Santa found out we moved....

We had a wonderful Christmas. It started with a very early awakening of two little ones more excited than most begging to come see.....Santa came, he found out we moved and he knows where we live. Proceeded to by opening stockings, and more presents than a two bedroom apartment can hold. It was a mass of paper, followed by screams of 'just what I always wanted'....including me...I have been asking for a new camera for a very long time and Santa delivered. Just in time for the Christmas holiday and vacation. Not just need some time to read the directions and figure out to use it.

We then went to Grandpa's house for more stockings and breakfast. We have a family tradition of opening stockings at Grandpa's House and a dutch breakfast of eggs and Balken Brij. Delicious!

We then headed over to visit with my family and exchange gifts. There was a puppy dog visiting so the kids had a great time playing ball with the new dog.

After the morning rush, we settled for the day and evening at our last location - Robb's brother's house for a wonderful day of lunching, present opening, and a fantastic dinner. Everyone had such a wonderful time, left with arms full of presents, bellies full, and tired as could be.

Christmas was a smash - out of the park. We had a great day and couldn't have asked for more.



Stockings at our place on Christmas morning.



Jacob's favorite present of the day....a LARGE firetruck.



Isabella's favorite present of the day....a kitchen.

Happy Christmas Eve!

Happy Christmas Eve!

A very good friend sent this to us this morning and I felt the need to pass the wishes and cheer along.

My Christmas wish for you,

Is not a simple one
For I wish you hope and joy and peace
Days filled with warmth and sun
I wish you love and friendship too
Throughout the coming year
Lots of laughter and happiness
To fill your world with cheer
May you count your blessings, one by one
And when totaled by the lot
May you find all you've been given
To be more than what you sought
May your journeys be short, your burdens light
May your spirit never grow old
May all your clouds have silver linings
And your rainbows pots of gold
I wish this all and so much more
May all your dreams come true
May you have a Merry Christmas friend
And a happy New Year, too! ~ unknown

Until tomorrow, have a very blessed evening and take some time out of this busy night to thank the ones you love and hug them even tighter.

God Bless you all,

Robb, Angie, Jacob, and Isabella

Move Over November...December is here...

We are in full HOLIDAY mode here. We have trimmed the tree, hung the stockings, did Christmas cards, visited with Santa, wrote our Dear Santa Letters, explained even though we don't have a fire place - SANTA WILL COME, and a dear friend had us over to decorate cookies today (and sent a supply home for Jacob to decorate since he was at school during the party), had our first snow, frost, freezing ice, and even a couple of snow days, and now to finish shopping...and get some things mailed.

Bring on Dasher, Dancer, Ho-Ho-HO, and so forth......

Instead of Christmas letters or writing on cards this year (frankly had the best intentions it just didn't happen), we sent out cards with our blog address...that way you can stay in touch all year long and contact us if you want.

So, I leave you with photos and Cheers from our family to yours:
Sharing with you the Glory, the Wonder, and the Miracle of this Holy Season...
We wish you and your family and Blessed Christmas and a Wonderful New Year!

Robb, Angela, Jacob, and Isabella

Time Goes Flying By......

Whew - where does the time go? I guess when your having fun, it just flies by. I won't bore you with the mundane things in our lives, just catch you up on some highlights of November:

1. No house changes yet. Made some progress by meeting with a couple of builders and picked out a lot in a neighborhood. However, it's winter here...so no one if really building much anyway, so we of course are taking our time. Just doesn't seem like 5 months...........NOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2. Spent Thanksgiving with some wonderful friends in their new home cooking the day away. It was a wonderful day, great friends, great food, and of course plenty of room for the kids to play. We had plenty to be thankful for this year. Did I mention, we cooked all day.....it was heaven being back in a functional working kitchen with plenty of room and materials to use. As you can imagine, here in the apartment, it's small, the appliances aren't the greatest, and I didn't pack everything I thought we would need. It's like one big long camping trip with running water and a toilet.

3. Robb has been traveling a lot with work...so he is a bit scarce these days. However, the wine business is treating him kind and he is loving every bit of it. So keep drinking.

4. Jacob is doing great in school and loving every bit of it as well. In fact, on days that we don't have school he is mad. It could however be that he has his first little crush on a little girl in his class that has glasses just like him, or his teacher is nicer than I am. We took Jacob to his first concert in November - Garth Brooks. It was wonderful. He had so much fun. In fact, they taped his show to put on a television program that we also taped. So, Jacob asks to watch it all the time. Because I packed all the musical instruments away, he runs around with a wooden spoon and pretends it's his guitar, fiddle, and/or microphone as he is jumping off the couch yelling. It's a site to see.

5. Isabella continues to grow and learn. She is enjoying her weekly gymnastics class and in fact is the class clown. She will do anything for a laugh, including making me chase her all over the place when she is suppose to be sitting still.

6. I am doing great. I continue to stay at home with the kids, watching them grow up way to fast and dream/think about what I want to do when I grow up.

7. Oh yea, we are taking a family vacation in January. It's Merry Christmas to us and then some. We are going to spend a week at Disney World, submerged in the magic. I absolutely can't wait. I am so beside myself. I know a lot of you don't care for it, think it's crazy, and blah, blah, blah....but this is a dream come true for me. To go on a Disney Adventure with my family. Best part, Robb has never ever been. So, he has no idea what is instore for him. He will be a kid again and love showeing our own kids these wonderful new things. We also are meeting up with two families that we traveled to China with who live in the area. We can't wait to see the girls again and see our friends. I will keep you posted on our adventures.

So all in all, we are doing great and wishing you all a Wonderful Holiday Season.

Jacob before the Garth Brooks Concert:


Our Turkey's at the very end of a Wonderful Long Thanksgiving Day:


Trimmed the tree the weekend after Thanksgiving:

Boo Halloween!

Whew – We recovered from the Halloween festivities and October itself. Seemed like it as a busy crazy month with all the events of work, school, Robb’s travel schedule, activities, house hunting and a big finish with Halloween.

We had a blast. Couldn’t ask for more perfect whether for this time of year, 65 and low wind. We spent the evening with family and meeting some new friends having dinner and then of course, Trick or Treating.



Jacob enjoyed Halloween like no other this year. His costume was a Police Officer, but it was more than a costume. It was a character….one that he took very seriously and took on the responsibility of directing traffic and directing the kids. He was such a big boy this year, he insisted on going up to each house alone this year.

Isabella was a Good Witch this year. She had a lot fun and thought she looked ‘pretty’ as she danced around the room telling us all. She also was in character for the night as well. If you asked her, ‘what do witches say’…she would reply in a crackly fast paced voice…’I’ll get you my pretty’. She also figured out just how to get ahead of her big brother. She would ask Robb to carry her by saying, ‘up daddy’. He would pick her up and walk with her to the doorway of each house. She would then say the magic words, and would insist that the person answer the door didn’t pick her treat, but she wanted to pick it. Once she got to put her hands into said treat area, she would smile at them and then take two of them. She would then reply politely, ‘thank you’…and turn to daddy and say “up daddy’. So, she got carried for the most part from house to house and doubled her take from her big brother.



The kids weren’t the only one in character for the night, Robb also go into the action and dressed up along with the kids. He went out dressed as a Cat Burglar. He was dressed in all black, including a stocking cap and flashlight and was a burglar to go along with the Police Officer for the night. Then I drew some whiskers on his face so that he could be the black cat that every little Witch needs….hence, Cat Burglar. He is a great daddy and the kids loved, loved his costume.



We had a wonderful night with family, friends, dinner, pumpkin carving, and treats…but the night did not end with out a ‘trick’. As we left the festivities from one location to another to visit some old neighbors, I (yes it was all ME – only because I failed to mention that along with family, friends, kids, and Trick or Treaters….we had a 'Beer Wagon' for all the dads following us in tow – therefore, I had to drive), turned a corner and hit the right rear tire in Robb’s truck against a curb. Therefore, after the huge bump in the night…the tire went flat (I completely destroyed it). So, Robb dressed as the Cat Burglar, was lying on the ground on Halloween night in the dark of it all changing a tire. Therefore, we missed a visit to our old neighbors. Sorry, but it was a school night and everyone was tired and wanted some candy, maybe next year.





All in all it was a wonderful, exciting evening had by all.

Trip to Pumpkin Patch and a Farmstead....

Been busy with fall activities, took a trip to the local Pumpkin Patch (which just gets better and better each year) and a trip with some friends to the a local farmstead to feed as many goats as we could. Now, we are trying to see home many times we can wear our Halloween costumes from now until next Wednesday night....(trying to get our monies worth)....look for more photos as we have a busy weekend planned.

Make your own slide shows and scrapbooks

Whatch been up to?

There’s a part of me that feels silly writing a blog. To me, it implies that I think I have something brilliant and important to say. I just feel that I can’t live up to that standard. Now that you know that I’m not planning to be brilliant, I can relax a little and enjoy the more informal nature of our blog.

Fall is wonderful here. I love it. It’s starting to get cool, things are still green, and the smells and colors are great. We have been busy living life and having some fun.

I got to get away for a day with some friends and do some scrap-booking, a wonderful fall rainy day, surrounded by lots of creative people, no drama, no hard work…just fun, pure fun. It was a nice day and of course as usual, didn’t get much accomplished but a lot of chit chat. I did manage to create two layouts on this great day.

The first layout is for this year’s Halloween photos, so it not being Halloween yet –not photos of the kids, but stay tuned….I will get photos.







The other layout titled “Red Couch” has no photos, because let’s face it…our China photos are a mess. Something I had hoped to make the time for with apartment living (not as of yet). However, I do have photos from China of the Red Couch and someday will put photos on this layout. I don’t really know how the Red Couch Photos started, perhaps it began because of the "Red Thread" legend (Ancient Chinese Legend says there is an invisible red thread that connects those who are destined to meet, regardless of time, place or circumstance. The thread may stretch, or tangle, but never break.) It could have been because the lobby of the White Swan Hotel in Guangzhou, China just seemed a convenient location for a group photograph. I am unsure. But I do know that American parents adopting from China look forward to their "Red Couch" picture, which includes all of the children adopted alongside their child from the same orphanage. We were no exception. It is fifteen minutes of absolute chaos as parents place their children together on one of the White Swan's many red couches (which btw, before we were there…I thought there was just one infamous couch) before snapping a few photographs. Babies crying, parents not moving out of the way because they are afraid their child will fall, babies attacking other babies, mothers not liking their children crying and all the flashes from all the cameras. There is just something about these Red Couches, most every time I see photos from other families, it looked chaotic and there is always some child screaming. We experienced the same thing the day we took our photos. It makes for an incredible keepsake.

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We had a couple days off last week from school so we decided to make a big track all over the living room floor with every single train track piece we have. We then did not do the typical train, train station, and all aboard lingo….no this track was for a construction zone to be used only by Lego’s and Hot Wheels. Isabella has also taken up photography and is now our resident picture taker. However, if you ask me, I think she likes the sound her camera makes, so she just goes around pushing the buttons.














We also made some cupcakes for a friend’s upcoming birthday. My two chefs ate more than they helped, making 4 dozen cupcakes in our tiny kitchen, not being used to this particular oven, and our expectations were set high, but it did make for a fun day. Therefore, our ode to the Cupcake.













Then this past weekend we all took the opportunity to cheer on our favorite NFL team. It was a nice day; the kids had fun being out at the game and THEY WON. Hip, hip, hooray!

Happy Moon Festival

Happy Chinese Moon Festival

It's also known as the Mid-autumn Festival or Lantern Festival. Chinese culture is deeply imbedded in traditional festivals. Just like Christmas and Thanksgiving to us, the Moon Festival is one of the most important traditional events for the Chinese.

The Moon Festival is full of legendary stories. Legend says that Chang Er flew to the moon, where she has lived ever since. You might see her dancing on the moon during the Moon Festival.

Farmers celebrate the end of the summer harvesting season on this date. Traditionally, on this day, Chinese family members and friends will gather to admire the bright mid-autumn harvest moon, and eat moon cakes and have family reunions. Accompanying the celebration, there are additional cultural or regional customs, such as:
• Eating moon cakes outside under the moon
• Carrying brightly lit lanterns through the village
• Burning incense in reverence to deities
• Planting Mid-Autumn trees
• Lighting lanterns on towers
• Fire Dragon Dances

Last night we celebrated the Chinese Moon Festival with some friends at a local Chinese restaurant and even indulged in some Moon Cakes (similar to our tradition of Pecan Pie and Pumpkin Pie for Thanksgiving) that a friend brought along.

Typical mooncakes are round or rectangular pastries, about the size of you palm and about 1’ think. A thick filling usually made from lotus paste, red or black bean paste and is surrounded by a relatively thin crust and may contain egg yolks (representing the full moon). Mooncakes are rich, heavy, and dense compared with most cakes and pastries we are used to. They are usually eaten in small wedges accompanied by Chinese tea. They can take up to a week to make and labor intensive. These cakes can be very expensive and very few Chinese know how to make them property. Given the intensity to make them and the expense, most bakeries in China have a payment plan and local villagers start paying for next years mooncakes the day after the current years festival, to ensure they have mooncakes for next years celebration.

It was a great evening with friends, family, and lots of little ones. You can imagine we were the entertainment for the evening at the restaurant with 4 adopted Chinese little girls and two very playful little boys. Even the employees would come out of the kitchen to see what the going on’s of the girls and of course watch us Midwesterners attempt to eat Mooncakes. I might add certainly is an acquired taste.

Until next time, Happy Moon Festival and Happy Hump Day.

Where's Waldo?

Click to play | Make your own Smilebox

Here we are!

Hello Friends and Family – I apologize for the going on’s and on’s, but we have been busy.

I will start with Apartment life….wow – I certainly have gotten older and grumpier and just let me say, it’s not a place for me and our kids. We are too loud, to rough, and NEED space (mostly mama needs some space and you just don’t get it here). However, we do fit in nicely with our neighbors. The lady upstairs (Mrs. McBowler), you know right directly above us……she either is a manic and moves her furniture at all hours of the day and night or has a bowling ally up there and I have explained how small this place is, so she paces back and forth and stomps. Personally, I think she hears the kids, and that is her way of telling us it’s too loud. Boy, could we out noise her. The lady across the hall (cat lady) has this huge dog. I don’t know the breed, but it’s big enough to scare you when you here his bark. That being said, she has told me that she is feeding a stray cat and it’s finally coming to her, hence why there is a bed, a bowl of water, a pet carrier, and a food out underneath their stairs. So, I ask her, how long have you been feeding this stray…thinking it has a home and will find it soon. She tells me, 9 months……WHAT? I just started laughing and said “it’s your cat now”. According to Robb this cat has had kittens somewhere and brings them up for meals. The kids and I have yet to see them, so we think he is making it up and seeing squirrels. Then the people on the other side of us moved in the middle of the night. Well, not to middle of the night but we all did come home from an evening out one night and they were moving by the light of their car headlights. I would say that is a yellow flag. Since their move, we have had the privilege of telling a parole officer, the county Sherriff, and our local cable company that no one lives there and it’s empty. Therefore, with all the above stated, Robb and I have come up with a questionnaire that we will use if ever in this situation again before picking the place we move into. I must admit, it is kind of fun making up the stories and telling the kids why this or that is happening. Jacob really thinks they have a bowling ally upstairs and Isabella is smitten’ with the kitty cat.

On the house front…..we got word last week that the development that we are wanting to build in won’t be building into their second phase until well into to next year. So, we have decided to jump that ship and start looking elsewhere. We are sadden by the thought of not living there and we fell in love with the house that we had drawn up, but given the ABOVE….I can’t wait until next year to even start building a house. Therefore, we are spending our evenings looking at homes and weekends walking through them, nothing yet, but hopefully soon. Fortunately for us, we keep getting told (yet to see for myself) it's a "Buyers market'.

Whew – Let me see if I can remember what all we have been up to this last month. Oh yea, we have a new baby boy cousin in the family. He is so super cute and the kids love him. Jacob is still trying to figure out how Auntie had a baby in her belly FOREVER and now he is here to play with. I am saving that story for another day, as it is now, I answer anywhere for 50 to 100 questions a day similar to the above.

We visited a local fire department and took a tour of the fire house. The fascination with the kids was that they had a kitchen and a television. The kids got to go through some of the trucks, and got a lesson on fire safety as well as see a fireperson all dressed up incase one ever comes to our house to help and were instructed to not be scared. Jacob wants to know if they have a badge so when they knock on the door he will know if he can answer it or not.

We have also had a High School Musical Party. At four years of age, Disney has gotten to him…..and he has waited all summer to see a Musical movie. So, we had the cousins and some friends stopped by. We had about 6 adults and 5 kids in this tiny place and occasionally someone would watch the musical. According to Jacob’s party throwing abilities, we had to have balloons, pizza, milk, and cupcakes. So, we obliged and had a nice time with everyone.

We had one last BBQ, end of the summer swim and had some friends over. It reminded Robb and I of our younger days when we lived in apartments w/o kids and would have anywhere from 20 people over to watch football and grill all day. So, that night we were setting the table we were discussing the only thing that has changed in 17 years is kids and we have now have furniture. It was a nice evening; we experienced apartment pool etiquette with five kids and five adults. It was a man on man defense and no one got hurt. However, I must say, apartment hot tubs and pools….we weren’t the norm bringing in all the kids. Needless to say, we wore the kids out and came home for ice cream cones to end last summer swim night.

During this past month, we have said good bye to some friends. A family that we met through adoption will be moving south for bigger employment opportunity. The girls all got together for a breakfast and to say our goodbyes. We will miss them and certainly look forward to having a place to come visit.

Then we also lost a friend to cancer this month. Well, she really was a mother to me, but at this age, I feel like using the word friend. She was a loving wife for over 40 years, a mother to 7 wonderful children, a grandmother to 9 and a mom to many, many kids. I met this beautiful soul when I was 5 years old. We were on a field trip to the zoo and my partner was ill and her daughter needed a partner. So, she paired us together. Well, since then we were all inseparable. I was just thrown in their big family as if I was one of them. I would be disciplined, lectured, taught right from wrong, learned to cook, shopped, and even taken care of like I was just part of the family. I even was moved away a couple times during this time and she still managed to make sure I was okay and to take care of me. The greatest thing about this lady, is I wasn’t the only lost soul she took in, there were many, many that she saved from lord only knows. She lived her life for her family, her extended family, and her faith. She has helped me form into the mom I am today and I can only wish to be half the mom she ever was. Even her last months, she was still being a mom to me, and wanting to see my kids, and make sure they were doing well. We will miss you dear friend and know that we loved you like a real MOM. Thank you so much to your dear, dear, family for sharing her with us all these years. I know it must not have been easy always sharing your mother but I am a better person today for having knowing her and your family.

Robb, Jacob, and Isabella took their first trip to the Zoo this year (I took the day off and went out shopping with friends). They played with cousins, fed the birds, and had a picnic lunch. I heard it as great and must admit I was a bit jealous. Robb always does such a great job with them when I am away.

Then finally, last but not least…we visited an apple orchard this week. It was a great day with friends and we saw a lot of things, from farm animals, pumpkins, apple trees, and a hay ride on a big tractor. I must say, that day was a filled with fun and a great nap that afternoon.

Oh yes, one more thing….as you can and can not see from the photos there are a few things we just can’t leave home with out….Jacob has this almost unhealthy relationship with an old cell phone of mine that he calls his walkie talkie. The reason I say ‘unhealthy’ is I am going to hang him up by his toes because of it. It’s not that the ‘walkie talkie’ goes with us every where, it’s we have to pick our clothing around it. The back pockets have to be big and open so that he can slip the thing in and out fast in case there is an emergency and he needs to call anyone. It’s insane, so with this one I have thrown up the white flag and he now picks his own clothes out and dresses himself – some day’s its pretty creative in the clothing department. My only rule is it has to be clean, or he would wear the same orange shorts every day. Then little miss Isabella can not leave the house with out a purse, a phone in her purse, her sun glasses on, only to be worn upside down because that is how they fit her best, and a bracelet on her right arm. It takes more to get out of the house than to actually get ready for the day.

As you can see we are still plugging away here living life. We are all doing well and spending much more time together as a family. So, this little hiatus from a house does after all have a silver lining.

17 Years Later

17 Years ago last night we had one of the hottest days this city had seen in 10 years and I married my lover, my best friend, my soul mate. Today we celebrated with family and friends. I just would never have thought that our lives would turn this way; I didn't think I could possibly have dreamed this big. Traveled the world with my best friend, experienced new and exciting things, seen the best and most certainly the worst of one another, have two beautiful children and have grown up together. Life is good and looking forward to the next 17 years.

We spent our anniversary evening at the Ethnic Enrichment Food Festival with friends and family. It was great. We tried a variety of foods from many different nations (Ethiopia being may favorite), had a nice picnic with friends, and the kids played until we had to be rolled out of there.

I couldn't have planned last night or the past 17 years any better if I wrote the book myself.

First Day of School!

Today was the first day of school. The first day of Pre-K for Jacob. He is such a brave little boy. So many changes in his life...first we sell the only place he knew as home, then we move into an apartment, we spend our spare time looking for a new place to hang our hat, new school, new teacher, and all new friends. I can't beleive how adaptable children can be. They both amaze me on a daily basis.

Jacob woke up first thing this morning, giddy. He wanted to get ready for 'work' and sit down at the table and have 'coffee' with dad. I of course was instructed to stay in bed, becuase it was just to early for the girls and the boys had to go to work early. So, I obliged for about 10 minutes....why couldn't have been Saturday...I would have taken complete advantage of the situation. But today, no way was I going to miss him getting on the bus.

I was also told that since he is a 'big boy' he now gets to pick out his own clothes. So, again, I obliged....not what I would have chosen for the first day of school, but again, so many changes...I wansn't messing with anything. He wanted to go and that is all we cared about.

He got on the bus and road away. It was magic. I then of course was giddy (fell this short of doing a jig) only one child left at home for a few hours....what do I do. Isabella and I were meeting up with some other moms who sent their kiddos off to school to. We had a 'First Day of School' breakfast date then some school clothes shopping. It was nice. It has been a great summer, but very hot and long, so having only one child to deal with was nice. The girls played, the moms shopped....all ended to quickly, we had to get home and wait for the bus, make lunches, then naps.

Therefore, we survived the first day of school, and we are looking forward to tomorrows school day.

Relaxing Weekend Away from Home!

Wooooooooo Whoooooooooo! Coming off of one of the greatest weekends EVER! This weekend, I had the wonderful chance to get away with my girlfriends. Just a few short hours from home, responsibility, and nothing but some scrapbooking, girl fun, pampering, food, laughter, and late nights.

I just spent 55 glorious hours at a Bed and Breakfast, Spa with 11 other woman and I think I managed to sleep only 10 hours the entire weekend. It was worth every waking moment. Walks through the country side trails, spa treatments, pool playing, gourmet meals (that I did not cook myself), even some hammock resting, all in a cute, cozy, rustic, little country B&B setting with a full working spa onsite. Seriously, what more could you ask for? We won prizes, played games, told funny stories about ourselves, got creative, got messy, scrap-booked a little, ate a lot, and became one with nature.

I had such a great time, was surrounded with such talented, nice, caring woman with absolutely NO DRAMA, no classes, no schedule, all fun, all laughter, late nights in our PJ’s filled with giggles, and pure joy. Truly, it was magical how everyone enjoyed themselves and enjoyed each other’s company and got along.

Worth every second, every penny, and I can’t wait to join the ladies again early spring. It’s a date girls, I will be there and thanks for the wonderful time.

It’s something I recommend to everyone…take a step out of the norm, get away from home, the family, and do something you like with people you enjoy, learn more about them, be nice, no pettty chatting behind backs, no meaness, no blaming, and let your hair down and have fun. People are really nice when you get to know them, and they have exciting lives when you get a chance to hear their story and why they are them. Anywhere will do, but I recommend you doing something you are passionate about, something you enjoy and do it away from home and away from everyday life, be adventurous, and do something new.

Meanwhile, the family stayed home, had fun, went swimming, went birthday partying, ate out, and enjoyed each other’s company with out mom around.

All is well with apartment living, everyone is rejuvenated, relaxed, and ready to take on the rest of the hot days of summer.

We Moved!

Whew! What a whirlwind few weeks. Robb has been traveling a bit for work and we have been home packing up our lives. Then last Thursday AM, we got up and went for it. With the help of a lot of wonderful friends, family, babysitter, pizza guys and some hired hands….four days later we are all moved. Alas, all our stuff is in storage, and our tiny little apartment is unpacked with the hopes of it feeling like home soon.

Our lives are in ‘limbo’ right now, if you will. However, when I was trying to decide the actual definition of ‘limbo’, I came up with the thought of….somewhere between heaven and hell. Therefore, not knowing where that place really is, I decided to think we are in a transition period of our lives. Blessed that our home sold to a wonderful couple in such a short time and thankful tiny as it may be, that we do have a roof over our heads and then excited that there is the prospect that we do have some exciting new adventures ahead of us. Building a house can be stressful, but it can also be exciting. The idea of something to look forward to, something new, and something we actually had the thought, the design, and input to a new place we will hang our hat and call home for many years. ….so again, our family motto right now is…”keep our eye on the prize”.

Now, if we can just remember that as we are stepping all over each other, waiting for one another in the one bathroom, hearing every bit of noise, no garage, and keeping the noise level down to something that the neighbors too can hear themselves think.

I must say, the kids love it. They think we are on a camping trip, we have three pools, a small patio and green grass to call their own, a work out room, volley ball court, and basket ball court – all of which Jacob thinks he needs to do daily. I only dread the day, they start asking to go home.

So, for now…I leave you with the thought of…..we moved!

T-1 - Moving Day!

Tomorrow is moving day! We knee deep in boxes and once we move to a permanent place our children will have to make our next move to the Old Folks home.

It may be a while before you hear from us and apartment living, but rest assured we will be up and running soon.