The Texas Talleys!!!

Bekie with the little doll
Grandma Talley made her

Hello, everyone in Utah! Wanted to give 'y'all' an update on what this little Talley family has been up to in Texas. We have been diligently looking for a new home. Rebekah, Liam, and I have been staying with Sam's parents in Bonham, a small town an hour outside of Dallas, and Sam has been staying with the Larson's (dad's old counselor when he was the bishop) in San Antonio. He started out in hotels, but staying in a hotel every night is a little ridiculous in pricing.

Grandpa Talley with these babies

Sam saw this and said, "It's like Liams' saying 'I make this look good!'"

Sam's been doing amazing at work, has made tons of friends, and is really happy. There are many Latinos in San Antonio, and they are all amazed at this 'gringo' Sam and how beautifully he speaks Spanish. (Argentine Spanish is a lot like Spain Spanish- very clean and polite). We're definitely not in Utah anymore, where it seems like a second language is commonplace. I love to hear all of his fun stories of how he shares his testimony and Gospel principles, since he's been a bit rusty in his seven years or so in Utah. Sometimes they are just funny, like, 

"Hey man, do Mormons ever take breaks?"-guy at work

"Breaks? What do you mean?"-Sam

"Like, can you come with me to a strip club and just take a break from being Mormon for a while?"

"....No."

Ha!

Bekie and Liam have been happy with Grandma and Grandpa Talley, but they sure miss their papa bear. Sam comes up on some weekends, but has had to stay in San Antonio on other ones in order to look at homes/sign paperwork/meet with the inspector, etc. 

Feeding the ducks at Bonham State Park

He can stand up in his pack and play by himself now

We had a contract in on one home in Somerset, a Small town 30 minutes from Sam's work in San Antonio, but after an inspection showed huge foundation issues ($13,000 or so....) we decided to back out. Finding a home is hard work! Goodness. We are putting an offer in on a home in San Antonio, 8 miles from Sam's work, but about a 20 minute drive. I really like the set up and it seems like a good fit, but we will have to wait and see if our offer is good enough for the seller!

I'm so glad when daddy comes home..

Swings!

Liam is sooo big! We've only been gone for almost 6 weeks and in that time he has gotten two teeth, has mastered crawling on his hands and knees, learned to sit up by himself without falling over, pulls himself up to standing position and has actually stood by himself once or twice (usually followed by a big fall). He is so sweet and hardly cries unless he is hungry or tired. He doesn't even cry when his big sissy sits on him, swan dives on him, or smacks him in the head. Oh, older siblings.

Messy messy

Bekie is happy and as energetic as ever. She is the queen of singing and dancing. She doesn't know the words to hardly any songs, but she will try to sing along anyway. Her favorite is from Sleeping Beauty. She'll grab both of my hands, start twirling in a circle, and sing in a super high pitched voice, "I knoooow judeislkjtoiwkj deeeeeeeeam, I knoooooooooooow sldkfjawioj" etc.

Bekie has crawled into my MIL's yarn cabinet

She is still learning her animal sounds, but should have them mastered soon, since there are chickens a few houses away, horses and donkeys across the street in front of the house, sheep and goats across the street on the side of the house, and plenty of neighbors to the back of the house with cows. When she sees chickens, she says, "Bawk bawk bawk". When she sees ducks, she says "bawk bawk bawk". When she sees birds, she says "bawk bawk bawk." My favorite was when she saw Tinker Bell flit across the TV and she starts shouting, "bawk bawk bawk bawk!" Apparently everything with wings is a chicken?

So, life is good- excited to be in a new home together and excited to be together as a family again! I was talking to Sam's brother, Paul, and told him, "I miss Sam- I even miss all the things he does that annoy me." Paul replied, "Yup, that would be Sam all right." And I do! Can't wait to be together. 

That's our family! Miss you guys and are hoping to come out for a couple of weeks this summer!

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