It's Official

The registration on "Blondie" expires on the 27th of this month, so we had to take the plunge & get TX license plates on the car. (We even got an easy to remember number. I had to Photoshop the numbers on the plate to protect our privacy.) Farewell to looking like an out-of-state visitor in the Lone Star State. Perhaps we do look a little more like Texans after visiting the County Tax Assessor's/Collector's office to get the vehicle registered. (Probably not!) I still feel as if we are in a foreign land. Many things are familiar, but there a lot of new things to learn. Folks are VERY friendly, but it just doesn't feel like home yet.

For some reason, my brain keeps replaying a few lines from the Lyle Lovett song "That's Right, You're Not From Texas" as we make the transition to living here. Thanks to my sister for making us aware of this song. :-) I had never even heard it until she sent it to us. Now it's become our relocation anthem, I guess! It has a catchy tune, & it makes me smile. (Proverbs 15:13 -- A merry heart maketh a cheerful countenance: but by sorrow of the heart the spirit is broken.) Smiles & laughter are appreciated these days. And a silly song is always welcome. Sing it, Lyle.

You say you're not from Texas

Man as if I couldn't tell

You think you pull your boots on right

And wear your hat so well

So pardon me my laughter

'Cause I sure do understand

Even Moses got excited

When he saw the promised land

That's right you're not from Texas

That's right you're not from Texas

That's right you're not from Texas

But Texas wants you anyway...

AZ to TX

Dec. 30th: Arrived in Rio Rico, AZ

Our visit to the "nest" was short, but sweet. The "Birds" are excellent hosts, offering yummy food & comfy accommodations. This was the perfect place to ring in the new year.

Dec. 31st: In the afternoon, we toured Nogales, but only peeked across the border into Mexico. We were content to stay on the US side of the line. :-)

Robin took us to one of her favorite stores, a few feet from the border crossing. Liesey found some great deals. Not bad for a gal who doesn't really like to shop!

After an incredible dinner of prime rib, we watched Napoleon Dynamite. (Uncle Rio Rico?) What a silly movie! No matter how many times that movie is watched, there is always something different that stands out. Miraculously, we stayed awake until midnight. After saying, "Happy New Year!" we collapsed in bed. Ahhhh!

The view from the nest is gorgeous!

Jan. 1st: We said our "thank yous & goodbyes" to UJ & RJ, loaded the car & got on the road to Midland, Texas, sometime after noon. This proved to be a very long drive, with lots of w-i-d-e open spaces. It was probably a good thing that the bulk of our driving was done in the dark, as I am sure there wasn't much to see.

We did enjoy seeing this welcoming sign:

Jan. 2nd: Thankfully, it was a relatively short drive from Midland to Keller, Texas.

Really?

I just had to take this photo. I believe we saw this exit somewhere near Abilene, Texas. What is a Noodle Dome anyway?

Before we went to our temporary digs, we had to go by "our" piece of dirt. Nothing has been done on our homesite -- yet! We stopped by the model home to say hi, and learned that work will begin soon. When progress is made, I'll be posting photos. ;-)

This is the entrance to our 'hood.

Home sweet home? Not yet, but we hope that it'll soon feel homey.

X marks the spot where our home will be built.

(Click on the photo to enlarge.)

When all of the homes in our development are built, there will be 7 houses on our cul-de-sac. Ours will be the 4th home built on "our" court. As we were looking at our property, we met one of our neighbors. After we chatted for a while, we discovered that he & I graduated from PU the same year. And we even know some of the same people from our college days. ;-) There is yet another neighbor is also a Purdue grad, so we will be in good company. Go Boilers!

It's a Small World...

The happiest (& most crowded) place on earth!

One or two other people had the same idea we did. It truly was a perfect day to visit Mickey.

Space Mountain is always a favorite, even with a 75 minute wait. Notice that I am NOT in any of the photos? I don't do coasters. I really don't mind waiting as the rest o' the family rides all of the up & down rides, as I get to talk to interesting folks as I wait. I met up with several TX people, which I am sure was "pure coincidence." ;-) I'm certain that God knew that I needed a word, or two, or three... of encouragement as we make this big move, so I enjoyed every minute that I waited.

What time is it anyway? Obviously it's still Christmastime.

We're seeing a little hint of what's to come -- Texas!

Is it really a small world after all?

Ooooh! Ahhhh!

Road trippin'!

The park reached its capacity (75,000-80,000 or more...) sometime in the early afternoon. It felt a little too cozy when we first arrived at 10 AM, and it only got cozier. Thankfully it was a friendly crowd. I actually saw someone I know from Roseville, but they were in the opposite line for Pirates of the Caribbean & I couldn't get their attention. Okay, so there's that "small world" thing again.

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow. Disney magic!

The Smithlings & I barely squeezed our cheeks into this teacup. Either we are getting bigger, or the teacups are getting smaller. Hmmmm. (Mr. Smith waited on the sidelines, as he cannot stomach the round & round rides. See, opposites DO attract!)

Sleepy smiles

Despite the fact that Mr. Smith & I have trained our children to not but their elbows on the dinner table, Millie simply couldn't refrain from putting her head & both elbows down on the restaurant table so she could catch a few winks before her food arrived. It looked like a good plan, but the rest of us managed to stay awake through the meal as we practiced good table manners. (It probably would have been a good idea to have eaten dinner before 9 PM... Right?!)

It was an A-okay day! A red (and white) letter day?

Well, it was better than that -- it was a perfect day! This little side trip was exactly what we needed to make the move from CA to TX a little more bearable. Next stop: AZ

Get a Move on

(Monday, Dec. 28) At 8:15 AM, the big rig (a.k.a. Jim & Phyllis' Homeless Shelter) rolled onto Raleigh Court -- backwards.

The muscles (Steve, Max, and Jeff) arrived by 8:30, and loading began shortly before 9 o'clock.

Max strikes a pose on the makeshift catwalk as he models the latest in moving fashions.

More friends stopped by to say hi & bye.

Liesey & April

Mitchell

Naomi, Liesey, Jenny, and Ruth

Greg, M., and Zach REALLY do not like to have photos taken!

Hide-and-seek proved to be a good diversion for Millie & Syd.

The Love Bros.

The Love Fam. baked & delivered the MOST EXCELLENT sugar cookies. Yum! There was even a longhorn shaped cookie in the batch. Yee-ha!

The kitchen looks soooo empty... :-(

6:30 PM -- The BMW was the last item in the truck. Everything fit, thanks to the creative packing of our amazing loading crew. Our belongings took up every square inch of the 53' trailer, but they were able to shut the door & lock it.

We had to clean the house a little, pack the car, "drug" the cats, and say a final farewell to our neighbors. By 8:30 PM, rain was lightly falling as we loaded into the Q7. Our wonderful Raleigh Court friends stood out in the rain singing, "So long...farewell...auf weidersehen goodbye..." as we drove away. :-( We love "our" court -- they are the BEST neighbors! We will miss 'em. It was a tearful & painful goodbye. Thankfully we had something fun to look forward to -- a whirlwind trip to Disneyland!

We drove through rain for hours & hours before finally arriving in Anaheim at 2:30 AM. By the time we got settled into our room with kids & cats, it was 3:30-ish. What a l-o-n-g day and night! There's nothing like getting a good night's rest before spending the day with Mickey & Minnie. And there was nothing like that going on with us. We were somewhat sleep-deprived as we took on a busy day at D-land, but a fun outing was just what we needed. The theme park outing is another post for another day...

Boxing Day

Little did we know that the day we chose to have the packers come to box up our stuff would actually fall on Boxing Day; however, this was no holiday!

At 8 AM three trained "boxing" professionals descended upon our 2300 sq. ft. home. How much could we have crammed into that amount of space in the past decade? Apparently a LOT! It took ten hours for the guys to box up our personal effects. They managed to use:

17 dish pack boxes

18 wardrobe boxes

173 misc. sized boxes

54 paper pads

48 loading blankets

1,500 yards of strapping tape

1 roll of shrink wrap

188 lbs. of packing paper

And a partridge in a pear tree...

We helped with sorting & packing while visiting with friends & neighbors who stopped by.

Jemima & Bartholomew enjoyed checking out all of the boxes.

The girls' room took one poor soul about 5 hours to pack -- this photo represents only about one third of their boxes. Okay, so we might have tooo much stuff!

The master bedroom doesn't look too out of control...

At least we have a place to lay our weary heads.

All of the kitchen utensils were packed, so my husband improvised a little. I wasn't involved in the decision to use the garden shears. I was next door trying to borrow a (more civilized) pizza wheel. Mr. Smith assures me that he thoroughly washed & sanitized the tool before using it.

I'm thinkin' that the "unsanitary" pizza cutting device is responsible for these faces...

Saying goodbye is easier with a dose of SiLLy thrown in for good measure.

Packing complete. Must have sleep.

Christmas 2009

Considering that Mr. Smith & I had to wait to do the bulk of our Christmas shopping until the 24th, it was amazing that the Smithlings had a single present under the tree. Better still -- no gifts have to be returned!

We had an amazing day celebrating the birth of our Savior. We are blessed beyond measure. :-)

We did have to take the Christmas tree & other decorations down early in order to start preparing for the big move. The professional packers are scheduled to arrive at 8 AM tomorrow morning.

Millie's gift to me... I love 'em!

M. unwrapped a "China" and a tambourine for his drum kit along with other percussion items. Millie got a trunk to store AG dolls & accessories -- inside the trunk she found a purple iPod Nano. (Perfect for the upcoming road trip... Yes, that was by design.) Liesey received bedding for her new room in TX. G-ma, G-pa, and AJ made sure there were presents under the tree, so it was a merry morning indeed.

A pile o' Smith Kids

Comfy & Colorful

Mr. Snowman/Mr. Bill?

Oh, Nooooooo...

Parting Shots

The past few weeks have been fun, yet emotional, as we say farewell to our WONDERFUL friends & neighbors. The packers are coming this weekend & the big rig will be loaded on December 28th.

I am going to share several photos from various functions -- from performances to parties. All of these smiles are precious. We will miss y'all...

"Noel" at Adventure Christian School -- Ballet Rejoice

Liesey & Lauren

"Sister" Sleepover @ Kyla's

Millie & Sydney

Ballet Rejoice Brunch Bunch

Chain gang?

Christmas Caroling with the Pettit Fam.

Katie organized a wonderful gathering of Raleigh Courters as a farewell party for us. It was fun to relive the past ten+ years in the 'hood, but hard to say, "Farewell." :-(

Schellenger Family -- and Jericho!

Jeff, Paula, and Eli

Kim & John

Freemans & Turners

Raleigh Court Kids -- BIG and small!

The guys from M's Bible Study got together for a night of pizza and bowling.

Millie & Haley chilled at the skating rink one morning -- don't they look cool?!

It's oh, so sweet to construct a gingerbread house, but even sweeter to get to eat it!

Nutcracker 2009

Two weekends -- eight performances. Whew!


The Smith Fam.


The Stahlbaum Fam.

Spanish Beauty

This is my all-time favorite flake.

After the Snow scene was over, there was a flurry of activity backstage as the Snowflakes engaged in a snowball fight. Thankfully, there was time during intermission to clean up the mess.

Waltz of the Flowers

Liesey & her ballerina buddies

(This photo proves the pointe that you cannot have tutu many friends! Okay, so that's really bad bunhead humor...)

The Tech Crew packs it all up for another year...

Nothing tastes better than a run to Taco Bell after all the props have been properly stored.


See more photos below:

Oh, so THANKFUL!

Our family had a wonderful (but quick) trip to Vancouver, WA, to celebrate Thanksgiving. And oh, do we have many reasons to count our blessings! God is sooo good. (I'll have to take more time at another time to compose the many things that have transpired over the past few weeks regarding our move to Texas.)

We had to get back to Roseville for Nutcracker rehearsal on Friday morning, so we drove 630 miles on Thanksgiving Day or rather T-giving Night... Thankfully, there was no snow on the mountain passes. And we did manage to find a few gas stations & at least one restaurant open, despite traveling on a holiday.

I don't know if you have noticed, but the past several posts have been more of a pictorial update -- light on remarks/content, heavy on images. That's just the way things are with this impending TX move. There are things I'd like to comment on, but I am short on time. At least the photos do tell the story...

That must be a spud from neighboring Idaho!

Chef Millie slices & dices everything in sight!

Ready & waiting...

Now doesn't that plate look appetizing?

Most people take photos of a perfectly browned turkey waiting to be carved. Not me!I decided to take a photo of the carcass as evidence that the fowl flesh was succulent -- all 23 lbs. of it. ;-)

After dinner, we took a walk to burn off some dinner & to make room for PIE!

The Birds -- Jay & Robin

Molly & her grandparents

Grandpa found another way to get around the neighborhood. Did we see him do the Bunny Hop and a 180? I'm not tellin'.

The "almost annual" Annalise & Liesey photo is a great one!

Liesey decided to fly back to Sacramento with her aunt & grandparents instead of making the road trip with us. This allowed her to have an extra day in Vancouver to visit her friend Shelby.

This is the only place that we could find open on T-giving Day. Yep, it is a Burger King, and no, they were not serving up turkey burgers. That Whopper Jr. tasted pretty yummy. As an added bonus, the restrooms were clean! Yet another reason to be thankful... :-)

And so the Nuttiness Begins...

It was a beautiful, yet chilly, day at the Fountains in Roseville where several pieces from The Nutcracker were performed on the community stage. (It's a concrete stage, so pointe shoes cannot be worn during this performance. Oh, well!) This public appearance was to promote the upcoming Placer Theatre Ballet production. The audience gave the dancers a warm reception, so the goose bumps were somewhat reduced by the applause!