Sunday, July 29, 2012

Lately

Life is good.

After three rainy weekends in a row, we finally got to take the little man out to the pool. I can't overstate how much this kid loves the water. It'll be swim lessons for this one as soon as he's old enough. He's already kicking his legs in the pool.


We also had another visitor. One of my two best friends, Jeremy, stopped by last Sunday on his way to take a job in Kansas City. It was awesome seeing him again and catching up. Jeremy and his family were in a similar situation to ours (drove halfway across the country to find a job and landed one in just a few days), and we're really excited for them and their new adventure.


Also, our place is starting to feel more like a home and less like some apartment we're squatting in. That may have something to do with furnishing our dining area after over a month without a kitchen table. No more eating while standing up or sitting on the floor—we've got seating for six! 


We're not totally done with the room, but it's way better than the empty space that was there before. Once the couches get here in a week or so, our apartment will be almost good to go!

Jackson, of course, has been having a blast with all the cardboard boxes that have come along with our furnishing projects. This isn't one of them, but that didn't stop him from climbing in with a few of his toys.


This little guy is at a fun age—always exploring and discovering, and learning new things every day. He runs everywhere now (walking apparently isn't cool anymore), and can say "Mama," "Dada," "plane," "ball," and "Jesus." He loves reading, watching airplanes and helicopters from the window, and has dance moves every bit as dorky as ours. Yep. Our kid is awesome!

And life is good.

Monday, July 9, 2012

Fourth of July

Wednesday was our first Independence Day here in Houston—and it was definitely Texas-sized!

We started out the day with a ward breakfast and followed it up with a trip to the pool with Jen, her boyfriend, and a couple who just moved into our ward. We all had a great time swimming and eating our picnic lunch, but we're pretty sure nobody loved it as much as this guy:


In the evening we took the train downtown for Houston's Freedom Over Texas celebration. Jackson had an absolute blast on the train.


Here we are, feeling patriotic at Freedom Over Texas:


Jackson loved the military flyovers and the news choppers that kept sweeping by. Every time he saw one he would wave and shout. Not even the ABC cameraman could resist this little guy. He filmed Jackson waving the flag around for a good couple of minutes before giving us the thumbs-up and moving on.


And of course we had to do dinner. The girls got pizza and Ismael and I got these giant barbecued turkey legs. I can't even tell you how long it took me to eat this thing. It was delicious, but I'll probably have to share next time. Man, I hate that I just admitted that.


The main event that night (besides, you know, the fireworks) was a concert featuring Sara Evans and Billy Currington. If you don't listen to country music, you're probably wondering who the heck those people are. But we love our country music and were excited to see them.

 Jen and Jackson getting their country on

 Billy Currington concert

After the concert there was an awesome fireworks show over the bayou. And guess who was still up to see it? While he looks pretty zonked at the end here, he actually did really well that night. We were glad we were able to stay the whole time and do the 4th of July celebration as a family, fireworks and all. 

Watching the fireworks

Happy 4th of July!