Ferrells move to Texas!

We've been so excited to have our favorite Ferrells move to Texas and we headed down on March 14th to help them move in. It was also the start of our spring break so we made a weekend out of it!

On our way down we hydroplaned. It was one of the scariest experiences of my life. The van spun towards an oncoming truck, then spun around and went down into the valley next to us backwards. It took a while to stop but we were so blessed that we didn't hit anything and only minor damage was done to the van!

Becca’s big scare

What should have been a fun Memorial Day weekend turned into one of the scariest times of our lives.

On Thursday May 27 we headed down to Texas to spend the weekend with the Ferrells. Friday the 28th we got up and headed out to Six Flags. What should’ve been a 1 hour drive into Arlington was around 2 hours with traffic, roads flooding and accidents closing the freeway. We spent several hours at Six Flags with Dale, Katie and Kimball riding all the roller coasters they could stand. Justin and I took all the little kids on all the smaller rides we could stand. 

July 2021

My friend Misty called and asked if we could watch her friend’s chihuahua mix puppy. The puppy’s name was Dahlia and the girls were in love! Lily held her every chance she got, and both girls couldn’t get over how cute and tiny Dahlia was. 

Ferrells for New Year's

 On the 29th of December the Ferrell's headed to Ada. They dropped their kids off and left for an anniversary together. The kids all did well, and it was probably less chaotic since our boys were at Scout camp.

June 2022

June was full of adventures for our family. 

Cameron went to Boy Scout camp (June 5-10) with his troop and another local troop. He finished a few merit badges but wasn’t a fan of swimming in the cold lake. He designed an amazing Lego dragon head. 

We're Here!

After months of packing, hours of loading, and however long it took to clean our apartment, we locked the door and said goodbye. We drove with our neighbors (Katie & Justin Ferrell) down to Albuquerque last Friday to stay with my family for a few days. We also got to celebrate my parents' 25th wedding anniversary while we were there.

At 6:00 AM Monday morning, we left for Oklahoma. We arrived at 5:00 PM, signed our lease and received the key to our new townhouse. It was hot, humid and green.

Thankfully we had Dale's brother's family help unload the truck. By the time we were done, you could hardly see the floor in our new home. One wonders how on earth we have collected so much stuff in three years of marriage?!

Since then we have kept busy unpacking and trying to keep Kimball entertained. He has adjusted quite well to the drastic changes thrust upon him. He even refers to this as "Mimall's home."

Our current apartment is 50% bigger than our previous one and I am loving the extra breathing room. We don't have stuff crammed in every corner, nook and cranny! I also love having a washer and dryer all to myself (instead of sharing one of each with 7 other apartments).

We haven't really met any of our neighbors yet because people just don't go outside when it's this hot.
We went to our new ward today and received a warm welcoming. There are so many babies! I thought BYU wards had tons of babies, well this one rivals any BYU ward I've been in! There are 4 nurseries.
I am loving the diversity that I've noticed here, unlike in Provo. I feel like this will be an enriching experience for all of us and I'm excited for Dale to start school. It means we're that much closer to being done!

Through the Years

Katie and Justin Ferrell are those friends that last forever...after being neighbors in 2 different places and playing countless board games together, there's a relationship there that only grows stronger every time we see each other. We're so grateful for their friendship throughout our married life and look forward to many game nights to come :)

July 2020

 Life started to look slightly more normal as businesses started opening and activities resumed, but we still spent most of the month at home. Covid is still a huge part of our lives and greatly impacts everything we do.

We found out all 4 kids fit into the dog kennel...barely...

March 2022

 Between spring break and my parents coming to visit, we were pretty busy in March…never mind all the normal stuff we have day to day. 

Cameron’s performance in Wizard of Oz

Escape from the bubble

For the 4th of July weekend, we decided to go camping with our neighbors, Katie & Justin Ferrell. We went up American Fork Canyon without reservations and after a long drive up a bumpy, eroded road in our poor old car we finally found a camp site. Granted, it was one of the rockiest campsites, but it did the trick. Thankfully we had our Thermarest pads to give us some comfort.
Kimball absolutely loved it. We were right by a stream which he got to wade in and collect rocks from. The stream was loud enough that we could barely hear the countless ATVs driving by constantly. The water was freezing, but I had to practically drag Kimball out, he was having so much fun. We had tin-foil dinners, roasted marshmallows and Starbursts, had hot cocoa, and overall loved it.

Our little explorer...so serious

Me trying to escape the freezing water...eventually Kimball kicked me off the biggest rock so he could put his rock collection there.Waiting for his pants to dry and so excited about his tower

Cameron was a little trooper and only had one period of inconsolable screaming.
It was too much effort to pull out our camera, so we just stole pictures from the Ferrells (thank you!).
On the 4th, we met up with Katie's dad and hiked Timpanogos Cave. The mountains were beautiful. It was a steep hike up tons of switchbacks, which I think would have been more bearable, but I was carrying a 15 lb baby and Dale was carrying a 24 lb toddler. We made it though, and the caves were amazing. Kimball had fun until he fell asleep in Dale's arms.

On the way up

At the cave's exit.

After our hike we drove back to Provo, enjoyed some Wendy's dollar items and unloaded the car. Later we ate Quesadillas, 7 layer bean dip and patriotic Jell-O. We were too exhausted to attempt going to watch Stadium of Fire fireworks, but we could see some from our apartment and enjoyed some smaller fireworks that the Ferrells had bought.

That night, as we were praying with Kimball before bedtime, I was reminded what this day was truly about. It hit me quite suddenly how many lives have been lost for me to enjoy all of the blessings that I have been the recipient of. I thought about my ancestors who have not only served this wonderful country, but other countries, protecting their homes, families and freedom...what they felt was worth risking their lives for. I was reminded of the many weekends I spent without my dad who was training with the Army, and all of the birthdays he missed. Despite all of those times, I would never change how I grew up because I grew up feeling safe, knowing that my dad was out there protecting me. I can never thank him enough for the sacrifice he has made to give me that feeling of security. I'm so proud to be the daughter of such a brave man.

They Came

Our favorite Katie and Justin Ferrell came to visit us at the end of May and we had a packed week of fun (minus the Justin trying to make us sick part!).

The Rolly Pollies C caught while we played

He winds up and...

C utterly exhausted got a lift

Kings of the hill

We filled our time with game nights, house hunting (an entire day going through 13 houses...exhausting, and still no house), disc golf, touring the 45th Infantry Museum and the OKC Memorial, a mani/pedi for us girls (THANK YOU KATIE!), and laughing/teasing/joking, etc.

We miss you already and can't wait to see you in a couple months!

February 2021

 We started this month off with a quick trip down to the Ferrell's for Natalie's baptism. Dale got to play the piano, I spoke, and Kimball and Cameron were able to be witnesses. The church recently changed the guidelines for witnesses at baptisms to anyone who has been baptized. We are so excited for Natalie that she was able to be baptized and make those covenants with her Heavenly Father. 

Libby, Becca and Mat (they only pic I have of the baptism)

Thanksgiving 2023

 We decided to try out a new state for Thanksgiving this year, and visit the Ferrells in South Carolina!

We left on Sunday November 19. The plan was to drive until we got too tired and find a hotel, but we just kept driving and driving. We arrived in South Carolina between 2:30-3:00 am and Justin was kind enough to wake up and let us in. 

Monday was spent sleeping in and the kids played their hearts out. We went to the local library for a craft kit and to a local park.

Tuesday we had planned to go to Myrtle Beach, but the weather turned cold/rainy so we decided to stay local. 

Wednesday we baked pies and played games.

Thursday was of course Thanksgiving. Dale, Justin and Kimball went to their ward's turkey bowl. Kimball got a couple good plays in and no one got seriously hurt. The Ferrells deep fried the turkey, we cooked lots of food, and finally ate a large, delicious meal. 

A couple nights before Thanksgiving, Kimball said he’d like to make a chocolate hazelnut buttercream pie with raspberries. We thought he had seen it posted somewhere, but he just made up on the spot. So Justin used “Chat GTP” to make up a recipe using that description. We went to the store to buy the supplies, and Kimball made it happen. The pie was delicious!

Friday we went to Florence with plans of going to an arcade, but decided to shop the mall instead. It was a bit chaotic with 7 kids, but we found a few good deals and didn't strangle anyone. 

The entire week we played lots of games, including Werewolf, Jackbox TV, and more. The kids loved playing in the Ferrell's spacious backyard, and running up and down the stairs. 

Saturday we woke up, loaded up the van and said our goodbyes. We drove, and drove and drove for over 17 hours, and made it home between 2-3 AM. The boys were able to go straight to bed, but the girls had slept just enough to be wide awake for a bit. 

Christmas Break

For Christmas we went to Albuquerque with my (Judy's) family. It was the first time all of my siblings have been in one place in almost 4 years because two of my brothers had overlapping missions. This was the first time my youngest brother got to meet Cameron and we all had fun despite drama ensuing from so many people being in one space for so long :)

Opening presents was a blast. Cameron got the gist right away and both boys played happily with their treasures for hours...Uncles had fun tackling, tickling and doing everything silly they possibly could with our boys...Our boys even enjoyed the car mat I made for them...And we went sledding before departing the Land of Enchantment.On our way home we stopped in TX for a day to spend time with our most favorite Ferrell's in the world! Kimball and Cameron even got to walk the poor innocent dogs who had the blessing of becoming acquainted with our boys...The holidays were wonderful and it's nice to be back in our own home and beds. We can't wait to see what 2011 brings!

April 2021

 We started off the month with General Conference. The Ferrell’s came up to watch with us, which meant we had 11 people and 5 dogs. It was rainy, so all mammals were inside for a good part of the weekend. It was a bit loud and crowded. We ate lots, watched lots, played games, and plenty more.

October 2020

 The kids worked very hard to finish their online schooling by Thursday so we could take Friday off. On Friday the 2nd, I took the kids and met up with the Ferrells at the Grayson County Frontier Museum in Sherman, TX. The museum was an outdoor collection of original buildings/houses from pioneer days and it was fun to walk through.

Judy, Lily, Cameron, Becca, Mat and Kimball