Start of Life Here in Austin

We have now been here for 2 and a half weeks.  During that time we have done a lot dealing with getting things from the move worked out. Not by choice, we picked the coldest day here in Austin to unload our truck to put out stuff into storage.  Seriously, it was cold.  Not as bad as Utah--and we didn't have snow--but it was still cold.  Plus it took us 6 hours because it was just the two of us.  We started around 10am and finished around 4pm.  We rented a Home Depot truck so we could unload the trailer--which had been deposited some distance from our storage unit so as to not block other units.  So we would load the truck, then drive to our unit and unload it.  It took some figuring once we got the stuff there.  What did we want accessible and what needed to be on the bottom, etc.  We did pretty well at doing that--but we still think of things that we might need for Spain that is behind a lot of stuff.  Oh well, looks like we'll just have to rearrange things when that time comes.  

Isn't it amazing that our stuff fit into a 10x15 space?!

Our New "Home"

Paul, Glenn and I arrived in Austin, Texas on Saturday January 12th.

Historic Sites Day Three

Carthage Jail

The morning after we saw Nauvoo, we drove out to Carthage Jail.  They had a Visitor's Center there, and when we went in, immediately one of the sister missionaries said, "This must be Glenn!"

Glenn sure made an impression on those missionaries. ;)  Some of these missionaries had performed in the show the first night and some hadn't, so they hadn't met us yet, but they heard about us.  It really was a great time to visit Nauvoo and surrounding areas.  They get so busy in the summer months, so it was so nice to have a more personal experience.

Outside the VC and the actual--and original--jail building, there was a beautiful statue of Joseph Smith, Jr. and his brother Hyrum.  This pictue shows the VC on the right and the jail behind the statue.

Historic Sites Day Two

We took some pictures of our drive along the Mississippi River--pretty nice, eh?

Historic Sites of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Day One

During our little road trip to Texas, we took time to visit some historic sites of our Church.  We saw places in Illinois and Missouri.  We had originally planned to see more sites, but due to weather--rain and fog--we didn't get to see some of the countryside sites.  But we did get to see a lot of things and we were happy with that.

Nauvoo

Our first visit with in Nauvoo.  We spent Tuesday the 8th and Wednesday the 9th seeing all we could there.    The first day we only saw one other couple, but they were related to one of the missionary couples and mostly stayed with them.  We practically had Nauvoo to ourselves!

On the Road Again

Because we left Virginia on the 6th of January and Paul didn't start work until the 14th, we decided to take a little trip on our way down to Texas.  We went to see some of the Church's Historic Sites.  So we went a more northern route than what others may think of when traveling from VA to TX.

We were excited to see how many states we could travel through.  And of course we wanted to take pictures of each sign, welcoming us into that state.  

Disclaimer: Some of these were taken at night, some by the driver when the passenger was asleep, and some came sooner than expected.  So they may not be the best quality.  But it shows that we were there! : D

Our journey first began in Virginia:

The New Job

So I guess I haven't really explained all that happened during the last few months of 2012.

Back in mid-September Paul had a phone interview with a recruiter for a Spain-based company, who had an office in Austin, Texas.  I wrote in my journal that Paul wasn't sure if he wanted the job.  He liked being on this side of the interviewing process though--the side on which he already has a job and is maybe looking for a step up, instead of wanting any kind of job.  He did seem interested in the company though--and he liked that they were interested in him.  We then had to wait to see if the company would contact Paul.

Cheryl

We really enjoyed Cheryl's visit!

Glenn loved having another playmate around too.  Even though it was kind of a busy time for us--packing and organizing and all that--it was actually kind of perfect.  She would play with Glenn while I packed during the day, and then in the evening we would play Dominion.  I lost count, but we played probably 20 times?  Whatever the actual count was, we had a lot of fun.

I captured this fun moments between Glenn and Cheryl.

Manassas Battlefield

So New Year's Eve we spent with our friends, and Cheryl spent the night at Uncle Kim and Aunt Shannon's house.  They live about 30 miles away from us, so it was easy to get there.

The next morning--January 1--we drove out there to pick her up.  We stopped at Cafe Rio for lunch and then we went to the Manassas National Battlefield Park.

Baptism

Paul and I taught the kids who were 7 turning 8 during 2012.  We had the opportunity to go to some of their baptisms.  Each one has been special.  We are proud of them for making this wise and faithful choice!

New Year's Eve

New Year's Eve was spent with our good friends Jennifer, Graham and Graisen!

We enjoyed dinner together and talking.

We also watched part of Happy Feet--Graisen was really into penguins, so they got that movie.  Glenn liked all the music, and would dance to it.

Paul and Glenn

During the Christmas break I captured some pretty cute pictures of my boys together. 

Glenn sure loved having his daddy around so much!

Paul's Birthday

Paul's birthday was a great one this year!  We had a great surprise for him too...

Cheryl and I talked on the phone--before Thanksgiving--and worked out that she would come out to visit us on Paul's birthday and stay for about a week.  I was really excited and did my best to keep it a secret from Paul.  He did well not to ask too many questions...

Originally he was going to work on his birthday, so I would be able to pick Cheryl up from the airport, then swing by his work and surprise him.  But because he was given Christmas Eve off--which was his regular day off anyway--he got to choose another day to take off.  So he chose his birthday.

Now what was I to say when I went to pick Cheryl up at 6:30 in the morning?!  Um, I'm getting something for your birthday... : D

So that's what I said.

One More Time

Our good friends Jennifer and Graisen invited us to one more Rocknoceros concert at the mall across from our apartment.  We were happy to go one more time!

I didn't take any pictures because we just enjoying it and I had taken pictures before and didn't feel like taking more of the same.  But we did also go on the carousel one last time too.  That I did take a picture of.

Merry Christmas!

Last Visit to DC

On December 22, we took one more trip into DC.  

We stopped at the US Marine Corps Memorial.

Wow!

Sport Bounce

Just before Christmas and on Paul's birthday, we went to a place called Sport Bounce.  

Joy School Christmas Program

The week before Christmas Glenn's Joy School group put on a Christmas Program.  They had been practicing a lot--I helped with some of it--and were excited to put it on for all of us.  Paul was able to take the day off so he could be there.  I was really glad about that--and I know Glenn was too!

Norah.Ashleigh.Emma.Reagan.Glenn.

Washington DC Temple Visitor's Center

During the month of December, we were privileged to go to the Washington DC Temple Visitor's Center.  

Bike Ride Around DC

Last Saturday we decided to be tourists again.  The weather was pretty nice and we planned to take out bikes to ride around the city.  So we parked at our favorite free parking in DC, near the Potomac and got on our bikes.  Glenn was really excited to ride around.  I was a bit nervous at first because I don't like riding around a lot of cars.  But traffic wasn't too bad.  We had enough room to ride on the sidewalks most of the way, so we did.  And that was nice.  

We rode to Ford's Theater first and did the tour of the theater, museum, and the house where Abraham Lincoln died.  The tour didn't start for another 45 minutes, so we went walking around that area.  There was a group of ladies who had gotten out of a car and were trying to figure out the parking meter.  I noticed them first and asked Paul, "How many ladies does it take to fill a parking meter?"

hahaha!