New Treasure

Hudson received a package of books today from my Aunt Nancy. I waited until he woke up from his nap to open the package and he was giddy with excitement as we sat on the floor and carefully opened the box.  He couldn't wait to see what treasure was inside. It was so much fun to watch him get the books out, flip through them, look at the pictures and "read" a few pages aloud. Thanks Aunt Nancy. They're a huge hit and I'm looking forward to reading his new books too!

Some Saturday Activities

It was a beautiful Saturday here. It wasn't nearly as hot today and felt even comfortable. We enjoyed lots of outdoor activities. Here are just a couple.

Hudson enjoyed "riding" his bike down the sidewalk in front of our house. His feet don't reach the pedals or the ground, so he sits on the bike and we push the back. He loves it!

Once I got out the camera, he had to come check it out. 

Getting a shoulder ride.
Watching in awe as Daddy climbed a huge mountain.
Showing off his prized treasure (shredded tire from the ground of the play area).
Looking like our little mountain climber

Hudson's New Dance

Last week Hudson discovered spinning around in circles and the feeling of being dizzy. He thought it was hilarious to spin and then try and walk. He'd fall down, laugh and do it all again. By the time we got the camera, we only caught a small spin.

Here's our family of red on the 4th 

Watching in wonder at all the trucks in the 4th of July parade

at my Dad & Stepmom's house in WV

I love this last picture. Pure joy!

Back in the Saddle Again

After a few weeks without internet access, we are connected to the world again. Since being in Dallas, I have not had any connection to the outside world except through phone calls. We do not have a tv, we have no newspaper, and we didn't have internet. When my friend, Elisa, called this week to talk about all the political things happening in Honduras (she and her husband are moving there soon), I had no knowledge of it. I found out Michael Jackson died by overhearing Trent respond to his Dad on the phone, "What Michael Jackson died?".

Trent has the internet at his work, so he'd check our e-mail and print off any that he thought I would want to read. I really appreciated that, but I couldn't respond then. There's a public library close with free internet, but it hasn't worked out for me to go there (mostly it's closed at the times I could go when Trent could watch Hudson). There is a Panera next to us and I will admit that I used their free internet from the parking lot a couple times to get directions in our new city.

With that said, I will start posting pictures, videos and stories about life in Texas soon.

Thanks for still checking the blog.

A Dating Relationship

We are currently in the beginning stages of a one-sided relationship. We are getting to know Dallas. We are getting information about Dallas, exploring, asking questions, finding out what Dallas has to offer and then trying to process it all. This is a fun stage for us. We love the adventure in discovering the unknown (to us).

Overall, we are doing well. We have been enjoying time spent with one of the other interns, Jeremy and are even going to his house this afternoon to cool off in the pool. I also made a new friend this week...her name's Emily and she & her husband have one son, Hudson! Their Hudson is 4mo younger than our Hudson. The 2 little guys look pretty similar with their fair skin and blond hair. I'm looking forward to getting to know them better.

We have so many stories already, but that has to be all for now. We don't have internet at our house, so any internet time must be used wisely.

Dallas!

We are moved in to our new house in Dallas! Well, moved in in the sense that all our earthly possessions are inside our house somewhere. :)

Here are some stats for our first 48 hours:

107....the temperature as we arrived
1.....the number of lemon-sized cockroaches we've seen inside our house (I'm really hoping this number does not increase!)
7.....the number of phone calls it has taken to get our electric turned on
30....the number of minutes I could jog outside at 9pm

We're enjoying the location of our house. It is only 0.5mi to the church and within walking distance to many cafes, but it feels very quaint with sidewalks everywhere. It'll be great for strolls when the weather is a little less harsh.

Also, here's a link to my Dad and I getting 2nd place in a "Father-Daughter" lookalike contest for Father's Day in my hometown newspaper. There were 44 entries.

A Few Pictures

Here's an assortment of pictures from our time post-St. Louis and pre-Dallas. We're visiting with both our families this weekend and then leaving WV Sunday to start our 3 day journey of traveling to Dallas.

Hudson with Nana (Trent's mom)

At my cousin Donna's wedding

on a pier in North Carolina

with Erica & Brian, my sister and brother-in-law

the 4 grandkids on my side