Our First Ice Storm

OK, so this post is mostly just for Becca because before we moved we were talking about ice storms and Becca didn't know what they were exactly, so I took the best pictures I could, but it was 19 degrees outside when I did and I was cold and the wind was blowing so I didn't take to many.

This first picture is from our balcony, and it's all the ice on the ground. I know it looks like snow, but it's not and it's super slippery.

These are the bottom steps of the stairs up to our apartment. They got iced over and Brooke had to hold my hand when she went down stairs or she would slip and fall. The rails were covered in ice too!

See the icicles hanging off the bush? That's how it was on all the trees and street signs. It's really pretty in the trees when the sun shines on it.

Just more ice. It was all over the sidewalk and street. It only melted after it warmed up and the sun was shining on it. If it was in the shade, it stayed there all day. And at night everything refroze if there was still water on it.

The car covered in ice.

Do you like the icicles hanging from our car? It's sort of weird to see.

And this is from my bedroom window. The rain froze to the screen like that. Funny, huh?

Anyway, for the most part that's what it was. Ice just blankets everything. And we stay inside. It depended on which school you went to, but some were closed for two days and some only for one. And the day after the ice storm there was so much fog that I couldn't see the water tower that's right next to our apartments. Luckily no one lost their power. Sometimes the ice gets so thick and heavy on the power lines that it knocks peoples power out, and then it gets really cold inside too. Anyway, so now you know what an ice storm is Becca.

We love and miss you guys, and the warmth. So enjoy the nicer weather for me!

Family Pictures

Before our move we had family pictures taken by Amy and they turned out so cute! I thought I'd post some of them for you guys to see. Honestly there are so many that we love I can't share all of them, but Brooke and Nixon are so cute and fun to have pictures of... but again I am a biased mother. I love his expressions! They crack me up and they change all the time. And as for Brooke she is a little camera hog, Wendi knows. Brooke loves to have her picture taken, whenever anyone gets a camera out and she's near it she wants to be in the shot!

Brooke loves her dad!!! She had fun with him and gave him a wet willy. Thanks for teaching her that Sean and Keith!

Brooke can't get enough of Nixon!! She loves being a big sister. Anytime he gets up or cries she wants to be there to see him or take care of him, or make sure that mom's doing her job taking care of him!

Adjusting, it takes a while...

It's hard to find everything that you want right when you want it when unpacking, but I finally found the cord to my camera so I could upload pictures onto our computer. We are learning to adjust to life in Wylie. I lose track of time very easily and before I know it my day if half way over. Last week and this week JD is off to an event, the nice thing is that it's in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. Last week he was only 15 minutes away from home so he came home one night and then we went and visited him twice. This week he is in Fort Worth so we are going tonight and spending the night with him and then we won't see him again until Saturday.

This is the front door to our lovely apartment on the third floor!!! I was so excited to put my Valentine's sign on the door, until one night when I woke up in the middle of the night because it was banging on the door so hard due to the wind. So it only goes up on non-windy days, which seems to be very few.This is the view from our stairs. It is so flat here!! Actually it's a little hilly, but I am use to seeing mountains in pretty much any direction you drive, so that's something new to get use to. And I don't think I have ever seen so many water towers in my life. I thought I would be able to easily find JD's work when we visited in November because it's right by a water tower, no there are so many, and you can't see it, but there is one off in the distance and there's another one you can see from our apartment further west.

Nixon just started on solid foods and likes them, but he loves to eat. At first he isn't so sure about what I am giving him, but he's had carrots and squash. He's getting so big and loves to be on the floor and scooch around, He'll probably be crawling sooner than I'll be ready for it.

Brooke is doing well, she has made quite a few new friends very quickly. She misses everyone and asks if we can go to Grandma's and play with Chloe or Brandon. She always talks about everyone, it just depends on what we are doing. It's been sort of cold and windy lately so we haven't played to much outside, but she has come to love playing the Wii and is getting better at golf, so look out Keith she's going to beat you! We went to a playgroup last week where they had bouncy castles and fun things like that, but Brooke didn't want to do that, she played air hockey with a boy from the ward for most of the time.

She also loves to be on the computer, she was really tired that day!!!

Our apartment is still sort of messy because I haven't found a spot for everything just yet. Hopefully when JD gets back from his trip he'll be able to help me a little. But we will keep taking pictures and posting them for everyone to see!

TEXAS

We are finally here! We left Mesa early Monday morning and got in late that night. I don't think we knew just how long of a trip it was going to be. Luckily, Jill and Kevin had offered to fly Nixon over for us, which was a great blessing for us!! It was fun to have them here for a couple days. We moved into a two bedroom apartment, which is an adjustment from our home in Queen Creek, but we're getting use to it. We live on the third floor, I know crazy, but Brooke loves going up and down the stairs all the time, at least for now. JD's new boss had some guys from his work come over and help us move in, as did Kevin and Jill. It made it go really fast. Now we just have to unpack everything, or atleast the things that we need for now. It's really pretty here and cold, for me anyway. I've always loved coats and sweaters so this could be a fun thing for me to get all bundled up, and not have to have it be so cold that is snows.

We miss everyone a lot! Brooke is everyone's Mii on the Wii, so we have fun with you guys that way, I guess. I've met a lot of the guys and their families that JD works with and they are really nice! We went and played games with them on New Year's Eve and then last night we went to Joe and Alisha for dinner and watched to Rose Bowl. (Joe is JD's boss). I'll take pictures of where we live so I can post them for everyone. We love and miss you all like crazy! Hopefully we'll be able to come and visit in a few months.