Tornado Watch

Well we have been in Omaha for almost two weeks and we have already survived our first tornado! Last Thursday the city was all a buzz about this big storm that would be coming through Nebraska (my mom and my sister called to make sure I knew about it and was prepared for it). There was a tornado that touched down on Thursday but it was a couple hours away from us so we didn't see much action. We did get a gray sky and some pretty serious lightning and thunder. Instead of being nervous because of the dangerous situation I was actually mad because I was watching my favorite show So You Think You Can Dance and it kept getting interrupted by the local weather man. I guess in Nebraska people can't read the strip along the bottom of the screen, they have to interrupt your show 20 times to tell you the same thing!

We have finally put away our last box (at least the ones that we are going to put away. Turns out we brought a little too much stuff). We have completed as much remodeling as Jayson can handle. We re-painted the family room and the master bedroom and we are waiting for new carpet to come. I have a few more plans of remodeling but I guess I will have to wait on those. Jayson has started school again and so far he really likes it. He is getting a lot more clinical work than he did at the U. I am still looking for a job, so if anybody has any great hook ups in Nebraska, let me know.
Here are some current pictures of our house...

Nebraska...

Well we loaded up our 26 foot rental truck on Sunday and drove to Sidney, Ne and then the rest of the way to Omaha on Monday. When we first pulled into the city I was a little nervous... we live in the ghetto. Our complex is nice (old, but nice). It was nice to see young married couples with kids running around the area. Our house is older and smaller than we thought it was going to be. When the maintenance man showed us around Jayson and I just had blank stares on our faces. After he left, we both admitted to having a pit in our stomachs. But once we got our stuff moved in, it started to feel like home (kind of). We had my brother and sister in law help us move, and I was so glad to have them there. It would have been a little overwhelming to be all by ourselves. We have great neighbors. Once we backed in the truck to unload, several people showed up to help. Our whole truck was unloaded in 1 hour! Our neighbors also brought us dinner that first night! In the first few days we have managed to hit up the zoo, walk around the temple, and start the remodeling process (we painted yesterday and are going to order new carpet and a new countertop for the kitchen today).
Hope all is well with everyone!
love,
Jayson and Julianne

Sorry this is short, but we don't have internet yet and we are just at a cafe that has wireless :) I will post pictures of the finished product once it is done!


Moving Crew



This was the lovely view for the majority of the drive.



Tired Movers



Kitchen



Winter Quarters Temple

Disneyland

Hooray for late Christmas gifts! Jay Dee and Coleen gave all their kids and families 4 days in Disneyland. All 34 of us headed to Disneyland last week and it was soooo fun! We stayed at the best hotel (Disneyland's Grand Californian) and only had to walk out the front door to both California Adventure and Disneyland! As soon as Jayson and I got to the hotel, we grabbed our passes and were headed for the rides, we didn't stop until 12:30 AM on the day we had to come home (on a painful 8 AM flight).



Our top five favorite things about the trip....
5. Ryan gathering all of us to go on the rapid ride (screaming babies and all) to get switch passes (which we never used)
4. Watching some of the big boys get a little sick on the Finding Nemo ride
3. Only losing 2 children (and for not very long)
2. Girls Night Out. Hanging out at the parks at midnight with a bunch of teenagers, rollercoaster, swings, pirates, and of course Splash Mountain (x2).
1. Being all together for 4 days!


Our top five favorite rides....
5. Tower of Terror (this is Jaysons- I actually get quite nervous for this ride)
4. Splash Mountain
3. Thunder Mountain
2. Space Mountain
1. Soarin Over California


All 16 grandkids posing with Pluto.


The start of Girls Night Out.
All the girls (minus Sis and Paige who were going on a scary ride at the moment)


Around 11:30 PM we decided to hit up Splash Mountain. Being the hesitant rider that I am, I let Sis have the front on the log. It didn't matter, because the three of us in the front got soaked. We had so much fun the first time around, we decided to go again (since it was late at night and no one else was waiting). We wanted to switch seats but the lady wouldn't let us. So the same front three got soaked a second time.


Taking it for the team...

Overall it was an amazing weekend and we are so grateful to Jay Dee and Coleen for getting all of us together. We sure love you!