We're thankful, we're thankful, we're oh so thankful!

What a day! We were blessed to go to the Blake's house for dinner on Thanksgiving.  Dave Blake works in the nursery with us and is amazing!  The whole family is amazing!  Their family goes onto the list of all that we are grateful for!  The Pace family was also there, and it was a feast to remember!  The food was delicious, the company was the best next to family (they felt like it), and Brady and I both felt so grateful for all our blessings!

Isn't gratitude a tricky thing?  You start listing things you're grateful for, and you realize you can't stop.  No matter life's circumstances, when I express my gratitude, I see the Lord in each aspect of life.  Gratitude is an expression of faith.  And it is true.  So I don't want to be grateful just one day, I am grateful everyday.  To see why, go here.  Or just look at my husband.

But such a fun day!

Brady was working on that blink.  Or just really happy.

Ping pong to work up an appetite

Lacrosse after the feast

Faces to be thankful for

Happy Thanksgiving!

That night we decided to be daring and head out to the Houston Premium Outlets.  These were by far the best outlets I have ever experienced.  Primm in Las Vegas doesn't even come close.  And these people came ready to shop.  When we first got there, we saw a mom and daughter get out of their car with suitcases!

Photo is blurry, but suitcase is fully visible

Long night

We woke up wondering if this is what it feels like to be old.  

Tennis

Since dating, Brady and I have loved Tennis, so it has been a blast that we can still go out and play at night.  We have managed to play usually three times a week!  Sadly, I don't win every time.

Right now our friends created a tennis tournament that has gotten us to get with friends to play.  We are in the semi-finals!  We play Kyle and Kina next.  They are a power couple.  Amazing.  BOTH in medical school, and also they get up early in the morning to go work out (including Kyle playing tennis with a bunch of pros).  We're kind of scared.  They're inspiring.

But either way, playing tennis in November in shorts and t-shirts and still getting hot!  This sounds perfect to us.

After our first game vs. Ted and Megan.  Sweaty, but fun!

High 80s in November

When leaves started changing in Utah, Brady and I started feeling sad we were missing Fall.  But then when we were still going outside at night in shorts and t-shirts in November... we continued to love where we are!

For Halloween, Brady and I were cows!  Not so exciting?  Well we got free Chipotle burritos because of it.  My favorite costume was a co-worker...

Watching her do therapy was amazing and hilarious.

My birthday came, and I felt loved by everyone!  At work I got breakfast and cupcakes.  Family combined together to get me a new camera!  So I am back to taking pictures!  And more surprises from siblings!  Thank you all for all the love!  We went to Potbellys for dinner, and then friends came over for cake and ice cream.  Yes, we have friends!  Although... no pictures of then were taken, so there is no proof.

Brady put me to work making FunFetti Cake, his favorite.

But he worked too.  This shows the panorama mode my new camera will do. Pretty cool.

Nelsons to Houston

The second week of September my parents came to visit and welcome us in Houston!  It was a fun weekend of eating, shopping, football, and being together!  Friday we spent the day in Nordstrom Rack while my dad found a deal on a suit he has been wanting for 10 years!  So of course, he had to get it!  It is a dashing suit!  Then, while my mom shopped for food to cook us dinner at the nation's top grocery store, Central Market, my dad and I enjoyed the nice surroundings by eating sample after sample of watermelon, pineapple, orange-carrot juice, ice cream, and more (H-E-B is good for the samples too, it's our go-to grocery store here, way better than Smiths in Provo). 

Friday night we went to Ruggles and enjoyed a delicious meal!  At one point my dad put his napkin down while my mom and I were in the bathroom, and the waiter came and folded it and put it back on the table nicely.  We came back and he kept talking about how he had never seen such amazing service, and he kept putting is napkin down again hoping the waiter would fold the napkin again.  Finally, my dad asked the waiter about this previous service he had performed... of course.  He said he did it because he thought it was my moms!  Ha.  My dad was disappointed.

Then we went to Austin to watch BYU play the University of Texas!  (Go Longhorns!)  There were over 100,000 fans there!  Amazing!  

Before the game we walked along the Ladybird Johnson Parkway

The beginning of the game was SO hot!  All of us were glistening and melting!

The picture before this was my dad reaching to take off his sunglasses.  The poor man had to wear them all night because he forgot his other glasses!

BYU lost, but the Heaps weren't devastated.  We were just excited Matt Edwards got to be there and we saw him! 

This was another fun weekend with parents!  Thank you for coming, mom and dad!  We love you both!

Life in Texas begins

When the Heaps left, the busyness of life began!  Brady started medical school at the University of Texas Medical School at Houston . . .

and I started my internship at TIRR Memorial Hermann doing therapeutic recreation...

We are going green and riding our bikes to and from work/school each day!  Really, it is just more convenient, but it wakes us up in the morning!  Our buildings are a block away from each other, so we meet for lunch almost every day!  This hour together in the middle of busy days is such a nice break!  We feel like every part of life has just been put perfectly in place, and we feel loved and blessed by our Heavenly Father every day because of this!  Go here to learn more.

Experiences from school/work over the past four months include...
-Jane getting hit by a car while riding to work
-Brady smelling like dead people when he comes home
-Getting caught in luckily only one rain storm to ride home, but getting completely drenched this one time
-Guy at lunch who wears the shoes and pants that go above his ankles every day
-Brady rocking his first two rounds of tests
-Jane applying for a job (interviewing this week)
-Brady sawing a body in half like a magician, but no magic involved
-Tickets given to us to a Houston Texans game on the 18th row, 50 yard line! (pictures lost, just our luck)

Way too many stories to tell.

Back to the Heat and the Heaps!

The heat wasn't fun to come back to, but Dennis and Claudia were!  They came to visit for Brady's white coat ceremony and their first real tour of Houston (they were the tour guides).  

First we went to the Houston Zoo!  We enjoyed the mist fans, but it was still too hot.  There were, of course, lots of animals.  But I had never seen a cow like this at the Hogle Zoo...

And this animal is a mix between a giraffe and a zebra.  It's tongue is so long it can lick it's ears.  Interesting.

Then that night was Brady's white coat ceremony, and it was packed!  There are over 200 students in his class, and this building was stacked full of supporters.  

But he did it, white coat on, and oath signed!

The next day we went to the Kemah Board Walk.  On the coast... but not really.  We ate at the best barbecue place!  It was on Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives and called Tbone Toms.  It was delicious!

The next day we went to NASA.  I'm not the biggest fan of NASA, and I like to make fun of it to bug Brady.  So I was all ready for fun, I had my camera out and ready... until it fell in the toilet and stopped working forever.  NASA did not go up in my book.  But I did get two great pictures before.

The picture to prove we were there...

And the picture to make fun of it... but also proof that Dennis was there!

But, NASA deserves more credit than I give it.  It was really interesting going on the tour and seeing a shuttle and learning about the process.  It takes a lot of smart people to put it all together... but I'm glad it's kind of over... come on, really, the moon? (insert Brady getting mad)

It was so fun having Dennis and Claudia here with us!  They helped us get to know Houston and the surrounding areas better!  And they are a blast to hang out with!  Thank you both for spending your vacation with us!  We love you guys!

Newport

Not even a week after moving to Houston, we packed our bags again for Newport Beach, California!  This was a nice break from the 110 degree heat in Houston.  We played lots of Tennis, Brady ate his first Balboa Bar and many more, devoured Rose's Bakery sandwiches and donuts, played my first game of Settlers of Catan, and enjoyed a week of beach, family, and sunshine!

it was sunny

Brady teaching one of the girls to boogie board, they adore him.

Notice how Vanessa and Jake are in on the action of burying Brady...

But they disappeared for the finished photo.  Ellie worked, Ella and Ava were cheerleaders.

Ella fell completely in love with Brady at this moment.

Ella in love 

Darling family on the beach for a walk 

He is enjoying the fact of not having to cut his hair for BYU

Notice Colton at the bottom of the photo also soaked.  A wave took Colton down, and my dear mother went to pick him up and a wave took her out!  All the adults couldn't stop laughing... sorry mom!

This was such a fun trip!  We wish we could have stayed longer, but back to the heat we go!

The Move

This summer, Brady and I packed up our 600 sq foot apartment and took off on the adventure that will encompass the next ten years of our lives.  Our last days of work were triumphant, and the cleaning, packing, and sleeping on the floor was back-aching.  But we did it!  The day before leaving, we went to pick up our moving van and they told us they had to upgrade us so we could pull our car . . .

The lovely Birdie/Burt/Bart (his name kept changing)

This vehicle was massive.  So we packed it up, with the help of friends, and said our goodbyes.  Even though we were going to see some of our family in a couple of weeks, it was still a sad goodbye!

And we were off!  The drive brought along some fun surprises including:

-brakes shaking

-witnessing a car accident INTO a hotel on the side of the highway

-Panera Bread and hanging out with Jess & Russell

-Sour Watermelons and Bridge Mix from the Reids (yes, Brady is an old man)

-Bums at gas stations

-Driving through Brady's mission

-THE HELP (audiobook MUST)

And then we got to Texas

But the drive wasn't over.  Our first stop in Texas was at Witchita Falls.  I never want to go there again.  It was late, and we were going to break our long streak of no soda.  This was a horrible place to do this because the water is terrible!  We stopped at Wendy's and McDonalds, and both were horrible.  Brady claims this was where he got nervous... "oh no, she already hates Texas..."

Then came the hotel.  Motel 6 in Fort Worth is not the place to take a family.  Or anyone you love.  The truck parking was full (really?) and there were bars on the windows for the office (we had to stand outside to pay).  Again, loving Texas at this point.

But the next day, Potbelly's (the BEST sandwich) was found and we arrived in Houston!

Houston, woohoo baby!!