It's like magic....I'm finally blogging again!! Hopefully I can keep up more consistently now. We shall see.
I decided I better post pics of our new place. Here are pics of the temporary furniture first, which we had since May until a few weeks ago, when we got the new stuff. The tan couch and black dining set were what we got right after the tornado, and the brown furniture is our new stuff. And the bedding is our new bed set we have now. (Sorry the pics are in weird order.) I will post more pics soon of our whole house.
Well, this summer has been quite eventful and busy, but we have been able to do some fun stuff too. Here's a quick recap of our 2011 Summer:
- Moved into our new rental home, which we really do love, and replaced an entire home's worth of stuff. (Not such an easy task...)
- Paul's mom and my parents and sister Marie visited. Paul's mom Tracy helped us get moved from our hotel in Joplin to our house in Miami, and helped us get set up. Then my parents and sister visited and continued to help. It was really great!
- Most of June is a blur, as we ran around trying to figure out how to get everything situated and set up. Purchased 2 new vehicles, Honda Fit & Pilot, and got those registered, etc. (We had just bought a new Honda Pilot in March, and registered both our vehicles into Missouri to then do it all again 2 months later in Oklahoma this time. And I wonder why I'm so confused and forgetful lately.) Remember, we had just moved from a house in Nov. 2010, spent 6 mos. in Joplin in an apartment, to then have to do it all again in Miami (but in a house this time, luckily.) Crazy! I don't recommend it. ;)
- Ryder started gymnastics in June, and LOVES it. It's been really great for him to do that every week, and he loves his somersaults!
- We spent my birthday in Oklahoma City at the temple, it was really nice, and we really needed it! And I got a GPS from Paul for the Pilot for my birthday!
- Towards the end of July our friend Spring and her kids visited from UT. (Paul went to school at the U with Spring and her husband, then when we moved to Ames, IA they were in our ward! Small world, I know. And now they live in UT again.) It was so fun to have them here, and Ryder totally loved it! We did Ride the Ducks in Branson which is a bus/boat that you get to ride the lake in. Way cool!
- August has been busy too, but a less crazy busy. We've been settling in and adjusting pretty well to our new ward and home and area. It's a small town with only 13,000 people. The ward is very small, but it has a lot of great people in it. Ryder, as always, loves Nursery! Paul was called to Elder's Quorum, and me to Primary. A little tidbit about our Miami Ward, before they made it a ward, (which I'm guessing happened within the past 5 years or so) it was the Commerce Branch, and it was the oldest branch in the Church, anywhere in the world. Interesting, right?
- And most recently Ryder is now potty trained! He was ready to potty train prior to the tornado, and following wanted nothing to do with it. But he has been ready for awhile to do it, and we were slowly introducing the potty seat, and a couple weekends ago he went for it! We're super proud of him!
After everything that happened this year, including a trip to Disneyland where Ryder was so incredibly sick in February, and especially due to the tornado, we decided we needed a vacation!!! So, we are going to Disneyworld next month before Halloween! We're super excited and this will be Ryder's 2nd time there (we went right after his 1st birthday) but he should really enjoy himself and the rides this time! Fingers and toes crossed he will be healthy during this trip. Also, my sister Marie is coming along too! I feel very blessed to be able to go on this fun trip and to have such a wonderful family here to do it with! We will celebrate being alive and well! What more could we ask for?
