So...here we are! :) We arrived on the 2nd of February. We literally slid into town during a record breaking ice storm! It was quite the trip. Chase and our dear friend Dan, left driving the U-Haul and Dan's suv all loaded down. A few hours later, my wife (her nickname) Jen and I left with our passel of 6 kids, ages 6 and under.
Yeah. We are crazy. But it was so wonderful of these amazing friends to help us move to our new home. And I really enjoyed being able to have a looooong visit with one of my dearest friends. Plus, trial and error has taught us that two moms and six kids are actually easier than one mom and three kids. Ask the people who work at Ikea. Long story.
Anyhow...it was snowing when we drove away from our home and was storming on the east side of Albuquerque.When we stopped there for gas, I was interviewed by a news reporter about how it was, traveling in the storm. The second he turned on the camera I completely lost my mind, and Jen had to whisper to me all the answers to everything he asked, including, "What is your last name? Can you spell that?" So whether or not my clip actually made it on the air I don't know, but I doubt it. ;) But we did share with him that we had seen lots of vehicles slide off the freeway and that the blowing snow was a serious menace.
We got back on the road and several hours later, we made it to the Texas, NM border!!! :) Our drive took considerably longer than the men, because we took an excruciating amount of potty breaks. The next day, we wised up and put all the kids in diapers-yup we did. All six. And the drive went considerably faster. ;)
It was a pretty scary drive. The roads were insanely slippery and it was SO cold!!! The temp was in the negatives the whole time. At one point I couldn't see to drive because of all the mud caked onto my windshield. So I pulled over and Jen dumped a cold bottle of water onto the windshield and before I could wipe it off, it froze. At least it was clear though, so we got back on the road.

In Wichita Falls, we stopped for some lunch and to see my Aunt Debbie and cousin, Jason. It had been years since I had seen them and they had never met my kids. We slid into the parking lot, slid into McDonalds and let the kids play for a bit while I got to visit! ;) It was so nice seeing them again, they are a couple of the sweetest folks ever! I just love them! And it is so nice that they are only a few hours away and we get to see each other every now and then. :)

We got back on the road and caught up with Dan who had had car trouble. We ended up following him all the way to our new home town. It was terrifying. He drove a bit faster than I was comfortable with and really pushed me to just get there. But I was glad he did. ;) We had a couple of close calls, the one I remember the most was when a semi came into our lane and tried to push us off the freeway...scary. But God took SUCH good care of us. We got to the Day's house safe and sound...and exhausted.

This may be one of those you-just-had-to-be-there things, but I have to tell you about something Harmony said. Keep in mind that we had been driving through Texas aka Cattle Country for EVER. We saw cattle EVERYWHERE! Even the day before in New Mexico...lots of cows. Lots. For hours all we saw were cattle and fields. On the evening of the second day we were driving the car and all six kids were quiet. I think the boys were all sleeping. (Which explains the quiet.;) Jen and I are chatting it up when all of the sudden from the back of the suburban, Harmony exclaimed, "LOOK!!!! A COW!!!!!" We died laughing. We were wondering where she had been that whole drive and how she missed all the cattle. I still have no idea...

I was nervous about staying with the Day's. They so graciously provided several rooms and a bathroom and the whole house basically at our disposal! But I had never met them and wasn't sure how it was going to work. Especially with my three little ones and Jen's three little ones...all of which had been on lock-down in a car for two days. But the kids were great and the Day's were AMAZING!!! Mr. and Mrs. Day are some of the most fabulous people ever and are now some dear friends. After Dan and Jen left (which I don't want to talk about... :( ) We stayed on with the Day's for a month until we moved into a rental right across the street. I told you, they are awesome! I am not sure anyone else could have handled us for all that time. Thank you Dan and Jen! And thank you, Mr. and Mrs. Day!!! We love you all so much! Thank you for all you have each done for our family. We have been so blessed by each of you. :)

And we are loving Texas (except the tornados we are currently dodging...) the people and our church and the area....we just LOVE it here!!!

There was SO much laughter and food and visiting! It was a totally wonderful night!!! I am so blessed to have these woman in my life. And I love that while they are so sad I am moving, they are praying I make new wonderful friends in my new church and new home! :) They are just awesome!!!

So the news: We are moving to Texas!!! Telling the teens last night was one of the worst things EVER. So awful. But here's the story: Yep, out of the blue Chase was asked for his resume three times in a week! He didn't even have one so we whipped one up, talked to Pastor Steve and sent them out. Fairly quickly two of the options were shot down but the church in Princeton, Texas was seriously considering us. If you are wondering how and why they heard of us, some of you might remember Lynn Hoskins. She used to come to our church here before she moved to Princeton. She said that one day the Lord just impressed on her heart that she should be praying for me and Chase. She didn't know why until two months later when their youth pastor resigned! A light went  on and she talked to Pastor Stan about us. They received a bunch of resumes but really liked us. (what's not to like???)   We exchanged questionaires, had a skype conference call with their calling committee, and Pastor Stan and his wife Julie were able to come and visit Calvary awhile back. It "just happened" that they were going to be in New Mexico for a missions trip anyway. ;) So we talked with them and asked a bunch of questions and answered a bunch of questions. Pastor Stan met with Pastor Steve and they had a good talk. Next thing you know, we left early for Christmas in Houston in order to go to the Youth GroupChristmas party in Princeton, Chase was going to teach Sunday School the next morning and give his testimony in the church service. We LOVED the teens...the church...the community and felt right at home. The church was going to vote on whether or not to call us the following Wednesday night and we would pray about it some more. Well as it turned out, two people voted undecided and everyone else voted yes to calling us! Which is still amazing to me...anyhow. We prayed some more and sought counsel some more and talked to Pastor Steve again. We asked what his thoughts were and if he had peace about us leaving. He expressed that it was the last thing he wanted, but through the whole process he had never been able to find a problem with the pastor or church or process or us leaving. In fact, he told us that two months prior to Chase being asked for his resume (which we realized later was the same time God told Lynn to pray for us) Pastor Steve felt like God was telling him that we would be leaving soon... So we prayed about it some more, felt like this was something that God had completely orchestrated from the beginning and we accepted the position.  Funny too because our major three concerns and prayer requests for our family have been: to be closer to the Ward side, to get Chase back in school for his Master's degree, and to have a better schedule with more time to spend as a family or down time. We have really been wanting to start family devotions and the best time is in the morning except that that is the worst time because Chase's days start anywhere from 5:15-8:00. It just hasn't worked...and it doesn't help that he typically works 70 ish hours every week. Our kids are young and we need more time together.  Well guess what? All three of those were answered by moving to Faith Baptist in Princeton! Chase will have time this fall to go back to school and the commute would be MUCH shorter than if we were in Show Low. Chase's parents are about 3.5 hours away from Princeton...and they are hoping to move closer at some point. And Faith is SO relaxed!  Life just moves more slowly there and there aren't as many hours needed in the office.

So anyway...our prayers were answered...not like we were thinking but I guess we should have been more specific! haha! ;) Anyway, in case you are wondering, Princeton is just north of Dallas. It is a town about the size of Show Low but with 1 million or so people in the surrounding like 20 miles. I like Princeton because it is small enough it really has a country feel but I would only be 15 minutes away from THREE Targets and a Hobby Lobby and a Whole Foods, and a couple of malls! AWESOME!  So our last day at Calvary is the last Sunday of January...I believe Chase is preaching that day. We pull out of town on February first and our first day at Faith is the first Sunday of February. I am excited about the new teens and new church and being closer to the in-loves, but I am really very very sad about leaving all my friends, our teens...and what I believe is the best church and pastor ever! Calvary and Pastor Steve are not perfect...but I have never seen or experienced better.  (Or anything even remotely close!) We have been soooo very blessed and even spoiled here! I would like to take Calvary and just combine it with Faith so I don't lose anyone! :) It is also hard because we have no idea what we are moving into! We really want to buy this house: http://www.movoto.com/real-estate/homes-for-sale/TX/Princeton/1100-N-6th-St-402_11484404.htm But we can't buy anything (or rent anything other than a 750sq. ft. apt) until our house here sells. We are hoping to get it on the market next week after we finish up some projects we have had going . Please pray!!!