Our New Home in Virginia Beach

We moved into our new home about 10 days ago. We completed our fastest unpack in 10 years and our house is fully unpacked! We have boxes in the garage and in the under the stair closet to go through at our leisure. It is the first time that Jered was able to take leave to help unpack, so that's why it was so fast. Also being our fourth move in 10 years, we are getting more adept at what to unpack and where to put it. We are so excited about our new home. It's a great house, just perfect for our family. The neighborhood is so family friendly with tons of kids and a great playground just a few yards from our house. There is also a large pool and clubhouse for the residents of our community. The commissary is a mile away, and there are fun things to do on base like bowling, a library, a water park, fishing, and great parks by the lake. The civilian neighborhood has lots of shopping, restuarants, and nice public library close by, but it's still very residential and quiet. Our church is less than a mile away too, so that's a definite plus! We are enjoying our last week of summer vacation before school starts. After Labor Day, it's back to school, ballet lessons for Emma, basketball team for Will, and Awanas for both kids this year. We are very thankful to the Lord for providing more than we deserve and look forward to the next few years here.

Traveling - California to Virginia

We arrived in Virginia one month ago. We have been staying in the Navy Lodge at Norfolk while they are getting our house in Virginia Beach ready. We left San Diego on June 15, and spent 9 days driving across country, and about 3 weeks with friends and family. We stopped in Tucson and enjoyed the Pima Air Museum on Father's Day. After leaving Tuscon, we spent the night in Las Cruces and Fort Stockton.

In Texas, we spent a few days with Abby in San Antonio, touring her work at USAA, going to church, and visiting the Fort Sam Houston veterans cemetery where my grandparents are both buried now. We took a couple of day trips around the Austin area to see friends too. It was great to catch up with them, especially the Cozarts, some of our best and oldest friends that we miss so much! Abby and the four of us also went to Schlitterbaun water park, which was a blast.

After San Antonio we drove down to Corpus Christi. We spent a lot of time with all my aunts and uncles and cousin Phebe, and got together with my friend of 17 years, Lisa, and her husband. My grandmother is in the nursing home very close to my parents' new house, so I got to see her frequently. I didn't know if we'd ever see her again, so it made the visits very special. Baba and Meemaw have a beautiful new house, and we very much enjoyed it. Jered and Will especially liked the lake right out the back door, and caught a lot of bass and blue gill. On our way from Texas to Virginia, we stopped in Beaufort, Mobile (where Will lost his first tooth!), Atlanta, and Charlotte. In Atlanta we met up with a friend for dinner, and in Charlotte we spent the evening with Jered's cousins John and Stacie and their girls. Our kids are almost the same exact ages and they had so much fun together. Traveling across the country with 2 kids, 2 dogs, and 2 cars full of belongings was an adventure for sure! We were thankful that everything went well and we made lots of good memories.

Our First Camping Trip

This Memorial Day Weekend, our family took its first camping trip. For the kids and I, it was our first camping trip ever! Jered had not been in over 10 years. We went to Vallecito Stage Station County Park, about 2 hours northeast of San Diego, with our friends the Carpenters. We were able to borrow most of the supplies we didn't have, like a tent and lanterns, from our friends the Strouses. It was a giant tent - Jered could even stand up in the center! The Carpenters showed us lots of camping tricks and yummy outdoor cooking, and we had a great time relaxing in the evenings around the campfire. The kids had fun too - mostly playing in the sand and getting as dirty as I've ever seen them! They also had a blast with squirt guns. They slept very well in the tent; we were proud of them, especially Will, who had to sleep on the floor since we left his air bed at home. Sunday we drove to the mountain town of Julian, which Jered and I have many fond memories of, so we were happy to see it again before we leave San Diego in a couple weeks. We are so thankful for our good friends and a fun first experience camping.

California Coastal Cruise

We just returned from a week long California Coastal cruise onboard the Sapphire Princess. It was a great vacation! So relaxing and luxurious. We stopped at San Francisco, Santa Barbara, Catalina Island, San Diego, and Ensenada Mexico. Onboard we enjoyed the wonderful dining rooms, buffets, swimming pools, nighttime outdoor movies, and all the other amenities that make cruising so relaxing. Jered and I celebrated our 10th anniversary, and Auntie Abby watched the kids quite a bit so we could do things on our own. The kids and Abby stayed in one cabin and we had the one next to it. The ports were fun, and we got to see all the cities we had wanted to visit before we move in June. What a great way to say good-bye to California!

Easter 2013

So much has happened in the last few months, I have not updated our blog. It would be difficult to write about everything, and too hard emotionally right now, so I will just post some pictures and a blurb. Today was Easter Sunday. I am so thankful we have the hope of eternity in the midst of times that seem dark and weary. So thankful for Jesus and his victory over death. We sang an "I Will Rise" choral arrangment this morning. "I hear the voice of many angels sing, Worthy is the Lamb. I hear the cry of every longing heart, Worthy is the Lamb." It really touched both of us.

The children are doing well, and looking forward to several things in the next few months: our California coastal cruise in May, visiting family and friends in June and July during our cross country move, and exploring our new home. Emma started weekly ballet classes this year, and Will does Art Club at school as well as Awanas. We got free last minute tickets to Legoland in February. The kids also enjoyed their time in Colorado with Grandma and Uncle Ian, although it was not in good circumstances. We are still coming to terms with the loss of Grandpa Mike, Jered's dad. Tonight Will said in his prayers, "I am happy about heaven. I still love daddy's dad. When I get to heaven, I will run up to him and hug him." When I also finished praying, thanking God for Jesus and Easter, Will told me, "I have a little bit of tears in my eyes." He said he is thankful for salvation, but sad about Grandpa still. I told him that's ok. We have hope and a promise, but tears are normal and good evidence of his beautiful, sensitive heart. It's good to cry sometimes. That's about all I can write about that right now.

Here's some pictures!