Unexpected Oklahoma Trip

We went down to Oklahoma in February and Grandma, Pops, and all the kids got to meet Judah! They knew we were moving down there, and we decided we wouldn't visit again until we made the big move. Well, in October, Tad's Grandma Davis died and we decided to go down for the funeral. About a month later, his grandpa died as well, but we couldn't make another trip. So in tribute to them are a couple pictures of them with the kids. They were great people, and raised 6 great kids who all walk with the Lord and have beautiful families with children and grandchildren. We will miss them, but we know they are in heaven together, and would have been married for 65 years recently!

Grandpa Davis in February with the kiddos! Maddy loved when he would "moo" like a cow, and often imitated him!

Grandma Davis always spoke her mind. She was sweet with the kids, and loved holding them!

Hello, Oklahoma. My soon-to-be homeland!!!

Taking a walk down Tad's family's street with the dog in tow. Peaceful. Quiet. Nature. I loved it!!! And so did Maddy! Walking that dog like a pro!!

She had to stop and inspect every bug, grasshopper, anything she saw. Such a city girl, about to be country girl!! At least she's not afraid to get dirty!

Walking down the street with Grandma. Precious.

Our future home!! Well, Tad's parents house. But we will be living there while we get settled, Tad gets used to his new job, and we find our own place!!

My beautiful sister-in-law, Lydia. She is 17 and studying Cosmetology while she finishes highschool. She just got her driver's license and works at the local grocery store bakery. She is adorable. I love her!!!

Pops and Judah. Chillin'.

This was one of the best things we did while we were down there for our short trip!! Their Pastor and his wife have lots of animals and land and let us come up and see their chickens, cows, horse, goats, and let Maddy feed some of the animals!!! She had a blast!! Here is Judah trying to decide what he thinks about chickens.

We brought apples that had fallen from his parent's apple trees and fed them to the chickens and cows. They were happy.

Well, hello there.

Aunt Anna and Judah checking out the horse.

Here is my country boy! Looks like he'll fit in just fine!

Is this tractor big enough for him?

She was lovin' it!

Maddy has always loved to feed any kind of animal. Dogs. Cats. Her fish. Anything. But here she is feeding the goats and wasn't afraid even though there was one that was pretty feisty. She actually befriended him and got him to eat the food that she had.

Oh yeah. And this place was right around the corner from where we will be living. You can actually see the sky in Oklahoma. The sunrises. The sunsets. The stars. Things I have been deprived of for 8 long years!

Tons of family was there for the funeral, and this is the girls table eating their food!

Tad's cousin Trevor holding Tucker (who Maddy calls Chucker) and Aunt Anna holding Judah.

Adorable. They will be best friends. And have I mentioned how excited I am to be living closer to Trevor's wife Julie? Yeah, super excited. She might have to kick me out of her house.

This was so precious. Judah crawled over and was helping to feed Tucker his bottle!

Sunset from their grandparent's porch.

Everyone pretending to sleep on the way home.

Right outside the church for the funeral.

Maddy, Aunt Naomi, and Aunt Lydia.

Anna and I.

Maddy and Uncle Nathan.

Drivin' and being cool.

My beautiful sister-in-law again!! I just love this girl, and am so excited to be living close to her and being able to be more a part of her life!

Playing in the backyard!

So, with our move just 3 weeks away, we are getting really excited, as is Tad's family. We have lots of visitors coming in the next couple weeks to help us pack and to say goodbye. Tad's job is getting lined up and his future (hopefully) job has been contacting him and they sound really interested. His application and resume have been sent in, and he had a phone interview. So we are just waiting to hear!

Our trip to Oklahoma was so good. It was so confirming and really gave us a peace and an excitement for our move. We looked at houses a little bit, Tad talked to his contact for his new job, and we looked at the place like it was going to be home. I will keep you posted about how we are doing, and will actually have more time to blog once we are down there and I don't have a whole house to take care of by myself (for a short time!). We will of course be helping out at Tad's parent's house, and I hope to blog more about cooking for a big family, seeing how a big family works, and homeschooling while we live there.

Someone asked if I would keep my blog once we moved, and my response to that is...of course!! I look forward to it taking a turn towards more country-ness and I hope you stick around to see our lives change from fast-paced city life to a hopefully more calm slower-paced country life. We are excited!!!