April Snapshot

We live for the off season because it aligns nicely with summer. After closing up in Memphis, Justin and I each drove a car full of stuff to Moore, OK.

While living in Memphis, I learned a few new skills, (guitar, crochet, coach soccer, work in the temple) to name a few. Another skill on that list is drive alone for 7 hours. I had never driven more than four hours period in a car. In February, Justin had a game in OKC so I jumped in our car and made the drive alone to watch him/stay with family.

Proud of myself for doing that (twice now!).

We were in Oklahoma for most of April. It was nice being in a familiar place with family. Here's four pictures that help sum up our time in OK.

Panda Garden: For as long as I've known Justin, he's told me about this Chinese Buffet his family loved, growing up. As far as they knew, Panda Garden closed during COVID and that was the end of that.

I guess Justin got a nagging feeling to double check that is was really closed, closed, because lo and behold, Google Maps told us it was open and ready to welcome us with open arms.

Justin made a phone call and a day later, I got to experience Panda Garden. I'll just say I'm happy that it's open and Justin can go as often as he'd like now when he's home. :')

Playground! We got to do a few projects while we were in OK and one of them was build the grandkids' new playset.

Another new skill - I don't think I've built something that large before. Justin said it was good practice for the future.

It got suuuper cold our second day of building. Allergies and cold hands/noses weren't making the building quite as nice as the day before so I volunteered to make waffles inside.

We celebrated after by seeing the new...

Super Mario Bros. Movie:

My siblings had already seen the movie and given us their ratings. It was good! Definitely more enjoyable since we grew up playing those games and knew a lot of the inside jokes. I loved watching the kids' faces during the movie.

I think Carter liked the Spiderman trailers more than the actual movie ;)

Yard work: I loooooove being outside. Ask Justin, he'll tell you my favorite place to be is in the sun. We took out some bushes, pruned some branches, and planted flowers. Perfect way to spend the day if you ask me.

The weather was so nice while we were there and I was so grateful that we could have that time with our Bean family.

Love you, April!

Another Season Down

We're covering a lot of time with this post. We finished Justin's season with the Memphis Hustle back in March. His last game was actually on my birthday - March 31. Sooo crazy (and nice) to be on this side of things. We didn't wish away his season, but we were excited when the never-ending long road trips would be behind us. We packed up our apartment, had game nights and dinners with our friends from our branch, said our goodbyes, and drove across that Tennessee Arkansas bridge to let our summer begin.

Looking back, I can't believe we did that. We didn't know ANYONE. I didn't know what I was going to do to stay busy. We were living downtown in a city that didn't come highly recommended. But we did it. We came out of those 7 months with lots of great friendships and memories. It's a place we'll get to add to our list of places we've lived. So grateful to Heavenly Father for giving us those experiences.

Hopefully we'll be back!

That's the other thing. We don't know where we'll end up for Justin's next season. We have this summer to be with family and weigh out the opportunities that will be available in the fall. For now, I've loved being with our family in UT & OK and I'm so grateful that family is a constant in our lives. No matter where we end up or what gets thrown at us, we have each other and our families.

Tender pic of Justins parent's backyard. Looooove summer sunsets.