What a month!! I cannot even begin to explain how crazy busy the Clark family has been but I will sure try. Preston is officially done with school classes and starts his Administrative Residency with Sierra Providence Memorial Hospital on January 12th. He is very excited about this step in his career and looks forward to learning and growing in his field.
We are now in El Paso, TX and enjoying it. I have to admit we were pleasantly surprised with what El Paso has to offer and the location we are living. The move itself went so smoothly and we were so blessed to have help on both ends. Jackson was very helpful in the unpacking area, he loved to pull stuff out of boxes which wasn't so cute when we were trying to pack them haha. The drive was great even with nothing in between San Antonio and El Paso. Preston drove the truck while towing a car and Jack and I were in the other car packed to the brim. The land between was very deserted, it kind of reminded me of parts of Wyoming only slightly prettier :) We really feel like this is the place for us.
What happens when you are packing in the other room and you realize it's been quiet for too long? Your child opens the puffs container you had hidden in the diaper bag with his teeth and decides it's snack time. PS thank you Aunt Patty for the cute outfit he's wearing :)
Daddy's lil helper
We had to make a few last stops at some of our favorite restaurants. This is one of our favorite BBQ places.
Easiest way for Mom and Dad to pack :) Baby Einstein and a pack n play!
Goodbye Cheesecake Factory :( You will be missed! Look at those baby blues! Such a cutie pie.
Boxes, boxes, and more boxes! Packing up the old apartment.
Preston finding himself in an interesting predicament. Hmmm how do I get out of here now?
Ready to go.
Mr. Jack taking a break for lunch once we got to the new place. He loves noodles.
Our lil Harry Potter :)
Hey Dad, can I help?
A look at the new place. We like to call it organized chaos.
We were in El Paso for about a week and then packed up the car one more time and headed north to Utah to have Christmas with our families. We were so excited to spend this wonderful time of year with loved ones. The drive seemed long on the way there but I think it's because we were so excited to see everyone. Our 2 week vacation before Preston starts his job ended up being 2 weeks of non stop movement. We enjoyed every minute of it but looked forward to taking a breather once we got home :)
Snapshot before the 13 hour drive.
Hello New Mexico!
Hey there Colorado!
Are we there yet? Jack was such a trooper. He did great on the drive especially since we pushed the first day to 9 hours of driving. Poor kid was ready to be free!
Of course our first stop was Cafe Rio! Welcome back to Utah!!
Enjoying our meal.
My baby boy and I during lunch.
We got into Lehi in the late afternoon after making a few pit stops we needed to before Christmas. That night we had the privilege of attending the famous Curtis Christmas Party. This was the first year I have been able to attend since Pres and I have usually been on vacation or having a baby :) It was quite a treat I must admit. It was so nice seeing everyone and introducing Jack to those that haven't had the pleasure yet of meeting him.
Family Fun
The gang
The other half of the gang.
Shelby and Teagan with Bri in the back ground with his new gift...salad tongs haha.
Pres feeling very festive :) What a handsome guy!
One of my favorite parts of the night was when Grandma pulled out the chimes for us to play Christmas music and do a sing along. It was so fun and highly entertaining.
Not sure how Grandpa fell asleep through all of that but he sure did :)
Clark crew at the Curtis home.
The following morning Pres and I were spending sometime with Erin's roommate Becca, just talking about anything and everything when Pres asked me for some chapstick. It was so dry in Utah and we were not used to it. We were constantly applying chapstick and lotion. Anyway, I remembered that Grandma Curtis gave us some in our bag of goodies so I tossed him that one. All of a sudden through mid sentence Becca looked at Preston puzzled and asked, "Why are you wearing red lipstick?" I turned to see and about died in laughter. Pres looked at me confused and I said, "You really are! haha". The chapstick Grandma had given us was a tinted one and I had no idea. I was literally in tears as we all laughed. Pres got up to go and see and sure enough he was wearing lipstick. It was a great day! I had to get a pic HAHA.
Oh so pretty.
On Christmas Eve we had the privilege to spend time with Grandpa and Grandma Clark. Grandma had been ill for quite sometime and we were unsure if we were going to be able to see her again before the Lord decided to take her home. Sure enough 5 days after our visit our Heavenly Father called home one of the most amazing women I have ever had the pleasure of meeting and getting to know. Grandma Clark is such an incredible woman and I learned so much from her in the moments we had together over these past 4 years. I absolutely adore her and I have to admit I love the idea of her being a guardian angel over our family. She will forever be in our hearts and minds as we strive to lead half the life she did.
Grandma Skyping with Scott and Sandy in the Philippines. She couldn't get over that they were there and she was here and they could hear each other. It was so cute.
Us with Grandpa Clark
I absolutely LOVE this picture! Grandma just kept kissing Jacks bald head and loved holding him.
When we went to visit the rest of the gang was there as well so I had to capture this moment. So much love in that room.
Shelb and Bri so festive on this Christmas Eve.
That night we headed up to the Calderwood Plantation for Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and birthday fun. We were so excited to spend this year with family. The Spung side had not been all together for Christmas for around 8 years! Britt and Drew came home for Christmas as well, and it was a breathe of fresh air to see them again after 6 months of being in Anguilla. It was very much needed for us all to be together. It was so much fun!! Full of laughter, games, food, and great conversation. It's always a party when we get together.
Kami in her new jammies.
Spung clan. Dang we are growing in numbers huh?!
We all received pj's from Mom and Dad on Christmas Eve and loved opening them!! That's been a Spung tradition my whole life, so it was great to do it this year. Spouses received matching jammies as well. It was so fun.
Christmas morning came early in the Calderwood home. We all headed upstairs around 6 am and Jack woke up around 730 am so he was loving life when he came up and saw so many gifts open that he could play with. Aunt Angie and Uncle Corey bought him this mower and he LOVES it!!
Hailey and James in matching pjs. So cute.
Lydia keeping Pops out of the rain.
Most of the Calderwoods on Christmas morning.
Making gingerbread houses or in this case a stadium! Britt and Drew with Cody.
Pops, Lydi Bug, and Kam Jam making a castle for a princess :)
The Castle.
Jackson just watching patiently oh and sneaking candies from his Dad.
The Nativity made by Mom, Erin, and Haley
The Castle won 1st prize!
Jim, Aubrey, and Angie with the Sears Tower. (I still can't bring myself to calling it Willis Tower.)
Better look
Clarks made a church. Let's just say it was our first time and it didn't go so well so we made it into whatever it ended up looking like haha.
Uncle Jimmy reading to Jack.
While we were all together we decided to celebrate Jimmy and Jack's birthdays on Jimmy's birthday. So we had an awesome 1st bday party on the 26th!!
Jackson got an activity table from Grandpa and Grandma Clark in the Philippines and loves it!! He also received books, clothes, and figurines from Mom and Dad and his Aunts and Uncles. He loved his birthday.
Getting ready for cake. Pres was so worried that Jack would be one of those babies that just didn't even care about the cake but oh how wrong he was. Jackson LOVED it!!
Happy 1st Birthday lil man!!
A very much needed bath time!
Jimmy celebrating 30 years of life!! Look at that bonfire, holy smokes!!
We were so excited to get everyone together one last time before the Koudelka's headed back to Boise. We had a delicious breakfast at Kneaders and then headed to IKEA since most of us were out of staters and didn't have one close by. It was great to get the few things we needed and spend as much time as we could together.
Brian with Claire and Teagan.
The Clark grandkids! How cute are they?
One more :)
IKEA fun!
We spent New Years up in Midway at the Calderwoods. It was great to have almost everyone together again before we all had to go our separate ways. I'm not gonna lie, we rang in the New Year at 11pm because we were all so tired haha.
Just a fun shot from an overlook in Midway. So beautiful!
Calderwood kids. Cody, Haley, Aubrey, and Kami ringing in the New Year in style :)
Britt, Erin, Pops (being goofy haha), and Mom
Ang and Cor
Oh yea, and these 2 love birds! :)
We hope you all had an amazing holiday season and New Year! Here's to an amazing 2015 with lots of laughter, fun, and surprises!
