Sweet Home Alabama

So, I know this will come as a shock to a lot of you. It happened so fast that my main priority was packing and arranging the move - I didn't have much time to fill everyone in so here is the big news.... we have moved to Huntsville, Alabama!!! Sean got a great job working for SAIC that he is soooo excited about and after the kids and I researched the area we were just as excited about the move as he was! The schools are great, the climate is mild and the housing prices are incredible. So we arrived last night and after a week of being on the road I am beyond thrilled to be here. So far we have only see the hotel, Red Robin and a really nice outdoor mall down the street from the hotel so I don 't have much to base this on - but I like it so far! Today we are going to church and then to Sean's cousins house for dinner (Yes - he even has a cousin here in Alabama. We find that family everywhere we go and it continues to amaze me!) I am sure I will have many more impressions of our new home in the coming days but for now I will simply put up a few of the pictures so you can all see that we are still alive and doing well!

So.....I guess I really do like my dog...

Alright, so I will admit that as cute as she is and as good a dog as she is becoming, there are days that I am not thrilled about having a dog. The kids love her, Sean loves her as long as she isn't chewing on something (which she finally grew out of about a month ago!) but I am the one that seems to do most of the work that goes along with having a dog. Some days it is all I can do to take care of 3 boys and a husband! But today I found out just how much I like her. We were getting ready to leave the house when Sean noticed a window that we had opened the previous evening. This window is right at Bella's eye level and she loves to sit and look out it. Well, she must have been looking with a little too much enthusiasm because she pushed the screen right out!! We had no idea how long she had been missing and she wasn't answering our calls. We drove all over but couldn't find her. It was sinking in that she might really be gone...and it was also sinking in how much I would miss her!! I just kept thinking - I will NOT get another dog - Bella is the only one that I want - plus I put all the hard work in already and now she is gone!!!???!!! So, I told Sean to leave without us and we got busy making Lost Dog signs. The kids and I spent a good hour walking around the neighborhood calling her name and putting up signs. I was really sad by the time we got home. But, there was a message on the answering machine!!! Yea!! A really nice lady around the corner from us had her. We ran over to get her back, thanked the nice woman over and over and took our Bella home. So, today when all she wanted to do was sleep on my lap, I let her instead of pushing her off the couch like I do most other days. We'll see how long it lasts but as for today - I think she is the best dog ever!

The Trip...

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Soon I will write about the trip but until I have time to do that I wanted to at least get these pictures up. It was such a fun trip!!

A much needed trip...

So, I don't have much to report that is terribly exciting....but I want to get out of the habit of not posting for weeks and then frantically posting 10 posts at once! Life has been good here lately. The weather is perfect, Sean is almost done at Home Depot, and we are taking a much needed break this weekend to San Diego. Sean has been working so much lately, I will be nice to have a whole weekend together. I can't wait! It will be a very short visit but I will take whatever I can get. We get there late Friday night, spend a day at Sea World and a day relaxing by the beach and then we come home on Monday. One of the benefits of Sean still being an active duty reservist is that we can stay in a cottage 50 feet from the beach for an unbelievable price. They are normally pretty booked up but we got lucky- there was a cancellation and I called at the right time! Some time next week I should have some fun pictures to share.
The kids are beyond excited - Tyler just keeps talking about "the do-fins, the do-fins!" (that's dolphins for anyone who doesn't understand two year old!)

Five is Fabulous!!

Jackson's birthday was last week. We asked him where he wanted to go....I was prepared for something along the lines of Chucky Cheese. Nope! He wanted to go to one of our favorite BBQ resturants that has an area the kids can run around and a tree that my kids love to climb and hang from! Plus, he knew that you get to eat free on your birthday. He is a child after my own heart - always looking for a good deal! So, we met up with the family and had a great time! Good Food + Good Friends = GREAT TIMES!!


My favorite thing about this video is that Jack thinks I am just taking a picture and obediently keeps smiling away at the camera!!

Birthdays!

When my mom comes in the spring we usually celebrate her Birthday along with Jackson's. They are only a few days apart which makes it fun. During this trip we spent some time talking about how much fun it was 5 years ago when he was born. It was such a crazy and exciting time in out lives. We have just moved to Germany (literally - we didn't even have our furniture yet!!) and had moved into an old farm house in a small German town. It was beautiful - think Hansel and Gretel but better! One of the things I loved most about Germany was what a big deal they made of Easter. It seemed so much more Christ centered than how we do it here in America. We had fun hanging plastic eggs from the trees, our neighbor Anna was always bring these beautiful painted eggs over for the kids to eat, all the flowers we coming out and everything was sooo green. We also had no TV, one radio station and everything seemed so peaceful. We played soccer with Jason in the backyard, took walks to the park, talked to neighbor and enjoyed every minute of our precious newborn. I love being back in America but there will always be a lot that I miss about our time in Germany. It was a great time for our family.

Here are a few pictures from celebrating this birthday with Jack and Grandma.

Playing at the Park

These last few weeks my sister-in-law and her kids have been here visiting from Utah. One of the days we took the kids (Jason was in school) to the park to feed the ducks, have a picnic, blow bubbles and just have fun together! My kids sure do love all there cousins!