Time to Say Goodbye...

I think I have been in denial about this for awhile. I have known it was coming but somehow it just seemed like I was going to be able to take everyone with me to our new home. The truth is starting to settle in and people are starting to say goodbye to me for the last time. There are SO many people that we love here in Dallas and who have become life long friends, how do you just say goodbye to those types of people?!

Well for anyone who doesn't know we are moving to Mesa, AZ where Peter has been offered "a job you just can't refuse!" I keep telling him, if this wasn't exactly what you wanted to be doing, we wouldn't be leaving, but we also knew that we weren't going to live Dallas forever, so I guess our time has come to an end.

Over the last few weeks though we have thought of all the amazing things that have happened to us here:
- It was the first time we were truly ever on our own. No family just down the street, or someone visiting ever other weekend, it has just been us and we have loved what that has done for our relationship.
- We had our baby here! Dallas is where we became a family and that can only happen once and in one location... we are glad it was here.
- Peter got his first "Corporate America" job and all the crazy long hours that came with that
- Peter stopped working there!
- We actually lived in our first apartment here. We have always been fortunate enough to live in houses until we moved here, but honestly, there aren't too many places like the Village and I am glad we could call this place home for awhile!

I know there are so many more firsts that we could add to this list but the most important thing we are taking with us is all of you guys. Thanks for being our friends and like I keep telling everyone feel free to come visit us in AZ any time you want!

HALLOWEEN

stimey with ant bites

I hate to admit this, but it adds to the story, so I must... when I was a little girl, sadly a little bit older then even Little Miss, I was a nose picker and some family members started calling me "stimey." In my defense however, one of my older sisters, no names mentioned (but you know who you are) had a booger wall next to where her bed was and when my mom found it she made her clean the whole wall! Anyway, it tends to run in our family and well... I couldn't be more proud of my little one!

On other news, we went outside to play on one of the non rainy days here, and Little Miss had gotten into *what I thought was* some dirt. She had on one of my favorite little sweaters so I told her to come to me so I could take it off... no dirt, but tons of ants! She wasn't crying or anything but I started stripping off her clothes, don't worry, it was never the bites that made her cry, just that she was in her diaper in the middle of a field with nothing else on, and maybe a bit of her mothers panic attack! Luckily the ants never made it passed her hands, but they did do a doosy on her little hands.

hard shoes to fill

Little Miss tried to wear my shoes around the house the other day and I couldn't help but laugh and then start to think of how I used to try on my mom's shoes... I wanted to be just like her. She is the perfect example of how to be a mother first, a friend second. She knows just what to say whether it be the worst moment of your life or the happiest. Her family has always been the top priority above all else and there was never a question about that! She has overcome more in her life then any one person can ever imagine, and I wish that I could fill her shoes, but I can't. I am my own person with different shoes. I have even come to understand that she wouldn't want me to fill her shoes... she likes that I am a little different then her, she even loves that about me! But she has shown me how to fill certain shoes that I must always wear...
Mom, you have taught me how to be a worthy mother in these days, you have taught me how fight for what I want most in life, you have taught me how to be fun, you have taught me how to love, and goodness knows there is so much more you have taught me that I can't list here, but mom I love you so much and I wish you the happiest of all birthdays this year!


ps. Happy Anniversary Katie and Jason, and Happy Birthday Anna Banana

the long catch up post....

Lots of news to report from this end so lets just get started with the quick version:

We flew to Utah for a wedding and Little Miss became OBSESSED with airplanes, which actually wasn't all bad because she would just sit looking out the windows of the airport yelling the word "airplane" whenever she saw one which was only every two seconds... but at least we knew where she was at all times!

The wedding just happened to fall upon Little Miss Ellie's Birthday so we got to join her, her family, and nana and papa for a very happy birthday dinner.

Nana felt bad that there wasn't very many toys for Little Miss in Midway so she got her a trike... only took me two hours to put the blasted thing together, can't wait for Christmas!

Luke and Kat got married

and then we took Little Miss on a walk around temple square and took some pictures


Little Miss got to meet her cousin Hazel for the first time:


Pete and I then headed to Minn for his Grandfather's funeral.
The funeral was beautiful! The farm will never be the same without him and he will greatly be missed by our little family.

That has been our last month... maybe you now understand why the lack of posting!

Chuck E Cheese

Where a kid can truly be a kid is obviously a true statement... The YW of the Lakewood Ward have been begging for us to take them here for months now, and their wishes finally came true,

and inadvertently so did the unknown wish of a particular Little Miss!

She wasn't letting on with these pictures that she was having the time of her life but trust me when I say the truth was that her little heart was SO terribly overwhelmed she just didn't think to smile, she was just trying to take it all in!

And by the end she finally gave me that smile to say "hey mom, this place isn't so bad... I might even like it here."
Maybe next time we will start off with that smile instead of waiting to see it the minute before I told her "it's time to go..."
and this was her response.

am I a bad mom...

this is how she entertains herself...

this is how she eats dinner...

at least she's a happy one...