February 2011

The first week of February it was snowy and FREEZING cold. Very unusual for Lubbock. With the windchill, the temperatures dropped below zero for about 5 days in a row. At first we didn't know what to do with ourselves, too cold to leave the house much. Then we got creative and actually enjoyed the time just to play and be home. In the above picture, the kids were playing "Applebees." Coby started it by walking around with one of Pearl's pink purses and saying "I'm goin' Applebees!" Pearl and I decided to play too. I was their waitress and they thought it was hilarious when I waited on them and called them 'Sir' and 'Mam.'

Coby's first painting experience. :)

Making Valentine sugar cookies. It is so fun, not to mention messy, that Coby is old enough to enjoy making treats and crafts and such. That gives us a bigger window in the day to do fun things. (I used to wait until he took a nap and then let Pearl help me.)

A "before church" picture, the day before Valentine's Day.

Valentine's Day pancakes. :)

Pearl started a ballet class at the community center. She loves it! Her teacher is adorable and Pearl always wants to stand right next to her. :)

KC had a great job offer in McAllen, TX so we took a trip from Thursday Feb 17 - Sunday Feb 20 to check it out. My mom flew in to watch the kids. The first thing we checked out was the beach. South Padre Island is about an hour from McAllen and is on the Gulf of Mexico. It wasn't the scenery of Hawaii by any means, but we thought it was a pretty nice beach! They are famous for their deep sea fishing. McAllen itself boarders Reynosa, Mexico (yes, we like border towns) and is 4 hours south of San Antonio.
Thurmond Eye Associates paid for our trip down, our motel, and even had a nice flower/fruit basket delivered to our room! Not quite the treatment we have been accustomed to during medical school and residency. :) KC got to be in clinic with the doctors for a day and we had dinner a few times with all of the people in the practice and their wives. They were so nice and sincere. A very impressive practice. KC just signed a contract with them and will begin work in July!! I can't believe we are nearing the end of our med school/residency journey!!

Some pros of living in McAllen: Beautiful weather most of the year. Was 75 degrees the whole time we were there. A tropical feel with palm trees, close to the beach. A great 8-5 job with a 15 minute commute to work.

Some concerns: The summers are HOT and HUMID. People say they are pretty hard to tolerate. The population is over 80% Hispanic. If we (and more importantly our kids) want to fit in, we will have to improve our Spanish ASAP! Ideally, I would like to live closer to family. It is a 5-hour flight from SLC to McAllen.

Sad to say, this is the last picture of our trip. We had a blast cruising the neighborhoods and looking at houses. We even found a house for sale in the neighborhood where we want to live. It is in a town called Mission, right next to McAllen. We are in the process of buying it. Hope everything goes through!!

We were able to go to church in McAllen on Sunday and were surprised to meet a family that had been in our ward several years ago in El Paso. Small world!! There are two stakes in McAllen. They recently split all the wards so the one we will be going to is very small. We were welcomed very warmly by the approximately ten families in attendance. Lots of missionary work to be done!!

Grandma Chris helped us "de-clutter" the house to get it ready to sell. It will go on the market the first week in March. We rented a storage unit and moved out several boxes as well as the guest bed (that had been in Coby's room along with his crib). The house looks so much better! I wish I would have "de-cluttered" long ago!!

A miserable Coby loving Grandma. Coby and Pearl caught colds again after KC and I returned from our McAllen trip. Fevers, coughs, runny noses, the whole works. Symptoms I'm sure every mother is all too familiar with by the end of winter. So ready for cold season to end!!


My favorite picture from the month. A few days ago I was letting Coby "play water," one of his latest favorite passtimes, filling up water and drinking it and "washing" dishes (a water waste, I know :s) It had been quiet for some time so I went in to peek in on him. Pearl was in there too and they were giving the dog a bath in the bathroom sink. Pearl was holding the dog steady while Coby poured cups of water on it's head. I couldn't help laughing out loud :)