Hi Ya'll from Texas

Well, we made it through our first week here in Texas! Our 2 bedrrom apartment is actually a lot nicer and bigger than we expected. We are enjoying all the provided furnishings and the amenities. There's a pool, fitness room, clubhouse, and BBQs as part of the apartment perks. Ben is really close to work and it's so nice that he doesn't have to commute far.

We are enjoying the ward. There are some really nice people. It's pretty transient since a lot are students or in apartments. But one of the first families we met on Sunday was a guy who is actually starting ASU's MBA program this fall...what a small world!

So far this week, we have visited some local parks (Austin has a lot of metropolitan parks in the middle of the city). We went to the river that runs through the city and took a walk and ate at some local food places. We also went to the Austin ChinaTown and took a trip to Round Rock up north. We looked at some homes there and went shopping at the outlets. It's pretty humid here and it's only May! The streets are also crazy and I got lost going to the grocery store a mile away from our house (the store by the way is a Texas chain called H.E.B., which I found out stands for "Here, Everything's Bigger"--we're definitely in Texas)!

There are two other LDS families that are doing internships at Dell and we met up with them the day after we got to Austin and had dinner. The boys and I also met up with a family who are in our ward and also our apartments to play at a gymnastics center. They have daughters almost the exact same ages as Sam and Jared. He had so much fun running around and especially loved the rope swing!

We have also been swimming A LOT! Sam loves the pool here and we bought him a life-jacket swimsuit and a pool rider toy for both Sam and Jared so I can juggle two boys in the pool easier. Ben joined us this weekend and it was perfect weather for splashing!

Well, some good news too! Sam is potty trained! It happened so fast! On Wednesday, I decided to put him in underwear and he went a little bit in his underwear and I told him to finish in the potty and he did. And then we put on new underwear and from then on, he didn't have an accident that whole day! He's had a few accidents since but I'm definitely glad I didn't push him and let him do it on his own time. It's so much easier for me!

Jared is getting bigger all of a sudden too. He's really close to crawling. He rocks on all fours and scoots very discreetly on his bottom. He's so funny...you almost think he does it by accident! He's also "talking" more and using more consonants which is new for him. On Saturday, he also started waving in response to our waving. We're getting used to such a laid-back baby but it is definitely welcome! He is such a cutie!