Anna Lou and Harper Day...

My sweet friend Sarah took Anna Lou for an entire day last week while we were packing and moving. I don't think AL wanted to come back home! They went to the park, out to lunch and to Chuck E Cheese for dinner! What a fun day and she is still talking about it. 

 Harper and AL, friends since they were itty bitty!

Thank you sweet Sherman Family!!

Missing Daddy and our temporary home...

So Daddy has been officially a Permian Panther since the middle of February. He is staying with some wonderful family friends in Midland. We are so thankful for their generosity and hospitality. Another way we see the Lord going before us in this situation. The kids and I are staying here since we do not have a place to live in Odessa. My heart for single mamas and for those that have a husband that travels weekly has grown so much. Wow! Single mama-hood isn't for sissies!!

Daddy comes home every weekend to be with us. We miss him so much and are so eager for Friday to come! Here we are on one of our many trips to the airport. Sundays are always sad! :(

 We send Daddy tons of pics and videos during the week like these.

Missing Daddy at one of his favorites, Bueno!

So we put our house on the market right away and sold it the first weekend! Once again, thank you Lord for making this all so clear. And thank you Lord that I wasn't having to keep a house show-worthy with three youngins and with my husband out of town! This week we officially moved out and into Honey and Papa's house. Lord bless those two! 

During the move, found these in Anna Lou and Graham's room, brought to you by G, I am sure!

 We hired movers to move all of our stuff into storage near Honey and Papa's. The moving truck came and we realized our stuff was not going to fit in one load. Rather than pay the movers for their time to make another trip, we called in the reinforcements. Papa (Dave's Dad) and his horse trailers! 

  Six years in one house brings a lot of junk! We plan to have a garage sale soon and lots of that junk in the front will have to go!

We are getting settled in at Honey and Papa's and will be back on schedule going to school, BSF and the rest of our normal routine now that spring break and our move is over.  We are excited to be building a house in Odessa which is planned to be ready in July. Praying it really is July! Those Permian Panthers get going in August and we need to be there before that!  

On the Move...

Back in January Dave got a phone call about a job offer in Odessa, Texas at Permian High School. Several years ago, Dave worked for Coach Feldt in Pilot Point. In January, Coach Feldt was hired as the new head coach at Permian and wanted Dave to come with him and be the defensive coordinator. We have been at MHS for 3 years and been in the metroplex for all of Dave's career. We were both raised here, went to college not too far away, and have been back here ever since. We love north Texas! We love McKinney! There are some years that as a coach you might "look around a little bit" during the spring. This was NOT going to be one of those years. We were very content with Dave's job and loved everything about this area. 

We love our church, friends, community, the kids and staff of MHS and of course, our family that is right here! We were really taken off guard when Dave got the phone call. Dave is well deserving of this job, we just didn't have it on our radar.  But...we knew right away this was something we needed to check out. To be honest, I was flattered for Dave, but assumed (and maybe hoped) something just wouldn't fit right and we would stay right here in our comfortable "home." After all, we have been our almost our entire lives! What's not to love about what we've got! Did I mention our family that lives RIGHT HERE?! 

So Dave and I made arrangements for the kids to stay at Honey and Papa's and headed west for a quick trip to check it out. Looking out the window for almost 6 hours, this is mostly what I saw.

flat. dry. cacti. wind turbines. oil pump. oil derrick. still flat.

ain't it puuurdy.

  Not much to look at it out there, but it's just a normal town. They say if we love God, Texas and football we will fit right in. I think that might describe us a little.  We told our family and a few close friends before we left about our visit so they could be praying for us. While I was there, my sweet friends kept texting me asking how it was and saying they were praying. While I appreciated their prayers, I wanted them to stop! ;) They were just reminding me of what awesome friends we have right here! Every time I read one, my stomach turned over thinking I might be leaving these sweet people. During our visit we were able look around at some neighborhoods, see several elementary schools, the school, stadium, athletic facilities and had some good west Texas meals. 

So we prayed before, during and after our days there and it was clear God had opened this door for us. It was by far the hardest decision we have made together since being married.  Many tears have been shed and many more to come, I am sure. But we are confident in the Lord and this decision! The day we left to visit Odessa, this was in Jesus Calling...

I want you to be all mine. I am weaning you from other dependencies. Your security rests in Me alone-not in other people, not in circumstances. I am always before you, beckoning you on--one step at a time.   Neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, can separate you from My loving Presence.

Well thank you Lord and author Miss Sarah Young! You mean my security cannot rest in my momma right down the road? Are you sure when you say "height or depth" that includes west Texas? Cause it's really pretty far out there.  

Miss Sarah Young continued to encourage me that week with the most perfect words. Maybe because her words come straight from the Good Book!

Permian is a place like no other. Football is absolutely king and the traditions runs deep. Just google MOJO Football! After all, the the original Friday Night Lights movie was based on the the Permian Panthers. At our house, we love us some Friday Night Lights. The movie and tv show!

Or the original, the book.

I am beyond proud of my husband. This is a job opportunity that does not come around very often. He is beyond qualified and will do an amazing job. So we are packing up our family of 5, and our pup and headed to Odessa!  We are expecting and anticipating God to do awesome things there. Come see us out west!!

Little Vacay...

A few months ago we planned a little weekend getaway to San Antonio. We left little Boone with Honey and Papa headed south. Dave met us there Friday night, flying from our new hometown to SA. (More on that later). 

We made a little pit stop to eat some lunch and visit the Bears. 

 Heeeeeeeeey.....Sic em Bears! But the real bears were no where to be found in the bear pit. Boo!

There was a food truck on campus. what?!

picnicking.

 We made it to our hotel in SA and got settled in.

checkin' out the beds!

random two peacocks that were walking around the courtyard of the hotel.

 Besides our trip to Sea World, the kids favorite thing was the pool! We swam everyday and they could not wait to take a dip each day after our outings.

Daddy wasn't here yet so we ordered pizza for dinner on Friday night. 

And watched a movie.

 And called for room service. jk.

Daddy made it in late Friday night. Saturday morning we grabbed donuts on our way to Sea World.

Thanks so much to wonderful tips from friends, we had a little plan for our day. We started with feeding the dolphins.

 Lots of great shows!

 A random cheerleading competition going on that AL wanted to watch. We passed on it. :)

 snack break.

 shamu!

a ride we choose not to do!

My favorite show, Azul!

 lots of acrobats, divers, dolphins, awesome!

 kids play area

 watching the roller coaster that we were too small for, darn.

 Our size roller coaster that we were sure would not be G's favorite. But IT WAS! He loved it!

 so glad we won these awesome prizes ;)

Daddy got suckered with the Shamu toys.

 Pooped after a long, fun day!

Straight to dinner on the Riverwalk!

we love mexican food!

hotel entertainment after another dip in the pool.

 Sunday morning we went to brunch at Guenther House recommended by my friend, Katie. They are the Pioneer Brand that makes baking mixes of breads, cakes, etc. It was amazing!! And beautiful! We waited an hour but the entire place is beautiful with a historical home, museum, gift shop and all located on the river. 

 I told G to say "cheese" and he said "how 'bout pancakes!"

 After that we headed to the River Walk to be true tourist and ride the boat.  

We took Daddy to the airport Sunday afternoon and then went back to the hotel for more swimming and dinner at the hotel. Monday morning we loaded up and headed north. We made a couple of quick stops to see some dear friends in Austin.

First we stopped to see my friend Lindsay and her 3 kids. I hadn't met sweet Ally yet. Such a doll! Lindsay has become good friends with another friend of mine, Cabell. She came over too with her youngest, Jude. Her oldest, Charlie, was at school. When Cabell lived in Dallas, Anna Lou and Charlie played together lots as babies. We miss all of these sweet friends so much!

Mackenzie was there, too, but not feeling good :(

Conner, G, AL and Jude. 

We then made another stop to see my friend, Amanda, and her two cute boys, Rhett and Abel.

 Loved catching up with my old BU bff and roomie and her two cutie pies!! Miss them so much! Amazing to me to see our kids playing together. So many memories with this dear friend from so long ago!

This is why G was looking so sleepy in the pic above. He was!

Our crazy weekend caught up with them! 

 We made it home safe and sound and with a weekend full of memories. So thankful for this time with our family! Sure missed this little guy, but he was getting plenty of love from Honey and Papa. And learning how to say 'bye bye'!