Update on our lives....

So....lots going on with the Ray family right now.  It seems an update is in order.  If not for the readers, than for me to remember this crazy time in our lives.

Where to start??  We are super excited to announce that we are expecting a baby in October.  After week six I was very ill and struggled going about my daily tasks.  I only felt a little better if I was laying down.  Some days were worse than others.  Week 9 and 10 were pretty rough.  I got very dehydrated (I wasn't throwing up, just not drinking enough because I felt so yucky) and I ended up in the hospital after passing out at the gym.  I hurt my back when I fell in the bathroom, so I had some serious pain for a couple weeks following that event.  I wasn't nearly this sick with any of my other pregnancies, but we got through it and are happy to be on the other side.  I'm 17 weeks along today and we're hoping to find out on Monday if we are having a boy or a girl.

Next on the "to journal about" list is our move to Italy.  We are thrilled, terrified, anxious, excited, and overwhelmed all at the same time.  Back in January we had pretty much come to the conclusion that we would be moving to Twenty-Nine Palms, California.  This place is out in the middle of nowhere and is hotter than hades.  It has a population of 10,000 and is out in the middle of the desert.  The detailer (the guy that helps in deciding where we are stationed) had said they really needed people there.  I was soooo anxious and getting super frustrated that we still didn't know where we were going next.  They told us back in December that an overseas station was not going to happen.  We decided that we didn't need to wait anymore to have our next baby.  It took no time at all for us to get pregnant and about 10 days after we found out we were expecting, we got the much awaited email telling us where we were going to go.  Sigonella, Italy.  We are reporting there the end of July.  It has been a whirlwind of paperwork for visas and passport and medical screenings.  We have three different shipments that will go out, so that means three different movers that will come at three different scheduled times to get different things.  That all happens the middle of June.  We are moving out of Phoenix around July 1st and heading to Utah for a while to spend time with family before we ship out.  Which leads me to my next update......

Mom and Dad Hickman are moving to Phoenix!  Life is crazy, right?  Just as we're leaving, they are moving here.  Dad has been working for Thatcher Chemical for about 2 1/2 years and they offered him the manager position at the plant in Buckeye, AZ (right outside Phoenix).  They simply couldn't turn down the offer because of the bump in salary that he will be getting.

Dad had to start the first week in April, so he has been living with us since then and he and Mom will hopefully have a house by the end of July here in the area.  We are all very happy for them and know that this job is a blessing, but we are all so heartbroken at the same time.  It's been wonderful having my Dad here with us, but if I think about their move from Layton too much, I get pretty sad.  With Jason and I moving around so much with his military job, it always seemed okay because we had our "home base" in Layton with Mom and Dad.  Heidi and Blaine live so close.  It won't affect me on a daily basis like it will them, but it's hard to see them leave.  I know everything will work out and we will figure out a new dynamic.  All will be well.

So, right now I am making list after list of all the things we need to do before we go.  More importantly, there are lists of what we need to BUY before we go.  We were able to get in contact with our future branch president in Sicily and that led to the branch's facebook page.  So many women are super quick to answer all my questions and help me with concerns.  Things I wouldn't have thought of are making their way to the list; school supplies (apparently they run out fast and they are expensive there), lots of rugs (the whole house we live in is tiled), rain boats, printer cartridges, and oh so much more.  A lot of the items are just things I want to have before we go.  Our grill died last summer so we want a new one, I'm worried about finding clothes for the kids there, so I feel we need to buy a bunch before we leave.  Things like that.  I've also felt like we should get our 72 hour kits updated (it's been like 4 years), so that's on the list, too.

We feel very excited and blessed to be able to have the new adventures that are coming.  I have to stop myself when I get overwhelmed and try to recognize the situation for what it is; an amazing opportunity for our family and hopefully, worth all the stress.

So.....start saving and come see us!  Seriously.  Go look at flights to Rome and then to Catania.  That's where we'll come to pick you up!

Arrivederci!!