Home in TEXAS!

We made it to our new home in Austin, Texas on December 14th.  It's hard to believe we've been here for almost a month.

Here's our rental house in South Austin, taken right after we pulled onto the street.  It was such a long road trip that "home" never looked so good.  It's a cute house and we have a little more space than we did in Nevada.  I think we did pretty good, considering we rented this place sight-unseen.

The kids were excited about having stairs and Adler was so exhausted she almost passed out here while we were unloading the Penske truck.

Our first few days in Texas we enjoyed some gorgeous weather.  Micah set up the hammock in record time and we all unpacked our flip flops!

There were some sort of critters living in the chimney when we moved in and Sandy couldn't get close enough to them.  It drove her crazy.  She would actually climb into the chimney, whine, and bark all day long.

But then the weather turned cold and we started using the fireplace.  We no longer have the critter problem, but sure have enjoyed a fireplace.  We were really missing out on this in Nevada (where it would have been really useful)!

We seem to be settling in nicely in Austin.  Micah started his new job on January 2nd and Owen started his new school just this past Wednesday.  We are so proud of Owen and how well he seems to be adjusting.  I know it was hard that first day, being the new kid in school, but he's not complaining.  He did say one of his new friends is a "longhorn" though......this will be the downside of living in Austin.  :o)

New Mexico

We weren't in New Mexico for long and these are about the only pictures from that portion of our trip.

We did learn that Owen can guzzle water faster than the rest of us.  But as a result we were stopping to do this about every 30 minutes afterwards.

Owen turned 6 in Arizona

Owen turned SIX during our move from Nevada to Texas.  We woke up on his birthday in Flagstaff and drove to Sedona and Phoenix on his special day.

Sedona looked charming and I look forward to visiting there again, maybe on an adult-only trip! 

The kids enjoyed a mini-hike in Sedona and we just loved the gorgeous landscape.  Even Adler's baby went on the hike with us!

We spent the afternoon of Owen's birthday at the Phoenix Zoo!  It was a cute zoo and we all had a great time with all the animals.  The weather couldn't have been better, especially after freezing our buns off at the Grand Canyon.

It's incredibly hard to believe Owen is six years old.  He seems to be adjusting well to all the changes we've thrown at him though......better than we both thought he would do. 

 

Grand Canyon

I'm finally getting back to the blog!  It was exactly one month ago today that we visited the Grand Canyon and words can not describe how amazing it was!  Within 5 minutes of arriving, we saw a bald eagle fly across the canyon.  It was incredible.  I've never seen anything like it and definitely want to go back to do some hiking. 

 

There were some parts where I was really nervous about the kids getting too close to the edge.  We had to keep them real close to us.

We had a lovely lunch at the El Tovar, with a table overlooking the canyon.  Thank you, Cynthia, for this wonderful recommendation!

First Stop......Las Vegas

We spent the first night of our move in Las Vegas and the next morning we headed to Heritage Bark Park to let the dogs get some energy out.  Micah helped design this cool dog park and it was great to be able to use it!

Last days in Nevada

We made it to TEXAS!!!!  We've been in Austin for a week now and have been busy getting settled into our new home.  We had a great road trip from Nevada to Texas that took us about six days.  But that included an extended stay at the Grand Canyon and an afternoon at the Phoenix Zoo for Owen's birthday. 

 

Here are some pictures from our last few days in Nevada.  I couldn't leave without saying goodbye to Lake Tahoe, so one afternoon my brother and I took the kids up to the lake for a little farewell.  The weather was gorgeous and we actually got in a little hike.

We spent our last night at our friends Brenda, JP and Ryder's home.  We have been blessed with their friendship for years now and already miss them like crazy.  But the boys seem to enjoy seeing each other via Skype.  It was a painful goodbye for all of us, but was especially difficult to see the boys so torn up.  This was their last picture together.

Here's the truck, almost completely packed up.

The Penske truck sat at our house for 3 days being packed.  It was a work of art to fit everything inside.

 And finally, after days of packing, difficult goodbyes, and a last minute stomach bug, we drove away from our life in Carson City.  The kids insisted on riding in the Penske truck almost the entire trip.  They absolutely LOVED it.

 

We never could have made it without my brother, who has skills I never knew he had.......packing and driving a giant Penske truck.....all with a smile on his face!!!

Farewell Dinner Party

Last Friday night our friends threw a wonderful dinner party for us at High Sierra Brewery.  I was surprised that they had put together a slide show of photographs of our family and friends, highlighting our time in Nevada.  It was such a touching gesture.  We are so blessed to have met and become friends with all these amazing people!!!

Kelly & Maureen

 We had a nice room all to ourselves and the kids were entertained by the pool table all night. 

Micah and Patrick

Me and my Bro

Kameron and Owen

Mikki and Kelly

My friends and work buddies, Hilary and Gladys

Adler, Kelly and Brenda

Gladys, Kelly & Mikki

Tasha, Josh and Kelly

Silliness!

I'm out of time and out of words.  I'm not saying goodbye, only farewell.  We'll be back to visit for sure.  I'm off to finish loading the truck and am signing off from Nevada.  Love this place.