Transition Time

The last couple of weeks have been a little hectic.  My mom flew down to Columbus last Thursday so she could help get the boys and myself ready to come to Missouri for a little while before the big move.  We decided that we would head to Missouri to spend some time with family while Drew finishes his class and organizes the movers, etc.  We did this when we moved to Georgia from Colorado and it worked well.  It's a little hard on Drew being apart from the boys but it gives all the grandparents some time with the kids and we're not in the way while the movers are there. 

So, we packed the car up and drove to Memphis on Saturday.  We were able to spend some time with Drew's sister, Kristen, and her family in the evening.  Luke had fun with playing in the kiddie pool and playing baseball with his aunt and uncle.  It was great to see everyone but the time was so short.  Wish we could see them again soon, but it will have to wait until Christmas.  We drove from Memphis to Joplin on Sunday.  It was a long two days of driving, especially for Luke.  He sure was happy to get to Nana and Papa's and run around in the backyard.  Levi was unbelievably good on the trip.  We really are blessed he's such a happy and content little guy 99% of the time.

We've been pretty much relaxing at Nana and Papa's for now.  We're trying to get Levi fully recovered from croup and trying to get the kids on some kind of routine on Central Time.  My brother was able to come for a little while yesterday and today.  It was great to see him before he makes his big move down to Florida.  The boys and I are going to see Grandma and Grandpa in Stockton for the next few days and then stop in Springfield to see Uncle Jon and Aunt Carrie for an afternoon.

We're in the area until mid-September and hope to see a lot of family and friends.  It seems like we'll be here for a long time right now, but it always feels so short when it's all done.  Drew will get here about September 8 and have some time to spend with everyone before we head to California.  I don't know that I'll have access to all of our pictures from the past few months to continue updating the blog.  I was hoping to have it all caught up by now, but that's just the way things happen. If I find the time and photos, perhaps I'll get things rolling.  If not, we'll get to it when we get to it.

Easter Time

Here are a few pictures from around Easter.

Luke was excited at church on Palm Sunday since he got to keep a Palm branch. He carried it around for days and called it his "Palm Sunday", but we finally had to toss it. He still asks about it sometimes when we go to the dumpster at the apartment complex.

The day before Easter we went on post for an Easter egg hunt with our friends.  We decided to all go bowling afterwards.  It was Luke's first time bowling at he liked it, at least for the first few frames.  He then got distracted by the arcade games.  They even had cute little bowling shoes in his size!

I made sugar cookies with Luke that evening.  They didn't turn out exactly

right, but Luke had fun making them and eating them.



On actual Easter we went to church for the sunrise service.  Our church has a little outdoor worship area where they had the service.  It reminded me of having devotions outside at summer camp.

They have the tradition of breakfast after service and then decorating the cross with flowers.

 This was an unsuccessful attempt at a family photo

Levi was a little more cooperative 

We gave Luke his basket later in the afternoon.

We tried to get a picture of the boys together.  Here are some of our masterpieces.

We obviously were not having the best day or attitudes for pictures!

We got together with a great bunch of Army people for Easter

dinner. It was fantastic but I don't have any pictures.

(April 17-24, 2011)

Wild Animal Safari

There's a drive through animal park nearby.  We went up there one morning and had a blast. The animals come right up to the car and/or stick their heads in the car for you to feed them.  They have no regard for personal property so we rented one of their minivans to drive.  It was from about 1984 and barely ran.  I can't imagine the herd of animals that would have attacked the van had it broken down. We sure laughed a lot and got some really great pictures.

My favorite picture BY FAR! 

This makes you feel safe... 

They also had a really nice walk through area that was like a little zoo.

Evidently Ligers do exist! 

Luke is OBSESSED with gates.  Doesn't matter where we are or what we're doing,

he's always more captivated by the gates than anything else.

Drew taught Luke how to eat honeysuckle. 

Luke picked out a safari hat when we were done at the park.  He loves it. 

(April 22, 2011)

Randoms

Here are some random pictures that didn't make it into the previous posts.

(March 2011)