White Christmas

Christmas this year was a white one for us, much to Eli's delight.  Actually, a week before Christmas it snowed, and Eli was so excited.  He said, "I always dreamed of snow when I was in Houston, and now I guess today is my lucky day."  There was even enough snow for Eli to make his first snowman.

Eli made a graham cracker "gingerbread" house at a friend's house.

We were surprised to see snow again on Christmas morning.  We've been told it doesn't usually snow here, so I guess it was more than Eli's lucky day--more like his lucky week.  Here are some pictures of our Christmas:

Acting out the nativity on Christmas Eve

Eli gets a Christmas story on Christmas Eve.  This was the book he got this year.

Eli's note to Santa

Santa brought Eli a Spiderman bike.

We spent Christmas afternoon and night with Josh's family in Gig Harbor.

A Lot of Stuff that's Happened Since Our Move (a.k.a. Long Post)

I decided to finally make time to write about our move.  If I don't do it now, I may forget the details.  There has just been so much to do lately, which is probably good because there is LOTS of rain outside and it keeps me from thinking about it too much.

First, I will say that we have moved a number of times during our marriage, but this one gave the biggest to-do list, hands down.  There are just so many things you have to put in order when you move across state lines.  Even though we moved to Albuquerque a few summers ago, it was so temporary that we didn't have to make as many changes, though the actually cleaning and moving part was much more difficult.  Since we knew that Josh would be graduating and we would be moving, we kept a lot of things in boxes when we moved back to Houston.  I also downsized and scrubbed and cleaned and did so much when we moved in because of the condition of the place that when we moved out, it was fairly easy.  It also helped that Josh had to fly back to Houston for a week to finish up his work, so while he was there alone, he finished up any cleaning and loose ends that were needed.

I got the flu a week before we moved, so that was complete torture packing when all I wanted to do was go to bed and sleep.  But as happens, I got over it, and we were blessed to find out that we could all ride in the moving truck.  We thought it was illegal to have Eli in the front seat of the truck; plus, when we moved to and from Albuquerque, there were only two seats anyway.  When we picked up the truck this time, we discovered there were three seats, and after talking with some people in our ward and doing some research online, we discovered that we could put Eli in the truck.  It's not the safest and most ideal way to travel, so it is discouraged, but it was legal in all states that we passed through.  We got the truck on Saturday and packed most of it.  On Monday we called to add a tow to the truck so we could tow our car.  We got out of Houston a little later than planned, but I was so grateful that I didn't have to drive the whole way alone with Eli, and Josh was so grateful to have us in the truck with him.  Honestly, with me being so tired from the flu, I don't know how I would have made the drive.  I even had to ride in the middle (Eli wasn't allowed to ride in the middle, and his airbag had to be turned off), so I was cramped and a little sore by the end, but I was still incredibly thankful to be with Josh.

We knew it would be a long drive, but until you do it, you don't realize just how long it is.  Somehow, though, it was made shorter by being together in one vehicle.  The first day we drove from Houston to Ft. Stockton, TX.  The second day we made it to Cortez, CO.  The third day we drove to my brother Nephi's home in Logan, UT.  We got a break on the fourth day because we spent Thanksgiving day with him and his family.  We had a great time and delicious food.  Thank you so much Nephi and Aubrey!  The fifth day we drove from Logan to Kelso, WA.  This day was incredibly long, and I would not recommend it, especially since we ran into a crazy rainstorm through the Columbia River Gorge, and it was dark.  The roads were barely visible, and it made me feel claustrophobic.  I was grateful to get out of there.

On the sixth day we had a short drive to Aberdeen (about an hour and a half or so), and we had help unloading from our new ward members.  Even some neighbors came to help.  It was the quickest move-in we have ever experienced.  Plus, Josh's parents came and helped and brought us lunch.  It was great!

I had to take Josh up to the Sea-Tac Airport a couple days later because he had to go back to Houston to finish up work, so Eli and I were alone here for the first week.  At least I was busy unpacking and putting our home together, but poor Josh was there in Houston in an empty apartment for a week.  To make things worse, he missed his flight out of Houston to come back here and had to sleep overnight at George Bush Airport.  Then when he came back, he had to start a new job, so there was no time for rest. 

But we are settling in now and enjoying the Christmas season.  The house is not completely put together, but there's not much left to do.  Eli insisted I put up Christmas decorations first, so the tree was up before most of the bedrooms were unpacked.  I've had a lot of distractions with it being the holidays (not the best time of year to move), but I've never been one to put a house together in a week anyway.  Since we have a bigger place than we're used to, we lack some furniture.  For example, we have both a living room and a family room, but we only have one couch.  Currently our family room has a TV in it but no couch.  We also have a dining room area as well as a breakfast nook, so we have an empty dining room area since our table is in the breakfast nook.  But we are just enjoying the space.  Having a yard is great, though we also don't have anything to take care of the yard because we've never needed that stuff before.  Fortunately our neighbor let Josh borrow some of his stuff.  He also goes fishing a lot on the many rivers that are here, so he brought us back some salmon.

People weren't joking when they said it rains here a lot.  Fortunately we had done our research and came mentally prepared.  Still, it rains almost everyday.  Sometimes the sun peeks out for a little while, but then it gets cloudy and rainy again.  It gets dark here very early too.  Eli asked me the other day, "Why is it already getting dark, Mom.  Is it nighttime again?" :-)   That has been an adjustment for us all coming from Houston, land of sunshine.  I guess we have summer to look forward to, though.  It doesn't get dark until about 10 PM or so.

I am also adjusting to the shopping.  When I go to the grocery store, my jaw drops at the prices.  I knew things would be more expensive, but it will still take some time to get used to.  Actually, some people in the ward have given me tips on where to shop, which has been helpful.

I have to get used to driving to get to things as well.  We actually live in a community of homes called Central Park.  Since the closest stores are mostly in Aberdeen or some in Montesano, we have a little drive to get to stores.  If we want to go where there is major shopping, we have to drive to Olympia, which is 45 minutes from our house.  Josh is in heaven though because there are all kinds of state parks and outdoor activities around here.

We have enjoyed a few activities already.  The town of Montesano, which is about 10 minutes from our home, has a festival of lights every year.  They put on a parade and have a number of events.  We took Eli to a puppet show that he enjoyed, and he loved the lighted concrete mixer that was in the parade.

We went out to Ocean Shores, which is the town right on the beach.  It's about half an hour from where we live.  The waves were HUGE.  It was also very COLD.  It should be fun to go there in the summer though.

 Eli is now in preschool.  In Houston, the options for preschool were not options I particularly liked.  I either had to pay a lot of money or put him in school all day.  At four years old, I just don't think that's what he needs.  Here I have the option of sending him for two days a week for two and a half hours each day.  I can handle that, and it was something he wanted to do.  He enjoys it and has made some new friends.  Since they don't have playgroup in this ward as they did in Houston, preschool will be good for him.  It was a little difficult for me on his first day, however.  He looked like such a big boy, and I realized I will be sending him to kindergarten in less than a year. 

Here are some pictures:

Eli's first day of preschool

Eli's favorite thing in the parade

Eli helping Josh rake the front yard in the rain

Eli freezing at the beach

Eli wanted me to make a candy wreath for Christmas

Our decorated Christmas tree and mantel.

With Halloween Over, it's the Final Countdown

It should come as no surprise for those who know him that Eli wanted to be a superhero this year for Halloween.  He would have been happy being either Spiderman or Superman, but I convinced him that Superman would be better.  The reason: he already had a Superman shirt, so I figured the rest would be easy and cheap.

Eli told me very loudly and clearly that he would not wear red Superman underwear.  "I don't want people to make fun of me," he said.  That was fine by me.  That meant all I had to do was find some blue pants and probably make a red cape and a yellow belt.  Unfortunately, finding the right color of blue pants was not as easy as I thought it would be.  There were lots of navy blue pants and some other hues of blue, but none were the color I was looking for.  Then I saw one of Josh's old t-shirts that he rarely wears (it was the perfect color), and I thought, how hard could it be to make a pair of pants with an elastic band.  It turns out I was right--they're not that hard.  And they're cheap since I already had the fabric and could make a pattern with an old pair of pants.

The cape and belt were also easy and cheap.  I bought a large red adult t-shirt that was on sale for $2.50 at Joann's and some cheap red and yellow felt.  I made up a pattern for the belt and followed a free pattern online for the cape.  Then I bought some cheap $1.50 red flip-flops.  Fortunately, we can still wear flip-flops on Halloween here in Houston.  In fact, since we're still wearing shorts too, I tried to convince Eli to be a warm-weathered Superman.  He already had a pair of blue shorts, but he wouldn't go for it.  He insisted that Superman must wear pants.

Eli was SO excited for Halloween.  I do not remember getting very excited about Halloween.  Christmas, yes.  Halloween, not so much.  The night before, Eli said, "I'm so glad it's bedtime (something he never says) because when I wake up, it's Halloween."  The next morning he ran out of his bedroom very excitedly and said, "YAY, it's HALLOWEEN!" 

Of course, we went to our annual trunk or treat at the church, but we also did some trick or treating at houses as well.  Something changed significantly in one year.  Last year he hated all the spooky stuff, so trick or treating at houses was much too scary.  This year he loved it and couldn't get enough.  He would have done more, but I was done, and it was getting past his bedtime.  Now we have a ton of candy that I have to figure out how to let him eat without eating too much.  I guess that's what Josh and I are here for. ;-) 

When we carved the pumpkin, this is the face Eli wanted us to carve.

This was the result.  Can you see the semblance? :-)

Even when he's not wearing a Superman costume, Eli likes to stick out his chest and show us how strong he is.

Eli told me he wanted a trick or treat bag with a ghost on it that said boo.  This was the result.

Now that Halloween is over, we're nearing the end of our time here in Houston.  We have less than 3 weeks before we pack everything up and say good-bye to the state of Texas.  It's a sad thought, but we're trying to keep it happy by thinking of the wonderful Washington we'll be going to, right?  I have to convince myself.  Even Josh told me that he has some of that Texas pride that people here in Texas talk about.  We have become Texans, and we will shed some tears (I already have).  It is definitely a relocation.   After all, it's over 2500 miles away, across half a dozen states, in a completely different climate (I will be boxing up my shorts that I'm currently wearing and trying to find my coat), two time zones behind, and it's a blue state, not red. :-)  But we know that the Lord has His hand in it and that we need to go.  So, in trying to think positive, happy thoughts, we are excited to move much, much closer to family.  It's beautiful in Washington, and I will get to enjoy the outdoors during the summer instead of sitting in my air conditioned house.  And we get to move to a home.  We're still renting, but it's a home, and we are excited!  Now, does anyone want to come help me pack and clean?

St. George Trip

This past week Eli and I came back from a trip to St. George to visit my parents and some of my siblings.  We had a great time and enjoyed being with my family.  Unfortunately, we caught a stomach bug right before we flew out of Houston (apparently a lot of people in our ward got it too), and we gave the bug to Aunt Monica.  Eli threw up all over himself and his car seat, then later all over the bed.  A few days later Monica and I ended up getting sick too.  But I count my blessings because when Eli threw up in the car, we were about three minutes from my parents' home after a long trip from the Las Vegas airport.  Can you imagine if he had thrown up any earlier in the two hour drive from Vegas to St. George?  The thought is horrifying, so I will count my blessings and be grateful it happened the way it did.

Though we were sick for a couple of days, we still had a few days where we could play and have fun.  We went swimming at the Washington Rec Center.  Eli enjoyed it, but I think he disappointed his Aunt Monica and Uncle Kendall.  They were used to their nephew Paxton who had gone on all the water slides a few weeks earlier.  Eli isn't quite as water-loving as his cousin, so he had no desire to go down any slides.  He did enjoy the lazy river, but the water was a little cold for him.  It was cold for me too.  I guess we're used to Houston swimming pools, which tend to be more like bath water.  Still, he enjoyed being there with his aunt and uncle.

Eli loved Fiesta Fun, where Grandma and Grandpa Grant treated him to lots of fun and games.  The bumper boats were especially humorous because Grandma Grant had trouble steering her boat.  Eli kept saying, "Let's get her!  Let's get her!"  He was eager to bump her and squirt her with the water gun on our boat.  He also enjoyed miniature golf with Grandpa Grant.  I had to leave and go sit down because I was feeling a little sick, but my dad said that by the end he could see Eli contemplating his moves and the best course of action.  He said it was fun to see Eli's little brain at work.

The day before we left to come home we got to celebrate Grandpa Grant's birthday with him.  Eli loves family celebrations and getting together with everyone.  I guess that's because he doesn't get it very often here in Houston.  He has a hard time saying good-bye.  He cried when he knew he wouldn't see his Uncle Kendall, Aunt Monica, or Grandpa and Grandma Grant for a while because he sure enjoyed the time he had with them.

Dinosaurs at the Zoo

Several weeks ago Eli and I went to the Houston Zoo and saw their special dinosaur exhibit.  They had life-sized dinosaurs that moved and made noise.  Eli still doesn't quite understand how something can be real but not exist anymore.  Either they're imaginary and they don't exist, or they're real and they still exist.  He believes that there are dinosaurs alive somewhere out there.  When I told him we were going to see the dinosaurs at the zoo, he was extremely excited.  When he first saw them, he was a little nervous and kept asking me if they were bad or good dinosaurs (bad means meat-eating dinosaur and good means plant-eating dinosaur).  I found it so humorous that I played along (I know, I know, I'm a mean mom).  He honestly believed that they were real.  Even when I told him that they were pretend, he still insisted they were real...until the very end when two of the dinosaurs squirted water from their mouths (hey, it's hot here, and it's a way to cool down the guests).  He still hesitated to believe the truth, but I finally convinced him that they were mechanical.  Real or not, he loved the dinosaurs at the zoo.

No Shortage of Gratitude and Amazement

I will admit that there have been some stages/ages of Eli's growth and development that I was eager to pass through, but this is not one of them.  I have been loving 4 years old.  He is old enough to understand rules and obey them without complaining too much, but he is still so innocent and loving.  He is curious and has a great desire to learn everything.  He is funny and smart and creative.  He tells me he loves me about a dozen times a day.  He wants to be with me but doesn't cry when I'm away.  We can go to movie theaters and restaurants with him without regretting it.  He WANTS to help me do the dishes and actually knows how to do some aspects of it.  I can ask him to clean his room, and he will.  He not only wants to follow good examples, he IS a good example.  He'll start singing Choose the Right or I'm Trying to Be Like Jesus if he thinks we're doing something we shouldn't do.  His memory is amazing.  I can go on and on about Eli, but I have to share what he said to me yesterday.

He likes to do what he calls "working on my letters."  That just means he gets on the word processor and starts typing.  Yesterday he was typing, and we had the following conversation:

Me:  "Eli, what are you typing?"
Eli:  "I'm writing about the president of the United States."
Me:  "Oh yeah, do you know who the president of the United States is?"
Eli:  "Yeah, it's President Obama."
Me:  "What are you writing about President Obama?"
Eli:  "I'm writing about Obamacare."

I just about fell on the floor laughing.  I guess you can tell what we watch/listen to at our house, and I guess it's pretty obvious that he listens.  Just one more piece of proof that kids learn quickly and it's very important to be careful what we watch, listen to, talk about, and introduce to our children. 

I am so grateful that I have such a wonderful boy who has made my life infinitely better!

4th of July and our Trip to Washington

No, we didn't go to Washington, D.C. for the 4th of July, although that would have been awesome.  We did, however, fly to the state of Washington to visit Josh's family for a week.  We didn't leave until the afternoon, so we went to our annual 4th of July ward breakfast first.  It's always bright and early so that people can still make it to the parade.  We have a flag ceremony and sing some patriotic songs.  This year for the family home evening before the 4th we talked about our country's flag and what it symbolizes.  Then we decorated flag cookies.  Eli likes to point out the American flag whenever he sees it, so he was excited to hang up our flag with his dad.

For FHE we just used butter knives to decorate our cookies, but I used cake decorating tools to finish frosting the rest of the cookies, which is why there is such a difference in look.

 We touched down in Seattle on the evening of the 4th, so we were there just in time for the fireworks.  Josh's parents have a great view from their home, so we didn't have to go far for a great fireworks show.  Of course, with the two hour time zone difference, we stayed up way past our bedtime, and we never caught up on sleep for our entire stay.  We crashed big time when we came back to Houston.

This is the view from Josh's parents' deck, but I guess we were too mesmerized by the fireworks to actually get a picture of them.

But at least we had a great time!  One of our main reasons for the trip was to celebrate Grandma Rosie's 90th birthday.  We enjoyed a fun day at the park with family (Josh's mom's side).  Many of the family members I had never met before, so it was fun chatting and playing.  The weather was perfect that day and was great the entire time we were up there, so we loved the break from our usual summer weather in Houston.

Family and friends that came to Grandma Rosie's birthday celebration

Blowing out the candles on her cake

Nana and Bampa let us go out in their boat on the Puget Sound.  Eli was a little hesitant because he doesn't care for water and was afraid he was going to fall off the boat.  Once we were on the water though, he loved it!

Eli with Uncle Matt and Aunt Megan

 Eli also loved being with his cousins--swimming at the pool, playing with toys, and going to the zoo.  He was very sad the day we came back to Houston.  He told me it just wasn't as much fun here (and he doesn't get to be with Nana, whom he absolutely adores).  Of course, home is never as much fun, but it would be nice if home were a little closer to family. 

Playing with cousins

Feeding the birds at the zoo

Camping at Huntsville State Park

Josh is already taking advantage of having more free time.  On Thursday night we went camping at Huntsville State Park, which is about an hour north of Houston.  Though I loved camping when I was younger, I'm afraid it's not my favorite thing anymore, but I am outnumbered.  When put to a family vote, I will be outnumbered every time because Josh and Eli enjoy camping very much.  I want to enjoy it as much as I did when I was younger, but so much has changed.  First, I don't remember the work part of camping when I was young.  I'm sure my mother did because now I realize that it is hard work to plan and pack everything, set everything up, and then take it all down.  I also didn't wear contacts and have frizzy hair back then.  I am much more aware of my daily need for a shower than I was when I was young.  The other part is that it is hot and humid here in Houston, and it doesn't cool down enough at night.  But like I said, my boys like it, and they didn't want a father/son outing (they had that at the beginning of May), they wanted Mom/Wife to come along.

We had a camping spot near a lake, so it was beautiful scenery.  We had the typical foil dinners, except Eli wanted hot dogs (he doesn't like potatoes, which are usually a main component in foil dinners).  We roasted marshmallows, which is Eli's favorite part and probably the main reason he likes camping so much.  Maybe if we started roasting marshmallows over the stove, Eli wouldn't feel the need to go camping and Josh would be outnumbered. ;-) 

When night fell, the lake turned into a cacophony of frog and bug noises--not the typical nighttime noises, this was LOUD.  Combine that with the heat, and I am amazed I got any sleep at all.  That is another reason why camping is not my favorite thing anymore.  I remember sleeping when I was young.  I do not sleep very well at all now when we go camping.  There seems to always be something on our camping trips.  This time it was the heat and bugs.  I didn't know that our tent door zipper was stuck ever since our trip to Corpus Christi in August 2010.  Apparently the salt in the air near the beach caused some tent damage that Josh didn't tell me about (he had gone camping since then; I hadn't).  Anyway, our tent door zipper broke, so anything that wanted to come into the tent had free passage.  I was both sweating to death and being bitten alive.  The good thing is that mosquitoes have never really liked my blood, so they do very minimal damage even when they do bite, but I can still feel when something is crawling on my skin.  I was torn between sleeping on top of the sleeping bag rather than sweating to death or sleeping in the sleeping bag rather than being bitten.  In the end, I did manage to switch between the two and get some sleep.

On Friday morning, we went on a small hike before leaving Huntsville State Park.  Then we went to Mooreheads Farm to pick blueberries.  We've been wanting to go blueberry picking for a while but had to wait until Josh finished his dissertation.  Blueberries just taste so much better when picked fresh.  Okay, pretty much anything tastes better when picked fresh.  I sure wish I could pick some fresh peaches.  Nothing I get from the store compares to the peaches I used to get from my Grandpa Hinton's orchard.  Anyway, the blueberries were tasty and are almost gone already.  We managed to pick about two and half pounds before Eli insisted on going home.  He was having some tummy troubles, and since it was VERY HUMID, we obliged.

Though camping isn't my favorite, it was fun to spend time together.  We had missed being with Josh these past couple of months while he was working really hard on his dissertation.  We're glad to have him back.

Enjoying dinner

Showing off sticky marshmallow fingers

Eli helped clean up by stuffing his own sleeping bag.

On our hike

Eli is forcing a smile since he doesn't feel well.

HE DID IT!!!

THIS MORNING I HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO HEAR JOSH DEFEND HIS DISSERTATION, AND HE DID AWESOME!  I DIDN'T HAVE ANY DOUBTS, BUT HE CALLED ME AT LUNCH TO CONFIRM HE HAD PASSED. (Big Round of Applause and Standing Ovation)  CONGRATULATIONS, DR. PRATT!  WE LOVE YOU AND ARE SO PROUD OF YOUR HARD WORK AND GREAT ACCOMPLISHMENT!

Josh's Graduation Ceremony and Other Happenings

Josh's parents came for a visit and stayed with us for a week.  The main event was Josh's graduation ceremony.  I would probably be posting this in all caps, but unfortunately, the ceremony was sort of anti-climactic.  He's not technically finished yet.  He's scheduled to defend his dissertation on June 19th, so that's the post you don't want to miss.  However, the ceremony was nice (Eli even fell asleep through all of the talks and woke up just in time to see his daddy walk up to get his diploma), and since Josh didn't get to attend the ceremony when he received his optometry degree (we were in Albuquerque), it was good to have him walk.  It was a proud moment for us all, though my eyes are looking forward to June.  We've all been a little stressed around here.  Poor Josh is very sleep deprived, and I think he might go into hibernation on June 20th.

Still, we enjoyed Nana and Bampa's visit.  Eli especially loves for them to come and is always sad to see them go.  We celebrated Nana's birthday with her since she turned 60 (shh...don't tell) the day before they came.  Later we also got to celebrate Mother's Day with her. 

We (all except Josh; he had to stay and work) went out to Brenham, TX (about an hour and twenty minute drive northwest of Houston), to the Blue Bell ice cream factory.  For those of you who don't get Blue Bell in your state, you are missing out.  It's delicious, and the tour of the factory was fun.  At the end of the tour, we got a cup of ice cream, so it was fun and yummy.

Not far from the Blue Bell ice cream factory is Washington-on-the-Brazos, the birthplace of Texas in Washington, TX.  It's the place where a formal Declaration of Independence from Mexico was signed.  Texas became an independent nation (the Republic of Texas) for about 10 years before being annexed to the United States as the 28th state.  We got to see Independence Hall and the Brazos River and read about Texas history.  We also got to tour a living history farm, the home and farm of Anson Jones, the last president of Texas.  

We had lots of good food while Josh's parents were here.  This is a picture of Eli at Five Guys.  He loves that place, mostly because of the peanuts.  Every time we go, he's more excited about the peanuts than the burgers.  It's funny to watch.