Daddy's Retirement...through the eyes of a 3 year old

SO, Sissi LOVES to take pictures, to play with the camera, to be a "big girl"...is that really a surprise to any parent of a pre-schooler?  They really do tend to copy and imitate us in most all we do.  I, personally, love to take pictures and to scrapbook.  In fact, it's something that I've been promising Sissi for years, that when she is 10, I'll take her with me to her first scrapbooking retreat...she is SO excited about this idea!!!  My little "mini-me."

At the retirement ceremony for Indy, Julia really didn't understand all that was going on.  She was concerned and worried that Daddy was leaving us, she cried and fussed and several of us kept trying to tell her that it was alright, that Daddy was just retiring and would be around MORE now.  As the parent of a pre-schooler would also understand, sometimes you'll do just about anything to "keep the peace", and that includes giving up your camera to a frightened 3 year old.  And, oh, what a collection of photos she took...there are about 150 of them! I'll share some of my personal favorites below:

Oh, Uncle Jon...LOVE this picture of you talking to Sissi!  Classic!

Grandma Marquis

My Dad, what more can I say!!!

Mr. Robert, very nice...you're just too tall my man!

Adam is such a sweetie to Sissi, what a good "big brother"

Almost didn't put this one in...not too terribly flattering to me; but, I really like the look on Marcus' face..."hmm, what are you doing little girl?"

Yeah, now that is the face I know!

The ceiling; but, at an angle...very nice.

Krypto, crying because Daddy was crying after the Honor Guard did the 13 folds on his American Flag.  It was a really moving ceremony.  You can see Gwangi with the video camera, still haven't had the heart to look at that recording yet ;).

I like this one...the ceiling, the mountains, the chapel, and about a 1/3 of Daddy.

Love that Nowlin Family...so glad that their children are gracious, good helpers, and friends to all they meet.

Paul, this is a great shot too, thanks for playing with the kids when the dinner went long.  You're a great man!

Big brother, maybe he didn't like what he was drinking?

The Elephant Bar, great decor and really tasty food too!  There were some awesome posters/travel advertisements from back in the day for Zanzibar, Kenya, etc...a real neat "walk down memory lane."

We have arrived!

Not sure if there is anything else to say ;)!

But seriously, we have arrived in Winston-Salem, NC and are getting settled in, slowly but surely!  The process of catching up on laundry, grocery shopping, making appointments with military bases, taking care of driver's licenses, registering cars, and having household goods delivered is overwhelming at times.  I want to be the ostrich and stick my head in the sand.  Can't I just stay in bed all day, or enjoy sitting down and reading a book, or watching a movie?  I keep thinking that if I can just get to the next week, it'll all be better, it'll be a break, easier...  I think at this point, to get over the let down that is the busy-ness of life, I just need to look forward to September...  It's far enough ahead in the future that I won't stop working; but, I can still see it!

Let's see, in September, I will have already packed and re-packed 6 times, driven about 5 thousand miles around the country, visited most of our friends and family, gone through Pre-Field Orientation in Springfield, flown half way around the world, dealt with all the new things of being in Tanzania, gotten Indy back to work, started the school year with our kids...whew!!!  Renita, I'm looking more and more forward to that Sabbath WEEK!!!!!

I often think of the verse, "Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is the tree of life."  Prov 13:12.  I LONG right now for some peace and quiet, for a routine, for all of my stuff to be out of suitcases and where it belongs.  I have been cantankerous to say the least (for shame!) and I know I need to make that decision, each and everyday, to treasure my family and this travel time that we have together.  Lots of time for talking, playing and being together.  Never again (probably...hopefully) will Indy be out of work for this long.  Please, Lord, help me to enjoy this time rather than let my natural OCD tendencies overrule and be grumpy with my family.

I did make a point this morning to STOP, to take a few minutes and play a game of checkers with Gwangi.  It ended up being a learning lesson for him about paying attention to the details, he missed some key moves he could have taken.  I took a few minutes to color with Sissi before her quiet time today, I think she really enjoyed it.  I also took some time to listen to Krypto's long winded stories about a game that he is designing...it was a new, 3 stage, Lego game...I got through hearing about stage 1 in 15 minutes.  Guess we need to work on getting out your main point and 3 supporting arguments next year in school, otherwise, he isn't going to be too successful in "pitching" his design ideas in the future (lol!!!)

"But they that wait upon the Lord will renew their strength!"  Isaiah 40:31

A Photo Blog of Gwangi's Birthday!

Gwangi loves his rocks

Jack, Gwangi, Jacob, and Ty at the Cave of the Winds

Krypto looking through what he collected in the "Crystal Adventure"

All the kids got to sign the back of this very oversized t-shirt for Gwangi

They liked the "Climber's Box"

Sharing, comparing and swapping

Thumbs up, Jacob

Cute Moriah, and her precious smile

Yummy, we love pudding with sprinkles

Peace Jacob ;)!

The adorable Munson Clan

The faithful Moore family, friends with us since before Krypto was even born!

Oh boys, you are just so precious, love this picture of Zachery and Samuel

Sweet sisters, feel the love!!!

Second day on the road...more of the same

So, today was Friday, our second day on the road.  We were able to make it from Wichita, KS to Little Rock, AR.  But, it wasn't without a bit of weather and drama!

We pretty much had rain the WHOLE day.  Some times, just a bit, and other times more than I have ever seen.  At one point, Sissi said we needed to call Noah...as in Noah and the Ark...because of all the standing water we could see.

The bright spot of our day, well..to be honest, there were two ;)....

First, we got to meet up with Marsha, a Tapestry of Grace (TOG) friend of mine.  She lives in Tulsa and it was on the way, so we met up at Chick Fil A where the kids could get some play time and stretch after all the time in the car.  I always try to stop at Rest Areas, so they can play...not on this trip, it's been so wet, it's the run in and out game at gas stations we've been playing lately.  They were a bit restless today.  Back to lunch with Marsha and her oldest son, Scott.  We met up and got to share a bunch of hugs from different ladies in our group ;)!!!  There was time to compare stories, to talk about the future, and even share a bit about the past and Jeff's recent retirement.  We could have talked for hours, I'm sure.  As I go through this summer, and meet more and more of these amazing ladies, it is going to be harder and harder to say goodbye.  We should just set up a little town for us all to live in, one very large TOG Co-op!!!!!  I've been driving across lots of open land the past two days, I'm thinking the opportunity is there ;)!

Marsha, Sissi, and I at Chick Fil A in OK

Indy and Scott talking.  I think they enjoyed their "guy" time together too!

Second bright spot....well, we got to see my nephew Roman and my brother Ben!  We were late of course...the weather between Fort Smith and Little Rock was not good...it got really bad about 60 miles or so West of the city and we actually pulled over.  It was so loud, I could hardly hear myself think, much less hear the kids trying to talk (actually yell) at me...I've never been in rain that hard, or that loud.  We found out later that we were, again, in the middle of a severe weather and tornado watch...oh joy!  Our timing has not been good in the weather department....guess we shouldn't travel this area in the spring again!  Roman was tired and Becky very graciously kept him up so we could at least spend an hour with him.  I've mapquested our trip tomorrow, it's only 6 hours...so, after breakfast, we're heading back over to the house for another hour or so.  I pray, with him in a better mood, that we can get some awesome pictures of us all together.  He is the sweetest and cutest little nephew and I could just eat him up ;)!!!  We'll get some more time with my brother, and parents, in a few weeks up in Branson.  Looking forward to a bit more downtime....just two more days to go, we're over half way there...Winston-Salem, you're looking better everyday!!!!

Putting this day to bed

Thursday was our first day on the road...the road away from Colorado Springs and most everything that our family has known for the past 4 years.  It was super hard!

We were able to say our goodbyes to our dear friends the Bartons before we left their house, a house we had been sharing with them for the past 2 weeks.  I did cry a bit when Hosanna gave me a very sweet card and some chocolate...oh, how well she knows me!

We then met my sister, parents, and pastor for breakfast at Chick Fil A before we got on the road.  Pastor Randy prayed with us and gave each of the kids some money to get a special treat.  They decided they wanted to get Twizzlers when we stopped in Limon.  I think they might spend a bit more of it tomorrow on ice cream.  We'll see, so far it's been a bit cold for ice cream.

As we said goodbye to Aunt Kate, we did cry, I had a really hard time the whole time driving out on Woodmen to Hwy 24.  I'll miss my sister, and I wonder...did I tell her often enough how much I love and appreciate her?  Did I make her feel loved and needed?  I'm not always the best at the "Words of Affirmation" that it seems so many people in my family (and life) need.  I'm trying; but, it's still a work in progress.

It was a pretty uneventful day as we made our way East through Colorado and across the Kansas border.  The kids loved the name of the border city, Kanorado...  Very cute.  A few quotations from the early part of the day...  "I'm hungry", "Can we stop for a break yet"....Hmmm, think you might see where that is going.

We stopped for lunch in Goodland and then had our mid afternoon break in Hays.  As we're leaving Hays, I call my TOG friend, Renita, in Wichita to make plans to meet her that night for coffee.  A half hour later, she calls me again...I think "oh no, she's going to cancel"...  She was actually calling to tell me about the horrible weather that we were driving into...tornadoes!  Low and behold, as we are speaking, it begins to really start raining and the clouds close in and it gets dark, quickly!  The next hour was extremely tense.  We tried to stop; but, honestly, if you've ever driven I-70 between Hays and Salina, you know, there is nothing there and really no place to stop!  We talked to a local guy and he said there was a break in the storms and to go for it. We did; but, it was scary - listening to the local weather guys talking and naming cities/areas to avoid that we were passing as they were talking about them.  I'll never forget, we were passing the sign for "Sylvan Grove" and the guys on the radio are saying that a trained weather spotter just called in and saw a tornado touch down just south of Sylvan Grove and it was heading NE (the direction we were driving)...oh man, talk about stressful!

Thankfully, we made it through unscathed and pushed through all the way to McPherson for dinner without stopping.  We really wanted to get past those storms!!!

There were more storms coming in that night and so Renita's husband felt it would be safer for her to stay home, so unfortunately, we didn't meet up.  Maybe next time ;)!?  We settled in for the night and all was well.

Day 1, done!  Friday - driving to Little Rock...I'll let you know how that goes next!

Hmmm, think she was tired!  This was right after lunch, from Goodland to Hays, KS.

Since it was quiet time for Sissi, I let the boys play their DS games...They were lost to me, so I sang along to some old 80's tunes on my iPod.

Interview with a 6 year old

My little boy is 6!

I won't have any pictures in this blog...long story; but, since we're staying with friends that have their office in their home, for security reasons we can't get our personal laptop on the internet...so, we're using their computer (they are so gracious and share everything with us) and all of my pictures are on my laptop...  It's OK though, I decided that I'd tell you about the birthday party, and give you an interview with our new 6 year old!

Gwangi decided last fall that he really wanted his birthday party at the Cave of the Winds...he never wavered on this!  We had a large group of 22 friends and family meet us there...Aunt Kate, the Bartons, the Munsons, the Moores, the Edwards, the Joines.....what fun!!!!  The day started off with a cave tour and then the kids got to play in the bat cave, the climber's box and the Crystal Adventure where they were able to dig and then to fill a bag with crystals to keep!  We had pudding cups with sprinkles for dessert and exchanged a few gifts!  A great day!

On the way home, I (and the rest of the family piped in) started asking Gwangi some questions...here you go, your interview with a new 6 year old!

What was your favorite part of the party - presents!
What was your favorite present - the Lego Star Wars book
http://www.amazon.com/LEGO-Star-Wars-Brickmaster-Lego/dp/0756663113/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1304955238&sr=8-3
What was your favorite part of the tour - the whole thing ;-)
What is your favorite animal - DINOSAURS!
What is your favorite number - 6 (was it 5 last week???)
What is your favorite thing to do - PLAY!
What is your favorite food - pizza
What is your favorite color - red
What is your favorite game - Lego Star Wars
What would be your favorite place to go on vacation - Dinosaur Land (hmmm, where is that...will our trip to the Creation Museum this summer suffice?)
What is your favorite thing to do in the summer - play in the sun
What is your favorite things to do in the winter - have a snow ball fight
What is your favorite thing to do with Aunt Kate - go on dates
What is your favorite cupcake - chocolate
What is favorite toy - Legos
What is your favorite dessert - chocolate ice cream
What is your favorite plant - roses, because they're red
What is your favorite sea creature - octopus
What is your favorite drink - water
What is your favorite cartoon - Donald Duck's Ants
What is your favorite movie - The Valley of Gwangi (NO, really, I had no idea ;-))
What is your favorite book - anything by Richard Scarry
What is your favorite restaurant - Chuck E. Cheese (oh THANKS Loni, Robert and Adam, he's going with them for lunch today!!!)
Who is your favorite Aunt in CO - Aunt Kate (hmm, guess who asked him this question?)
Who is your favorite Aunt in the Middle East - Aunt Megan (love and miss you sis!)
Who is your favorite Aunt in IN - Aunt Maria
Who is your favorite brother - MOM, I only have one.....
Who is your favorite sister - Sissi
Who is your favorite Mom - Mommy
Who is your favorite Dad - God (Wow...really, what about Daddy...), cause he's the best Daddy we can have... (OK, I'll go with that answer, so did Daddy ;-))
What do you want to be when you grow up - a Paleontologist
What is your favorite vehicle - Jeeps!
What is your favorite sport - baseball
What is your favorite subject in school - when Mommy reads me History books (ahhhh, love that answer!)
What are your favorite jammies - the ones with the trains on them (Thanks Grandma Marquis)

Love my boy so much!!!   He is so sweet and precious.  Hosanna said that if she could adopt one of my children, it would be the cute, double dimpled Gwangi!  He is super and 6 today!  Looking forward to a lunch date with the Moores at Chuck E. Cheese and dinner tonight at the Texas Roadhouse...Kids eat free on Mondays!

Oh, and glance back in time, 6 years ago....  I had a 2 year old on the 6th of April and thought I was going into early labor with my 2nd child.  We drank water, had me lay in bed on my side, and after several hours, we got it to stop.  My dear sister, Megan, came back from her 1st tour in the Middle East (she's on her 3rd now) and came to stay with us for a couple of weeks to help with Krypto while I had the baby...  He didn't show up.  Meg and I walked 3-5 miles a day, nothing....I went past my due date, Meg had to go home in a couple of days.  Mother's Day was May 8th, I was at church, wearing my new hair clip from my sister and over 40 weeks pregnant.  I kept getting the WHY ARE YOU HERE look and commentary!  On Monday, the 9th of May, I woke up with a migraine and not feeling so well...we called L&D and they said 'come on in'...we had him that night!  6 years ago today, on Monday the 9th of May, I had my 2nd little boy.  He was almost named Philip (after the disciple); but, after a bit of a scare with the cord and him not breathing, we were crying, and named him "Gift from God"....he really is our special present and we couldn't love him anymore than we do!  Well, we might love him MORE tomorrow and in the years to come...but, for today, we love him as much as we possibly can!  Thank you God for our special gift!

Moving out of the house

Last week is really quite a blur!  We decided on Friday, the 29th of April, that we did need to list the house.  We had been given plenty of referrals by friends, met with a few, and decided to go with a family that lives just right around the corner and has been doing this for years.  He is very much in touch with the local neighborhood and we just felt instantly comfortable and at peace with him and his wife.  We prayed about the situation, at length, and called him back and offered him the job!  He, his wife, and son, have bent over backwards to be available for us, to get the house photographed, set for showings and an Open House, just days after we moved out.

Below is the "virtual tour" listing and I'm really quite happy with it!

http://listingsmagic.com/flash/tour_hd.php?property_ID=30766

Our understanding from the Open House is that there were 7 families that came through on Saturday (slow weekend because of Mother's Day) and that 2 seemed interested.  The Realtor will follow up with them this week!

We are so happy about being one step closer to going to Tanzania...I'll be honest though, the week was stressful and there were times I cried and just lost it with my family.  I've never been a huge fan of moving,  and having to figure out what would go in storage (and hopefully fit in a 10x20 storage unit in NC...not sure about that, might need a bigger one), what needed to go to Africa (and trying to fit it into the least number of plastic bins and suitcases, none of which was over 50 lbs...arghhh) and what should be donated or trashed...all while trying to fit in the last week of High Country, Doctor's appointments, Retirement appointments...I'll tell you, I've never felt pulled in so many directions in my whole life.  Please continue to pray for our peace, for our house to sell, and for us to get through the very many appointments and "things" we need to do to get ready to leave in the next week or so.  Thanks be to God!