THE PARK POST

 New Year's Eve the kids and I started driving around 9 am so that we could make it to St. George for our Ogden/Fabrizio family reunion by mid afternoon.  Unfortunately the weather did not cooperate and because AZ isn't prepared for snow they simply had to shut I-40 completely down.  Consequently that meant we were stuck on the freeway at a stand still for almost 5 hours.  We actually had some good bonding time and the kids were pretty positive in a bad situation.  It got a little scary though when we started realizing we had no food or water or bathroom.  One of our tiny miracles was finding the chick fil a mint at the bottom of the sack.  We all took a nibble and were so grateful for it. We witnessed several people relieving themselves on the side of the road.  It was quite an education.  Luckily we all were able to make it to the gas station in time and I can tell you I have never been happier to see a gross gas station bathroom in ...

  CHRISTMAS with extended family!   So glad Licia and Matt live close.  We haven't had that for a long time.  She's the only one left that really gets excited!! Loved having my parents here!   Our attempt for a Christmas card photo did not go so well.  Hmmmm.  One of these people is not cooperating!! We loved playing Whatif!     CHRISTMAS EVE   It was so great to have Grandma and Grandpa Park come the day after Christmas.  We trekked out to a ghost town and felt like we were in the Wild West. Why is my hubby always taking the pics?  I guess he's the photographer and I'm the blogger.   Another classic Jackson picture that he'll regret in a few years. :) Tia Rosa's is muy delicioso!

 Thanksgiving 2014 was our moving week.  We spent a few nights in a hotel in Columbus, then headed out of town Friday the 21st.  We drove through Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, New Mexico and stayed the last night in Flagstaff, Arizona.  It  was fun to see some new states we had never been in before and we even got to see my cousin Cory and his family in Albuquerque.  We arrived in Gilbert on Mon. the 24th and moved into our new house on the 25th.  We have so many things to be thankful for!  1. We made it all the way across the country in two cars with no car troubles or accidents! (Although I did make the mistake of having the car fixed the morning we were supposed to leave and it cost us 4 hours or so, but taught us how to be patient.)   2. Ace flew to AZ on an airplane.  How the dog became #1 on the priority list I'll never know.  Licia and Matt were nice enough to take him for a few days so we could get set...

       With November and the Georgia Fall in full bloom, we faced another major crossroad in our life, picking up and moving back WEST. On paper it really didn't make sense.  We were leaving a house (we hadn't sold and still haven't), neighborhood, beautiful climate and trees, and most importantly friends that we loved.  Mike would be taking a major pay cut, and leaving a company that begged him to stay, promising a promotion as chief of Radiology at the hospital.  We were moving mid year which was not going to be easy on the kids (especially McKell), and they were leaving the comfort of everything they had known for the last 5 1/2 years.  And did I mention the sheer terror of having to pack up everything you own, down to the tiniest hair ties and pennies that seem to be under every chair or sofa that gets moved.       Despite all of the good reasons to not move, and there were a lot, one thing kept pulling on us to take a leap of ...