First Day of School

Hooray! The fun is finally beginning!

We're Texicans

We have had the best week! We couldn't be more happier about our new move. Texas has been a fun change for us. A huge thanks to all those who helped us load up all our stuff in Arizona.

Doug and Bubba made it safely Wednesday of last week and I got in on Thursday. Doug's very skilled and hard working sister drove in late Thursday from Dallas and we had a 3 day marathon of painting and projects. Thank you Lauren! (She quickly became a favorite of Callin.) I'll post some pictures of the "new house" later. So far we have ruined about 10 non-painting clothes!

Callin has been a HUGE helper! He is always climbing the ladders and eager to touch any wet paint. He only got it on his face twice.

Here is the first time, the cammera was close at hand. The second time he more like ate the paint and we were frantic to get it out of his mouth and went ahead and skiped the picture.

We have met some wonderful people. We had 2 dinner invites at church. A nice guy from the ward spent about 3 hours mowing and working on our lawn. We just got back from taking cookies to the neighbors and I can't stop smiling about how cute and friendly they all were.

I took this picture tonight of Doug playing the piano and Callin reading. I know it is not the best, but I just have to say Cal and I have loved having Doug around all week. He has totally impressed me with his desire to become a handyman. He has done a great job fixing things around the house. (Thanks James for all the phone consulations!)

We felt the fringes of the Hurricane Dolly. It rained for about 3 days and we had huge thunderstorms each night. These were the kind of storms my dad would love. I will always be grateful I had a dad who would wake us up to come and watch the Arizona monsoons. I was a little scared of the loudness of it all,

Doug starts orientation for med school on Monday with an over night retreat. I am having a darling other 1st years wife over to spend the night.

If you can't tell by now..."I think I'm gonna like it here!" (Imagine Annie the orphan singing that line.)

Our New Brother

Introducing Doug's new brother: Kelvin Leon Lewis! After a long 5 years, we are so excited he is an official member of the Lewis family. That makes one wonderful Mozambician addition to each of our families! He arrived in Boise, Idaho this afternoon to a large Smoot Family welcoming committee. He will be on "tour" the next week through Salt Lake, Provo, St. George, and returning to his new home in Arizona on Friday.

Pictures from our trip to Mozambique February 2007 with Kelvin (10) and my little sister Lindy- Lou (8).

The Past Month

With 2 broken computers and a broken camera...blogging has gone out the window. So thanks to Doug's sister Lauren, here are a few pictures of what we have been up to.

June15th- CJ's mission farewell. (Ghana Cape Coast mission)

June 21- Wicked in L.A.!! AMAZING!

June 22-29 Smoot Family Cruise. 35 spunky and very boisterous, aunts, uncles, grandparents, and cousins who love to Karaoke and play pranks! What a party! We had a wonderful time cruising the Mexican Coast (Cabo san Lucas, Mazatlan and Puerto Vallarta) thanks to Grandpa Smoot who made it all possible!

It was never a dull moment! Yes that is Grandma "wearing" her new bikini, Doug in spandex, and Terran in a speedo! CTR- those who were tempted by the tattoos! (Henna of course.)
We loved jet skiing around those rocks behind us!
Rock climbing on the back of the boat

One of the top highlights was zip lining through the jungles of Puerto Vallarta! (About 20 different lines. I LOVEd going upside down!)

We could not be more excited to return home to Callin after the week. A huge thanks to Heidi and Emily for watching Callin! It was back to work as soon as we got home. Our house is a disarray of over 100 boxes ready to load into the moving van tomorrow. Doug and Bubba leave for Texas on Tuesday and Callin and I will fly out and join them on Thursday. It is sad to leave Arizona, however we could not be more thrilled to begin the new adventure that awaits us!

We will be broadcasting next, live from Pearland, Texas!

I'm a Big Boy Now

the big o-n-e!

he loved his new piano

Just to prove that he is one he pushed this chair over to the island and climbed up all by himself to get the grapefruit that he loves to roll around the floor.

"Oh, Mexico"

Thank you James Taylor. We have looked forward to the annual Packard Rocky Point trip for 2 years now since we were unable to attend last year. (Still very sore subject.) We had a wonderful time! Cal was leery of the sand for the first 10 minutes and didn't want to stand in it, but after that he was in heaven!

(Cal was sporting the pink Little Mermaid swim diapers!)

More on Pearland

To answer the many questions- we are buying the house in Texas. We signed the papers today! We loved Pearland! (Yep, Pear like the fruit.) It was so great to get to know the town better/meet people in the ward before we have to move there. We had a great trip and are so glad we had Mom Lewis and Doug's sister Lauren join us to share their opinions with us.

We enjoyed seeing the medical district down town that will be Doug's home for the next 4 years:

The Houston Temple was beautiful although it is about 1 1/2 hours away. (I had no idea how HUGE Houston is.)

Callin with his cousins Kayla and Ella at the temple.

And here are some more shots of the house.

looking in from the front door

living room (on the left) with a joint dining room (below)

The loft will serve as my preschool room. The wood floors will be great for spills!

It needs a little work- but we could not be happier with it!