

I love my little Texas babies! This photo is funny because he's almost as big as she is! Haha!

 

Another selfie stick photo underneath the dome!

We took a few photos outisde too! We never miss a photo opportunity!

 

We went to the famous (or so we're told) Shake Shack for lunch! It was delicious and Kayla made sure to wipe the whole place down while we waited for our food. That girl loves to clean with wipes. 

 

The iconic Austin sign! 

We said our goodbyes to the Texas Dimonds and headed home! We stopped in San Antonio on the way attend the temple. It was wonderful, as always and just what I needed after a busy few weeks. 

Tyson hasn't been the best traveler lately, so I spent some time in the back seat with him and even when he's fussy, his smile melts my heart! I love this guy! Once we left San Antonio, the kids slept the whole way home! It was a great trip and we made lots of memories.