We're Here!!!

Well, we're officially here. There's nothing like stepping off the airplane, and instantly needing a bit of chapstick (and also feeling your nose begin to immediately get a little stuffy). It was so frickin' hot and muggy yesterday in Houston that we were glad to get out of there. We all survived the plane ride. I figure 3 hours of torture on an airplane with three kids is WAY better than 2 days of torture in the car. Well worth it.

For those of you who live here and probably take for granted all the wonderful things there are here, I just want share what Trevor and I love:
* Walking in the grass bare-footed (oh how I love the good old Kentucky blue grass!)
* Cool, crisp mornings and evenings
* Dry air (hallelujah! The bath towels will dry completely between uses!)
* Cafe Rio (Costa Vida is really good, too)--you know, you wouldn't think that great Mexican food would be hard to find in Texas considering most of the population is Mexican...but it is!
* Mountains!
* No bugs! (Yes there are bugs here, but once you live some place that is humid you realize that the bugs here in Utah don't count.) A whole month free of cockroaches and ravenous mosquitoes. (They will probably starve without me there to feed on.)
* Did I mention family? They should have been first on the list! We love our families!!
* You can leave the doors open without fear of cockroaches and mosquitoes invading your house. (Can you tell I really don't like the roaches and mosquitoes in Texas?)
* Camping in the summer (In Texas, you have to camp in the winter, or it's too hot.)
* No fire ants!
* Built-in babysitters!
* Good friends to catch up with.
Well, I could go on and on. Don't get me wrong, I do love Texas...It just makes me appreciate Utah so much more.

Five going on Fifteen?!

So tonight during dinner the phone rings, and it's a boy calling for G! What?! Since when is it okay for little boys to call MY little girl? Is this a premonition of what is to come? I think the little boy was just bored, so he was going through the class phone list and calling people...but still...

A couple of months ago, G's teacher noticed a little boy sitting by her during reading time. I guess they looked pretty cozy together. She didn't say anything, but was keeping an eye on the situation. And before she knew it, the little boy had his arm around G! She didn't even come home and tell me about it. I had to get it second hand from another parent. I'm really not ready or cut out for this. But I guess I better be cut out for it because I have 3 girls!

Today was the last day of school. Yeah for summer! But kind of bittersweet for G. She's really going to miss her teacher. And all of her friends. She's such a good little student, and is reading so well. I don't know how I'm going to be able to keep her busy this summer without going insane!

It must be the hormones...

So, I went to the hair salon yesterday to get the standard highlights and a haircut. Usually no big deal--she highlights, she cuts hair, she blow dries, and I leave a new woman with a new lease on life (at least for the next 6 weeks.) Amazing how hair really affects my mood. Well, in the middle of the hair blow-drying, I notice that my hair does NOT look any lighter, in fact, it looks darker to me (and very stripey). In my mind, I'm thinking, "What have I been doing for the last 2 hours--did I imagine her put the bleach in my hair and put me under a blow dryer for it to process?" Neither of us can figure out why it didn't work. On the outside, I'm telling her "Oh, it's fine." But on the inside my head was going to explode! I didn't have time for hair malfunctions. I had a Kindergarten program to attend, a sick two-year old, and piano lessons to teach! It put me in a very bad mood, which I'm not proud to admit, I took out on my family what I should have taken out on my hairstylist. But all is well now. I went back this morning, and she attempted to fix it. It looks much better, but still not as blonde as I'm used to. We chalked it up to the post-pregnancy and still-lactating state of my hormones. Apparently they can really mess up hair color. I sure miss you Megan! (I had many less hair emergencies when you lived close by.)

My baby girl is almost done with Kindergarten! She had her end-of-the-year Kindergarten program on Friday. I can't believe she's going to be in 1st grade next year! Where did this past year go? It was really a cute program called "Jammin' with Mama Goose." She even got a speaking part, which she was very excited about.

Trevor is very proud of his littlest baby girl that apparently has a great love for the University of Texas at Austin. She's showing her pride by flashing the Hookem' Horns sign. Now for all ya'll out there who don't know what hook em' horns means, go ask a sports buff, and they'll tell that what's people do when they are showing their UT pride.

I don't know, maybe I'm wrong...she could just be sucking on her fingers!

A warning to those with weak stomachs--the following picture is extremely gruesome and not for the faint of heart. This ladies and gentlemen, is one HUGE reason you should not live where I live. Besides the humidity and stifling summers that last until October, the roaches tend to be that last straw that broke the camel's back. We have our house sprayed regularly, like good Houstonians should. Those that don't are living in denial that they don't have a roach problem. Everyone, I repeat, EVERYONE, has roaches here. If you say you never see them, well, just get your house sprayed and you will begin to see dead roaches turning up--literally. Yesterday, Terminix came and did their standard job around the perimeter of the house. Trevor happened to be home, so he had them do the interior of our garage, which apparently hasn't been done in a while. Holy cow--today when I pulled the car into the garage I noticed all the casualties that had taken place overnight. Disgusting! I HATE bugs of every shape and size. When we first moved here and I would see the occasional roach I would think, "that's it, I can't take this, I'm selling the house and moving to Antarctica where there are no bugs!" When I saw my first dead roach I called the exterminators that had sprayed the house prior to us unpacking, and starting telling her about our roach "problems" in a very concerned and probably whiny voice. The lady on the other end of the conversation said, "Honey, you're not from here, are you?" I'm sure she thought I was crazy. Because, apparently, it is not a roach problem if they are turning up dead--only if you are finding them alive (which has really only happened once to me and it was VERY traumatizing.)

**Now I need to put a little disclaimer. This post makes it sound like their are roaches crawling all over my house. That's not true. They are mainly outside, and only when it gets hot enough outside do they attempt to come in, where they immediately die because we spray regularly. So still feel free to visit us anytime, and most likely you will not have any roach encounters. But I make no promises. :)

Ode to Costco

There is only one place in this world where I can go into the store expecting to spend around $80, walk out spending close to $400, and still be a happy camper. There's something wrong with that equation. Maybe they are slipping something into their samples that just makes you love the place. I love Costco...it's like therapy for me. Why buying a 5 lb bag of chocolate chips makes me happy, I have no clue. But it's great. Great quality stuff for a great price. But I really do need to get a life.

Okay, enough about Costco. I hope everyone out there had a wonderful Mother's Day. My family was so sweet to me. T and the girls made breakfast and dinner and dessert (and I won't mention how hubby forgot the nonstick spray in the cake pan :). And while T was slaving away in the kitchen making dinner, I had a very nice nap. G was so cute...she made me a cute place mat and a card. T took me out on a date for Mother's Day on Saturday night. We went up to The Woodlands for dinner and a little shopping. I love my little family.

A big shout out to Trevor's family, who are traveling in England right now. I'm out of my mind with jealousy! They are doing many of the same things that I did when I went there so many years ago. (I can't believe it's been 7 years!) They just got back from Edinburg, Scotland--Megan, do you remember the insomniac we roomed with there? They probably stayed in a nicer place than we did! (I certainly hope so.) Good times, good memories.

Nothing to write home about

I feel very boring. Not much is going on lately, so there's not much to write about. We are very excited for our upcoming trip to Utah. As you can see, there's a little ticker counting down the days. We are so glad to be flying this time and not driving. Last summer is still a little too fresh on my mind--I'll just say that driving and being pregnant do not mix well. (And I vow never to make that dreadful drive pregnant again!) Anyway, with the price of gas being so high it was not much more to just fly.

The girls and I are spending the whole month of June there. Trevor will be there for the first 12 days or so. While he's there we get to go to the annual Glazier Family Reunion. Any of you who have known me for a long time know that this was the highlight of every summer growing up. I don't know what makes it so great. Oh wait, yes I do. Great people to catch up with, swimming, chatting, eating, dutch oven potatoes, sourdough sweet rolls, baseball games, ziplines, hiking, card games, capture the flag, smore's, family sacrament meeting, did I mention eating...it all makes up for a great time. We haven't been able to be there for the past two summers--so we are stoked!

We're so excited to visit all of our family and friends. See you in t-minus 22 days!