It's Offical - We're Home Owners!

Hooray! We closed on our house today!

We are SO HAPPY! Here are just a few pictures Ryan took last Saturday of the almost finished product. If you want to see more you'll just have to come visit us! We are moving in next Monday and Tuesday. We can't wait to get into our home. YAY! Many thanks to all those who helped us out with everything pertaining to getting this house (you know who you are!) So if you are ever in or around the Dallas area come on by . . . McKinney isn't that far away!

Our Busy World

Whew! It has been (and will be still for a while) a bit busy with the Leavitt's. Bethany and I headed to Idaho and Utah for a visit with my family and some fun play time last week. We really enjoyed meeting and playing with all the cousins, aunts, uncles and of course Mama Leslie and Grandpappy! We loved just visiting and hanging out in Pocatello and especially getting to go to the Idaho Falls temple with my sisters, brother, parents and in-laws last Friday. It was so beautiful and a very special time for all of us! Friday evening through Sunday we spent the rest of our time down in Salt Lake City visiting Temple Square and the surrounding sights.

Ryan took our camera with him to Texas (more on that in a minute, keep reading) so my sister and mom took pictures of the whole adventure that I will post up later on. Bethany and I got our pictures taken in front of the Christus statue at the visitors center and in front of the Salt Lake City Temple on Temple Square. We also toured the Beehive house of President Brigham Young. Mostly it was just fun to see family and spend time with the ones we don't see very often! Love you all and miss you already!

In the mean time, I was busy on the phone trying to get our home inspected, loan paperwork finalized and other home things completed all last week. Ryan headed to McKinney last Saturday (while we were up in Utah) to do the walk-through on our home with the builder. I don't recommend building a home from out of state. It has been a huge headache but worth it in the end! We are REALLY excited to have this all finished up within the next few days! YAY!

Now that we are back from all our adventures it is crunch time! We have been packing up our things, throwing out the junk and getting organized for our big move this weekend. We will be loading up our gigantic 26 foot Penske truck on Saturday and heading for Texas on Sunday (Bethany and I are flying there - Thank Goodness!) So much to do in just 5 days! I will try to post some more updates when I can ~ Stay tuned.

Procrastination

We are moving in about a week and a half . . . This is what we are susposed to be doing . . .

This is what we have been doing instead . . .

And this . . .

Getting a Wii right before we move was really bad timing!

Some Entertainment For You

push play and have a smile on us . . .

Bethany is at that age now where everything is an adventure for her. This weekend she discovered how much she liked her mommy's magazines. At first we didn't think she was actually eating or swallowing any of the paper. She was going crazy with ripping up all the pages and crumbling them. She was so happy! After a few minutes (and after capturing this moment on film) I picked her up, sat her on my lap and she promptly threw up all over my white skirt. Yes, there were chunks of paper all over. Gross! We learned our lesson but it was funny while it lasted. No more magazines for Miss B. I am sure it won't be the last thing she gets into.

Enjoy the video!

Congrats to Ryan!

This waaay late getting posted but I wanted to congratulate my husband, Ryan, on his accomplishment in getting his master's degree this summer! Hooray!

He finished up classes a few weeks ago and got his diploma in the mail this past week. Ryan now has his master's degree in Education - Curriculum & Instruction! I told him he is as smart as me now! Just kidding. We know that this extra effort in extending his education will help out with many future possibilities in the education field.

I am very, very pleased with all that his has done. It was hard work but definitely worth it! MANY thanks to all those who supported him in his endeavor.

:-)

Trying Out New Things

A few weeks back when Bethany was still a little wobbly with her sitting up skills, I had a brilliant idea to get the wicker basket from her changing table to let her play in. It was an instant hit and all her toys were right in her reach. Perfect! Although most of the time she would just throw all her toys out of the basket until it was empty. Silly girl! Since then she has mastered sitting up with no problems. She will sit with out falling over for up to an hour now ~ playing on her blanket with all the fun toys.



I don't really know that popsicles are on the approved baby food list, but it is summer and averages around 110 degrees most days here so we figured why not?! This picture captures Bethany's first taste of popsicle. She LOVES cold things . . . I mean she will get all excited when I give her a sippy cup of cold water. We figured this couldn't hurt. She had red cherry slobber all over her face to add to the moment. So fun!

I think this picture says it all . . . YUM-O! Our baby is easy to please and is so happy!

I LOVE this kid!

Other news . . .

Bethany got her first tooth and has started babbling . . . her babble consists only of "da da, da, da" . . . this makes Ryan extremely happy as you may guess.

We hope that she will roll with the punches these next few weeks. There are A LOT of changes coming our way! Yay! We are moving to Texas in just three little weeks and have a trip to Idaho and Utah to get in before we move. Keep your fingers crossed that all goes smoothly.

:-)

America The Beautiful

Our July 4th Holiday Weekend Adventures

Yesterday was of course Bethany's first July 4th! We had an early pancake breakfast with our ward to start out the celebrations. Yum-O! The rest of the day was spent just relaxing and hanging out. We went to lunch and browsed some furniture stores. We didn't have to go far for a fireworks display . . . they were all over our neighborhood . . . we just watched from our backyard. Very convenient and a nice day overall!


Ryan and I had talked about "getting out of town" and finally decided on a day trip up to Mt. Charleston and Lee Canyon today. It is only about an hour drive from our place up into the nearby mountains of NV. The best part is that is looks NOTHING like the desert! Hooray for a change of scenery.

We decided to take a hike on some trails and push Bethany in her jogging stroller. It worked for a ways, then the trail got steeper and a little more difficult. We were just happy with the beautiful views we enjoyed the entire day. So much different from the busy buzz of Las Vegas. I am so grateful to live in this beautiful country!! We need to get outside more often and this was a very great idea.

At this point the camera batteries died and we were only about half way through our day! SAD! We took a break from hiking for a picnic lunch. We found a beautiful meadow along the road with tall pine trees for a little shade. It was the perfect lunch. As I was getting our sandwiches ready I took out the mustard I had packed and when I opened it, it exploded all over my legs, socks and shoes. Oh the fun . . . I guess the change in elevation caused pressure to build up in the mustard bottle. Who knew!?!? So I went around for the rest of the day smelling of yellow mustard. Mmmm! I can't complain to much on the elevation change because it made for a wonderful weather day . . . mid 80's, cool mountain breeze . . . it was PERFECT! Back in LV today it was around 110 degrees! We are so glad to have spent the day at Mt. Charleston.

After lunch we headed back out on the trails for another hike . . . this time we put Miss Bethany in her baby backpack. Ryan packed her on his back and she was so tuckered out already from the fun day that she fell asleep riding on her daddy's back. So sweet! I really wished I had an extra set of batteries for my camera to capture the moment! Live and learn. We still had a ton of fun. It is all about making memories and we have succeeded with that today.

Happy days all around!