Kentucky

When we moved to Kentucky, I didn't know what to expect. I had heard it would be green and lush and humid in summer...but I still wasn't prepared for the beauty of it. I changed my blog background to show all of you what Kentucky looks like right now. During the three weeks Grace and I were away, the entire state blossomed into a green wonderland. I know Texas will have green areas as well, but I will really miss looking out my front windows and seeing nothing but my favorite color carpeting the earth. It makes me happy to see the wonders God has created here.

I decided to start reading the books and authors I have always wanted to. C.S. Lewis is first on the list. I borrowed some books from my friend Tami to get started and Mere Christianity is what I picked first. He was such a wise and persuasive man. I know of a sureity with every fiber in my being that there is a God and that his hand guides all things...but in case I had any doubt all I needed to do was read this book. He approaches the existence of deity from a logical perspective and it just seems to reaffirm my testimony. So, thank you to C.S. Lewis for strengthening my resolve to make it to the end.

Our family has been tried lately. Both individually and as a whole. We are in no way weaker than before, in fact, we are stronger. We have bound our little family to our Savior and the gospel in order to overcome our "road humps" (as they call them in Kentucky). Matt is trying his hardest to be the best Tank Commander he can be and he has now reached the point of being tested on his capability. He is stressed and tired. He has 2 weeks of almost pure testing in the field and classroom in order to determine if he graduates or if he needs a bit more practice. I will keep you all posted as to our progress.

P.S. Grace pulls herself up to absolutely everything...may be walking soon.
Matt and I have been trying to get in touch more with our spiritual selves.
Matt is working very hard to meet the requirements for BOLC III.
We are still in the homebuying process...

Success!

The seller counteroffered and we accepted. We close on June 19th and we will be the proud owners of our first home. We can't wait to make it our own. We can paint walls, decorate a nursery for Grace and plant whatever we want in our garden! If only we weren't moving there in the hottest month of the year!

Househunting

Grace and I have been in Texas for the past week. We looked at nearly 30 houses and were getting a bit tired and discouraged. Then we found two viable options and starting the bidding on Saturday. We were so excited to start the paperwork when we met with our realtor...but sadly the house we had decided on was under contract since that morning. Turns out they were negotiating the whole time we had been looking at it. Talk about ridiculous! Luckily we had a backup house in mind and we put an offer on it instead. Now we are playing the waiting game, which I have to admit is absolute torture! I leave on Tuesday morning, and I desperately want to have this all figured out before I go home to Kentucky. The house is cute, but could definitely use some Matt Merrill inspired curb appeal. It has 3 bedrooms and a simple backyard. The best part of the house is actually the neighborhood that it's in. It's called Morse Valley and houses typically sell for quite a bit more there (they are typically much bigger and lavish than the one we have bid on). The house is also located within a mile of the LDS church, which is the only one for miles around.

I wish I could read minds and know what the seller is thinking....

Homeward Bound!

Grace and I will be in Utah as of April 30th. We will be gone for 3 weeks, including the week we will be in Texas house hunting. We will greatly miss Matt, but he will be incredibly busy. In fact, he is currently out in "the field" (which means he gets hands on training, hardly sleeps, gets real dirty and doesn't get to come home for days at a time).

Matt is almost halfway done with his training here and it is getting more intense every day. It will be good for him to have a quiet place to study while we're gone. Hopefully he'll sleep better without Grace waking him up. (Although we do have nocturnal neighbors!)

Grace is still pulling herself along and occassionally crawling. She is just brimming with personality. In fact, today at church was the first time she reached out for me to hold her. It was so cute and it felt really great. I wasn't just some caretaker...she actually missed me!

There isn't much else to report. We're trucking along and anticipating the next big step for our family; homeownership! Soon enough... I'll be sure to update often about that process. Until then, this is Mandy signing off. I'm not sure if I'll have any internet access while in Utah. SO LONG FOR NOW!

Jedi Grace!

The other day Matt brought a glow stick home from his Armor Training and he activated it so he could show Grace. She loved watching it as he spun it around and once she got her hands on it, she didn't want to let go. Here's a short clip of her playing the role of Jedi Grace!

Reading Time for Grace

I have been reading to Grace since she was just a few weeks old. She has always loved to look at the pictures and now she is starting to love the sound of the words. Last night Matt filmed our reading time and Grace looked up every time I said "Thump."

This past weekend was General Conference for the LDS Church and after the last session there was a series on parenting and it talked about the importance of spending quality time with your children. After visiting the web site, Matt and I decided that no matter where we are or what we have on our agenda, our children will be read to every single day until they can read for themselves and no longer want to sit on our lap (hopefully this will be before the age of 18!).

It is so exciting to think that just a few minutes can help build a relationship with your children and that reading to them can set a foundation for all of their future learning.

I am going to try once again to post a video to Blogger...but who knows if it will work. If it does, you'll see it below. If not I'll redirect you to MySpace.

Tank Commander!

It has been a while since I posted the news about our little family. So here goes... Matt started his Armor Officer Basic Course earlier this month and has since learned A LOT about tanks. He fired one for the first time this past week and loved the adrenaline rush. He is training to be a Tank Commander and it keeps him pretty busy. The beginning of his training requires a lot of time in a classroom, but it is shifting into more time in "the field" or on "the range" which means late nights and lots of "tank bites" (bumps, bruises and cuts from moving around inside the tank). He read over his schedule and told me some bad news. He only has 3 weekends off for the rest of our time here in Kentucky. He works straight through most Saturdays and Sundays. Going to be awful lonely and quiet here real soon. Matt will be commanding the M1A2, which is an Abrams tank. Check out the picture of us at the Patton museum to see what it looks like.


Grace is rolling all over the place and is still telling us what's on her mind. She pulls herself up on her hands and toes so I'm thinking it won't be long before she figures out how to pull herself to her knees and crawl away. We took this adorable video of her sticking out her tongue, which is her newest trick. I have tried to post videos to this blog but to no avail.... I finally posted two new videos. You can access them at the link below and then click on videos and the newer ones are called Sniffles and Silly Grace. You'll die when you see them!