Long time no see...

Long time no see, blogger friends. I apologize for not updating this thing sooner, but it's been a crazy month for us. As most of you know, the kids and I temporarily moved to Alabama and Josh deployed with the Navy. So we've been busy moving, shipping out and getting settled in.

Mid-November, Josh drove me, the kids and Buck (our dog) cross country to Alabama. It was quite an adventure...we made the drive in a little over 3 days. Didn't stop except to eat, sleep, pee and get gas. Once we arrived in Alabama, Josh stayed with us for two days before flying to Oregon, picking up the new car we bought (long story) and then driving the new car back to California. He stayed in California for a couple of weeks and then shipped out for deployment. We were sad to see him go, but excited to start counting down until homecoming.

For the last couple of weeks the kids and I have been settling in to life at my mother's house. I feel terrible...we've taken over her home. I try really hard to keep us compartmentalized...but we just tend to spill over into every room of her house. Maybe I'll gain control over the mess in the coming days and weeks...but it kind of has a mind of its own. haha.

This weekend, I decided to give my mom a break from the chaos and took the kids to Atlanta to see my dad. That's where we are now. We've had such a blast being here. We weren't in town ten minutes before Papa took Wyatt and Reagan to Chuck E. Cheese's. These kids definitely have their grandfather wrapped. Last night we drove through the Christmas lights at Life University...to say that Wyatt loved it would be an understatement. They had lights everywhere! I wish the pictures I took had turned out, because it really was amazing. Today we headed over to the Botanical Gardens so that Wyatt could ride the train they have set up for the holidays...as our luck would have it, Santa was also there. So I would say it was a successful morning.

I haven't had much of an opportunity to break out the camera these days, but I did get some shots this morning at the gardens. Thankfully, we got a few good ones...I wasn't sure I would since my hands were shaking and teeth were chattering so bad. It was a cold one!

I'm going to try and do better about taking pictures from now on...after all, Daddy needs to see what we're doing too. So stay tuned for more....but not too eagerly, I can't promise how soon it will be. haha.

Ohio

We just got home from Ohio...it was such a great trip and it was so nice to see family. Wyatt had a blast, as usual. Grandpa's farm is like heaven for a two-year-old boy. I think we did everything a little boy could dream of doing. Rea was along for the ride too...but she really only wanted some attention and a bottle. I will spare you the recital of every detail of our week, and let the pictures speak for themselves...

Nana

After we got home from Tahoe, we had two days before my mom (aka Nana) came to visit. Me and the kids drove up to San Jose to pick her up...and while we were there, visited one of our favorite stores...

We had such a blast checking out all that they had to offer...and Wyatt had a blast running up and down the aisles with his paper measuring tapes. And yes, we bought a ton of stuff.

Nana stayed with us for four days. While she was here we played a lot, had a CAbi party and ate lots of good food. We were sad to see her go...but we'll see her again soon! ;)

Lake Tahoe, October 8-11

So I'm going to attempt to do a little catching up here...

Josh left at the end of September for Fallon, Nevada (he would be gone a month). Thankfully, we had plans to drive up to Lake Tahoe and meet him a few days later. I loaded up the car with clothes, snacks and babies and drove the six hours up to the mountains. I had never been to Lake Tahoe before, and I knew that it would probably be beautiful...but I just had no idea. It is in my top three of the most beautiful places I've ever been. The pristine lake surrounded by mountains and crisp, clean air. Sigh. Can we go back now?



Anyway, we and four other families rented a huge cabin in South Lake Tahoe. The first night we were there, I sent Josh out to the car to grab some groceries that I had left out there. He walked outside, looked up, and this is what he saw about three feet from his face...

Fortunately, that was our only bear encounter. haha.

We spent four days just hanging out and enjoying our surroundings. The kids also relished in some daddy-time. We managed to spend a couple of hours at the lake one day and got some great shots of the kids...


This trip was entirely too short. I wish we could've stayed forever. Hopefully someday soon, we'll head back up that way...

A quick observation...

Hanford finally gets a drink...

We FINALLY got a light sprinkling of rain yesterday! It has not rained here since late March...maybe early April. Seriously, there have not even been clouds in the sky. This development was so exciting that when I took the kids out in the stroller, Wyatt screamed "Clouds!!!". And so exciting to me, that I had to write a blog post about it.

I grew up in Alabama where almost every afternoon of the summer a thunderstorm blows through. I used to hate that. I hated that you would have to leave the pool early, or that you got stuck in the house for a few hours. This was before I could appreciate a good nap, of course. But now that I've gone without rain for two summers in a row, I miss it like crazy. The sight of little droplets on the pavement brought me more joy than getting to sleep in on a Saturday....although I'm not sure I even remember what that's like. haha.