A big blogger welcome!

I just made my sister start a blog so I can see my beautiful niece more often, so if you want to see one of the cutest little girls you've seen in a long time (well at least since the last time you looked at a pic of hallie... hee hee!) head on over to her blog.

She's a natural blogger so enjoy!

A Very Merry Almond Puff Christmas to You!

Since it was really only the 2 of us partaking of desserts on Christmas, I decided I probably shouldn't go overboard with the baking this year. I ended up only baking one dessert- my absolute favorite! Here's the recipe

Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter
1 cup flour
2 tblsp water
1/2 butter or margarine
1 cup water
1 tsp almond extract
1 cup flour
3 eggs

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Cut 1/2 cup butter into 1 cup flour. Sprinkle 2 tblsp water over mixture; mix with fork. Found into ball; divide in half. On ungreased baking sheet, pat half into a strip 12" x 3". Strips should be about 3" apart. In medium saucepan, heat 1/2 cup butter and 1 cup water to rolling boil. Remove from heat and quickly stir in almond extract and 1 cup flour. Stir vigorously over low heat until mixture forms a ball, about 1 minute. Remove from heat. Beat in eggs all at one time, until smooth. Divide in half; spread each half evenly over strips, covering completely. Bake about 60 minutes or until topping is crisp and brown. Cool. Frost with Confectioner's Sugar Glaze and sprinkle generously with nuts.

Confectioner's Sugar Glaze
Mix 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar, 2 tblsp butter or margarine, softened, 1 to 1 1/2 tsp almond extract or 1 to 1 1/2 tsp vanilla and 1 to 2 tblsp warm water until smooth.

I would have taken a picture of its greatness, but I use whole wheat flour and it just doesn't look as nice as white flour AND I was so impatient I spread the frosting before it had cooled, so we had another strike! But really don't let this deter you from trying this naughty with a capitol N-A-U-G-H-T-Y dessert! It is melt in your mouth delicious!

Merry Christmas!

For our first Christmas without our families, we thought and thought and thought some more about traditions we could start for our little family and finally we decided to just stick with the traditions of our families as much as possible. We were sad to be away from them as we always have SO much fun together laughing and enjoying each others company, but we enjoyed our quiet and relaxing Christmas. And I have to admit it was pretty nice to not have to worry about packing everything and everyone up!

A yummy dinner we ate...

Tyson cooked a wonderful Christmas Eve dinner of Prime Rib, mashed potatoes, broccoli and cheese sauce, and rolls. (ok really the rolls didn't get made until the day after Christmas, I braved my MIL's YUMMY roll recipe and broke out my trusty mixer and made some delicious rolls!) But silly us forgot about dessert! I know kinda strange, me, forgetting about dessert, that seriously never happens! So we improvised and ate some of the left over almond puff I had made earlier in the week!

The presents were great...We had a great time laying out [and wrapping for that matter!] all the presents for the kids on Christmas Eve, we shared a wonderful conversation about how great it is to have a changed perspective on Christmas... #1 Who cares about all the "stuff," (although I'll still admit I love giving and receiving presents, with thought of course- it's a special time of year to spoil the ones we love) but seriously the "stuff" just isn't the same not being in the presence of family. and #2 The anticipation of watching Micah and Hallie open presents was great and the actual event itself was even greater- I'm hopeful the fun will increase with each year!

The dishes were done...

The stockings were hung... kinda :) I guess we can say this tradition is taken from Ty's family, his mom has a whopping 21 stockings! So they are hung around the house on the wall before Christmas, and then on Christmas morning they are laid out waiting for you at your "spot." (usually with gifts overflowing and stuffed with goodies of course!)

The smiles were heartwarming...The curiosity was intriguing The joy was apparent... And the fun was non-stop!

And our fun hasn't stopped! Daddy is off for all of next week! We have had great fun exploring and have plans for much more exploring in the week to come!

Another Christmas Tag

our cute humble little Christmas Trees :)

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Gift wrap for sure! With lots of pretties :)

2. Real tree or Artificial? We prefer real, we've done artificial, and this year we've gone totally "green" and bought 2 planted trees!

3. When do you put up the tree? As soon as I can convince T to get the stuff down!

4. When do you take the tree down? If I had my choice NEVER! I love Christmas!

5. Do you like eggnog? The thought of drinking something that actually has eggs in it makes me feel sick- yuck! T loves it and is drinking some right now :)

6. Favorite Christmas gift as a child? I really remember being totally baffled by my mom, we got a TV, but she insisted they didn't by it for us (my sisses and I) and I knew Santa wasn't around :) I was totally puzzled. As a teenager, my Letterman's jacket was pretty exciting! T says a stereo that played records, cassettes, AND had a radio!

7. Do you have a nativity scene? At home in a box :( So sad about this one, but I just can't break down and buy another.

8. Hardest person to buy for? Usually T's mom or T himself

9. Easiest person to buy for? Depends, I usually like to give thoughtful gifts so no one is really easy.

10. Mail or email Christmas cards? Mail unless I'm a slacker- ps T actually helped this year- make them and everything! But shhh don't tell him I told or it might ruin his man ego :)

11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? I usually like everything I get so nothing! T says "dollar store junk- probably"

12. Favorite Christmas Movie? DUH!! I love them all! A Christmas Story, the Claymation classics, Elf, Mr. Kruegers Christmas are tops :)

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? If I'm good I shop all year for those bargains, the mad dash to finish homemade gift usually begins in October and ends Christmas eve usually REALLY REALLY late! (can't help it I get too many good ideas!) T usually Christmas eve! :)

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? yes

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Big Christmas Eve dinner at T's parents and a snack all day Christmas day at my parents! I love rolls, ham, and SWEETS!!!! (and may I add it really sucks to have to make everything ourselves this year!

16. Clear lights or colored on the tree ? Clear

17. Favorite Christmas song? Silent Night

18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? I wish I was traveling, but will embrace our Christmas at home. ;)

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer's? Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixon, Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blitsen and Rudolph. (honestly not really, I just copied!)

20. Angel on the tree top or a star? Star

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? Both usually PJ's on Christmas eve and the rest Christmas morning, but last year was different with kiddos- we did T's family Christmas eve and my family Christmas morning.

22. Most annoying thing about this time of year? Usually T being a bah humbug, but he's way more into Christmas this year, reading Christmas stories together... you'd better sit down for this part- shopping together and decorating together!! WOW!!!!

23. Favorite ornament theme or color? I love all the glass one's at my mom's and T's mom's Snowman tree, but at home we really like using a wide variety of ornaments. This year T found these sparkly chipboard embellishments at Michael's and we used those- score for me I get to use them for scrapbooking when Christmas is over! (I'm really putting a dent in his man ego!)

24. Favorite for Christmas dinner? I totally answered this already!

25. What do you want for Christmas this year? There's a bunch of things I would be happy with, but really being home would be on the top of the list, but realistically on the pocketbook, I'll be happy with a week full of adventures! (and maybe a trip into the country- I'm SO not made for living in a big city!)

Cute Little Micah

It was a big month for Micah...

He has taken a few steps, but still prefers to crawl, he's our little chunk-a-hunk weighing in at 26 lbs. He loves to play catch, loves cars, and to play the drums. He now signs more, claps his hands (sometimes gets these confused!), bye-bye, all done, eat, and up. He says words like mum, daddy, doggy, cracker, eat, and bye bye. He HATES to have his diaper changed and usually screams bloody murder. He loves to cuddle and is a great sleeper, but watch out if he doesn't get his nap times he gets cranky!! Thank goodness he likes to sleep! He loves to go bye bye and his mood very quickly changes when the words are uttered. He is a super cutie and we love to have such a sweet cuddler in our home!

PS He got his first haircut while grandma and mom were out seeing the sights... daddy attempted a "fade" and ended up with a "buzz!" He laughed the whole time T was cutting his hair- Hallie cried! (On that note, I almost did too!)

Hugs and Kisses

A video ALMOST lost in the move... can't believe I didn't post this sooner! This now happens throughout the day... I hear giggling and find them hugging and kissing each other... so CUTE!

Now we just need to get over the wacks on the head.

Sweet Hallie

Hallie is really a sweetie, she is full of energy and is a big time entertainer. Give her a crowd, or give her time to find a crowd and she goes into full time charm mode! It was a month of big breakthroughs for Hallie...
She started walking! Taking small steps before we left WA and taking a whole lot more while Grandma was here.

She says all kinds of words like, mum mum, daddy, kitty ka, duggy, bye bye, cracker, and lots of others words she imitates others saying...

She signs more, all done, eat, up, and points at all kinds of things
She loves books, looking out the window at all the cars, the road construction, and people walking their dogs (I'm serious people there are tons of dogs- BIG ones! I even saw a place that was a doggy daycare!) She puts everything in her mouth, but is an angel when it comes to getting her diaper changed, still likes to terrorize Micah, and is all around full of spunk. We frequently catch her bouncing up and down while playing and likes to put anything that resembles a necklace around her neck (beads, yarn, scarfs, ribbon) and comb her hair. She brings such a special feeling into our home, she really knows how to light up a room and we love her dearly!

Hallie's version of Peek-a-boo :)

Spilt milk...

This should be considered a national disaster...

When you only have this much left...And the cheapest gallon you've found is this...

$3.75!!!!

Out of curiosity how much do you pay for milk?

A month of break throughs!

I have been a huge slacker with the move and all the move extras... so its time to do an update on the kiddos!

Something fun and new has been happening! They are starting to play with each other more! Before the extent of their playing has been Hallie trying to get Micah to chase her and giggling the whole time. Sometimes he would entertain her and chase her, but then she would attack squeals, hugs, and "kisses" (more like bites) which usually ended with him in tears and screaming trying to get away from the mauling!

But lately... they giggle at each other frequently AND Micah actually initiates maulings himself! Today, Hallie woke up early from her nap so when I came in to to get Micah she crawled in following me, she starting playing with things in their room and when I left carrying Micah he started CRYING!! The second I went back so he could see Hallie he STOPPED!! How stikin' sweet!

Here's one of the first mauling series that was initiated by Micah- believe it or not he hugged her first which was followed by what you see here!

They are getting to be so much fun!

Our New Neighborhood

Here are some pics of our new neighborhood :) Way different then our peaceful, quiet, walk 4 strollers wide down the middle of the street old neighborhood... but a fun area none the less! It's a young, cute, growing business area with lots of little daytime deli's popping up, as I mentioned before an AMC and IMAX nearby, lots of new apartment homes with lots of young people. It should be a fun place to be if the weather were only a little warmer! I think we're going to begin "cold" training for Micah and Hallie, there are so many places nearby to go and explore, I just can't imagine being stuck inside the whole time we're here!

our nice few of the freeway from our living room :) with a nice grass area below... which would be great for kids except the neighborhood's idea of a kid is a dog- you would be amazed at the amount and SIZE of dogs we see on a daily basis! Needless to say we will not be using that grass area anytime soon!

A view of the metro in the distance, it really is a lot closer then it appears!

How hip is your neighborhood? I was just looking for pics of the rest of the area cause I haven't had a chance to take pics myself and the neighborhood has its own blog :) creekstone where you at? :) check it out!

Our DC weekend

My mom stuck around until Wednesday of last week so we were able to go explore a little while she was here. A majority of Sunday was spent recovering from our travel day, but we braved the COLD wind and drove the 10 miles to Mt. Vernon. This was one of my favorite stops when I visited DC 10 years ago, but one my mom hadn't been to yet.

** a bit of background for future posts... I came to DC while in high school 10 years ago, Tyson has never been, both of our parents have been here before. It is one place that has been on the top of Tyson's must visit list **

It was a wonderful visit, we strapped both kids into the backpack carriers- pretty sure these will get lots of usage here! This was well planned out, because we knew you couldn't bring strollers into the house and didn't want to carry the kiddos. To our dismay, we were told we couldn't bring the carriers into the house either! for what reason we'll never know!?! So we made it through the house and enjoyed seeing the 3rd floor which is only open during the Christmas season and saw what looked like a wonderfully delicious cake which Martha (Washington that is!) would have served guest during the Holiday season- made with only 3 lbs of butter and too many eggs to mention! I love how well the property is maintained and the special spirit which exists there... it truly is a majestic place. We would all do well to follow some of the standards and practices of George Washington!

Tyson headed back to work Monday, and mom and I attempted to take the kiddos down to Old Town Alexandria- again only a few short miles away. (we really are in a great location for anyone who needs a vacation!) Well it was bitter cold again and I had lost their mittens in the move so we ended our short walk quickly after the screaming began- their poor little fingers!! That night we again braved the cold and headed into DC, with a pit stop for mittens of course, to see the National Christmas tree and the White House. The tree is simple, but beautiful and we of course made a quick stop for a pic in front of Washington's tree. There were various musical groups singing at a stage nearby which was added to the whole Christmas ambiance. Poor Hallie again had to remind us that she did not like the cold, and cried the entire 6+ blocks back to the car- I really hope she's not this dramatic as a teenager! We ended up taking the long way home... which really means we just got lost and couldn't figure out how to get home! But in the process drove down embassy row which was interesting, definitely a walk or drive we'll do again in the daytime!

Tuesday was filled with a trip to the AFB to see where Ty works, a lunch outing, and a trip through the BX. That evening, Ty got off a little early so mom and I could go out kid free. We decided to take the Metro so we could get it down before taking Micah and Hallie. We walked the short (less than 1/2 mile!) walk to the metro station and hopped on for our ride of less than 20 minutes into DC. (total plug for coming to see us! oh and did I mention the Ronald Reagan airport is only a 5 minute metro ride from our house?!?) We were able to visit the National Archives- amazing place, didn't realize this, but they keep all the letters written to presidents... umm... WOW! I may even have a few in there somewhere! Some of the letters they have displayed are quite funny, kids requesting that PE teachers be held to the same standards they are instead of standing around talking :) This kid may actually be on to something!

On a more serious note, what an amazing place to go, some of the most important and inspired documents for this world contained in there... amazing stuff. We hoofed it through the mall and over to the Jefferson Memorial all of which is gorgeous at night- too bad pictures don't turn out at night at least not for my trusty little camera :) We returned home to put the kiddos in bed followed by a trip to fuddruckers where I had a delish shake and went to rent Mamma Mia, but we were a week early! It wasn't out yet!

We had a great time, and it was a huge help to have her here in the transition. Tyson and I were able to go out a couple times so I could get better acquainted with the city and how to get around. We were sad to see her go, but I'll spare you all (and myself) and won't go there again :)

The flight from...

Hades? Way down under? H-E-Double hockey sticks? K really it wasn't that bad for us at least... I'm not sure what the people next to us would say! All in all they were very good considering we were on a plane for 7 + hours and they were napless.

I took a lot of your advice and we had 2 diaper bags jammed full of small toys, electronic toys, DVD player, lots of snacks, and finally I even did the one thing I said I would never do- a wee bit of benadryl before we got on the plane... they were out before we even took off! So much for sucking something on take off- the second the benadryl kicked in and the whole no morning nap thing they were out cold! It was a huge sigh of relief- until they woke up 20 minutes later! Seriously... I was thinking what the crap????? They were supposed to be out for at least an hour! So the games began!

Thankfully our flight had been delayed an hour due to inclement weather in Cincinnati... so our plane was virtually empty. Our seats away from each other, in the middle seat (YUCK! even without children- with children, pure misery!) suddenly became seats across the aisle from each other with a whole 2 rows all to ourselves! I am SO THANKFUL our flight was rescheduled and over half the people on the plane were moved to other flights! I don't want to image what it would have been like otherwise!

The second lag of our flight was much worse than the first. I finally was able to get Hallie to sleep again at the end of our first flight, but terror-if-i-don't-get-at-least-an-1 1/2 hour-nap-Micah wouldn't fall asleep and was quite cranky for my mom. We weren't so lucky on this flight, there were quite a few more people and even though it was only an hour long flight we had to do the whole deicing thing (dang cold!) so our flight suddenly became close to 2 hours of confinement. The new flight attendants were not friendly in any way shape or form... k snotty and rude is probably a better description. I think they acted more annoyed with Micah and Hallie then the other passengers did! My mom kept her row to herself, but on command of the not-so-nice flight attendants, I had to sit in my correct seat (shhh don't tell, but I sat on the aisle seat instead of the middle seat!) next to a man who didn't look so excited to be sitting next to a baby. The guy across the aisle offered to switch seats with me, which I said would be great, but me being the good patron I was :) said lets wait until we're in the air... not wanting to upset the already cranky attendants (really I kept waiting for them to be nicer, but wow! I'm hoping they had an excuse like working too many hours, but really they we're based out of Cincinnati so I'm pretty sure they were fresh!) So it ended up taking a LONG time to get in the air, and in the meantime, we have 2 cranky tired babies. I finally got Micah to sleep, so never switched seats. Sleep was good, but Hallie cried every time she saw me sitting behind her... not fun! They were SO done with the plane, which in the future I'll probably do another shot of benadryl in a circumstance like that, but really I've never had rude flight attendants... so next time rude flight attendants or not, I'll be a little more demanding and a little less accommodating! The whole time I was worried about doing something else to upset them! You know those movies and stories you hear about flight attendants WAY overreacting and FREAKING out, I really felt like they could be one of those flight attendants! Anyway we made it safe and sound, were so excited to see Tyson waiting for us, and we all survived the 45 minute drive to our new house!

OK wow! again, I managed to make a not so long story really long! So if you made it this far congratulations! And if you skimmed like I probably would have :) The flight was just ok, could have been A LOT worse, we had some fun, we had some screaming, some wonderful flight attendants, some not so wonderful flight attendants, more benadryl next time, and looking on the upside- flights can really only get better from here right!?!

enjoy the one picture my mom managed to snap at the beginning of our flight! :)

Different

So after reviewing my recent posts, I realized that I am coming across as being really negative! Which is so not me... I realize that I have really focused on the things that I "don't like" about being here, but after thinking about it, it's not that I "don't like" here... it's just different, and different is not always easy to like. Hope that makes some kind of sense- it made sense in my head (and that's what counts right?!?) Anyway like I said at the end of my last post I think I've got most of the negative differences about here out in the open and I can focus more on the positives. Thank you all so much for the suggestions and positive comments, this is definitely the place to come for a pick me up!

So with that said, I AM excited to be here and I have complete faith that I WILL enjoy our time here, I WILL meet lots of friendly people, and I WILL learn my way around! Now off to take some pics before it gets any darker outside!

Reality.

Reality is my mom left yesterday...

She was my last tie to family and home. I have greatly enjoyed living so close to her the last couple years. It has been so nice to spend so much time with her, she has truly become one of my best friends.

I was hanging on to that last tie to get me through and when she left, well let's just say yesterday wasn't exactly the happiest day I've had in awhile. I'm coming out of it little by little, and don't get me wrong I am happy to be here for 2 big reasons, to explore the area and all it's treasures and to be here with our little family. It will be so good for us to grow as a family. But boy is it out of the comfort zone! Not knowing anyone, not knowing the area, looking out my window at the freeway, the metro, and skyscrapers- way different then what I'm used to! And to top that all off, people are different here. I realize I haven't been here a full week yet, but using my quick judgement- people aren't as friendly as they are on the West Coast. I fully realize that may totally change once we get to know people, but on a day to day stranger basis- not as friendly here.

And the fast food/service WOW! weird. First of all you can't understand half the people so you say yes and hope you're saying yes to something you really wanted! And when they give you your food or whatever, most places say thanks, or have a good day, or there you go, or do you want ketchup with that... or something to let you know you've got all your food and you're all done. SOMETHING! It's weird, when you get to a window, they'll tell you the amount while hardly glancing at you, give you your product and then... NOTHING!!! absolutely nothing, they nonchalantly kinda walk away so you stand there waiting... am I done now? did I get all my food? WEIRD! So you leave with the only interaction being someone barely mumbling out your total. Again- WEIRD!

And while I'm on a rant... what about the road systems/signs! Talk about CONFUSING!!! There are seriously at least 3 names for every street, and those names can change at any random point they feel like. So really when you need to turn somewhere you have to be looking for 3 different names or you may miss the street you were supposed to take! And then turning around- ha! Half the time you can't! There's a divider or you turn around to go the way you came and it totally takes you another way! Oh and for example my directions to Ty's work told me to take Mill Rd, which ok simple just follow Mill Rd, but no not so simple they don't tell you that you have to take a left at the stop light to stay on Mill Rd and of course there are no street signs to tell you which road you are on, so instead you follow the Rd you are on, which should continue to be Mill Rd right? cause you haven't made any turns, right!?! NOPE! It takes you onto a dead end... which is actually a good case scenario, cause then you don't get entirely lost! Long story short... the road systems here make absolutely NO SENSE!!!!!! Maybe that's why people take the metro... that and absolutely no parking. Weird.

So I think I've finally got all the negativity out, so hopefully tomorrow I'll try to fill you in on some more of the positives about being here :)

Where's your booty?

Most parents teach their children to find their nose or eyes or mouth, you know the common things... well daddy taught Hallie to find her booty today. I'm such a proud mommy! :)

Sorry... but you'll have to turn your head I spaced when I was taking the video!

Thanksgiving Day

Looking back I already posted a little about Thanksgiving, so here's the random pics that were taken over the weekend! We had lots of fun despite Tyson being on the road (they enjoyed a nice roadside meal somewhere in Nebraska I believe!) It was a little bittersweet since we had to say goodbye to a lot of Tyson's family and my sisters, not knowing when we would see them again. But I'm not gonna go there today, at least not yet since yesterday was full of tears! Ok I am going there... it was a great weekend and reminds me of just how much I love our families. I am so sad to be away from them, we have so much fun together! I am so happy to say we are lucky to have families we really truly love spending time with. We laugh often, play much, and most of all enjoy each others company. My SIL Kristen wrote a wonderful post describing my exact feelings about our hubbys family. She put it so perfectly I'm not even going to try it on my own... and thank you Kristen for the kind words, I really don't think I deserve half of what you said, but thank you!

Ok enough of the sap, back to Thanksgiving weekend. Thanks to my wonderful sis Kenny, I was even able to get out with my mom and Shelly for good old black Friday specials! I LOVE that day, although I'm a little sad cause I really wanted to run for something this time, but the opportunity never presented itself- guess I'm not a true die hard :( Anyway it was fun, I love the rush of a good sale!!! We waited in line at kohl's for over an hour, which my mom stood in a majority of the time- thanks mom! So we got some extra shopping time in, and found some good toys for the plane trip/Christmas. Overall it was a great weekend with lots of eating, shopping, game playing, ie all the good stuff!

We made it!

A quick update. We have all made it to DC safe and somewhat sound... long day of traveling yesterday, not a lot of sleep, and of course trying to learn a new city and new home- aka... not a lot of spare time! So I promise I will update you all soon on thanksgiving, leaving, the flight, and our new home! Until then we love you all and miss you!

Advice for flying with 1 year olds!

I need your advice and tips! I have 2 ACTIVE 13 month cuties who don't like to sit still for long AND who will miss both of their daytime naps! (they don't sleep well- or at all in public!) Our flight leaves at 11:30am and lasts for 6.5 hours. So help! Give me all you got!

Our Adventure has begun!

It's official our adventure has really begun! We had a last minute change of plans for transportation due to Tyson needing to report sooner then we initially thought. We were going to have to leave Washington earlier then what we were planning and in the process miss Thanksgiving! I was not happy about this AT ALL (I still have to choke back tears every time I think about not being home for Christmas!)

So while my wonderful sis Shell was here with my niece Madison she and my mom conspired while I was napping and found super cheap plane tickets! SO long story a little shorter :) My mom is flying out with me and the kiddos next Saturday and Tyson left Tuesday. He stopped in SLC and picked up his sis Laurie and they pounded out the miles leaving SLC Tue night around 8:30pm and arriving in Alexandria Friday afternoon around 2:00ish!

They spent the night in a hotel last night and "checked" into our apartment this morning. Per our short phone conversation he said the apartments are nice, the neighborhood feels safe and is in a good area with lots of new construction. We have an AMC theatre across the street (SCREAM YAY FOR POURING YOUR OWN BUTTER!! I have my own art form for this!) and he thinks there is a mall just down the street. Definitely not the small town living we're used to but it should be fun for a little while!

As for me and the kiddos we had a great Thanksgiving Wed with Tyson's family and again on Thursday with my family. We missed Tyson, but it has been so nice to spend this time with family. The three of us have invaded my parents house where we will stay until we leave for the airport Friday. As of today our house is completely empty, clean, and ready to go onto the market. It feels good to have it all done, but was hard to realize that we are leaving the neighborhood we have come to love so much! (don't even get me started on the leaving friends and family part- I'm likely to short out something with my tears!)

Enjoy some random pics from the last couple weeks :)

Need a good laugh?

I do!!!! There's SO much going on right now, packing, cleaning, packing, cleaning, packing, cleaning, changing diapers, you know the drill! Well here's the laugh I needed!

(I'd probably do the same thing if it was chocolate!)

On a side note: I was trying to 'sneak' as much craft stuff into the few totes that are making the trip to DC with us and after asking ty for a better way to pack my ribbon (it's in these really nifty boxes I made) he says, "why don't you just take it all, I mean you made those cool boxes and they are so organized why don't you just bring them all?" SWEET!!!!

Where do you want to be today?

Since I update our blog so sporadically, I added a link to easily subscribe to our adventures for ease to all our non-blogger obsessed friends and family who want to follow our trip to DC. You can find it to the right on the sidebar.

And as for where you want to be, I'm feelin' the itch again... the fresh crisp mountain air is calling my name! Where do you want to be?