O.k., so we had a going away party in Henderson on Thursday night. I wanted to have fun with everyone before we left, and we had a blast with a lot of our friends. I took a few random pictures:












































































All right so Friday morning we picked up the moving truck, and got started with the packing. With my dad in charge, all the big stuff was done in about 2 hours. (thanks to a few moving helpers :) ) My mom was an amazing help in the cleaning dept. I think she did non-stop cleaning for like 8 hours. Awesome!(besides my mom I did have a few little cleaning helpers, thank you.) We were planning on staying one more night in Henderson, but we finished packing, and cleaning by about 6:30 - 7:00. I walked one last time through the house, and remembered all the good times spent in our home. (yes I did shed a tear, one of the rare occasions) We then went to pick up our kids from a dear friends house ;) , and headed up to my folks house. Sat. morning we went to Mavis' house for Mayle's frist b-day party, and then at about 1:30 started our trip to Orem. It was a long drive but we finally did arrive, and the race was on. We have some really good friends that were ready to help us unload right when we arrived. I think the truck was unloaded faster then any unload I've ever been a part of. Unfortunately, my temper got the best of me and I blew up at my dad. In hind site, I can see that he was just trying to be efficient, but that day I really let him have it. Good thing he has the same temper I do, and has probably already forgot about it.
So now, after about 4 days of unpacking boxes, I am done. Just about everything has it's place, and we are loving our new temporary living quarters. Here's a few more pictures of the house.

Upstairs:
One side of the office is mine the other is for Maurice. Kinda nice.



Downstairs:Well, this is just the beginning of our new chapter, and there will be many more stories to come. Good night room, good night moon, good night mouse, good night house.

"If I had to move away, if I had to pack a box today."

So this morning upon entering my bathroom it looked dull and dreary.

Also I noticed the almost completely empty bookshelf, and closet.
Then my friend P came over, and noticed all the pictures in a stack on the fireplace.
I guess I'm moving. I didn't realize how sad I am to leave this home. We've lived here for just about 3 years now, and as I slowly see everything going into a box, I am sad that we can't stay just a little longer.
I am excited to be progressing in life (mostly excited to get a paycheck) and happy to be getting out of the heat. However, I am not sad to be leaving the presence of some very dear friends. I know that we will keep in touch, and that life will go on, but I will still miss them.
The road that lies ahead is still uncertain. I know that if I follow Him, everything will be fine.

Ten Virgins?

So, last Thursday I was in a little play. It was an awesome experience. I feel so blessed to have been a part of it.
Here's a picture of the stage at one of our rehearsal's.
Now a few shots of us all getting ready for the big night.
This is Gabriella (Jennifer Sneed)
Here's Nava, and Liraz (Jill Hales, and McKenzie Gonzales)

Here's Eliana and Adi (Robin Hales, and Me)And this is the wonderful woman who hooked it up big time to help make all the costumes possible. Sister Janet Cutler.

I didn't get any pictures from our actual performance, but here is a shot of all ten virgins.
I think that after performing just this short part in this special play, I have learned that we know not the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh. I hope I will be prepared to meet him.

Our Easter festivities were mostly on Saturday. First we died eggs.
The kids were very concerned that Lauric would break their eggs.
Here's our cousin Jeff, showin' us how it's done:Joseph wanted to touch everything
And when he wasn't helping with eggs, he was stealing hearts. My little pirate.
While we dipped eggs, Stan, Jeff, Brad, and Reece went paintballing. They had fun.
Hit your target!We also got to play some nerts Sat. night with Steve, and Carolyn.

Sunday was a little more relaxing. We got up and had a nice breakfast, and then got ready for church. (oh yeah, the kids found their Easter baskets.) Each received a well needed, new pair of shoes. After church, it was back to Dad and Moms house. We got to take a few family photos while still in nice clothes.
Here's my crazy family:
Mavis and her family. (Mavis, Lauric, Maley, and Stan)
Sharley with all the munchkins:
Mavis, me, mom, and SharAnd here's my fav. of our cute little family. Smiles all around!
After pictures, and before a wonderful dinner, we all enjoyed watching the kids hunt for eggs. I think my kids scored like 50 bucks all together. Thanks mom and dad. Also Mavis and Sharley both got cute little Easter gifts for the kids. You really shouldn't have! Thank you. Here's a few pictures of the egg hunt. Enjoy.






































We love spending time with family. On this special day when we remember the great sacrifice of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, I am even more grateful to be with family.

Let there be light

So after 3 years of living in our home in Henderson tonight was the night. We have used only outside light, and a lamp in our living room. My parents bought me a fan for my birthday last Sep., but we never had the time to put it up. So now that we're leaving we thought it would be a great time to put it up. We called up D.B. Taylor, and asked him to help us out. (Taylor is a lawyer by trade but a construction junkie at heart. Thank you Taylor)
After a few hours of wiring, cutting, and hard work, the fan was up and working. Working on the first try might I add. Here's a picture of Taylor almost done...
And here's the finished project:Love it!!! Taylor also hooked up the light fixture I found at good will for 5 bucks. I'll try to get a picture of that up later. Ahhhhh, I need to go to bed. Good night.

Visit to Utah...

This past week we took a trip up to Provo. On the way, we stopped at Grandma's and she took us exploring to learn a little about petroglyphs. (spelling?) Anyway they are little drawings on rocks. Unfortunately we had to cut our adventure short so we could get on the road. Sorry Mom.












We stayed with our friends the Toiaivao's. Thanks you guys! The reason for the visit to Utah was to set up a job for Reece. The trip was a success! Reece will be working with an orthopedic group in Provo. Yay Reece!
While in Provo we drove over to Aunt Helen's house to visit Grandma Alires. She is still her same ole self, she still bowling even. (Wii)

Here's Reece trying to beat Grandma's score, good luck she's tuff to beat.
Little Joe loves great grandma...
So does Daddy...
Here's a shot of the whole gang, except me of course. I'd rather take the pic.'s
We had a very nice visit with Grandma and Aunt Helen. Thank you for the visit.

On to the next bit of news. We will be leaving Henderson twoards the end of the month. Being that we're moving to Utah we thought it might be a good idea to find a place to live. After many, many hours of looking on Craigslist, we narrowed it down to our favorites. We made a few phone calls, and looked at a few places in person, and finally found a place to live.
Here's just a few pictures of the house:

Ours is the one straight ahead on the left. Kinda cute!
entry room
Kitchen. (I like it a lot)
downstairs living room.
3 bedroom, 2.5 bath, and lots of space for us to live in. I love it.

So that about sums it up for us this week. We got home Thursday night, and we will leave again tomorrow (Sat.) to go to Calif. for a visit. Oh the joys of car trips, on spring break.