The Phillips Family: April 2009

Thursday, April 30, 2009

House Update

So there has been some progress out in Sunnyvale. As you can see, they have put in the plumbing that needs to go in before the foundation. Hopefully, they will get it inspected soon and move on to pouring the foundation.

Saturday, April 25, 2009

April Happenings

Lydia got the Citizen of the Month Award for demonstrating the quality of the month--effort. She truly deserves it. She puts 110% into everything that she does! Congratulations!!

Rachel by the baby chicks that Richie has had in his class at school.

Jacob is getting really good at baseball and he loves it. He has decided to play baseball and not soccer next year. We hope to find him a good team when we are in Sunnyvale.

Richie loves to play baseball too. Although, I think that he likes to smile, give people the thumbs up sign, and just look good in the uniform as much as he likes to actually play.

We went out to look at the lot today. While I was checking things out, the kids had fun rolling in the grass across the street. We were excited about having a bigger lot (even though we will have one of the smallest lots in Sunnyvale--lots of people have several acres). However, the house is bigger too and the front yard will be much bigger than ours is now. So, the backyard won't be quite as big as we had thought. However, having this right across the street is almost even better. I will be able to sit on the front porch and watch the kids. They can play ball, ride their bikes, have a picnic, fish, or whatever and I do not even have to maintain it.

By the way, thank you to everyone who prayed for our house to sell. We sold it in less than a week and we close on Wednesday. We will lease it back until school gets out. Then, we will be grateful to family for the summer. Our new house will not be done until the end of August. So, we are going to live in Gordon and Jenn's guest house and also take a long visit to Arizona this summer and stay with Sarah and Jamie. Thanks family.

House updates

OK--This is NOT what our house will look like. However, this is the brick and stone that we will have.

This IS what our house will look like--but flip flopped to a left swing and with much better brick, stone, and paint choices.

They put out the forms for the house this week. They got a little bit behind with the rain last week. This view is from the back of the house. The driveway will be on the right.

Since putting down the forms, they have dug the trenches to put in the plumbing. The plumbing should go in next week and then it should be ready to have the foundation poured. Hopefully the rain expected in the next few days won't cause a huge delay.

Another view from the end of the cul-de-sac. Can you see the trails? We are really excited about this quiet and beautiful street. By the way, the lot to the left of the house is still for sale. Any takers?

Easter

This year we spent Easter weekend at the cabin. My parents have decided to rent it out while they are on their mission. So, we went up to have fun and to get it ready to rent.

The kids had fun coloring eggs. Richie made a red one--his favorite color.

Rachel.

Jacob.

Lydia with Anna.

Our Big News

So, our big news is that we are moving. We decided to move out to Sunnyvale, Texas. It is located between Garland and Mesquite and borders Lake Ray Hubbard. It is 15 miles from downtown Dallas. Gordon and Jenn and their family live there and Mom and Dad Foote are going to come there when they return from their mission. It will be a big change from Coppell. It is much smaller. We will miss all of our friends and teachers from Coppell. However, we are looking forward to new things in Sunnyvale.

We are building a home in a neighborhood called Stoney Creek. This is what it looks like as you turn into the subdivision. The building on the right is the neighborhood swimming pool and small fitness center. We are looking forward to using the pool!

Another view of the pool. If you click on this picture you will be able to see big lights on the right side of the picture. These are the lights from the high school stadium. It is pretty close--maybe a 1/2-3/4 of a mile. All of the schools are next to each other. So, the elementary school is about a mile away. The kids can ride their bikes or ride the trails to get there. There is also a bus that will pick them up if they want. Sunnyvale ISD is a small school district. We are really excited about the small class sizes and the kids getting to go to school with their cousins. We were also surprised to find out the the district is ranked 14th in the state. It is a 2A school with just over 800 kids.

This is taken from the same area. There are trails throughout the neighborhood and they also lead to the schools. The lake is filled with fish and there is a pier for catch and release fishing. You can actually see our lot in this view. It is half way between the house on the right and the closest one to it on the left. I think that you can click on the picture to enlarge it. If you do, you can see a yellow tractor. It is on our lot.

Our lot. The trees behind our lot back up to Nance Road. It is a Civil War road and cannot be touched since it is "historical." The school are not very far down on the other side of Nance Road.

The view from the front of our lot looking at the end of the cul-de-sac. There will not be any homes built in front of ours. There is also a gate in the fence so that we can have access to the trails, the lake, and the grass areas in front of our new home.

End of March Happenings

My Presidency had a breakfast for all of the Ward Presidencies to get to know each other. It turned out really nice.

These are the great ladies that I have been able to work with--Anna Rawlins, Janna Wise, and Julie Young.

I sure will miss these ladies. I was just released from the Stake Primary on April 19th after 5 years in the calling. I do not know much else anymore and I will miss primary. Christine Eppley would always tell me that primary was the happiest place to be and I have come to truly believe that. Ladies, thanks for making a great ending to a wonderful learning experience and thank you to all of the many women that I have had the chance to work with over the years!!

We had a fun visit from the Wunderli and Jarvis cousins. We all spent a day at the zoo. Grandma Phillips was able to come in town for the weekend and Connie also joined us.

Rachel had tons of fun!

Epcot Center & the Kennedy Space Center

The kids at the space center.

Lydia and Rachel in their space suits on the moon.

Lydia.

Jacob and Richie.

Rachel and Grandma Phillips. Grandma Phillips was so great to stay with Rachel when she could not go on the majority of the rides that the other kids wanted to ride.

Dinner with the Princesses

One of the greatest highlights of our trip--and definately Rachel's greatest highlight--was dinner with the princesses. I wasn't sure how the boys would like it. Just look at Richie's eyes in these pictures and guess how much he liked it. It was a true hit with everyone.
All of the kids with Belle.