Melissa and Lucy

My dear beautiful friend Melissa and her daughter Lucy flew in from Las Vegas to spend time with me, of course. While she was here visiting for girl time, she helped me go through my closet and pick out my wardrobe for France. Packing is such a dreaded task even going somewhere for a weekend, but packing to leave the country is overwhelming. Melissa is a fashion guru and loves clothes so she is the perfect person to tell me "what NOT to wear". This made packing so much more fun. I did have to do just a bit of shopping to complete the missing pieces. My favorite purchase was the Gap ballet city flat (they fold in half so it is easy to pack multiple pairs of them without taking up a lot of valuable space and packing weight). I have been wearing them to make sure they will hold up and be comfortable for all the walking I'll be doing in Europe. I love them, and I was happy that I got them at 40% off too.

We did do more than just talk about clothes and shop. We ate!!!... and ate, and ate some more. I think we left Melissa with a great taste of Texas. Here are some of the places we journeyed to...

Monet Biography

Celine had to do a biography for school so she choose to do in on Claude Monet. What a perfect little project before we leave for France.

Celine got a 110% (she got extra credit for doing 10 facts instead of 5)

Paris

Well, it's official. We have decided to move to Paris for Jeff's last semester in the MBA program (study abroad). We will be leaving at the end of March and will return at the end of July (4 whole months!!). Where are we returning to? Not sure yet... we'll get back to you on that. We are all very excited for this new adventure, but we're also feeling a bit overwhelmed with all the preparations it's going to take to get a family of 6 ready to move to Paris in a few months.

Jeff's been telling me for years... You know the quote.. Their is NO growth in the comfort zone and NO comfort in the growth zone. He usually makes us uncomfortable about 90 percent of the time. Jeff loves a challenge and loves to always try something new. He's the type to not only jump in with 2 feet but the whole body .... CANNON BALLLLLLL!! Me? I prefer to quickly dip my toe in and take it right back out again! I gotta test out the water first! I don't like the shock factor. Am I boring? Nah, I'm just cautious and I like to know the end before the beginning (I want details, details, DETAILS!). This helps me feel comfortable with how everything will work out before I dive in. Anyway, I digress... back to the quote. I definitely like being comfortable, so this will be a real growth opportunity for me. At least I'll be doing it in Paris, right? How bad could it be!! Anyone want to come over and help me with my french?!?!

Mya's Baptism

It was really important for us to baptize Mya before we left for Austin. My doctor in Vegas and my new Doctor in Austin really didn't want me to wait and stay in Vegas another week just for this, but this was really important to Mya, and to me, and I wanted to give her this last opportunity to do something special with her family, friends, and loved ones. We made all the arrangements for her to be baptized, and the Bishop was nice enough to arrange for her to be baptized on her birthday!

Mya completely took over the preparations and let me know how the program was going to go. She had everything planned...who was doing what and when. She even made arrangements for someone to play the piano. I couldn't believe how much older she seemed already. Truth be told, I was more than happy to let her take over (I was so overwhelmed with the move and trying to keep the baby in) that it was one less thing I had to do. This was her thing and I didn't want to step in her way.

This was a moment for me... My first little girl was getting baptized! I was extremely emotional the entire day. However, even my crazy emotions couldn't mess up this perfect day. The baptism was perfect, and Mya did a great job. Thank you so much to all that participated in the program, and also to all those that attended Mya's special day. You all contributed to the wonderful Spirit that was present.

Thank you also to all of our special friends that helped make the day run smoothly:

Julie - Thank you for housing my family and I while we were homeless. Thank you for allowing so many people into your house to celebrate Mya's special day. Thank you for all the wonderful things you did for me and our family during our final days in Vegas. Thank you thank you thank you. I love you!

Roz - I can always count on you, no matter what. You are my sister, and I love you!!

Thank you Heavenly Father for bringing me one of my best friends! She is a wonderful daughter and a friend to all that know her. She is sweet and sensitive, and she LOVES to have fun. Oh, I love her so!

Celine's Kindergarten Graduation

Accepted to UT

Jeff got a phone call from the Asst. Director of Admissions at the University of Texas at Austin on Friday letting him know that they were accepting him into the 2011 graduating class (2 year program). She said that applications had been very strong this year, and they have been extremely picky with their applicants. She said that they were sorry for getting back to us so late in the process but that they really wanted Jeff to attend their program. Jeff immediately responded with "I'm sorry, but we already decided that if we didn't hear from you by the middle of May that we would not go anywhere this year and apply again next year. My wife is pregnant and due in August, so it would be very difficult for us to pick up and move now" (he got this call on Friday, June 26). She said that she understood, but that she would like us to take the weekend and discuss it (which was very nice of them).

My first reaction was absolutely not! I cannot pull off a move on such short notice! However, we had a lot of amazing things happen to us over the course of the weekend, and we finally knew that Texas was where we were supposed to be. We accepted on Tuesday, June 30. Texas, here we come!!

Happy Birthday Celine

Happy Birthday to my darling Celine!

Celine's favorite book is Fancy Nancy. She really wanted to have a Fancy Nancy themed birthday, so I did my best to make it as fancy as I could. Celine was in heaven! :)

Each girl got a homemade skirt, a flower corsage, and a purse with goodies inside.

I used the fake watches from the dollar store and turned it into a beautiful corsage.

Yummy!

The fanciest tea party ever!

For the activity we decorated crowns with jewels.

My little helpers.