Decorating For Christmas

We had a fun evening decorating for Christmas. We have realized we need a new tree, it seems to get smaller every year. It fit perfectly in our little beach apartments. But, it looks very little in our new house. Luke was at the fun age to decorate. He was saying, "LOOK, LOOK" at everything. He loved going through all the Christmas books and toys. It was Luke's turn to put the star on the tree, he loved that. It was a fun evening.

Good Times, Great Friends

Boomer came to me on Tuesday before Thanksgiving at 9:30 AT NIGHT, and said, "Hey, let's go to Louisiana for Thanksgiving." This is what happens when he drives in a car to long by himself..he gets thinking ;o) I of course gave him "THE LOOK" with the following words ,"SERIOUSLY, have you looked at the unpacked, unorganized house. Louisiana is 1100 miles...ONE WAY."  I just got from driving with the kids from Utah for 12 hours, I was sooooooo not wanting to do that so soon. Boomer of course realized, I was right and we went to bed.
     The following morning around 9:30, he called his friend Robbie to tell him we weren't coming for obvious reasons. I went upstairs to start unpacking, when I hear Boomer say on the phone, "OKAY, let me go talk to her"....They were plotting (just kidding, Robbie). Boomer came up and looked at me with his EYES, and said it would be fun, what do you think. SERIOUSLY. I finally told him make the decision, so we can pack and get on the road or get cleaning. The good salesman in him, had a very convincing argument...so we went. We drove till 2:30 in the morning and then finished the last 3 hours Thanksgiving day.
     Putting aside the crazy drive with kids. It was the best Thanksgiving. It was so fun to spend time with Robbie and his darling daughter Remi. We met and ate with his Dad and Mom, they are such incredible people. So, sweet and made us feel right at home. They live on 2 acres, so the kids were able to run and have fun. Morgan and Rylee both had fun driving the golf cart. Morgan learned to drive a Rhino type thing, she only crashed it once. Boomer and Robbie smacked balls in to the field next door, making up different ways to hit the ball....Happy Gilmore style was the funniest. Or who can hit the ball the closest to that mark. Typically boy games. After they took off with the kids to find all the golf balls.
     Robbie's Dad loves to decorate for Christmas so, he had a bunch of those blow up Christmas decor...with light and Christmas music playing. At night when they all blew up and the lights came on the kids LOVED walking around the yard looking at the all. Such a fun evening.
     The day, was very relaxing and ate some great Southern cooking. It was incredible.
We went back to Robbie's that evening and just hung out while the kids played. The next day, Morgan and I went to Baton Rouge and went shopping. It was a great day spending time with her. We had a fun time and found great deals.
     That evening we went to The Pro Bass Shop, OH MY GOODNESS, that store is amazing. The kids loved it. So, much to see. They had live fish, a raccoon and snakes. Pretty amazing. We got pictures with Santa. My kids DO NOT Santa...but, I can tell you with Grandma Clause sitting right by him, he doesn't seem so scary, the kids loved him, she is the ticket. The picture turned out great.
The drive home was about the same craziness, but we made it and had a great time. Thank you, Robbie and Dad and Mom Vallot, it was amazing.
     Things we loved on the drive. The coolest thing we saw was the all the cotton fields, they were a ton. They had just picked the cotton so there were bails and bails of cotton, most the drive. It was fun to see all the cotton on the streets.  And on the was back we went through Ft. Sumner which is famous for the Billy The Kid. We saw where he was buried, but didn't have time to go see the grave. It was an amazing town, with some old saloon's and buildings. Great memories.

Here are pictures of the kids playing. On the property Robbie's parents live on, there is an old bunker. That was really cool to see.

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Golfing and trying to find all the golf balls.

Robbie has a dog, that he is still training so, she was in the kennel. I would find Luke many times sitting out the kennel playing with her. It was so cute.

At The Pro Bass Shop...you can shoot, drive nascar's....EVERYTHING!!

Merry Christmas!!!!

The Rio Gande Zoo

The Wonderful Animals at the Zoo!!

Look at this HUGE croc, upper left. He was amazing.

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This is Ernie (we named him) he was the sweetest little guy. He sat by the kids for at least 15 min. He was just hanging out. He would look at them and touch the glass. The kids and Ernie bonded instantly. I love the picture of Jos with her hand up n the glass (lower right), she was so in love with him.

 And then the crazy little baby running around with a sack on his head (lower left). Luke watched him and laughed and laughed. So funny!!

This Giraffe was in the back of the pen. When I started taking pictures, he totally came up and looked right in the camera. Very photogenic, it was so fun. The animals were very friendly. I just brought my little camera, next time I will defiantly bring the bigger camera get better shots. 

The kids loved feeding the ducks, but Joslyn was the only one that dared to hold the food and let the ducks take it off her hand (lower left). It was so fun to watch. She was in heaven.

There were so many babies, it was fun. This little guy was hilarious. We watched him for 30 min. He was swinging and climbing on everything. The parents were napping near by, I am sure they were exhausted like most parents.

The bird (upper left) had lunch in his mouth. He had this mouse dangling from his beak. It was nasty. The kids loved it.

We had such a great time. Left the house a mess and had a great day as a family!!

Our New Adventure

OUR NEW HOME

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This is all the rooms, before the chaos started. REMEMBER, we are renting, so NO, I wouldn't have a yellow room with turquoise shelves ;o) That one is Boomer's pretty office, good thing he is colored blind (hehehe).

The drive down went pretty well, traveling with kids is always eventful. But, we made it. Thank you to my Mom that drove down with me. 

The kids were SOOOOOO excited to see Boomer, they hadn't seen him for 2 weeks. They just flew in his arms. Boomer had been living in this house for 2 weeks on a blow up mattress and things he purchased to survive till we got there. After we got the kitchen put together. Boomer walked in and opened a cabinet and there were bowls, he was so excited. He said, once we were there we made the house a home. {{AWE}} He was pretty lonely and miserable without the chaos around ;o)

We have never had a house with stairs..we have always lived in little 2 or 3 bedroom beach homes, so having stairs in our home is so ExCiTiNg!!! The kids play on the all the time, it is funny!!

The outdoors need some TLC..but it is a great backyard.

So, now we are trying to sort through boxes.  While my Mom was here for 4 days . We worked from morning till we collapsed at 10 that night. We were exhausted. We got the kitchen put together first and then got the kids bedrooms put together. We ended just putting all the toys in the dining room (since we don't have a dining room table, it worked great for a toy room). There is an area in the kitchen for our dining room set. So, now I am just organizing and getting everything else a home. I am just amazed, I have enough room to put everything. This is very exciting.

The KiDs:

Morgan: 

she has been a trooper from the moment we told her we were moving and Boomer had got a new job. She would always say to me, "Mom, it's not a big deal we have done this before." She said her goodbye's to her friends and family, and was a rock. When we moved here, she had to start in middle school (my worst night mare). The first day she was great..I think a little shock about the change of pace, middle school brings. On Friday, the move hit her. She cried most the day at school, till the counselor called me and told me she was having a hard time and I should come and get her so, she could clear her head over the weekend. I headed to the school walked in to my sweet baby sobbing and running in my arms. We both just hugged and cried. She cried most the day, but she is doing better now. She never dealt with her emotions of us moving. Moving from California was hard but, we were going home to family. Here the move was so hard, coming to a new area, new friends, new house. We went to church today, there are two girls at the church that will be in her grade, so she was excited about that.  It is hard when I have enough emotions for all of us, to stop and love each child through theirs. 

Rylee: 

She had the hardest with the fact we were moving. She is a child that can go from one moment to the next and hit 10 different emotions on the way. Holy, tornado of emotions. She expressed her emotions the moment we found out we were moving, for the entire week we were packing and all the way down. Once we got here she went to school the next day (her begging to go) and hasn't quit smiling. She, of course as 6 new BEST friends and knows all the DRAMA on the playground. Her school is across the street. The bell rings to come home at 3:45 and she walks in the door at 3:47. AWESOME. The first day Grandma took her to school, the next day I went so, I could meet the teacher. So, on the third day she told me to stay in the house when she left and DON'T be standing in the driveway when she walks home. Okay, Miss Independent. She is doing great. She of course is very supportive and cries with the rest of us, but in all she is doing good.

Joslyn: 

She was CoNfUsEd.  We were staying at Grandpa and Grandma Smith's house, then all of our stuff got taken to storage for the moving company to pack it all for us. Then all the sudden, we were living at my Parent's and all of her stuff was gone. She was constantly asking me where we were sleeping each night, then she was okay. After we moved here, she was even more CONFUSED. She couldn't figure out what ALBUQUERQUE was, on the way down she kept asking me questions like, "Does ALBUQUERQUE have a roof". For the longest time she thought ALBUQUERQUE was somewhere your went to eat COOKIES... (ALBUCOOKIE...get it), so funny, she was excited to get there and eat cookies!! She was excited to see all her toys, but talk about a GrUmPy TrOlL living in my sweet little girls body. She turned into a brute. We told her what room was hers and we were not ALLOWED to put ANYTHING in that room, that was not hers (kinda hard when she was sharing with her brother). We were putting stuff in all rooms and then we would go back to put it away. Anytime we put anything in her room, she would yell at us and throw it out in the hall way. I sent the Morgan and RyleeJos and Luke's clothes, and Joslyn was SCREAMING at them to get out of her room. We tip toed around my sweet little troll for 2 days. AND then my sweet little Jos returned. She was really quiet the third day and just started taking everything in..she played and many times I found her just laying in the middle of the room looking around. She finally was at ease with everything around her. THANK GOODNESS!! She loves the house. Her funniest thing was she kept losing everything. I would here, MOM where did the bathroom go!! Where is my room!! It was so funny. We are so used to leaving on top of each other. She still walked in the wrong room today to go to the bathroom. She just laughs.

Luke: 

He is a trooper. He just walks around playing with anything and everything. He loved hiding around all the walls of boxes. He has been amazing. He will get a little clingy, but nothing that a little snuggling won't fix.  Which I love to have a moment to sit down and love him. He is amazing. obviously has Boomer's laid back personality and not his high strung Mom's personality that does NOT like change ;o)

Boomer:

He is getting to know his job and really liking it. He is so happy to have his family around. But, finds himself with many crying girls in his arms. He has been a rock for us and just lets us cry. 

Ali:

Well, what to say. This is the first time in a week that I have been able to sit down and BLOG!! YEAH!!  Besides all the emotions, we are getting through it. It is very different and we are having a hard time adjusting. But, it will happen. With the support of each other and our amazing families, we are getting through it. I just keep reminding myself, we are happy and have a roof over our heads, with a husband that has a great job. So, with that we are AWESOME!!

We took off Saturday and had a well deserved FAMILY day. We left the house a mess and went to the zoo. Which was sooooo fun. The zoo is amazing here...pictures will come next. It was fun, family day!!

So, a HUGE thanks to everyone that helped us pack and move us ONCE again. For my Mom that came and helped and worked till she collapsed each night. And for Boomer's Parents for letting us bring our little Organized Chaos to live with them, while we were trying to figure out our next adventure. And to Boomer's Mom for teaching me a jingle, so, I would know how to spell ALBUQUERQUE. I sing it every time I spell it. ;o)

Well, we never thought in a million years we would be living in ALBUQUERQUE, NEW MEXICO. But, here we are on a new adventure. I am excited you can all experience this with us. More, adventures and pictures to come. Love you all!! I know we don't have a beach to come play in, but we have a tree house, come and visit anytime!!!

New House...

Here are some pictures of the new house...I have more pictures on my Mom's camera, but here are a quick few, till I have time to actually Blog more.....with all the details. 

Front of the house..with Luke mixing the white rocks with the red rocks...

Front entry.....

This is Rylee walking home from school, I am standing in my driveway..so awesome.

Rylee

backyard...

other side of the backyard...sweet tree house. The backyard is soooooo over grown,  its a rental, we have a lot of work to do ;o)

back of house..kitchen with the bay window.

the back of the house, the upstairs patio is off the master...

the tree house...so cute!! The kids LOVE it.

inside the tree house

it has air conditioning...and heating..

the front deck of the tree house

Morgan

Boomer and Luke enjoying the couches, we just got them back together. 

It was nice to sit on our couches again....the kids were so excited. They have been in storage for a year.

These are the scary pictures, we are still unpacking and figuring where to put EVERYTHING...

this is Boomer's space that needs to be moved upstairs....golf clubs EVERYWHERE!!!

family room, this is where Boomer slept before we got there...nice blow up mattress.

Living room...look you can kinda see the floor.

there will more details and pictures to come..thanks for visiting the Organized Chaos, 

well Unorganized Chaos in our new home.

Always Time For A Horseback Ride.......

I LoVe this picture. This is Joslyn and her cousin Jarrett.

Fun times and memories.

SeRiOuSlY......

Moving could be so much easier, if ever time I turned around my son was not climbing on things, unpacking everything I just packed . I was using the dolly and left the room for a few seconds and came back to my son on the very top of the dolly rocking it back and forth. He had the biggest smile on his face. Goodness, this is going to be a long few weeks ;o)

When People Just Get You!!!

I walked out to the mailbox today to find the sweetest gift. My sweet niece Emily and her husband Mike had given me an envelope full of JUNIOR MINTS, with a sweet note that said, "For your new home-since it's an essential."!!! It brought me tears and I laughed out loud all at the same time.

To add to her sweet thoughts, I guess I will need to post why, she was so thoughtful.

Boomer has gotten a job as an Outside Sales Rep for Callaway Golf. To him this is his dream job. He is devoted to this company and will ROCK at this job. He is awesome at what he does and deserves this amazing opportunity. He found out about the job on a friday night, interviewed on wednesday for it and was given the job on a monday. So within a little over a week, are lives were changed. For the good. After many emotions, mostly on mine and Rylee's part, we will be re-locating to Albuquerque, New Mexico. Boomer has already left for training and we will soon follow in November some time. We are excited about the new adventure. I did find out that they have a Target, Costco and a great mall, the most important things in life ;o) and I have practiced on spelling Albuquerque. So, we are set.

So, back to the sweet thought of the Junior Mints.  She sent them to me, so I can take them to our new home. I have ALWAYS had Junior Mints in my freezer, At any given moment when chaos begins, instead of counting to ten, I grab a small handful of my divine, frozen, yummy Junior Mints and then tackle the situation. I should weigh 400 pounds :o). I shared this with Emily when she got married, that she always needs Junior Mints in her freezer. So, thank you Emily for getting me the Junior Mints, I love that you get me!!!

Happy Birthday To Rylee

I am a month late in posting Rylee birthday events, but here they are....we had such a fun few days. Her birthday was on Sunday so, we had a fun relaxing day, with cake and ice cream at night. Then a few days later we had a swim party. She had a fun time....
Things Rylee is excited about being 6......she wiggles her front teeth everyday waiting for them to become loose, and then she gets to go all day to school (OH, wait that was what I was excited about) ;o) She is such a fun, full of life little girl. She has energy for the whole family. We love ya, Ry!!!!

Britt made the most amazing cake once again for her..Ry wanted a kitty cat, 

it turned out amazing and tasted DELICIOUS!!!! 

Thanks again, Britt!! Love ya!!

YEAH!! The First Day Of School!!

My goal was to wake up early, exercise and get breakfast started before the kids got up. But, after Boomer's alarm went off at 5:15, I couldn't fall back to sleep after 6:00...so, when I had Rylee come to the edge of my bed at 7:00 and yell, "MOM" , scared me to death...she was all dressed and ready to go..so funny!! Which makes for a long morning waiting to go to school. So, I set the timer for 44 min. so she knew when we were leaving and we started the day!!
They were so excited to start school, we met the teachers the night before and found there classes!! Good times!! I will now have to work on getting me out of bed!!! GGGRRR!!!



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Some of the Most Incredible People I Know.....

We were so excited Boomer's, Papa and Nana came into town. So, we got to go see them, it was so fun!! They are the most sweet, incredible, supportive people I know. I am so grateful we have them in our lives. We were also able to see Boomer's aunts and uncle, it was a fun time catching up!!
I don't know what was up with me....HOLY CHEESY!!!

The Best Time of the Summer...APRICOTS!!!!

YEAH!! It was time to make APRICOT leather...AHHHHH, such a beautiful time of the year!! It is sooooooo good. My sister and I totally overdosed this year, it was wonderful. This year we had A LOT of little helpers that wanted to help the WHOLE time...it was challenging, but we finally got most of them picked.


Here are our cute little helpers. Luke is such a BOY, nothing scares him..he kept climbing to the top of the ladders, crazy boy!!


I have the cutest niece...she will get use to me, I will be the aunt that always has the camera in her face ;o). I loved the picture I caught of Luke laying by her holding her hand. So, sweet!! She is one loved little girl!!