Sit down, buckle up...its gonna be a long ride!

Well, after starting this post at least three times, this time it will actually get posted. I have put it off way too long. So, it will be long, and may be boring so feel free to just skim over it and enjoy the pictures..

Where to begin....Well, lets start with our last days in lovely Washington. The snow really put a damper in our plans. But, we overcame. The kids were not able to go to school and say goodbye to all of their wonderful friends and teachers there because it was a snow day! Robby's teacher was so kind to meet us there on Friday though so the boys could get their belongings out of their desks. It was a hard goodbye. Millpond was a wonderful school. We will miss all of the great staff and students there.

Saturday, we met Michael's teacher for lunch. I was able to say goodbye to Kylie and to Ms. Bacon. She has been a part of our life since we moved to Yelm. She was Robby's teacher for two years, then I worked for her in the classroom last year and this year I watched her little girl and she was Michael's teacher. It is so hard to say goodbye!

The next few days were a blur really. Robert was supposed to come home on Sunday, but due to weather he was stuck in California. Luckily, he was able to rent a car and drive down to visit his dad for two days. He flew in on Tuesday, the 23rd. We then had to get the trailer and load it up. We got the biggest, and still managed to fill that baby to max capacity. Oh this picture doesn't even show the basketball frame pole strapped to the outside...oh yes! we know how to move!

We went out to spend Christmas Eve and Christmas with Aunt Patti and Uncle Kim. It was pretty late when we got there, but we had a nice dinner and then we were able enjoy the Christmas Eve stories with Uncle Kim, and then it was off to bed...some of us decided to sleep through the story. After all it was a long day of packing and cleaning!

Santa managed to find us in the midst of the move and the kids woke up to presents under the tree. It was a wonderful Christmas celebrated by all. The kids enjoyed a nice day playing with all of their new toys, and in the afternoon Robert and I went back out to the house to do some more cleaning and packing of the house.

Well, the day after Christmas was the most wonderful day! My beautiful mom took out her endowments and was sealed to My Dady. I was also sealed to them. It was so amazing! No words could ever describe the joy I had to see her take her endowments, to be her escort was so wonderful. And then to be sealed to her and my Dady. Also, my Grandma and Grandpa were sealed and then my Aunt and Mom were able to be sealed to them. What an amazing blessing that was. The spirit was so strong in that room. It was as if they were standing with us. Sister and Brother Nagel were there with us and they are such wonderful people. Helping my mom every step of the way. I will never forget that day and the great joy it brings to me to know that my mom is now enjoying the gospel in it's fullest. She is such an inspiration to me. I love her so much and am so very proud of her!

After the Temple, we enjoyed a super dinner at the Cheesecake Factory. Wow. That place is so good. It was a long day, but so very worth it!

We finally hit the road to Texas on the 28th. We spent all of the 27th cleaning. My dear friends came over to help. The Roche family and Jennis helped so much those last couple days.

Thank You! I had to stop and take a picture of Taylor! I somehow did not get any pictures of Jaycee and Lucas helping clean...but they did!

Brother Benton was a great help as well. Saying goodbye to all of our friends was not fun.

I am not going to post any pics of the goodbye to my mom...it was just too hard. We actually had to say goodbye to her on the night of the 27th because we left from Aunt Patti's and Uncle Kim's on the 28th.

We drove and stopped in a Hotel along the way. The next day we got to Robert's sister Michele's house and she was so wonderful to allow us to use her trailer to sleep in. She made us a great taco dinner and we just had fun talking and letting the kids play. Aunt Michele even was brave enough to straighten Elisa's hair. We left from there and went and had breakfast with Ken and Margaret and then we were on the road again.

Our next stop was my cousin Tami's. We got there later than we had planned, but it was still a nice visit. Tami introduced me to Texas Roadhouse, which is now one of my favorite restaurants. It was so fun and good food. The kids sat at their own table, I am sure they thought that was way cool. The boys had a good time playing and the girls sat up until 3:30 talking. I could not believe it. It made me laugh, cause I remember Tami and I doing the same thing. I kept my dear cousin up until after midnight and she had to work the next day. But she played along. I really enjoyed our visit, I just wish it could have been longer. I plan on making the drive to visit real soon. For longer this time.

We left the next morning and decided that we would spend New Year's Eve in a hotel in El Paso Texas. It wasn't the most exciting, but we were together and safe so it was a good time. We ordered Pizza Hut and got drinks and goodies at the local H.E.B and rang in the New Year...at 1000. Yep, we celebrated the New Year with New York and went to sleep.

We finally arrived at our new house about 4 or 5 in the evening. We were all very happy to be out of the van...Especially the animals. That's right. Did I forget to mention that we made this trip with two cats and our dog...Lots of fun!

All in all it was a great trip. We had no issues and had some fun on the way. We got to see our lovely family and even got to see the THING!! Can't beat that can you?

Well, we are all getting settled in now. So, hopefully I will be better at posting! Love to all!

And to those that stuck it out and read the whole thing...kudos to you. I love ya!

Quick update!

*This isn't the best picture...but this is the picture I took of the kids going into our house for the first time.

Well, for those of you that are wondering about the status of the Tanner Fam...we are in San Antonio Texas now. We pulled into our new home around 4 or so in the afternoon on the 1st of Jan. starting of the New Year! Robert found us a nice house in a gated community at the end of a cul de sac! I have to admit, it took a little getting used to, but it would have taken a miracle for me to walk into a house here and love it...I miss MY home in Wa. Anyway, the kids are in school and the boys love it! It is quite an adjustment however because their school is a lot bigger than what they are used to. Notice I only said the boys love it. Elisa does not like it here and she makes certain we know that everyday. I am sure that she will eventually come around. (hopefully) If not it will be a long 3-4 years. I am still adjusting myself, and staying busy of course unpacking. It is nice to have Robert home right now. He is on leave until the 16th. Hopefully we will have the house in order by then. My school started back up this week, so I will be pretty busy. But, I like it like that. Well, I guess that is a quick update. I will post a longer blog about our venture to Texas with pics. Thanks for all of your thoughts and prayers. We miss you all so much and hope we can keep in touch.

Snow Daze!!

Making the snowman ~~~~~~~~~~~~Frostie..and Frotie Jr. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Making snow angels!

Well, we here in Washington decided it was time for a little bit of that cold white stuff. And to say the least it really threw a damper on my plans. Wednesday morning I woke up to a call stating that there would be no school due to extreme weather conditions. So, I looked out the window to find the grass covered in a small blanket of snow. Ok...not bad, I thought. I get to sleep in, and just have fun relaxing day. Plus, I can utilized the kids around the house. We had fun, made a little snowman and enjoyed the little bit that we had. I thought no worries, they can go back to school on Thursday no problem. WRONG!! We traveled out to Lacey so mom could meet with the Stake President for her final signature on her Temple Recommend. That wasn't a fun drive, but we made it safe. The snow was deep in Lacey, there must have been a good 4 inches there. It began to snow as we traveled home and it continued to snow more that evening, so again, I woke up to the principal of Ridgeline informing me that there would be no school. I began to get a little worried when I saw there was a bigger blanket.

We took advantage of the snow again, and added to our puny little snowman and Elisa and I built a rather large snowman in the backyard. The snow was so perfect for snowman building. It packed wonderfully.

The snow just kept coming down, with small intervals of sunshine, I began to realize that my childrens' last day of school before moving to Texas would most likely be cancelled. I feel so bad for them. The call didn't even wait until the morning, we got it that night. Christmas break has started early, and this year it was not a welcomed thing. Tears fell as we realized that we would not be able to say goodbye some of our friends. I kept trying to convince myself, and Elisa, that it might be easier that way...I wasn't buying it and neither was she, but what could we do. We have enjoyed the snow however. . Robby's teacher was so kind, she called concerned about Robby and she drove in to the school today so we could retrieve Robby's and Michael's things from their desks. We exchanged Christmas gifts and a few tears. I will miss her. She was wonderful teacher, as were all of the teachers here. We will meet Michael's teacher tomorrow for lunch, and that should be pretty emotional. This teacher was Robby's for two years, I worked in her classroom last year, and watched her baby at the beginning of this year. It will be tough to say goodbye..The snow is still here, and we are expected to get more. I guess we will just have to make the best of it.. Now here are a few more pictures.

What kind of mom am I, my son, playing in the snow in pajamas, and I reach for the camera?

(Thought this was a super cool photo!) Attack on the snowman soldier! Look at all the white!

Earning their keep!

So, I just have to share these fun pictures. I had Heather's kids for a couple of house while they signed papers on the house and finished packing up. I have been wanting to clean my cupboards for while, and her kids are always so willing to help, that I thought I would put them to work. They had a blast. Gaby kept asking me, "what else we can do?" in her cute little voice, it was priceless. She even wanted to vacuum. My vacuum literally weighs more than she does, but she tried. It was so fun. Gaby and I went shopping at Walmart and she was my little helper there. I would tell her what to grab and she would grab it and put it in the cart. The best part was she tried to get me to buy things by telling me, "your kids will like them!" I just laughed. It was so fun to spend time with her and the other kids. They are a joy to have around...I am going to miss them when they move...Anyway. Just wanted to share!