Settle Down

We made it! Barely, but hopefully I'll be able to share that long story in another post. We are settling into our new home and lives here in Yuma and, honestly, I am loving it! The weather is fabulous (perfect, in my opinion) right now and the daily sunshine really does wonders on my mental outlook on life. (For those of you in Scranton, don't worry, you'll be able to brag about the weather in a few more months.) The steady job (with income), a beautiful home, an abundance of family and friends, a sense of stability, and hope for future goals don't hurt either! Even though I still have a lot to unpack, go through, decorate and fix around the house as well as all the new projects I keep dreaming up (like working on a garden, building Talmage a train bed, Kaia a playhouse, and me a filing cabinet) I have been losing energy and ambition quickly. I haven't taken a nice bath in my huge tub yet, but I am of the mindset right now to just let my body and my mind recover from the craziness of the last couple of months. Somehow life, activities, and obligations are already quickly filling up my calendar here. I'd better take advantage of the relative ease and quiet now before we are soon outnumbered by another little one! Unfortunately I haven't taken many pictures or loaded them on my computer, but hopefully I will be able to post some soon. For now I just wanted to let everyone know were are still alive.

It's A....

Any guesses? I had my ultrasound on Friday and was able to find out whether we are having a girl or a boy. I have been thinking of the baby as a girl and we have several girl's names that we like. We can't agree on ANY boy's names. So, of course, in true Farar fashion we are having a boy! Everyone says, "Oh don't worry about it, you will come up with a name", but seriously I am always perusing baby names and after several years we haven't been able to come up with a name so now I really feel pressured to do so in just a couple of months! (Great, one more thing to worry about right now :)) I absolutely love the name Teegan (sp. optional) but Dallin says it is too girly. I also kind of like names like Blake, Camden, and Davin (the only one of which Dallin doesn't totally reject is Blake but he already has a cousin named that). Dallin likes names like Clyde, Jackson and Parker. I object. Soooo, PLEASE send us any and all of your great ideas for boys names! I tend to like variations of traditional names (ie made up names), names from last names/ church names (but not Kimball, Brigham, Tanner, etc.), or names from places (like Boston). Dallin likes plane, old, regular boy's names but seems to be open to the types of names I like as long as they are not too girly, don't make him think of any bad nicknames, or aren't already taken by one of his 500 cousins or friends (like that leaves me a lot of options!) I really don't know how we are going to be able to agree on TWO boy's names (first and middle) so Heeeellllllllp!

3:10 to Yuma

Dallin has accepted a job to work in an urgent care facility (PrimeCare) in Yuma, Az. Yeahhhhh! So we will be skipping the looooong winters in PA and heading out to sunny AZ. Although I personally would have preferred the Phoenix area, there are plenty of plusses to living in Yuma- Grandma and Grandpa, lots of other relatives, close to San Diego, etc. Dallin really enjoyed his interview with PrimeCare and is really excited to be working in urgent care. Although he will generally be working four 12-hour shifts (including some nights and weekends) that means he will have three days off every week.

We will drive out to Phoenix for Thanksgiving and to look around for housing. I will fly back to PA with the kids to finish packing up the house and drive once again to AZ sometime before Christmas. It might sound a little crazy, but I think it will be the least stressfull method.

I'm excited for all of the new possibilities. I'm very grateful that Dallin found a job and now we can stop begging and borrowing for money and start paying everything back. On to the new adventure!

Halloween Fun

The kids had a fun time for Halloween. Although Halloween isn't really one of my favorite holidays and despite spending two full days doing nothing but work on their costumes, I think in the end these two adorable little faces made it all worth it. They both did a great job playing their parts and Talmage wasn't shy with his ggrrrrr-aarrrghs.

Of course we carved pumpkins. The kids helped pull out the innards and Kaia drew the pattern for the Jack-O-Lantern.

(These were the best shots I could get since I don't have a tripod.)

Since it rained here on Halloween, we didn't take the kids out trick-or-treating. They didn't mind though because they have just as much fun waiting for the kids to come to our door and then handing out the candy. Besides, they had already gotten plenty of loot and had lots of fun the night before at the trunk-or-treat at the church.

Waiting

Have you all been wondering what has been going on at the Farar household these last few months? Well, we have been ..... waiting. I'm not one who likes not knowing what's happening in the next five years let alone in the next five weeks, but that is exactly what I have had to do. I seriously had my life planned up until the end of September and then after that was a deep dark abyss of the unknown. So here we are in the abyss still .... waiting. Waiting for Dallin to find a job, waiting to know where we will end up, waiting to know how everything is going to work out (living arrangements, financial situation, the next five years after that- I won't bore you with the entire list), and waiting for our new little one to arrive (just checking to see if anyone still checks on my blog).

Okay, okay. So things aren't all as bad as I may worry that they are, but I seriously really, really, really, really dislike (I'm trying to not use the word "hate") not knowing where to put my feet next. Thankfully, there is quite a bit of light at the end of the tunnel. Dallin is currently interviewing for jobs out in Arizona (hence I am able to take the time to blog). He has already been offered a position at each of his first two interviews (both in Yuma) and he still has two more to go (Casa Grande and Avondale)! Way to go Dear! The offers far exceed anything I was expecting, so it looks VERY likely we will end up somewhere in AZ very soon. My cogs are already turning with "what if's" and "maybe we could's", but we'll wait 'til Dallin gets back before we make a final decision.

And, yes, I was teasing you to pique your interest, so, if you have read this far you now know that we are expecting. I am due April 23 and of course we are very excited. Kaia says I am having two babies because she wants a girl and Talmage wants a boy. One of them is going to have to wait a while longer than the other to get what they want!

I'll try to keep you a little more up to date because obviously there will be a lot going on in the next little while.

Dallin's Done!

...well, almost. Dallin has finished all of his classes and tests for school and will officially graduate on Saturday (the 1st). He still has some review lectures this week and then will study on his own to take his national board certification exam (probably at the beginning of Sept.). Then he will be loosed on the world! Unfortunately we still don't know exactly where in the world that will be. We are very excited, but are also nervous about all of the unknowns. Hopefully we can find a great job in a place we love and live happily ever after. Either way, I am proud of Dallin and all that he has accomplished. Waaaahoooooo!

Doing the Wave

Dallin started a game with the kids where they sit on the front steps and wave to all the cars that pass and see how many will wave back. Believe it or not, not too many people wave back. I'll give them the benefit of the doubt since our steps are about 5 feet above street level and there is a good hill in the road just past our house. However, the kids get very excited when someone does wave or honk. Especially Talmage. I have to constantly keep checking for him when I send them out in the backyard to play. He'll run down the side of the house and usually gets in one wave and a "Hiii" before I can catch him. The thought of him being out there by himself sets off all of my motherly insticts and makes my hair stand on end, muscles tighten up, and a few other feelings that only come to a mother when her child's life is in any way threatened. Yeah, I'm not so thrilled that they have been taught to play on top of a big stone wall next to a busy street but as long as they are supervised I guess I will survive.