Wedding Bells

Congratulations to the happy couple and newest member of our family, Amy!

Charlotte and I spent the week in Utah to attend the wedding while Helaman stayed behind to go to orientation. We missed him but had fun seeing lots of family and friends that we hadn't seen in a long time.

Jen (+Wade), Katie and me at the beautiful Grand America hotel.
Baby Wade was anxious to meet Charlotte.

But Charlotte was more interested in the fountain, which reminded her of her pool at home.

We're now glad to be back home with Helaman, who made himself very busy while we were gone weeding the flowerbed, making it possible to park BOTH cars in the garage, and painting Charlotte's chest of drawers! He officially starts his residency tomorrow - wish him luck!

Pool Installation

Charlotte loves to spend hours and hours in the pool these days. I like the canopy because it keeps us from becoming burn victims but its poor design has made it really droopy lately.

Before and Afters

In honor of our now getting the HGTV channel, here are some family room before and afters.

Although we thought the maternity clothes tub entertainment center was particularly classy...

A new look was in order. Ottoman on its way.

Charlotte waving her bread.

Charlotte's favorite new fort.

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day Dad! I love you!


Happy Father's Day Da-da! I hope to be as cool as you someday. Love, Charlotte

Welcome to Texas!

I know, I know - I need to change my title, my picture, my web address. Currently that is #117 on my to-do list! Updating the blog was a little further up so here goes, starting with a few things I'm happy about.

Fun last BBQ. I forgot to post about our last roof BBQ three weeks ago (seems like a year ago!), which was a huge success even though the day was a bit chilly and raining. It was great to see most all of our friends one more time and enjoy that unique, beautiful spot for grilling.

Tons of help moving. People were moving stuff faster than I could pack an overnight bag for myself and Charlotte! Scheduling the move on Memorial Day was a good idea - 15+ guys showed up to help and it was done in no time. The cleaning up afterward wasn't so fun, but luckily Mary took in Charlotte so she could get a nap and Andrea helped a lot with the sweeping, scrubbing and feeding me afterwards! Everyone thought we were crazy to take the subway to the airport, but I thought I could brave it one last time and it was no problem. After hearing how much Helaman was spending on the moving truck gas (YIKES), I was glad to save the cab money too.
My mom who drove up to Dallas with Charlotte and I and took care of her while we did the house closing and moved in. Charlotte was instantly attached to her new "nanny" and started preferring her over me! Thanks also to my cousin JoEllen for welcoming us to Dallas and letting us stay with her, and Helaman's dad for driving all the way from New York with him.


Conveniences like a Kroger, CVS, Quizno's and Kohl's a block away. A friendly, fast post office 3 minutes away. SuperTarget, IKEA and a mall 5 minutes away. I really am still in shock that I have such quick access to these places and many more.

(Imagine the Price is Right guy's voice here) A new car! I bought my old Camry back from Pete, but that wasn't a new car to me. We also got an '04 Hyundai Santa Fe which I am loving for all the space to load and unload Charlotte and her stroller. It has been a little shocking to buy so much expensive stuff (house, cars, furniture) in the space of a week. I guess usually you space it out a bit!

eBay and Craigslist. In the end we did end up selling quite a bit of old cheapo furniture and randomness on Craigslist (despite its problems) which was good. We also have been selling Helaman and some of his classmates' old dental equipment on eBay which has helped a lot in paying for the aforementioned ludicrous gas bill across the country.

Baby steps. Proving she just needed some unencumbered SPACE, Charlotte started walking the second day we were in the house, and before the week was over she was a pro. No more dirty knees!!! However, she won't sit in the stroller anymore while shopping:(

Nice people. I'm still amazed at how friendly the Texans are. Store employees have asked me if I need help. The seller of our home arrived with a welcome basket for us. The ward was very welcoming (not that NY's wasn't). It's really nice and I have to get rid of my NY knee-jerk reaction of "what does this person want from me!?"

All in all, everything is great and we are so happy to be here!