Amazing

Tonight is our first night in the house- and here are a few things I find amazing...

*I did 4 loads of laundry in just a few hours. I thought the washing machine was broken because it washed so fast. Amazing.

*Ice maker! Amazing.

*Huge fridge that seems so big who can ever fill that thing up? Amazing.

*Having our own bathroom, not sharing bathroom with little girls. Amazing.

*Walk-in closets. Amazing.

*Walk-in pantry. Amazing.

I seriously smiled the first few hours being in the house. I felt happy, but also guilty that I was enjoying it so much. Strange, I know. I have such a mixture of emotions right now- so happy to be here near family and friends, yet missing our friends in Wales. It will be even more weird on Sunday- walking into a church we know very little about and hoping to meet some new people.

It feels weird to be blogging only 20 minutes from parents. It was kind of sad to wave goodbye to them today, but good knowing we are only a short car ride away. The girls were upset in the car so we tried to explain to them that we can see Gigi and Papa anytime we want. They even came over tonight to bring a few things we had left at their house and the girls acted stunned they were coming over. Funny how their little minds work.

Tomorrow we will go out and discover the area around us. There is a Sonic (that place I was telling you about Anna) right around the corner, so I'm good.

Happy New Year!

Long Post, Lots of Pictures

My parent's house on Christmas Eve!

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My brother making fun of the Snuggie

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Okay, here are some pictures of our house-
This is the living room, front door is to the left through that walkway

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Kitchen- this room is open plan- so the kitchen/dining room is behind that blue/white couch-
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This is a room to the right as you walk in the front door, they have a sofa, chair and desk in this room and it has a doorway through to the kitchen and living room
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The view from the front door- living room straight ahead, "office" to the right-
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Off the dining room is a hallway where all the bedrooms are- this is the girls' room, I should have taken a picture of the huge walk-in closets but I forgot
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Next to them is Addison's room and guest room, this has twin bed with a trundle as well as her crib- and another big closet
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There is a bathroom inbetween these rooms, and our bedroom is at the end of the hallway-
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And "my" bathtub!
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And a few random other pictures- Bailey on Christmas Day with her new scooter-
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Tinkerbell watching TV
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So Far, So Good

I left our camera cord at our new house, otherwise I would be showing you some pictures of where we will be living for the next few months. We are so blessed and just think we are going to love it there. It's a one story, 3 bedroom/2 bath house and while it may not be much to some people, it's huge to us! Ha. I think our bedroom/bathroom/closet is the size of our whole upstairs back in Wales. Last week we went over to drop some things off and look around, as I walked into the front door I just started crying. I'm not really sure why, but it was just overwhelming to me and it was such a cute house. We have never owned anything (gasp! ha!) and have only lived in apartments before we moved overseas. Anyway, the church that is letting us stay in this house has already been such a blessing to us and we haven't met any of them yet! They had a Christmas tree decorated and presents under the tree for each of us, the pantry was completely stocked as well as the fridge and freezer (frost-free and an ice-maker, thank you Jesus!) The girls were running wild around the house and squealing, so I think they like it too. The master bathtub y'all, is huge. I can't wait to show you a picture of that thing!

Marc and my little brother flew to Houston a few days before Christmas to pick up a car that we will be able to use for our time here. We had to request a car that could hold 3 car seats and we got one! It's a boat, I mean a 1995 Grand Marquis Mercury - ALL burgundy baby, even the leather seats! I'm telling you, we are cruising Dallas in style! My 17 yr. old brother nicknamed it "The Merk" - but seriously, we are VERY thankful for this car and that it holds all 3 car seats so it's just what we needed.

The girls are doing great! It's been such a busy week that it was only today that they asked when they were going to see their friends and go back to school. After a nice little chat over an apple and some cheese, they were feeling good about things and happy to get their stuff into their room. They have bunk beds at home because their room is so tiny, but here there are two twin beds in their room and they are SO excited about that. When we first got to the house last week they ran to the window to see the backyard and Cerys shouts, "WOW, this garden is HUGE!" They put two Little Tikes slides/climbing things in the back garden so the girls are pretty pumped about that.

We had a lovely Christmas, all together at my parent's house. We enjoyed meeting for the first time and playing with my two year old nephew who lives in Florida. We had family photos taken. We did lots of eating and laughing. It was great!

We will be here at my parent's house for a few more days before moving into our house completely. I turn 33 years old soon so I'm busy trying to decide which place Marc is going to take me out to eat. There are so many choices, it's crazy! I've walked the aisles of Target and enjoyed every second of it. I've walked Willow Bend Mall and enjoyed that too!

So....so far, so good!
Hopefully I will get pictures up soon!

Happy New Year!

I'll Be Home For Christmas

It started snowing in Dallas around noon today and has not stopped! We did some last minute shopping this morning and then went to the candlelight Christmas Eve service at my parent's church. My older brother, his wife and 2 year old son are in town from Florida, my second youngest brother is home from college and we are all here at my parent's house! The girls are in their pj's, Jesus' Happy Birthday Cake is in the oven and there is excitement in the air!

Merry Christmas from our family to yours!

For a child is born to us, a son is given to us. The government will rest on his shoulders. And he will be called: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Isaiah 9:6 NLT

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We Made It

2 flight delays because of snow, sitting for 3 hours on the runway waiting for de-icing followed by a 10 hour flight- we have arrived in one piece...just barely. The big girls did GREAT, I've never been more proud of them...Addison was fussy the whole time and over tired, which meant she could not settle. I am glad she's at Grandma's house and she probably is too!

Thank you for prayers! We've now been up for 24 hours and we are exhausted. Have a Merry Christmas everyone!

4am

This morning, we cut the last chain off of our "How Many Days Till Texas" chain...

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We have packed our bags (and this is not all of them!) ...

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packed up most of our belongings and cleaned house!

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The girls are snug in bed and I will be there soon. We are leaving at 4am to drive to the airport for a short flight to Amsterdam, a short layover and then a very long 10 hour flight to Dallas. The girls did great in April when we flew to Dallas, but this time I'm more anxious. In fact, I am more anxious about tomorrow than any other long haul flight I've been on. I can't shake it! So your prayers are much appreciated if you think of us at any point tonight or tomorrow!

"For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, love and a SOUND MIND."
2 Timothy 1:7

I'M GOING TO TEXAS BABY!

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Pajama Run

I have no idea why there is so much to blog about before we go...

A few months back our friends were telling us that they do something fun as a family called "Pajama Runs." They put the kids to bed at normal times then go in and wake them up around 9 or 10pm and go for dessert in their pj's! I'm all for dessert, so that sounded like a fun thing to do. Well, we sort of did our first pajama run last night and the girls were a little confused...

Since we are leaving this weekend I asked our friends if they wanted to do a pajama run to our house for dessert- their whole family arrived just after 9pm last night and I had the table all set with tiny Christmas Puddings. Marc went in to get the girls, who came downstairs completely dazed and confused and it was hilarious! Cerys quickly warmed up and was so excited- Bailey, well as you can see from the pictures, she was not too thrilled with the idea.

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Bales, one day you will look at these and laugh, I hope! The girls went right back to sleep after they were gone and it was the first thing they were talking about this morning! (No, I did not wake Addison, I'm not that crazy!!!!)

Our first ever Pajama Run! Next one will be Pajama Run: USA and maybe we can go to IHOP!

Christmas Puddings!

Well, I'm no Bakerella, that's for sure- but I saw these in a magazine and wanted to try them for little gifts for Cerys and Bailey's teachers. I thought they were cute enough to show you so you can make them! The girls enjoyed helping too!

Little Christmas Puddings

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It's simple- as you can see they are upside down chocolate cupcakes with powdered sugar icing and red hots for the berries. (I used a green icing pen for the leaves.)

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