The Town Square

Our first week here we made time to get out of the house and visit the Bentonville town square.  The kids picked out toys at Walton's 5-10 (five and dime).  It was one of the first stores opened by the Waltons.  They have a museum about the progression of Wal-Mart that was quite interesting.  It really is amazing what Sam Walton did.  He started a store in Arkansas and grew it into the largest retailer in the world.  The square is really fun.  They do concerts on Friday nights, and farmer's markets Saturday mornings.  Our favorite restaurant Table Mesa is there too.  The kids had fun getting out of the house and going on our first adventure together in Arkansas. We ate at The Station Cafe.  They have the best burgers around.  Jace wasn't too sure about the confederate soldier statue they have in the middle of square - he's going to have to get used to the fact that we are in the South now. lol.  We also stopped and walked some of the bike trails at Crystal Bridges Art Museum.  We will most definitely be frequenting that place.  It was AMAZING!!  They have tons of walking/biking trails, kid's crafts, and amazing art ... and it's all free.

The Five and Dime is a really fun little store that you can get all sorts of old toys and candies.  Jace got a bow and arrow and Brooke got an old wind up music box.  It's really fun.  The kids love it.

We stopped for Ice cream too.  Yum!!

Moving

A good friend of ours volunteered to watch Jace and Brooke while Craig and I did our preview trip out to AR to secure housing and buy a car.  It worked out great because she lives right next to kids elementary school and both of her kids are in the same classes as my kids.  We took Ty with us.  It was crazy finding housing.  I came out super prepared.  I had a list of 20 houses that I had sent to our realtor the day before.  By the time we arrived the next day there was 4 left.  We couldn't find a 4bed at all.  Boo!  It was like hunger games for houses.  There were so many people looking for houses to rent all at the same time that it made it really difficult to find anything.  We didn't end up in the neighborhood that I originally wanted but we like what we found.  It's a 3 bed so it will only work for a year for us but we're happy and feel good about it.    After we signed a contract for a house we headed over to the Mazda dealership to buy a Mazda 5.  We were able to talk them down quite a bit and were happy driving our first brand new car off the lot.  It was a fun trip.  Craig's dad came over from Oklahoma and helped out with Ty and we got to eat out a lot and it was all on Wal-Marts tab.  :)  When we got back we had less than a week before we were flying out again.  This time with the kids to stay.  I didn't take my camera with me on the trip and didn't get many pictures of the whole moving process because it was just too chaotic.  Here are a few that I did get.

So what do you do when the packers have come, the house is cleaned out and there is no tv, music, or toys??  Brooke got creative and made a band out of what was left over in the fridge.  This girl cracks me up.

The kids are going to miss this house!!

Krynn had her 6th birthday party at Pump it Up the night before we left for Arkansas.  They had so much fun together.  They decided to be pen pals and are already planning how they are going to visit each other.

Saying good bye to our AZ home.  

The kids got close to our neighbors across the street.  They were sad to say good bye.

We had to get stop by the Thunderbird School of Global Management one last time.  It has been a huge part of our time here in AZ with Craig attending the school then working for them.  I'm sure we'll be back for visits.

 It was quite the challenge getting 3 kids, 2 car seats, a booster seat, stroller, 5 suitcases, and 2 carry on bags from shuttle to airport and through security.  We had a layover in Dallas and got dinner then the next flight was only 45 minutes.  The kids were pretty good for the most part.  They loved being on a plane and riding the train in the Dallas airport.
 

Unpacking took longer than expected.  It's been a month and I'm just getting done with the house .. I haven't even touched the stuff in the garage.  The packers used SO much packing paper.  It filled up an ENTIRE room.  The kids had fun playing in it though.

Last Day of School

Jace was sick on his last day of school but we still stopped by the store and picked up some flowers for our favorite teacher.  Ms. Austin has been just what Jace needed this year.  We adore her!  She is the best.  Good teachers make for a much smoother year.  Hopefully we get as lucky next year as well.

Cheeto Coma

This kid LOVES Cheetos.  Things have bee chaotic getting ready to move.  Mommy has been busy deep cleaning and going through everything so the packers don't pack our junk.  It's exhausting for all of us.

Brooke's Kindergarten Graduation

My little princess graduated Kindergarten!!  She looked adorable all in pink.  She had a wonderful year in Ms. Sullivans class.  She sang her little heart out at the graduation performance.  It was a nice change to actually have a child that participates in the singing and actions of the program. lol :)  As each of the kids names were announced to walk across the stage to accept their diploma from the principal they also included what they want to be when they grow up.  We heard doctors, fireman, doughnut maker, moms, nail painter, etc...  as they announced our daughter .... Brooke Brammer wants to be a Mermaid when she grows up.  She proudly walked across the stage to lots of cheers and laughter.  I was thinking she was going to say a mom, lifeguard, and singer but she does LOVE mermaids.  She's going to miss her classmates.  Especially her best friend Krynn. They are two peas in a pod.  I'm so proud of my little sweetheart.

Going Away Party

Our dear friends, the Snows did a going away party for us, Hansens, Christiansens, and Leotas.  It was so good to see everyone before we left.  What good friends we made here in Arizona.  We will miss you!!

Mother's Day

For Mother's Day I enjoyed a lovely day at church.  Ty and Jace were sick so Craig stayed home with them.  I came home to a wonderful spaghetti dinner that the family had prepared for me.  It was a wonderful day.  

I love being a mommy!  The kids each had cards for me and I got flowers and chocolate too. :)

Bye Bye Hyundai

 We have a love/hate relationship with this car.  It is ugly beyond means.  It has dents and scratches and missing paint.  The material part of the roof is sinking down in the back and the speakers only work some of the time.  The rear window no longer rolls down and there is a crack in the rear light.  This car runs great though.  We have been waiting for it to die and it just never did.  Ironically we sold it for only a few hundred dollars less than what we bought it for 7 years ago.  That's what I call a good deal.  Bye Bye Hyundai.  You treated us great but I won't miss driving you around.  It was tricky selling this car because we needed it right up until the day we moved.  Luckily it worked out and we just transferred the title over before and they picked it up the night before we moved.  After owning this car I would have no doubts about buying a Hyundai in the future.  Too bad the new Santa Fe is too expensive for us.

New Job Complications

So as I had mentioned previously Craig had been offered a job working as a senior project manager in Innovations for Wal-Mart at their corporate office in Bentonville, AR.  We had prayed about it together and felt like it was the right move for our family.  He accepted the position and was expected to start his new job on April 1, 2013.  HR got a hold of Craig and had him send in an official application/ drug test/ back ground check.  All of which we knew he would pass.  He doesn't do drugs so we weren't worried.  We had to wait for everything to get approved before we could start communicating with our real estate agent to find a home and to plan our pre move trip that they were going to pay for.  It was very frustrating as I was watching home after home in the area we wanted to be in get rented up before I could even call on them. :(  Finally after about 10 days we got a letter in the mail from the company that Wal-Mart hires out to do all the back ground checks.  Apparently they don't just do a regular back ground check.  They check all county records to see if anything has your name on it .... and unfortunately they found a class c misdemeanor that was supposed to be wiped from his record.  The GOLF BALL STORY (details following).  Really they could care less that it happened because it is the equivalent of a speeding ticket and it was completely ridiculous ... BUT because Craig thought it had been wiped from his record like the judge said it would be and it had NEVER shown up on any background check before he did not disclose it on his application/background check.  For that reason HR said that they could not hire him.  WHAT!?!  I was freaking out.  Really I had already mentally made the transition.  I had been looking at houses for a month. We had already sold one of our cars.  I knew where I wanted to be.  I knew what new car we were going to buy and where we were going to buy it.  I knew where I wanted my kids to go to school.  The thought that we had prayed and felt right about it and now it's NOT happening completely through me for a loop.  We tried every avenue that we could to rectify the problem so he could keep his offer.  We tried getting records of what the judge had said, we tried talking to a lawyer to have it expunged from his record asap, we tried everything but nothing could be done in a timely manner.  The Innovations department at Wal-Mart tried fighting the HR department.  Craig's director and the VP went to bat for him but it's such a HUGE corporation and bureaucracy that they would not budge.  The day we found out was crazy but really we didn't think he would lose a job over rolling golf balls down a hill 15 years ago.  The day we actually did think thought that he was going to lose his job offer over it was ironic because I felt completely calm.  I prayed and felt like everything was going to be okay.  If that meant that he was to get the job then a miracle would happen and if he didn't then that's not where he was supposed to be.  It was an amazing spiritual experience for both Craig and I. I felt completely wrapped in comfort and love.  Craig had called the Bishop  and set up an appt. with him to talk thinking that I was just going to lose it.  Craig had been looking for a new job for a while and I was really excited about this opportunity so he wasn't sure how I was going to handle it.  We went to the appt.  and cried with the Bishop but we still knew that everything was going to be okay.  We were going to be okay.  Heavenly Father was watching out for our family.  As you know we are here so things worked out.  The unthinkable happened and they decided that they wanted him bad enough that they were willing to hold the position for him for 60 days so he could resubmit his application, this time disclosing the silly golf ball incident.  It's funny because "The Golf Ball Story" has been this funny, ridiculous family story that Craig would always tell.  We never actually thought that it could potentially lose him a high paying job.  lol.  Really I wouldn't change how things happened even though it was extremely emotional to go through.  I wouldn't give up the spiritual experiences and it made it so my kids could finish out their current school year at Oakwood which was wonderful.  They can start fresh next year at a new school.

Okay... for those of you who haven't heard "The Golf Ball Story" here is the shortened version by me which is not nearly as good as when Craig tells it.

Craig had just turned 18 and he and 4 other friends stayed up late on a Wed. night and wanted to do something fun.  They came up with the idea of sneaking off with the golf balls that were left on the range at the golf course near by. Boys are so dumb.  They filled up 3 garbage bags full.  Hmm .. then they had to figure out WHAT to do with the golf balls.  Somehow they thought it would be awesome if they drove up 4th north in Bountiful, UT and roll them down the street.  4th North in Bountiful is the road that leads up to the temple. It is very steep.  There was construction going on but everyone had left for the night.  It was nearly the middle of the night so no cars were on the road.  Once they let them go and watched them fly down the road they decided to follow them in their car.  Smart, huh??  Craig was driving. As the balls were flying down the road at a record pace a car turned on the road and was struck repeatedly by the balls.  Unfortunately it happened to be a policeman.  He started flashing his lights and pulled over the boys.  They denied that it was them and claimed that they were "cruising for chicks" in the middle of the night??  The policeman didn't believe them and asked to search the car.  One of the boys had kept one of the balls as a memento so they were caught.  After that they all fessed up and admitted to their crime.  The policemen gave them each a ticket and they had to go see a judge.  When they went to see the judge he laughed at their story and was lenient.  He reduced the amount of their ticket and told them he didn't want it following them around on their records as long as they picked up all the balls and returned them... which they did.  So they all thought that it had been expunged from their records as the judge said it would be.  Ridiculous, dumb teenage boys.  It's a silly story.  Ask Craig about it.  He has all the details and tells it so much better.  I'm glad that in the end it didn't end up costing him his job. :)

Daddy's Birthday

 Daddy got home from his last trip to Peru with Thunderbird for Good late on his 33rd birthday, so we celebrated as a family the next day.  It was a busy trip as he was wrapping things up to change over to someone new but he got to enjoy all the Peruvian restaurants he loves for who knows how long.  We hope to make it back for the Trujillo, Peru temple dedication.  It will be hard for Craig to not be able to travel to Peru on a regular basis.  He has an enormous love for Peru and the people that live there.

The next morning he surprised the kids with a trip to Castles and Coasters. They played in the arcade for at least an hour or two.  They liked the motorcycle games.  Especially Ty.  He likes anything that goes.  Since Craig's favorite thing in the world (after family, church, and BYU football) is food we celebrated for one last time at Le Chalet French Bistro.  He got the "Hang Man" steak and I got seafood crepes.  Then we shared a chocolate, caramel, coconut crepe for dessert.  That evening we picked up a piece of Cheesecake Factory cheesecake so we could sing "Happy Birthday" to him.  It was a fun day for everyone.  We had been missing that daddy while we was in Peru for work.

The kids liked watching the chef light daddies dinner on fire.

Good bye, Le Chalet.  We will miss you!!

Happy 33rd Birthday to Dad!

"Scooter Money"

Brooke and Jace both got scooters for Christmas from mom and dad this year.  They use them ALL the time.  We walk to the school and the park regularly and they always ride their scooters.  Plus they ride them around the neighborhood with friends as well.

  Peoria was having their large debris pickup week for our neighborhood.  It's great.  Everyone prunes their bushes and trees and gets rid of clutter and large junk.  You know the saying, one mans junk is another man's treasure.  I don't mind someone taking something that I'm trashing if they can use it.  Recycling is great.  However some have made a side job of roaming the streets and sifting through everyone's trash collecting things they can sell and there has been some theft of things that were not actually in junk piles.  Poor Brooke was victim of such a crime.  She went out scooter riding with her friend and left her scooter in the front yard and one of the trash diggers took it.  :(  So sad was she.

The kids have been earning money from their responsibility charts.  I made a deal with Brooke that if she saved all her money and worked really hard for a whole entire month that we could go to the store and if she put all the money she earned toward a new scooter I would cover the rest.

I was SO proud of how hard she worked.  Each week on pay day we put her money in an envelope marked "Scooter Money".  She did extra chores to earn extra money and smiled wide eyed as we counted her money each week.  Finally after a whole month she had saved almost $18.00.  I couldn't believe it.  She worked so hard.  I was so proud of her.  I was proud of her for saving her money and not spending it weekly at the dollar store because that was very tempting for her.  We went to the store and she picked out a beautiful pink Razor Scooter with pink and purple tassels and a bell.  It was beautiful.  She loved it.  It was that much more special because she worked so hard for it.  She earned it.  Pictures of the scooter to come...