So it's been a long time since my last post! I meant to post right after Susanna's blessing to share a few pictures but boy it's been busy.
April/May: I went back to work at the end of April. Paul quit is job and became mom while finishing the semester (he had scheduled all his classes at night). It was really fun going back and seeing all of the kids but so hard to leave Susanna every morning. I had a lot to do at school to finish up the school year and get things ready for next year's teacher. We had one last culminating activity, the Mountain Man Rendezvous, which we combined with our 4th grade End-of-Year celebration. There were awards, great food (thanks to the parents!) and I made a movie on my Mac with all of the pictures we took from the year. The kids all gave me their addresses and I promised to write (I will!).
(Susanna is not happy in this picture! Poor baby! Too many 4th graders can be a scary thing I guess).
Susanna's baby blessing was on May 1st. It was a day I will never forget. Throughout the day I felt so overwhelmed with gratitude and happiness. Lots of our families were able to come to our ward for her blessing. There were a few members of my family that weren't able to make it but I was very grateful for all those who were able to be there. Even though I'm blogging late, thankfully I wrote in her journal the day of her blessing so I have recorded a few things Paul said. It was a really special blessing.
June: Aftering packing up (ok Paul did almost all the packing) we loaded up the Uhaul with some great help. Thank goodness we had help too! We tried to save money by renting the smallest trailer we thought possible and it was a CLOSE call. We did have to throw away a few things which weren't valuable, but I'm just grateful we got what we did! Paul's family came to help and our good friends Steven and Chante were there as well. Before hitting the freeway we went to lunch at In N Out with Steven and Chante. And then we had to say goodbye. :( That was really hard to do. They have been our best friends and we've had some really fun times-- camping in Moab, Settlers of Catan on weekends (the Wests win every time), roasting marshmallows in the canyon, country dancing in SLC, hiking Ensign Peak, frequent trips to Cafe Rio, and there were always plenty of peanut M&Ms. I'm sure we'll be friends for years to come.
Paul drove his truck with the trailer and Susanna and I made the venture alone. Susanna does not like her car seat at all so it was a very long drive to Cedar City. We spent the weekend there with my family. My mom cooked and watched the baby-- it was heavenly. I just relaxed! I was exhausted from the last few weeks! Little did I know it would only get harder from here....
Olivia came with Susanna and I for the 8 hour road trip to Phoenix. What a blast! Olivia did a great job keeping Susie happy in the back. We listened to our favorite tunes and enjoyed scenery. Morale was high until we pulled into our apartment complex. Paul picked out the apartment on a quick one day trip to Arizona. I'm afraid he didn't look close enough at this one. It seemed ok at first. The apartment was huge, it had ceiling fans, and walk in closets... not bad. However it was a mess. There was grime on the walls and the carpet felt like it had dried conditioner in it. We talked to a few tenants while moving in who informed us they had some pretty serious bug problems. At this point I'm feeling quite nauseous.
I went in to talk to the land lady the next day and thankfully, because I hadn't signed my part of the lease yet, she said we could still get out of it. I looked frantically for a new place while Paul started Pharmacy school. If Olivia hadn't stayed to help with the baby I would have been in big trouble. We found a new place, and we love it. So despite spending a small fortune and loading, unloading, reloading, and re-unloading the Uhaul in extreme heat, it turned out ok.
And it's a good thing we like our new place because I'm not moving ever again! ha!
So now we are enjoying life. Paul loves Midwestern. And I get to stay home with Susanna. We have fun together while Dad is at school. We like to go to the library, check out different stores in Phoenix, have visited with some new friends and their babies, go swimming, and play together at home. Susanna is getting much more responsive to Paul and I so it's so fun to play with her! She laughs and smiles and talks. Sometimes I hear her when she's woken up from her nap, just talking to herself! It's adorable. I'm glad I get to stay home with her. Paul and I decided that it would be best for me to stay at home instead of work. Because of which we are thinking about the option of joining the Air Force. They would pay 100% for school which would save us years on paying loans back, and would pay him while in school, which would give us something to live off of in the mean time. It would be great if Paul didn't have to work either-- he could devote all his time to studying (and maybe even have time for his wife and baby!) It's only an idea right now so we'll see.
Here are a few pictures of the latest:
