...And then I cried. Hard.

Gavin took the Texas State Bar at the end of July. We've been anxiously and nervously awaiting for grades to be posted, but we had to wait until this past Friday November 2nd. It's been a long three months.

Even though the Bar said they post grades on the 2nd, Gavin's coworkers said they usually post it earlier so you should start checking on Monday. I bookmarked the page and checked it often, my nerves increasing with each passing day. Monday, nothing. Tuesday, nothing. Wednesday, still nothing. Thursday early morning, nothing. Thursday around 1 pm, I check the home page and the link has changed from "grade release date" to "PASS LIST." At this point my stomach jumps to my throat and I am so nervous. Not that I don't have faith in Gavin, I ABSOLUTELY do, but it is a very hard test and a lot of talented, smart people don't pass on the first go, plus Gavin was at a disadvantage not having gone to a Texas law school so he didn't learn the state laws in school. I felt almost sick I was so nervous and contemplated just calling him and telling him to check it and tell me, but I can't stand suspense and knew I had to hurry up and look or I'd probably explode. I clicked the link, scrolled to find the G's, and then I cried. Hard. He passed! I sat there and sobbed for a few minutes, completely overwhelmed with gratitude, relief, and being so happy and proud of Gavin. His hard work and the fervent prayers of many paid off. What a blessing.

Kind of a dramatic post, but that's how it went down. :) It's ok if there's some drama as long as there's a happy ending, right?

I told Gavin that I was really, really happy for him and proud of him...but I'm also  really, really happy for me too because it's no fun having him study for the Bar and I didn't want to go through that again. :)

So three cheers to the best (and handsomest!) new attorney in Texas! Hip hip hooray!

Pumpkin patch

We had a lot of fun while Gavin's parents visited. One the best things we did was go to a pumpkin patch called TGR Exotics, hosted by Gavin's work. It was so much fun and we got some great pictures. TGR has rescued a bunch of animals that we don't usually get to see and we had fun riding around in the tractor learning about the animals. They had camels, an emu, water buffalo, the World Record smallest buffalo, pigs, bearcats, coatimundi, capybara, a kangaroo, and a few other farm animals.

The weather here has been about 85 degrees (LOVE IT!) but that day it cooled to around 70 degrees. It felt like fall in Idaho for a bit.

Emery is generally afraid of animals, but she did really great today. We try to expose her gently but as often as we can and I think it's helping. She still looks unsure in this  picture though.

Loving being held by Grandma, and trying not to laugh as I tickle her. 

All the animals were so friendly and wanted attention. They  followed around the tractor, getting pet when they could.

Emery didn't care much about the kangaroo, but she did want to eat some of that dried corn  sitting in the dirt.

It was a great day and we were so glad John and Mary Lou came to visit. We are loving it down here and it was fun to share Houston with them for a few days.

What I do all day in 3 pictures

"Don't eat that Emery!"

"Emery, put it down, that's not for eating."

nom 
"Sigh."

Birthday cake

We didn't really have a birthday party for Emery this year. Maybe I'll do one another time, but I just couldn't be bothered this year. She finally has some toys thanks to her grandparents, and we actually got her something a few weeks ago which I just now remembered is still sitting upstairs in the closet...oops. Good thing I have a few years to get good at this birthday thing before she actually remembers anything about it. :) 

We waited a few days to have cake until Gavin's parents arrived. They came to visit for a few days and we had so much fun. Emery LOVED having them around, more than she loved eating cake and she REALLY loved eating cake. Here's some pictures of the event:

It was so hilarious watching her shovel it in. She had cheeks BULGING with cake and would still have both hands trying to fit more in. Finally I took it away and that's why the sad face in the last picture. Oh what a cutie. Happy First Birthday Emery!

One year old

Emery recently turned ONE YEAR OLD! What a wonderful year it has been, filled with exciting changes and happy adventures. Gavin and I are amazed at how deeply we love Emery. She is so sweet, happy, and best of all cuddly! She wants to be held by everyone we meet and will give them snuggles and hugs for as long as they hold her. People love to pass her around at church because she seriously just LOVES on you if you hold her. She is pretty laid back and lets us cart her around to our different activities, just smiling all the time. I'm a bit behind in pictures of her so the next few posts might be full of just Emery.

These were taken by Gavin in our OWN backyard! We finally have a backyard! You might notice in the pictures that Emery seems to still be lacking teeth. She does have her two bottom ones almost all the way in...but that's it so far.

Settling down

Well, we are all moved in and we are LOVING being in a house. The excitement hasn't worn off after 2 weeks and I sometimes still find myself giggling with happiness when I walk down the stairs, or when it's raining and I remember we have a garage now, or when I go grocery shopping and there's a moment of dread where I think about hauling all those bags up 3 flights of stairs but then house memories return and I'm so happy I fill the cart with twice as much stuff because it's soooo easy now (Gavin is not such a fan of those last moments).

It feels like it has been a crazy mess of emotions: EXCITEMENT to finally have a home and grow roots and live in a real neighborhood, overwhelming GRATITUDE to The Lord for all His mercy and blessings, to our realtor, lenders, builders and everyone who made it possible for us to move in on time, GUILT that we don't deserve such a beautiful place, FEAR that what if this is the wrong decision or what if something terrible happens and Gavin loses his job what do we do then if we have this house to pay for, and lots of other emotions. Mostly I've just been so happy, but I've been glad for the negative emotions to keep me grounded and to strengthen my faith that no matter what happens, if we hold tight to each other and keep our faith and trust in Heavenly Father then everything will be alright.

I tried to post some pictures of the inside of the house, but it isn't working so you get this picture of Emery sleeping instead. She likes to play with hair when she's tired and I think she fell asleep while twirling her piggy tail and her hand slipped down.

Dirty feet

When we were still in our apartment Emery crawled out on the balcony after me one day. Look at those feet--yikes.