Starting out. February 2019

Oh goodness, February 2019.
Being brand new in Houston, we decided to try some activities that we have never done before. Moses and Heber started soccer with the Texas Heat Wave. It took a LOT of convincing, but they are finally ok with this idea. They both were really nervous that they would have to be in front of a bunch a people and wouldn't know the rules of the game! We assured them that this would not be the case. After I bought their cleats and shin guards and soccer balls, they were much more excited. And to see Gretel prance around in her leotard and tights is just so much girly fun!

The kids, more obviously, are missing our dear ones in Wisconsin. One Monday Gretel came into my room to cry for 30 min about missing her friend Audrey Mackrory and that same Wednesday Moses came to me in tears about missing Nathan Mackrory. It's rough trying to make new connections when your other connections were so strong and good.

After finding out that I am pregnant with baby #5, I enjoyed a peaceful 4 weeks of the excitement of zero symptoms! I hoped that this time I wouldn't get sick, or wouldn't feel so tired. But alas, the very day that I hit 8 weeks pregnant, I woke up and puked. I felt awful. But something told me that this was partly something more than just my normal pregnancy stuff. I had an appointment with a Doctor and really wanted to go, so I could see the little gummy bear growing inside me. While we were there, I suspected I was coming down with something bad. The wee baby looked so small, but the heartbeat was strong and there is only one baby..that kinda stung since we were hoping for twins.

After my appointment, it hit. A full fever of 102*F all day. The next day was terrible. I didn't move- for hours! And Zakary had to admit that he had never seen me like that before. My kids were SO AWESOME! They played super well together and they would come check on me occasionally. Finally, Moses called Zak and asked him to come home cuz Mom was super sick. Zak did and took me straight to urgent care. It was a bit of a pain to be there, but they confirmed that I had INFLUENZA A and BRONCHITIS! Geez! The next day Zakary stayed home. I was feeling less sick (taking Tamiflu) but still so exhausted. I'm scared that all those hours of fever may have injured our baby. The ward here has been SO generous and brought in a few meals for us. We are feeling very grateful.

As soon as I felt "on the mend" from the Influenza, the pregnancy puking started right up! We haven't told the kids about the pregnancy, but I have been sick right in front of them several times. We made a scavenger hunt that would lead them all around the house and finally to a "letter" from the baby with the ultrasound pictures. After a fun bike ride at Deussen Park, we came home to the hunt. The kids totally loved it and were very excited about the baby. Heber even said that this was the best surprise he could ever want. Moses was a little disappointed that there is only one baby. (He has prayed for twins for a year.) But, immediately started making plans of holding the baby all day and feeding it.

We joined a choir set to perform "The Lamb of God". I feel a bit confused most of the time about the music, it is really complex. But I really want us to get involved and get to know the community. The conductor is really fun and engaging!

The rain!! It just keeps coming!! Our backyard is a flooded swamp and the kids so desperately want to play outside. That has been a really hard part of our move here. The lack of yard. I have to remind myself that we would be in knee deep snow and frigid temps if we were back in Wisconsin. We finally put up our trampoline. I insisted that we put it up on the Lake Land. It is public land just sitting behind our lot. It is very well hidden, yet a perfect place for us to romp and play. We just need to do a little landscaping on it. With the tramp up, at least when it is NOT raining, there is a place for the kids to play that is out of the swamp.

February 2019 had some significant ups and downs. Getting to know the Ward here has been really fantastic. Missing our home in Wisconsin and getting so terribly sick has been rough. I'm sure this is normal and to be expected for such a huge move.

 Heber is especially enjoying soccer! He seems to come alive out there! 

 We discovered a few ponds nearby that are home to several species of ducks, turtles, fish, and herons. It has been a bit of heaven to go there with a loaf of old bread!

The best is that the heron will stand just a few feet from us and snatch a fish right out of the water!! 

 Even the turtles come over for a piece of bread! Lydia's throws don't quite get the bread into the water though. Guess her bread will be for the ants. 

Moses giving mom a snuggle while she was in a raging fever. 

We moved to Houston! January 2019

Well, I am a little at a loss as to what to say. It appears that I completely dropped this blog.. for a good, 3.5 YEARS! Not one entry. And, I can't really say that I know why. Just life, I guess. But today, I saw a friend's blog about her cute family and I was inspired to start again. What I really want is a great way to document my family's life and over and over again it seems that blogging is the best. Especially because you can print the blogs into a book.. at least, that is what I remember and that is what I am hoping for.

So, here we are with a fresh start! My goal is to write once per month about the "happenings".

January 2019:

We started the year out still in Utah for the Christmas til New Years holiday. We love our time in Utah with both sides of our family right in Farmington. On New Years Day we packed up all the stuff, which includes all that Santa brought, including a bike for Heber, all our winter clothes and boots, and the clothes and food that was going to make us comfortable for the road. AHHHH! It is so much stuff! Good thing Zakary built us a hitch caboose to hold even MORE STUFF.

We headed out around noon, hoping that all the drunks and crazies had made it safely off the roads and we were off to a new life. The weather was great until New Mexico. The fog plus snow plus tiny farmer roads (which were the biggest roads for our route) made for a wheel gripping good time. We made it to Alburquerque and the next morning the place was covered in a good 8 inches of snow. My kids (and I) were totally disappointed. We were all so tired of cold and snow that we thought for sure this far south we would be free. Apparently, according to several guests and a manager at the Holiday Inn Express, Alburquerque had not had this much snow in 13 years AND they only had 4 snow plows for the entire city. 2 of which were dedicated for the Airport. There was nearly no cars out. Being from Wisconsin AND from Utah, no snow was going to stop our trip to our new home, so off we went. The good old Honda Odyssey drove like a champ, blasting right through the drifts and piles. We did run out of windshield washer fluid and stopped to get some.. guess it was a popular product that day, since they were all out. We eventually did find some and then felt much safer.. at least we could see!

We drove all day and finally arrived in Houston at 10 pm. The air was mild and THAT was a welcome feeling. The kids love hotels- in fact, Gretel told me today that hotels are her favorite place. Houston hotels don't have indoor pools though, so that was a sad discovery. The next morning, Zakary left early to be to the new house before the moving trucks arrived. The kids and I slept and slept and slept. Poor things were totally exhausted after all the Christmas fun and endless road trips. By 11am, we needed to check out, but our moving trucks hadn't arrived, so Zak came back to pick us up. By the time we got back to the house, the moving trucks had come, dropped off our two trailers AND driven over the main waterline going to the neighbors house and water was going EVERYWHERE! What a way to meet the neighbors!

Sadly, Uncle Jacob Welch was very sick at Christmas, and the kids and I caught it the day we were unloading the trucks! We had fevers, coughing, crying.. and members of the Ward were trying to be kind and inviting the kids to come play while we worked, or they were coming over to help and I was struggling to keep our germs to ourselves. I can't even remember all the people who came to help us. It's sad, but true. I was so sick and trying so hard to keep my kids feeling half alive that I didn't notice much else. All the while, Zakary is having a great time meeting all the great Ward members and neighbors and making new friends. People brought us dinner, we had the painters here to patch some walls, we lived a few days without a fridge or washer and dryer til that finally arrived. The internet guy came and the security system guy...all while we were too sick to really make eye contact. Good thing it was a pretty quick illness and we were able to attend Church on the first time of the new 2 hour schedule. The ward was warm, and kind, and inviting. My kids each enjoyed primary and we took a bike ride around the neighborhood afterward. It's a great feeling to play outside, in the warm air, in JANUARY!

The broken water line from the moving truck. It was going to cost $4-5000!

Glad it wasn't our fault!

This is what we call the Lake Land. It's directly behind our house, giving us the feel a giant yard!

Riding his new bike in JANUARY!! Unheard of in his lifetime! 

In an effort to feel "normal" again, we dove right in to homeschool. 

Gretel and Moses especially miss their dear best friends from Wisconsin. We have daily tears. 

We decided to put Gretel in Dance!! She pranced around for hours in her new "gear". 

Moses is especially excited about the prospect of seeing new wildlife. 

January 21 we found out that Stapp Baby Number 5 is on the way!! 

Lydia is convinced that all her owies are "super hurting"-- she says, "I need a bandaid!" There have been boxes of bandaids used up and wrappers and used bandaids are found everywhere. This time, she might have really been hurt.