The Beginning

We are an Arizona family. Mostly actually we are a Mesa, Arizona family. My husband and I were both born here in the same hospital actually. We both went to school here, we were sealed here (to each other not to Mesa just to clarify) both of our sons were born here in Mesa I think that qualifies us as a "Mesa" family.

   For some reason though a few months back I told my dear sweet husband who always does his best to get me what I ask for, that I wanted an adventure before the boys started school. That maybe we should go somewhere away from Mesa for a year or two and see what we think. I showed him pretty pictures of England, Germany, and Idaho just to give him a few ideas to work with.

And then I left him to it. Confident in the willingness he showed in giving me the adventure I was seeking and also a fun learning experience for our boys. We started doing what we could to get our house ready for the market. I saw him start a nightly ritual of putting in applications and researching schools. It was all so exciting! Then to make it better he told me about an e-mail that said he could apply for a scholarship that would take him to China for a month for free!
So we added that to the list of things to try for. After all this could be the adventure we were looking for without all the work of moving and selling our home.
See I LOVE our home. It is in the perfect little Cul De Sac with wonderful neighbors, big yard, close to family, friends, and shopping. Plus as we looked into the China opportunity it looked like it might be possible to take the whole family. What a win that would be!

As he began the application process I started worrying a little less about a moving adventure and focused more on getting through the winter with a family infested with the flu bug. I think it totaled about 8 weeks of sickness in our home. There were boogers and coughing. Fevers and chills. Even vomiting and diarrhea almost non stop for weeks and weeks. I was way less focused on an adenture and more just on survival. Clete had sent in all he needed to and so we just waited and worked on getting healthy again.
 Then one day he got an exciting call asking him for an interview for the scholarship! He was selected as one of the top five finalists! I was so proud and couldn't help but think that if they had the chance to talk to him he would win. Although I am a bit partial... He is a pretty impressive young man though.
They set up the time for the next day and it turned out he was the 1st interview conducted and the other four would be a few days later so we would have to sit and wait patiently for a million years to find out. Sorry four days.

 
Waiting has never been my strong point. Thankfully Clete is almost terribly patient.
Four days later we are in the car driving home from his school when we get the call. They said that they had a lot of great applicants and it was a very hard choice to make. So much so that they ended up asking for a 2nd scholarship so they could take two winners this year and that Clete was one of them! I am extremely proud of myself for still driving us home safely because I really can't help it and I just get excited about things lots of things and this was no exception :D  (see that's me excited)
Yep there were a few details to work out but we had an awesome adventure to look forward to. We found out that I could join him for the two week tour portion but decided the boys should stay here with the grandmas. Thank goodness they love us... the grandmas I mean, my children have to love me its a rule they have promised to abide and I am sure they will honor it for life.
Turns out my brother and Cletes sister decided they wanted a little trip too so they are going to be joining us this summer in China as well!

You'd think that would be enough to look forward to. But no! There is more so stay tuned till I am less tired and can finish this awesome excitement!