So, long story short, Josh and I flew to Dallas on the Thursday before the Super Bowl, after a much-shorter-than-we-thought-possible application and phone interview process for an Admin Manager position with Sonoco, the company he has been an accountant at the home office for over the last four years (Whoa! LONG run-on sentence!)...Here we are, getting ready to leave the Columbia SC Airport...
...and in Dallas, with unexpectedly COLD temperatures and a LOTS of snow and ice! Notice those icicles...
...we got our snazzy, fun rental car...
...and after a hour of driving (we only drove about 10 miles!) on a sheet of ice, we made it to "Love and War in Texas", a Texas-sized Tex-Mex steakhouse, with Texas-sized portions...
...we ate as much as we could, but WOW that was a lot of food! Our hotel was in Plano...there were no hotel rooms in Dallas because of the Super Bowl...and after the fire alarm went off when the pipes burst in the ceiling over the indoor pool area, producing a waterfall in the area, we awoke the next morning to 6 more inches of snow...this was our hour and 15 min, 9 mile drive to Carrollton, where we had to drive for Josh's interview...
...The interview obviously went well, but it was a crazy morning, because I drove with him and dropped him off at the Plant, thus having who knows how many hours to occupy myself in a town I didn't know, driving on a sheet of ice up and down hills, with snow continuously falling (It was like I was back in Utah!) But because I lived in Utah for 4 years, I knew how to drive in it. I can't really say the same for some others who were on the road...We spent the rest of the day exploring Plano and over the next 2 days, put over 400 miles on that car with all our exploring! This pic shows you how proud the people here are to be from Texas. I asked Josh to get me a waffle from the complimentary breakfast at the hotel and he returned with this...
...We drove north on Friday and explored Frisco, Little Elm and The Colony, etc and then Sunday morning, decided to find the Dallas Temple before heading back to the airport...
...SO beautiful! We were on the airplane during the Super Bowl with several unhappy people, who were having to miss it!!! Bummer! But we made it home safely to our sweeties!, who knew where we had been but not why we had been there...(Thank goodness for Grandma and Grandpa who kept them for us!)
...It wasn't long before Josh was offered the job...4 days after we returned to be exact! This is a few days after we told the girls we were moving to Texas! A friend at church had given Josh this hat and he was so excited until he tried it on and realized it was too small for his head!!! HaHa! (I'll admit it didn't fit mine either!0)It did fit the girls though, so they tried it on....
...Just after Josh left for Texas, we drove to Charleston with Mom and Dad, Sarah and Ava for my niece, Calla's 2nd birthday party! The theme was "Choo-choos and tutus" (Calla LOVES Thomas the Tank Engine!) Even the men got in on the fun! This pic cracks me up! Layne is such a hoot! When he grills, he wears a mask because the smoke kicks up his allergies--you should see him when he mows the lawn! Do you love the Tinkerbell shirt and tutu? He is so fun!
Abby, Phoebe, Ava and Calla--tutu-ed out!
Pop-Pop with 2 of his 9 granddaughters...
...and grandma, too!
...Abby pretending to be Prince Charming from Shrek 3...don't ask...I have no idea why she was so into it at the time...
...Little princess...
...Phoebe saying goodbye to Miss Shannon, her physical therapist. Shannon has seen Phoebe every week since she was three months old and we love her to pieces! We miss her so much already, along with Miss Joyce, her occupational therapist! Lots of tears were shed on this day and a few days later when we said goodbye to Joyce!
...Playtime with the Hardway kids! Haley and Parker are so much fun!!!!
Josh flew in from Dallas on March 25, and after saying farewell to my parents and grandparents....too many tears shed to talk about...we hopped in the packed-full van and drove to Asheville, where Nana and Poppy met us! Nana had made cute cloth fun books for the girls for the road trip and gave them easter bunnies to go with the cute chipmunks that Grandma Harvey had given them! Grandma and Nana are both so fun!
The girls slept in one of the queen beds in the hotel room and I had to document what they sleep with every night! No less than 3 blankies a piece and probably 4-5 animals...Aye aye aye! And it has only gotten worse since we got here!
...Heidi and Aarron drove up from Greenville to see us at our Asheville hotel before we headed out! We had so much fun with them! Thank you all for coming!
The next day, we traveled the 8-9 hours to the Memphis area, where my cousin, Shea and her family live. We had a blast eating barbecue with them and checking out the home they will be purchasing soon (SO NICE!). I think this was outside Chili's at lunchtime on the way there...
...we stayed at their house that night and got up the next morning to hop in the car and finish the last leg of our trip... I was so anxious to get here! This was how I found the girls the next morning, all cuddled together...
...getting into the car to take Abby to school on her first day at Rasor Elementary (Go Rockets!) Not sure why she had the goggles on, but she looked adorable!
First time at Play Group! I met like 8 of the women in our church congregation (Plano 6th Ward) before I even went to church because they called and invited me to Play Group! Everyone is so nice here!
First time Josh took the girls swimming in the apartment complex pool. Water was COLD, but they didn't care! They went from hot tub to pool...back and forth...so crazy, but they loved it!
That first Saturday, we went exploring and drove up to Little Elm, where most of the homes are that we like. We found this neat restaurant, The Prairie House! Delicious southern cooking...Josh and I both had chicken fried chicken and mashed potatoes with country gravy...the building was so neat and they had so many old signs and recycled items from old houses, etc! There was a whole huge wall made out of old doors, pieced together like a puzzle! So cool!
For Family Home Evening that Monday, we decided to take the girls to see the Dallas Temple. It was a beautiful, windy day, and it was so peaceful! It took us about 20 minutes to get there...WITH TRAFFIC...so wonderful to be so close!
We loved to see the temple, even when Abby was a grump! There are so many parks here too! Beautiful! Phoebe and I have been to about 6 or 7 different ones so far and we have plenty left to visit! I love the pride that people here take in their towns!
One morning before school, Phoebe found one of her lost binkies and put both in her mouth a the same time...she is so silly sometimes!
Sweet Abby! So happy!
The next Saturday, we drove up to the next town, Frisco, for their Annual Easter Egg Hunt, and met up with Michelle, my friend who grew up with me in Goose Creek, SC! We loved meeting her family as well and sharing a fantastic dinner at their beautiful home in Frisco!
...And we're finally coming to the end of this post with our biggest even so far! Abby's haircut! Her hair is SO THICK and we have always had problems getting her to let us brush it or keep it up out of her eyes! So, after feeling how hot it has already started to get here and knowing she would not keep her hair up in a ponytail, we took her to the Pro-Cuts down the street and let the fun Rahile chop it off and layer it! It was actually Abby's idea to do it, which shocked me and she LOVES it! And so do I!
That's all for now, but we went to the zoo Friday and of course Easter, so I will need to be doing some more updating in the next couple of days...It's going to take me a bit to get back into posting on this blog as often as I should, but it has to be done! Love all y'all!
PS-"The stars at night...are big and bright...clapclapclapclap...Deep in the heart of Texas!" should be tweaked to say "The wind all day...blows me away..." etc....the wind is INSANE here! And the weather has been kooky here like everywhere else! But we REALLY like it here! More to come...
