It's been a LONG time since I last posted so I owe an update and lots of pics to my friends and family. We had a whirlwind of a summer. We ended up moving out of our apartment in Provo pretty quickly due to the fact that black mold in the walls was making our kids sick. We had a storage closet that would get a lot of condensation because it, like all the walls in the wonderful school apartments, are concrete blocks. Two of the storage room walls and the floor (because we were on the second story) faced outside and so when it was cold outside and warm inside the condensation gathered in the cracks of the concrete and mold would start to grow. We bleached it over and over and were constantly cleaning it. Anyways, we realized it was affecting our kids. They've never been sick so often in their short lives. So, after a short move-out notice we headed to southern Utah to live in my parents basement for the summer. It actually turned out to be a ton of fun. We painted and carpeted and tiled... well, mostly my dad carpeted and tiled, while my mom and I painted. We scraped all the popcorn off the ceiling. Everything turned out really nice. We had our own room, really nice bathroom, kitchen, and living room. Derrick spent a lot of time working on his classes and the beginning og August he GRADUATED!!! After a few really long crazy years, we were excited and ready to move on from college couple life to real job life. We ended up accepting the job in Texas and moed to Texas in August. It's been an amazing month. The people in Texas have been so great to us. The ward was so welcoming. We were invited to dinner four nights our first week, by different families. Tori has a little friend named Hannah who grabbed her hand the first week and took her to nursery, and they've had fun playing together since then. I've got a small group of mom's who I go to story time at the university, to parks, on picnics, to petshops, and swimming with. Derrick and I have already given our Saunday talks in church and so many people came up to us afterwards and welcomed us and Derrick, the wonderful speaker he is, touched a lot of people with what he had to say. Derrick has gone to teach with the missionaries and tonight I'm going with the sister missionaries. We've loved getting in the swing of things here and so far it is suiting us well.
Well, for some summer picture catch-up...
Tori got to play with her cousin Lilly
I had a wonderful Mother's Day!...but who wouldn't with such sweet kids and a wonderful husband.
Grandma's had a birthday! With LOTS of candles... :)
We went out to this cute restaurant in Texas that is now one of my favorites ever! They serve homemade warm bread and a block of wisconsin cheddar cheese with every meal! So yummy!
We moved a lot! This is our move to Southern Utah, most of the boxes stayed packed until we got to Texas.
Grandpa taught his grandson about the finer things in life...
We had 3 brothers graduate this summer! (Derrick, Chris, and Nate)
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| Nate is the one kneeling in front |
Chris
We visited Oma and Opa
We visited Great grandpa Miles for the first time! (Tori, Jaegen, and I finally got to meet Derrick's grandpa)
Tori got to play at a park in California, while visiting Grandpa Miles that Derrick used to play in when he was little.
We visited Granny Kefan (I know the spelling is probably wrong, sorry) She got to see Jaegen for the first time!
Grandma Capps got to see Jaegen for the first time too!
Great Grandpa Stout (my grandpa) turned 75 and the family put together a surprise Luau for him. They roasted a pig and built a tiki hut and had fire dancers! It was pretty impressive!
Tori and Jaegen got to play at Ashley and Davey's house!
Every week we made a trip to Colorado City (30 min.) and bought raw milk and had yummy pizza!
Tori learned to play the guitar and the drums. :)
The fourth of July was lots of fun!
Tori got to race in the 4th of July parade. They go by age and let the kids run from one parent to the next. It started out well, except there was a little girl who ran early and so her parents decided to have her run the opposite way of all the kids and she curved right into Tori. Krista got good pictures of it though, and Tori made a fine recovery!
Well, there will be more to come! The 24th of July was probably more fun than the 4th of July! There was a bigger parade and more people and better food! I'll make sure to finish the update in not too long!
This summer Derrick and I also celebrated our 4th Anniversary. It's gone by so fast and yet it seems like we've been together forever! I married the best man in the world. We were most definitely meant for each other and he completes me in every way! I'm so lucky that he's part of my life and will be for eternity! I wouldn't have it any other way. I can't imagine eternity without him. We decided to celebrate by going to Tuacahn and watching Tarzan. I've wanted to go for years and I'm glad Derrick and I got to share the experience. We were surrounded by beautiful Southern Utah red mountains and the weather was perfect. Tarzan was a really fun show and we had such a great time. We were able to look at the St. George temple all lit up on our way home from the top of a mountain next to St. George. I wish I would have taken pictures there. It is actually were Derrick and I went after he proposed. We went and looked at the glowing temple and called our families to let them know we were engaged. Best decision I've ever made in my entire life.
