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We are coming on our one year anniversary of moving to Texas. We moved here just after Father’s Day last year. For me, I’ve gotten back to my Texan roots. John is fighting becoming a Texan every step of the way. And the boys are learning the finer points of becoming a redneck thanks to my dad.
A lot has happened this past year. Just 13 months ago, we didn’t even know we would be moving to Texas. We had finally gotten our new Christmas-gift-flooring put down in our house thanks to wonderful friends who helped us out. We had plans to fix the front and back yard, among other things, and I was looking forward to spending summer vacation with the boys while out of school.
This picture was taken on May 29th, 2011, just over a year ago. I love Caleb’s curly, wild hair! In this Texas heat, we have to keep both boys’ hair cut much shorter.
When we found out John had lost his job, we began seriously thinking and praying about what we should do. We had talked about moving for a few years, but never actually did anything about it. We finally decided that moving is what God had in mind for us. So I quit my job at Micah’s school and we began the process of moving to Texas. My parents graciously offered to let us stay with them until we got on our feet.
And the road trip began…
One last trip to Surf Beach
And of course, one last picture in the Solvang Shoe! Be prepared, John…We will be taking pictures in the Solvang Shoe every time we visit! Don’t say I didn’t warn you!
And we were off on our journey!
We headed towards Las Vegas, where my parents were planning on meeting us and then flying the boys back with them so they wouldn’t have to put up with the long car ride. After we left them, we headed out. We decided to visit the Hoover Dam.
And that was the beginning of the end of our potentially fun-filled road trip. Once we started driving again, we noticed that the air conditioning in the car wasn’t working. We stopped in Kingman and found that something technical sounding was messed up in the air conditioner and while the car would run, we would not be enjoying any more refrigerated air. From then on, we decided we had to drive at night when the temperatures were much cooler.
We drove through the night and finally, the next morning, we hit the Promised Land!
Now comes the redneck indoctrination program started by my dad. It involves a treehouse, guns and artillery, peeing off the back porch aided by a blue rock, and various redneck shows on tv. The boys love their treehouse in my parents’ backyard.
Grandpa has taught the boys that they can pee off the back porch when no one is around. The story of the blue rock…The boys were peeing off the back porch, but they were hitting my mom’s storage box. So there was a rock that had already been painted blue a long time ago, and my dad put it off the side of the porch and told the boys to aim for that instead.
Grandpa also watches shows like American Hoggers, and other Swampy, redneck-y shows. I can’t even think of all the names of the various shows they like to watch together. I hear the dueling banjos in the background…
The boys started school after summer break. Micah started 1st grade, and Caleb started Pre-K.
Someone in that picture wasn’t too thrilled about it… So we had a do over the next day…
We did a lot of stuff in the fall. Micah played Coach Pitch Fall Baseball. Go Green Gators! We got to visit Aunt Ti-Ti in the booming metropolis of Snook, and got to go to our first A&M football game. John loved it!
Halloween came and went…
We took a little road trip to Kansas to meet a little miracle baby (who is almost 1 now!).
We celebrated Christmas in our new little rented house
We went camping over Spring Break
Played in the Guadalupe River
We have also finished out he school year. I am now mother to a 2nd grader and a Kindergartner. Where has the time gone? I can’t believe the boys have changed so much in one short year.
So that’s our year in pictures. It’s been quite a drastic change for us, but I believe God has blessed us, and has many more things in store for this little Stults family.
