Sunday, May 28, 2017

Midland

Anadarko put together a little three day trip in Midland for couples in December.  The goal was to allow people to see the city, tour schools, and find houses.  Since Colin was not taking a bottle, we weren't able to go.  As time went on, we were realizing that Colin may NEVER take a bottle.  He flat out refuses!  He eats so much other food that we decided that we had to go ahead and book a trip.  Knowing that we had to house search and school search, we left him with my mom.

We left for Midland on Wednesday, Jan. 11th at 8:45am.  When we were landing, all I could see were pumping units everywhere among brown dirt out of my window.  Once we got our rental car, we started driving from the airport to Midland.  It was a short drive but not a beautiful one!  It was a little shocking to see the lack of trees.  We drove around a little so that I could pump and we could see the area before going to lunch at Logan's Roadhouse.  

View from the plane as we got close to Midland- drilling units as far as the eye could see
My first tumbleweed sighting.  We are not in Houston anymore :0

Upon sitting down at the restaurant, I started feeling really anxious.  I honestly don't get that way all that often but I think the reality of moving hit me.  We were going to be living in a completely different place away from all of our family and friends. It is a lot to take in.

After a good meal and discussion, we toured Midland Christian and then met our realtor to start looking at houses.  We looked at several previously owned houses with no luck.  Then we traveled to Grasslands West where we had looked at a lot.  We fell in love with the neighborhood and felt very confident that this was where we were supposed to be.  

We stopped by Anadarko's temporary building also.  It was ... interesting.



That evening, we checked in the hotel, pumped, and then went downstairs and had a glass of wine outside while watching the sunset.  Slowly throughout the day, I felt the anxiety leave and a glimmer of hope replaced it.  We went to a place in East Odessa called Cork and Pig.  The wait was an hour long but since we had no kids and nothing to do, we drove around until our table was ready.  We had a delicious meal and things were really looking up.



  
The next morning, we woke early and had breakfast at Cracker Barrel.  We then met with BJ McPherson, our builder.  The meeting went so well and he was willing to accommodate all of our wishes for a price that we were hoping for.

Our lot!  Can't believe this is the spot where lots of memories will be made over the next couple of years!
After the meeting, we went on a crazy preschool touring spree followed by lunch with an old college friend, Joanna.  We then saw even more schools including Carver Center.  By the evening, we were exhausted but so excited about our future in Midland.  The town was really growing on us.

That night we went to a local restaurant, Wall Street, that was recommended to us by Mr. Reese.  It was so yummy!

The next morning we slept in and then started making all of our choices for the new house.  We easily decided on our brick choice and front door.  The inside options were a little trickier.  

We probably drove around the neighborhood about 5 times looking at brick colors and elevations.

After a delicious meal at another local restaurant, we headed back to the airport for our flight home.  It was the most amazing airport experience.  Since it's so small, it took no time at all to go through security.



After returning home, Bill and I have discussed how we actually kind of miss it.  We are really excited about our new home there and all that awaits us in the future!

*I was so worried about leaving Colin at home but he did so well!  After much prayer, he managed to sleep through the night both nights for my mom.  What a miracle! He even took a bottle on the last day we were there.

It was such a great trip, and we are really optimistic about our future there!

Beginning of 2017 (from Avery)

I am very  exited that it is 2017!It is new years day!I can not believe it!It is January 1st!Chloe is awake but Colin is not awake.We have church today!Wait whats that.MY TOOTH CAME OUT!Wow that was crazy!Wahoo!  

NYE!

We started our NYE celebration with a gigantic gang at the Morris house.  I love seeing all the kiddos together on the couch.  Love them all!


We had dinner and then did sparklers.





After that, we got the kids to sleep and had the adults over at our house for some games and fun.  I wish I had taken more pictures.  I must have been laughing to hard to stop and take pics!

Beanboozled!  Ash wasn't too sure about the jelly beans!

I was serving the next morning at church so 9am came VERY early.  Avery got a surprise when her first tooth fell out!




That evening, we had a little Pie Face fun!








Here's to 2017!  It's gonna be a big one for us.  Colin turning 1, selling our house, our big move, adjusting to living in a new town, etc.  We are ready for this year to play out!

8 Months!





Colin is 8 months old!  It's hard to believe that he is only 4 months away from being one!
By the end of the month, Colin was army crawling and into everything.  He got his helmet a week or two before turning 8 months old.  I'm not sure if the helmet is making it hard for him to get comfortable but he is still sleeping pretty sporadically through the night.  I keep praying that he will become a better sleeper but know that we will get there.  One day.  Hopefully tomorrow. ;)
His first two teeth came through over the course of the month.  He is starting to look like such a big boy!






Colin had his first Christmas!


Colin has also become a huge fan of dogs especially Grace.  I'm not sure the feeling is mutual!














This sweet little chunk of love has all of our hearts!

Merry Christmas!!!

We started our Christmas celebrating the day before Christmas Eve.  Steph and Scott hosted this year.  It was nice being close!



It wouldn't be Christmas without a unicorn wearing a santa hat! 






We went to the 12pm service on Christmas Eve at Faithbridge.  Usually we celebrate with Wendy's side of the family after church but they got sick with the flu. We made plans to celebrate with Wendy once they were feeling better.  After church, we had a casual afternoon with Laura and Karl at our house.  We baked and decorated cookies, ate dinner, and opened some presents.









Right before bedtime, the girls sprinkled their reindeer food on our driveway.







The girls were very excited to see their goodies the next morning! 






That afternoon, we went to Don and Monica's house to celebrate with my mom's side of the family.

We decided to dress up in tacky Christmas sweaters this year.  :)










We were finally able to celebrate with Wendy and Gloria about a week later!





What a great Christmas celebrating Jesus's birth!