Pâté, Pregnancy, and a Place to call home!

I failed to mention that during week one, I got a sad phone call from my family saying our dog, Sandy, passed away. I know I wasn’t as close to her as some people are with their dogs, but she was definitely a big part of my childhood and a constant in my older years. We got her when she was a puppy-she was the runt of 4 dogs left in a box on the side of a bridge. I remember playing with her in the backyard in Baton Rouge, and on days when I was mad at my parents, I promised her we would run away together. Then, on our move to Texas, we took a pit-stop in Utah for family vacation. Sandy came with us, but record heat waves prevented her from coming home with us. So, she lived with Grandma and Grandpa McKay for a year or so until Aunt Tori brought her back to us! I remember taking her on “walks” where we could run while Sandy chased us around the block. She was always great at catching rats. She never really learned any tricks-she hardly knew her name, but we loved her anyway. By the end, she was completely blind, deaf, and lost her sense of smell. I hope she’s up there in doggy heaven eating treats to her hearts content and chasing the birds. Love you, Sandy!

Alright, on to the happy stuff of the week:

Oh happy day! WE FOUND A HOUSE!!!!!!! Carol Beasley (who we met doing the pageants this summer) drove almost an hour from her house to pick up Rachel and me, then we drove into Harborne area (another 45 min) for some house viewings. Two agencies called to cancel viewings, and there was no agent at the third viewing-not a promising start to the day. After waiting for 10 minutes, the agent came to show us the little house while Carol kept Rachel entertained. The house was one of the most up to date I’ve seen, it’s in a decent neighborhood-close enough to friends, church, and school, and it’s the right price. It has new paint and carpets, and it has a little garden in back Rachel can play in! There are parks, grocery shopping, and bus stops within walking distance, so I said we’d take it! Paul was done with school at 1, so we picked him up and Carol took us to lunch at Marks and Spencers to celebrate! (The hot chocolate is amazing by the way!) We had to get some of our financial information in order for the agency to take it off the market, and we weren’t sure they could do my referencing without a UK bank account or driver’s license, but I felt good about putting down a deposit and going forward. I’ll figure out some way to prove I am who I say I am. ***Just found out our referencing went through. We sign the papers Thursday!! Keep your fingers crossed everybody!***

This was Paul’s first week of school! I love hearing about his classes-makes me miss school… a little bit. He is hilarious. Can’t stand the “ethereal” stuff, but he likes most of his professors and classmates, and he’s excited for Merchant of Venice-their first project. He is most excited about taking voice lessons for the first time in his life! Ha!

*Not so funny-funny story: He usually gets a ride home with Bev, but she finished early one day. He had somehow forgotten his wallet at home, so when class finished at 6, he bummed money from a friend to ride the train. He couldn’t call us (I had the phone) when he got to the Lichfield station, so he walked 25 minutes home in the rain! Bless him. I thought he’d be grumpy, but he was a good sport about it! Becky and I had gone out looking for him, but we just missed him I guess. Poor guy.

Got to chat with Charly and Loren for a little this week! Can’t wait to see them… sometime!

Saturday, we took an outing to help Becky find a new laptop and shop around IKEA. We walked around a furniture store so I could get some ideas about beds-the sizing is different in the UK. (Queen size doesn’t exist, it’s called a king over here-see everything is smaller.) We listened to some Michael Jackson in the car, Rachel learned the thriller arms, and she made all of us do them with her. SO cute!

GENERAL CONFERENCE: It was fun to watch in the evenings! The sessions are 5-7 and 9-11 pm. Then Paul stayed up in the night to watch the Priesthood Session. It was so comforting to hear the familiar voices and even see some friends, but the best part was being able to hear inspired messages. Sometimes conference leaves me feeling really overwhelmed with all the things I need to do better, but I wasn’t overwhelmed this time. I am excited to apply the things I learned, and I felt so much love and comfort-just what I needed. I especially loved the WOMENS SESSION and the video about the temple. If you are a woman, you should really go listen to those talks. (Especially President Uchtdorf!)

We went to the Beasley’s for the Sunday sessions, and we had so much fun! We tried “pâté” and Rachel loved it! They also had American peanut butter and jelly, chocolate milk, kool aid, and root beer. So cute! Rachel loved jumping on their trampoline between sessions with Jacob and Paul, and she had fun finding every toy in the house until she got a bad nappy rash. Poor thing. We let her play in the bathtub and sang “frozen” and “tangled” with Becca and Carol. They were so great with her, and they kept finding things to send home with us. It was so nice to be spoiled and have a fun, spiritually uplifting day with such dear friends.

Baby Alice is due on the Sunday! I am SO ready to not be pregnant, but I’m not ready to take care of another baby just yet. I’m hoping we can get into our new place this week and then have this baby as soon as we are settled! If we can find a decently priced bed and sofa, I think I can survive. Oh yeah, a dryer and some dishes would be good too. I think we've found a way to beg, borrow, or steal everything else.

**Sidenote: I can't list everyone who has helped us thus far, but I hope each one knows how much we appreciate their help. My parents, Ggie, the Mace family, Rachael Pratt, the Beasley family, Shantal, Leah, others who have offered financial support or words of encouragement... I feel so incredibly grateful for the help you've given. Listening to Jeffrey R. Holland's talk, I was thinking of these examples in my life-people who quite literally have given us the shirt off their back. We pray for you and hope we can repay you some day.**

RACHEL’S CORNER:
-She now says “Oh gosh!" and “I’m excited!” and “I like it!” at the most hilarious times.
-She apparently loves eating peas
-Her hair grows SO fast!
-obsessed with the minions from Despicable Me
-She still loves Archie, the dog
-She is a lot happier now that I have more time to play with her (I’m not on the phone and computer looking for housing…just furniture now…)
-Very much a daddy’s girl
-Working on learning colors and the word “yes”
-pretends to take selfies on my phone
-loves going to visit “Becky’s room” to chat with Becky and look at the Tangled poster
-put seashells in the Mace’s toilet yesterday… oops!

Here is a glimpse of Family Home Evening: