Snowflake Visit

Lincoln woke up really sick on Christmas morning. He was so sick that we were thinking about canceling our trip to Snowflake that day. After much debating, we decided to go anyway. I packed up the truck by myself (you should have seen me trying to load the crib in there) & drove to Snowflake while Linc slept. Our nephew Jarod's baptism was that day, & he asked me to give the talk on the Holy Ghost. Luckily we made it there in time! It was so neat to see him get baptized. Linc's sister & her family were visiting from Utah & it was SO fun to see them! 

After the baptism, some of Lincoln's extended family came to say goodbye to us. Lincoln's family gave him an Ipad for a Christmas/medical school gift. That thing is awesome!!! 

The kids had fun hanging out with Uncle Jordan...

(He is such a good uncle!)

Kylee with the Birthday/Newly Baptized Boy...

We met Matt & Danielle's new dogs & introduced Daisy & Duke to them...

The next day both Lincoln & I weren't feeling well, so Linc's parents took Kylee to church with them. She wore her new Christmas dress that was given to her by her birthfather's parents. She looked so cute in it.

On Monday we visited the cemetery to see Jackson's headstone one last time before we moved. Lincoln's aunts had decorated it once again for Christmas. I absolutely love that they remember him this way...

We paid a visit to our friends Craig & Jennifer, then said our goodbyes to Lincoln's family.
It wasn't very fun. I hate saying goodbye.

We drove through Sonic on the way home, & Kylee was loving my fruit smoothie...
until she almost poked her eye out with the straw.

Christmas Morning 2010

We all spent the night at my parents' house on Christmas Eve & woke up bright & early Christmas morning. 

Kylee loved opening her presents...

She got a "Baby Alive" from Grandma & Grandpa...

This baby talks, eats bananas & drinks juice. Kylee loves taking care of her.

My parents went all out this year & got Kylee a car as well. And yes, we have this car with us here in Mexico. It was the cause of my biggest disagreement with Linc during the move. The important thing is that I got my way & Kylee still has her car. :)

After we opened gifts, we went to my Grandad's traditional Christmas morning breakfast. Grandad went all out this year, making homemade bread & fresh OJ, along with everything else that he usually makes.  I was so glad that he carried on with this tradition, even though this was our first Christmas without Nana here. I sure do miss her.

We really enjoyed spending the holidays with family & friends. I'm hoping that next Christmas we will be a little less stressed, so that we can just sit back & enjoy the holidays and not worry about packing & moving & saying goodbye to people. It was still a merry Christmas though!

Christmas Eve 2010

This was the first time in 3 years that we spent Christmas Eve with my family. We ate our traditional dinner of cauliflower soup in bread bowls. It was so yummy! The best part was that the bread bowls were green this year!

We all open one gift from under the tree on Christmas Eve. Kylee got a Pillow Pet from Lincoln this year. The Pillow Pet commercial has always been her favorite, so we figured that Kylee would love this gift. We were right! "Bee" has replaced all 4 of the stuffed animals that Kylee used to sleep with every night. 

Lincoln & I both opened our gifts from Brad & Melissa...

Quiksilver shirts for Lincoln & Roxy shirts for me!

We missed Shawn, Ashley & Aaron this year!

2010 Recap

JANUARY:

I had my 8th laparoscopy for endometriosis.

Lincoln got a job at a pathology lab.

FEBRUARY:

We had Kylee's final adoption hearing & she officially became ours!

MARCH:

We were sealed as a family in the Mesa Temple.

APRIL:

Lincoln & I celebrated our 6th anniversary.
(I was sick that day, so this is the best pic I could come up with.)

I had a hysterectomy, which resulted in a new pain-free life for me!

 MAY:

Our nephew Nixen joined the family.

(Nephew #9 for us)

My Nana passed away.

We celebrated my 27th birthday.

JULY: 

We attended the annual Hiatt Family Reunion in Pine.

We celebrated Lincoln's 28th birthday.

We celebrated Kylee's 1st birthday.

AUGUST:

My family took a summer vacation to Lincoln's family's cabin in Pine, 

where Linc's parents & grandparents joined us.

SEPTEMBER:

Kylee, Daisy, Duke & I spent a week in Snowflake with my nephews & niece.

Lincoln took the MCAT.

We celebrated Jackson's 4th birthday.

OCTOBER:

We visited the Grand Canyon for the first time.

NOVEMBER:

Our nephew Patrick joined the family.

(Nephew #10 for us)

DECEMBER:

My brother Aaron left on his mission. 

(Philadelphia, PA mission)

Linc interviewed for medical school & was accepted to UAG. 

2010 was definitely a year that was FULL of blessings and miracles!
We are so thankful for all that we were able to experience in the year 2010. 

Best of 2010

I started a little blogging tradition in 2009 of posting my Top 10 favorite pictures of the year. 

Here are my favorite pictures from 2010:

#10:

 #9:

 #8:

 #7:

 #6:

 #5:

 #4:

 #3:

 #2:

 #1:

I'm so excited to create new memories during 2011!

I'm Growing!

Well, today I had my first official freak-out. I bawled my eyes out to Lincoln when he got home from his first day of school. What a fun thing for him to come home to. I'm pretty sure a lot of it was just because I was up during the night with Kylee and I was exhausted. Kylee hasn't been herself at all since we got here, and has been extremely needy and cranky. 

Plus, so much has changed in the past week, it just all kind of caught up with me today. Getting used to not being able to read signs or labels, trying to communicate with people who don't speak the same language as I do, Lincoln & Kylee & I plus the dogs all sleeping in the same room, only having one car, dealing with the crazy traffic & honestly wondering if I'll ever have the guts to drive here, not knowing where any of my stuff is, not having a phone, & so many other things that I'm trying to adjust to, have made things stressful for me. Poor Thomas & Jenn have to put up with being around me all day when I feel like this. I'm sure I'm not the most pleasant company to have right now. And now they will know, after reading this post, why I disappeared for a few hours today. :)

After I had a good cry and a nap, I walked to the taco shop with Lincoln, then to my favorite bread place here for some fresh pastries. As I was walking, I was thinking what I will miss about this place in four years when we are back in the United States. I'll definitely miss the weather, and the cheap, fresh food for sale within walking distance, and the trees, and experiencing so many new things every day. And then I thought that maybe I'm not doing so bad after all. I have already found things that I absolutely love about this place. And there is so much more out there that I haven't experienced.

I knew that living in Mexico would really help me grow as a person. I just forgot how much growth can hurt, and how confusing it can be, and the way that it makes you question yourself and what you are really capable of, and how it stretches you and forces you to do things that you don't think you can do. I'm definitely growing. And that is a good thing.

I Made A FRIEND!

We went to church today. We sang the hymns in sacrament meeting in unison with no piano. It was awesome. The spirit was strong. It reminded me that having the gift of the Holy Ghost is a special thing, & because I have this gift, I am able to have the spirit with me wherever I am in the world. What an amazing thing!

These past few days have been exciting, but overwhelming too. Things are SO different here. Some things are different in a really good way & some things are different in a not-so-good way. Regardless, it is a lot to get adjusted to. 

We met an American couple at church today who is brand new here too. Josh is starting school tomorrow with Lincoln, and is wife Heather & I hit it off right away. Heather turned to me 5 minutes after we met & declared me her new best friend. Yay for me! I have a new friend...and she speaks English!!! It is so nice to talk to someone who is in the same situation that we are in.

Today has been a good day.

HELLO FROM MEXICO!!!

Well, we are finally in Zapopan, which is just outside of Guadalajara. The trip was long and we are exhausted. Kylee got sick a few days before we left with the same thing Linc had on Christmas. Packing up and traveling with a sick baby hasn't been the easiest...but at least I could drug Kylee with Benadryl and not feel bad about it. She slept quite a bit during the three-day trip, which was nice. :) I'm not feeling great myself, but I'm not sick the way Lincoln & Kylee have been, thank goodness.

Lincoln starts school on Monday. We are so thankful to Thomas (Linc's cousin who is in medical school here), his wife Jenn, and their four kids for letting us stay with them. I'm not sure what we would do if we didn't have them here to help us. We are hoping to find a place to rent in the next two days, before Lincoln starts school and his life gets crazy again. Right now finding a place to live is my biggest worry. I am pretty desperate to find the place that we will call home while we are here. We are hoping and praying that it won't be hard to find.

I have tons of pictures from the holidays and some from our trip through Mexico that I need to post. I'll have to wait until we find a home and get our computer hooked up though, so you might have to put up with a few more posts without pictures until then.

I'll leave you with a few things I've learned since arriving in Mexico:

The tacos here are DELICIOUS. So is the yogurt. Jenn asked me if I was on a special diet that included a lot of yogurt. That's how much I've eaten since we got here. :)

Drivers in Mexico are INSANE.

I understand Spanish better than I thought I did.

The weather here really is amazing. It was 76 degrees when we arrived yesterday at 5pm. Awesome.

Farewell to the U.S.A.

I don't even know how to explain what I'm feeling right now. On one hand, I feel like I am living in a fog & am super distracted. When I'm hanging out with my family, all I can think about is packing & cleaning our townhouse. When I'm packing & cleaning our townhouse, all I want to do is spend time with my family. The holidays have been a complete blur. For the last few weeks, every day has gone by extremely fast. I'm not sure how it happens. And every night I think that I have too much to do, and too many people to say goodbye to. (And tonight I will be staying up to do random things like read the last 80 pages in my library book...oh how I will miss the Mesa Public Library! I'm praying they have a library in Guadalajara with an English section.)

I'm leaving behind a lot of my favorite things. My daily life will be changing A LOT. No more trips to Target. No more walks with girls I've known for years. No more quick drives to my parents' house to eat my Mom's yummy treats & to let Kylee see her "Pa". 

I've lived within the same 8-mile radius my entire life, minus 5 months in Thatcher, AZ which is 2 hours from here. Let's just say that I will be in for quite the shock when I arrive in Mexico. It will be interesting to see how I handle it. 

I've thought a lot about the fact that people won't know anything about me. Nobody will know that we have a son in heaven, or that I had major health problems for 10 years & have just become healthy again, or that Kylee is adopted. There is something about leaving everyone who went through those things with us, that leaves me feeling a distinct sense of loss. 

On the other hand...

I have an independent spirit. I'm excited to see what that does for me in another country. I have a feeling I will thrive in Mexico. I really do. I've been needing a big change. 

I will be able to see my husband fulfill his dream of becoming a doctor. How amazing is that?!

I will be able to settle into a normal daily routine for the first time since my hysterectomy. I will have many opportunities to realize just how much this new body of mine can really do. 

The weather in Guadalajara is supposed to be very close to PERFECT year-round.

I won't have to fall asleep listening to obscenities shouted through the wall that I share with our neighbor. I won't have to be worried that our other neighbor's pitbull is going to attack us like it almost has 3 times this past week (seriously...Lincoln has to get his knife ready just in case). And we will no longer be living in a small space that barely fits two adults, a toddler & two dogs. Oh and let's not forget...I won't have flashbacks of hitting the pole by my parking space every time I pull in. 

Don't get me wrong...our townhouse has been our only home since we've been married & has been a wonderful place to live. In that house: we found out that I was pregnant, I felt Jackson kicking inside me, we received the phone call about Kylee needing a family, I recovered from many surgeries, & learned so many life lessons from spending all day on the couch in an extreme amount of pain. We were the recipients of SO many acts of service while we lived there. I'll never forget that place or the wonderful people we have had the privilege of knowing. Many miracles happened in that home. I will miss it dearly. 

And now it is time to wrap this post up. In 24 hours we will be saying our final goodbyes & leaving for Mexico. We have a lot of errands to run & hours of packing & cleaning to do. I have a feeling I won't get much sleep tonight...but I would have probably stayed awake thinking about how much our lives are going to change tomorrow anyway. 

So here's my last blog post (for the next 4 years) from the U.S.A. The next time you hear from me, I will be a Mexican. Hopefully you will recognize me. :)

A Few More Days

All I've been wanting lately is more TIME. Well, my wish came true! Linc's cousin & his family got snowed in at the cabin & so our drive to Mexico has been postponed until Monday or Tuesday. Sorry Thomas & Jen. :)

This move is starting to feel a little more real. I still can't believe that we are doing it! I'm sort of proud of myself that I'm doing something so crazy. 

I'm loving the fact that I have my health. I appreciate that my husband has the goals & plans that he has. This move feels like a new start for us. We are SO excited to see what these next 4 years will bring.

And...our townhouse is pretty close to being packed up & clean, and all of our paperwork is done. I wasn't sure that it was even possible for us to get it all done in time. I'm guessing that people have been praying for us, because I'm not sure how else everything could have fallen into place like it has. So thanks for the prayers...whoever you are. :)

We'll Make It Somehow...

I'll post about our Christmas festivities when I get to Mexico & actually have time to upload pictures & spend time blogging. For now, I thought I'd give a quick update. 

Lincoln got sick Christmas morning...really sick. I packed us up & drove to Snowflake, so that I could make it in time to speak at our nephew Jarod's baptism. Linc hardly moved or talked the whole drive up. 

The next day I started feeling sick & slept most of the day. When I woke up today, I realized that it was just stress & lack of sleep that had been bothering me. 

Kylee cut her first molar while we were there. She hated it.

We drove back home tonight. Lincoln went to bed with his third fever in the past three days. 

We still have a lot to do. We'll make it somehow. The Lord wouldn't get us this far & not help us finish this task of getting to Mexico with our belongings & ourselves intact. Only 4 more days until the big move! Let's hope that Lincoln gets healthy soon so I'm not in charge of this move by myself. :)

P.S. On the plus side, our families spoiled us with awesome Christmas gifts this year. My parents gave us new tires for our truck & Linc's family gave him an IPAD!

Moving On...

Today was Lincoln's last day at his current job. He learned so much at Clin-Path and really grew close to the people that he worked with. I'm so thankful that this job fell into our laps a year ago. We've been very blessed because of it. The fact that Lincoln won't have a job for years sounds heavenly! I know, I know...medical school is like having a job. But I'm so excited that Linc can focus on just medical school. For so long he was taking care of me & our house & working full-time and going to school. I don't really understand how he did it. I'm SO happy that he won't have to worry about some of those things anymore. 

We are so excited to be moving forward in life. I'm so blessed to have Lincoln by my side. This next chapter of our lives is going to amazing. I just know it!

Now if only I could feel the same way about the actual moving process. I may or may not have asked three different people to come over to my house today to poke my eyes out. This week was a doozy.