New Callings

Mario and I were sustained today.  I am the new nursery leader while Mario is the Cub Committee Chair.  I am relieved that neither of us have very demanding callings.  That will leave a lot of time to spend as a family.  But I sure wish Mario was a nursery leader with me.  How fun would that be!  Nursery is a calling that I have dreaded my whole adult life.  But after subbing as Relief Society teacher today, nursery started sounding pretty good.  Teaching adults is very intimidating.  But I will miss sitting in Relief Society and associating with the wonderful women in my ward.  I love my new ward.  How come Midwest has such great wards?  Must come down to the people in the Midwest.

Charlie's Truck

Mario has regretted selling his truck since the day he sold it.  Even though he has a really nice SUV now, it is just not the same as having a truck.  Plus, he feels like he has to park far away from every other car so it doesn't get dinged.  So he has been looking for a truck to replace his Ranger. One day it occurred to me that my brother, Charlie, would be selling his truck soon.  So Mario called him up and begged him to sell the truck to us.  I say begged because Charlie had no intention of selling the truck to anyone he knew because it had over 200K miles on it and he was afraid it would break down.  But Toyota Tacoma trucks are hard to find used because everyone seems to love them and keep them forever.

Charlie finally gave in after test driving it.  Unfortunately, it did need some repairs before he could drive it up to Missouri,  so poor Charlie, a couple days after surgery, was outside repairing the truck.

Mario is very happy to be the proud owner of another truck.  I'm not sure how long he will have to drive it because Eric will turn 16 in one year.  So Eric has every intention of making it his truck and I don't think Mario will let Eric drive his SUV.  So unless Eric drives the minivan, he will have to drive the truck, unless we make Eric get a job and buy his own car, which isn't a bad idea either.  Eric got to drive the truck around the lake several times and Mario even let him drive on the highway by Jeannie's lake because it is out in the middle of nowhere.

So for now, Mario drives the truck everyday into work, while his SUV stays parked in the garage.  It has become the date night vehicle.  Maybe it will get more use in the winter when we need 4 wheel drive.  Or maybe we should sell it and put the money back into our retirement house fund.

Fourth of July

We are lucky to be in Omaha which is only a 6-7 hour drive to Missouri where my Grandma lives and also my sister's mother-in-law lives.  Melissa tends to visit her mother-in-law, Jeannie, every summer for a month or two.  So when we found out we were moving to Omaha, Melissa and I planned a long weekend for us to get together at Jeannie's lake house.  Jeannie was so nice to go along with the plan and allow not only my family of 6 to come stay with her but also my brother, Charlie, who is stationed just 300 miles away at Fort Campbell.  So we left at 5 am on the 4th of July so we could make it in time for a fish fry at noon at Jeannie's friend, Marvin's house.  Wow, what an amazing guy.  Pretty much his whole diet consists of what he hunts, fishes, or traps.  I'd sure like it if my grocery budget was as little as his each month.  We had fried fish and fried frog legs.  I had frog legs as a kid so I knew they were good but this was Mario's first time and he loved them.

After the fish fry, we went to visit my Grandma in St. James.  We were able to get a picture of the four of us together for my mom''

After that, we headed out to Jeannie's house.  It was almost a half hour from town.  I normally don't like being so far from a grocery store, but it was very relaxing.  In fact, Melissa and I only went to town once the next couple days because she had something very important to mail.  So I really enjoyed the distance from town and being able to relax while swimming and watching the kids.  It was so nice for the cousins to play and for me to have time to spend with my brother and sister.  We just wish Billy and his family could have been there and also Mom and Dad.  I know that if they weren't on their mission, my parents would have definitely been there too.

We are grateful for Jeannie, Marvin and Melissa's hospitality while we visited. It was so much fun. It was so nice that Mario almost threw away his whole plan to retire in Venice, Florida.  He really wanted to buy one of the empty lots at the lake and build a home. That's how much he enjoyed it.  But in the end, it is so far from church and town.  We could never really live that far out.  But if we were rich, it would make a perfect vacation home.

18th Anniversary and Michael Phelps

Mario and I celebrated our anniversary by attending the Olympic Swim Trials held here in Omaha. We had nose bleed seats but it was still really cool watching Ryan Lochte and Michael Phelps swim. Wish we could attend the Olympics in London. I told Eric to get a full ride scholarship to college and then maybe we can take him to the Olympics in Brazil right before his mission.

Then Mario and the kids enjoyed shooting off some fireworks. Mario and I topped our celebration off with a trip to do Sealings at the Temple. What a great day! I'm loving Omaha and all the things to do.

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Happy 41st Birthday

Mario had a big week last week. He found out that he made Lt. Colonel, celebrated Father's Day, and turned 41. He got lots of ugly cake and then an ice cream cake made by Erin.

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Storm Chasers

Mario and I took Zach to a baseball game tonight. I was all excited to root for Omaha Storm Chasers until I discovered they were playing the Memphis Cardinals. I'm a big St. Louis Cardinal fan and the Memphis Cardinals are a division off of St. Louis. It was a fun night of eating yummy ballpark food and all the other snacks Mario snuck in.



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Nebraska

We've been in Nebraska for two weeks now and I finally feel that our move is complete.  It just didn't feel quite right until we got the van here.  Mario ended up flying to SLC Friday morning and driving the van back because we were having trouble finding a company we could trust to ship it to us. I almost cried (of joy) when I saw Mario pull up in my van.  Mario says most people would cry (not of joy) if they had to keep an old van that long.  Not me, I would rather save the $30,000 towards a retirement home and not worry about dings and scratches on a new van.

So, initial thoughts of Nebraska...I love it!  I remember when we lived in Hawaii, we had a neighbor from Omaha.  They hated Hawaii and were anxious to get back to Nebraska.  I just couldn't understand the appeal.  But after being here, I can see why they love it so much.  Now, I wouldn't go so far as to say it is better than Hawaii, because really, nothing can compare to the beauty and weather in Hawaii. But the midwest has something that the rest of the country just doesn't have and that's really, I mean REALLY nice people.  I just can't believe how friendly everyone is here.  I guess the nice people will have to make up for the really COLD winters of Nebraska.

Mario did a great job picking out the house.  I think I wrote in an older post about choosing between newer and older home.  After seeing both neighborhoods and houses, Mario definitely chose the better home and neighborhood.  This neighborhood reminds me of living in a park, a quiet park.  The big beautiful trees, green grass, and lots of squirrels and birds are perfect.  The house is big with lots of space for the kids.  I wish my kitchen was a little bigger, but I can't complain.  Many neighbors have come over to meet us and bring us treats.  I think we are going to really love it here.  Our landlord came by the other day and she said her kids really miss this home.  I sure hope they don't decide to move back in the next 3 years.

We first arrived in Omaha at 1 am Monday morning 2 weeks ago.  That evening we got a call from the YW President's family asking if we wanted to meet them at DQ and then go to the park.  Then they invited Erin to go to a pool party later that evening.  Then next night was a Youth Temple trip and they invited Eric and Erin to enjoy a movie night afterwards.  Then the kids spent the next several afternoons swimming with the youth and hanging out with the neighborhood kids.  That was such a relief that the kids were able to make instant friends.

Melissa and her boys came late Saturday night and stayed for a week.  My boys feel they were gipped a day because they came late at night and left the following Saturday early in the morning.  But it was a great week and we enjoyed having them visit.  We did lots of fun activities, mostly things that I had bought Groupons for while still living in Tucson.  On Monday we went to Jumpin' Jax which has several indoor bounce houses. Mario sprained his ankle so Melissa had to help me go pick up some dressers that I bought for the twins off Craigslist.  On Tuesday, I think we just played Legos.  Wednesday we went to the Omaha zoo which was just voted best in the country.  My military membership was not only a great deal but also includes unlimited IMAX movies.   On Thursday we went to  Papio Fun Park and rode Go Karts, played miniature golf, threw water balloons, played laser tag, and jumped on more bounce houses.  Melissa and I also worked on accessorizing Erin's new room while she was away at girls' camp.  On Friday, the kids enjoyed seeing Madagascar 3 at the movies.  Eric was brave and agreed to take 3 eight-year-olds to spare Melissa and I of having to see the movie.  It was nice having them here.  I think Eric really enjoyed have Melissa around because she would stay up late every night to watch movies with him, except for the one night he ditched her to go see Men in Black with some friends.

I wish they could stay longer but I know they had lots of plans back in Missouri and I still had lots to get done around the house.  We finally started getting pictures up yesterday.  So the home is starting to shape up nicely.