Our Weekend

Thursday: Our friends the Flores moved from Sahuarita, AZ to Houston, TX this week!  Its fun having more friends move close to us.  I realized that I now know someone from every aspect of my life, living nearby!  I have a high school friend, Morenci friends, and now Sahuarita friends.  Plus a cousin up in Dallas.  Its so fun!   

Phil stayed with us a couple days while waiting to get into their new apartment.  Once Phil heard that the New York Yankees where in town to play the Houston Astros we HAD to go to a game.  I mean its Derek Jeter's last season we had to watch him play!  Plus its was dollar hot dog night, that basically sealed the deal.

Carson thought it was pretty Awesome. 

 Derek Jeter up to bat:

 It was such a fun night!  I'm so glad we went.  The boys loved it and Carson has already been asking when we can go again.

Friday Fun Day:  This has been our "Arizona Friends Reunion Week" this week.  Graham and Brittany Theobold our dear Morenci friends were in town house hunting!  It was so fun to get the original IH (industrial hygiene) team back together.  Its been almost 7 years since the team was together and how funny is it that we all ended up in Houston Texas of all places!  To welcome them to Texas we all went to Taste of Texas (one of the best steak places ever).

(From left to right: Graham, Brittany Theobold, Emily, Brad Clark, Steve, Christine Hickenlooper)

Saturday:  I've been feeling a little guilty with this pregnancy.  I haven't thought much about it since we found out he was a boy.  I don't have much to prepare for his arrival except come up with a name, which Brad and I have thought about needing to think about it, but have yet really talked about it.  

So my sweet neighbor Erin loves to paint and offered to help paint the nursery.  I thought it would be a perfect way to get us excited and a little more ready for our little boy.  She had the awesome idea to do circles. Luckily Erin's husband is an engineer and it literally took him a minute to come up with all the mathematics of spacing/size of circles.  So they came over and we got to work.  Its looking so good! I can't wait for her to come back today so we can do some more and hopefully finish!  

We also watched  general conference.  

Sunday: General Conference and no bake cookies

a quote from my favorite talk

We also face timed with Grandma to wish her a happy birthday.

Phew!  Such a busy and fun week!

Seven

This May marks our 7th year here in Arizona.  I can't believe its been that long, and yet Arizona has truly become our home.  We have loved it here and have made life long friends, in both Sahuarita and in Morenci.  Our boys were born here and we've made so many lasting memories.

Brad has accepted a job offer with ConocoPhillips in Houston, Texas.  We will be moving the first part of May.  As always its such a mixed bag of emotions, but it really did feel like it was our time to move on.  I am so happy for Brad and for this great opportunity.  It is a huge promotion (a corporate job, guess we'll be going shopping for a new work wardrobe!)

Houston seems like a great place to raise our children.  The area we are looking at living, has the best school district in all of Texas and is ranked very high nationally.  Being a big city, there are lots of things to do and see.  We'll live by the beach!  Anyone want to come visit and go on a cruise to the Caribbean?  However there are hurricanes, an occasional tornado (rare, but they do get them), plus its hot AND humid.  I prefer the DRY heat of Arizona!  I've never been to Houston.  I've only been to El Paseo, but lets face it, thats more like going to Mexico then Texas.  So having to start over in a place you're not familiar with is a little scary.  Plus it is even farther away from family.

Everything I've heard about Houston and especially Katy (the suburb we are looking at living) has all been positive and everyone loves it there.

If there is anything I learned about living in the middle of nowhere (Morenci), is this:

• Home is where you make it, and I can be happy anywhere as long as we've got each other.  
• The church is true wherever you go and gives you automatic friends and a built in support network.

We will miss Arizona deeply, but excited to make Texas our new home.

Here's some of our Morenci pics:

Sahuarita Pics:

Our community

 What I'll miss about Arizona:

The gorgeous sunsets

Random pink buildings (this is the Tucson Courthouse)

Old Spanish Architecture

How beautiful the desert life can surprisingly be

Swimming in March

Monsoon Season

But most of all we'll miss our friends

Gila Valley Temple

On Saturday, we had the wonderful opportunity to go the the Gila Valley Temple open house. This temple means so much to me, because in Morenci we had to drive 4 hours to the temple. I didn't appreciate the temple until we had to make that sacrifice. I went to the temple more when I lived in Morenci then I did when I lived in Logan and lived only 2 blocks away. This temple will always hold a special place in my heart because Carson was born here.

Our dear friends the Hickenloopers drove all the way down from Farmington, New Mexico to attend the open house with us. Steve was Brad's co-worker/supervisor in Morenci and became such good friends. They came to Sahuarita Friday night and then the following day we made the 2 hour drive to Safford. It was so fun to see them again!

I have never been in a small temple before so I was a little surprised at how "small" it really is, but it was so beautiful! Being in the celestial room with Brad AND Carson was the most amazing experience. Carson loved the chandelier and kept trying to reach out and grab it. He wouldn't take his eyes off it. Then again when we were in the sealing room I looked in the infinity mirrors with Brad to my side, and I was holding Carson, and we saw our family stretch on forever. It was the most beautiful sight. I love the temple and am so thankful that we will be together forever.

1 year!

As of April 13 we have lived in Sahuarita for one whole year! I can't believe its already been one year. We moved in when Carson was just a little over a month old and its been amazing to see him grow up in our house. So what better way to celebrate our 1 year of being a homeowner, then to go back to Morenci to see all of our old friends.

Brad was called out on a business trip to Morenci and of course I had to tag along! On our way into town we thought we would stop by to see the Gila Valley temple. Here is a sneak peak...

We will actually be going back in a couple of weeks for the Open House. I can't wait!

All of our little kiddos! Two of them I got to meet for the first time. So cute!

Shawn Arrington, Paul Arrington

MaKayla Sant, Carson Clark, Marlo Day, Angie
Alexis Sant, Hannah, Libby Plaizier
Eliza Day, Isaac Sant

Ethan Plaizier

The Moms

L to R: Ethan & Amanda Plaizier, Sarah Day, Hannah, Tolu & Shawn Arrington, Carson & Emily Clark, Kimberly & Isaac Sant

My AMaZinG friends! How I miss you guys! When we drove into Morenci it felt like a big weight was lifted off my shoulders and I took a big sigh of relief, because I felt like I was home, and not because Morenci is such a wonderful town, its because of the Clifton ward. No other ward can ever compare. The friends I made in Morenci will forever be my lifelong friends.

Back to Morenci

Brad was asked to go back to Morenci and teach the Safety people how to do his old job since Brad's old co-worker left the company and they have yet to hire a new Industrial Hygienist. Carson and I decided to tag along so we could visit some old friends.

As we pulled into town it was as if the past 3 months never happened and that we were just driving home. Even before we checked into the motel we drove past our old house. It was dark and empty and had a No Trespassing sign in the window. It was hard to just drive past because it felt like we should pull in the driveway and unpack.

It was so fun seeing all our old friends although a lot of people where out of town. It was fun to show them how big Carson was getting and to just sit and chat and catch up with the town gossip. How I miss them (not the town per se but our friends)! I hope Brad will have to go back every now and then just so we can see them.

While living in Morenci I never really took pictures of our friends so I thought I would capture some photos to remember them by.

Layoffs

The first part of January all of Freeport workers in the Morenci area received a letter in the mail indicating that due to the economy they will be laying off 1,500 workers. That is half of all the workers in Morenci. The letter came as a notice to all employees to start looking for other jobs. Most employees would know of their status on February 2 and be given a paid leave of absence. The official day for the layoffs will be March 16 - March 29.

So we took heed of the warning knowing that we had a 50% chance of leaving. Brad has sent out his resume and has already had 2 phone interviews. Well yesterday Brad was informed that he will be laid off in March. He wasn't given the paid leave so he is still currently working until the end of March.

Even though Brad and I prepared ourselves for the layoffs. I really didn't think Brad would get let go. There are only 2 people in his department and they both are extremely busy trying to keep the workers in the mine safe. I felt like it just wasn't our time to leave yet. However, it is out of our control and we just now need to move on.

I'm also sad about the timing of this with our baby due just a few days before. Fortunately, the company will let us stay in our house until we are ready to leave. Which I am so grateful for because I really wanted to have my baby here with my doctor. We will also be able to keep our health benefits for six months which will be a great blessing with the newborn.

I'm so grateful for the opportunity that we had to live here. We have such great friends and Brad really loved his job. Its going to be hard to leave, but I know that wherever we go will be where we are supposed to be.

As of now Brad is still applying to jobs and waiting to hear back from the 2 interviews he has already had. So if you know of any Industrial Hygiene openings let us know!

Our Temple

Yesterday at Church they made the announcement that the Gila Valley Temple's groundbreaking is going to be February 14th. Its so nice to know that our small community is going to be blessed with a temple and that we will only have to drive an hour to the temple rather then four.

I'm so glad that we will be able to participate in such a wonderful experience.

Chemical Party

On Thursday our small town of Morenci/Clifton had quite the scare.  A valve was accidentally opened and Sulfuric Acid ran down the dry creek bed instead of water.  Thousands of gallons of a blue/green ooze ran from Morenci to Clifton (the small town next to Morenci) and was headed to the River.  Workers were trying to hurry and dam the acid before it reached the San Francisco River.   Brad didn't have to do too much to help with the cleanup.  Which I was surprised because his job is "Health and Safety" but I guess it was more of an environmental problem then Health.  Brad did deliver supplies like respirators masks and eye washing solutions to the clean up crew.

(Pictures taken from abc news)

Above is a picture of my work (not the ugly mobile home, but the red building next to it). This "river" of acid ran right underneath my work  building.  We had so many people outside our building trying to clean up the damage.  At first we were wondering what was going on.  When we realized what was going on, next it was the panic of  will it hurt the pregnant lady and a two month old baby (my boss's wife had recently had a baby).  Fortunately the amount of acid that was running was in no way harmful to either of us.  Luckily I had a doctors appointment that day and I double checked with my doctor who assured me that it would in no way harm the baby.

Having this incident happen was as some people said the most excitement our town has had in years.  There were people sitting outside watching the cleanup crew and it seemed to go along with the halloween spirit. 

Has it really been that Long?

Well the 2nd of October marks the date that Brad and I moved to Morenci 2 years ago. Its crazy to think that we've been here that long. It seems like we just moved here. Brad and I have really been blessed. We both have amazing jobs and Brad has been able to go back to school and have it entirely paid for. Living in a small community has its advantages. Our ward is amazing and everyone looks out for each other and we are always having activities.  Its always comforting when living far from home that you have friends around to support you.

As a side note we are finding out the sex of our baby on October 22.  We are so excited!

Dry Heat Arizona

Well its officially summer, but its felt like summer for the past 2 months. Its been 105 degrees for the past few weeks. Going to church today at 9:00 in the morning our thermometer in the truck read 80 degrees. I'm glad I work in an air conditioning building because our swamp cooler does not cut it during the day. We hope the monsoon season will come soon. It rained just a few drops yesterday and I thought the monsoons were finally here but like I said it was only a few drops and the ground just soaked it right up, and it hasn't rained at all today. The sad thing is we live in part of the coolest area in Arizona. It only takes just a quick trip to Tucson or Phoenix to realize how lucky we have it here because it actually cools down at night.

Sultans of Safety

So against my wishes Brad played on the annual Morenci softball tournament. Don't get me wrong I support Brad 100 percent in everything he does, its just that Brad always gets hurt when he plays baseball, I mean that's why he was without a tooth for a whole year and last year for the tournament he sprained his hamstring and had the ugliest bruise. But of course when I told Brad maybe he shouldn't play this year he just smiled at me and I knew I lost.

The different department teams came up with some really cool names like Human Resources (HR) was called Hell Raisers, the Crushing Department was called Bone Crushers, and the Security Department was appropriately called the Regulators so with all these creative names what did the Health and Safety Department come up with? The Sultans of Safety. It was apparently the best name they could come up with. Unfortunately they did not live up to their name. They were horrible. They even played the Environmental Department and they are comprised of a bunch of hippies. The other team just kept hitting a bunch of home runs. Brad did good though he made a point for the team, but we were just no match. So the next day the losing team (The Sultans of Safety) played against another losing team and we got killed again! Brad was first baseman in this game and he got a lot of action. It was fun to watch him catch the ball and try to tag the other team out of the game right as they were sliding onto first base. I loved cheering him on even though he was probably embarrassed. He is such an amazing athlete I was really proud watching him play.

Our Town

Everyone wants to know what its like to live in a company owned town. I mean you hardly ever hear of those anymore. My grandpa grew up in an old mining town in Utah and its now a ghost town. For those of you who don't know what it means to live in a company town. Everything is owned by the mine. Here are some of the perks of living in Morenci:

• Our 3 bedroom house is only $200 a month for rent,
• Our movie theater gets new releases and is only $4,
• Free gym membership and a personal trainer if you so choose,
• Our truck and gas paid by the company, and
• Brad gets his Masters tuition paid for.

Its really not that bad of a place to live. We really love our ward and the people here are really friendly. You just have to get used to long drive to Tucson or Phoenix whenever we need to get out of town.

Mining towns are really rare so I thought everyone would like to see what our little town looks like.

Our Temple

On Saturday President Monson announced that we will be 2 new temples in Arizona the Gilbert Arizona Temple and the Gila Valley Temple located in the Safford/Thatcher area! I couldn't believe it! In Logan I took for granted having a temple within walking distance from our house and now after living in Morenci for 1 1/2 years and having to make the dreadsome 4 hour drive to Mesa we will be getting our own temple only 50 minutes away! We are so thankful to receive such a wonderful blessing that I don't think I could ever take for granted again.

Here is a quote from the Deseret News on the new temple announcement:

"It is my personal priority to make sure members of the Church have access to the blessings of the temple," said President Monson. "It is here where members learn of their divine origin and destiny; where they are strengthened spiritually as individuals and as families. Temples are sanctuaries from the storms of life.

"There are currently two temples in Arizona: one in Mesa and another in Snowflake. The temples in the Gila Valley and Gilbert will bring the total number to four. The two new temples are the first to be announced by President Monson since he became president of the Church on Feb. 3.

Locked Out!

So in between conference sessions on Sunday, Brad and I went on a walk. We are usually both really good at bringing our keys with us, but for whatever reason we both forgot our keys and ever since last years break-in we are both so faithful at locking our doors the end result:
we ended up locking ourselves out of our house.

Since we do live in company housing, the town of Morenci has a set of keys for all the houses in Morenci. So we went to our neighbors to call the housing department to let us in. Even though we have been here a year and a half now we haven't spoken to our neighbor since we've moved in we will waive to each other if we're both outside, but that's about it (we're horrible I know). We had a really nice visit with our neighbor while waiting for the housing department to unlock us out of our house. So if anything good came out of locking our house it was being able to get to know our neighbor better.

Unfortunately for us the housing departments key to our house did not work. So we had to resort to the old school method of breaking into our own home. Even though we have all of our windows locked Brad was still able to jiggle it enough to unlock itself. It was a little scary to see how easy it was to break into our own home with these old houses.

The funny thing too was that I was just talking to our friend Kim the day before about all of the times she has locked herself out and feeling lucky that we've never locked ourselves out. Isn't that how it usually goes? Hopefully this was just a one time thing.