McDonalds

So, John and I have been attending this ward for a little over a month now. Almost every Sunday in Sacrament Meeting, they announce the meeting with the Bishop and some youth (i think it's BYC..??) Anyway, the first time they announced the meeting they said it would be at the Mcdonalds. Through the next coming weeks I was puzzled to know how they knew which McDonalds location to meet at. The ward boundaries are about 30 min. from one end to the other. There are about 4 McDonalds in the area. So, I leaned over in church and asked John how they knew which one. He said something like, "it's probably the one closest to the Bishop or something". So, time goes on and they keep announcing this meeting, still leaving both of us puzzled. BUT...then, this past Sunday we figured out how they decided on which McDonalds. It was the McDonald's residence..DUH!!! John actually figured it out and leaned over to tell me. We both laughed so hard. I don't think I've ever laughed that hard in a sacrament meeting before. So, Now we Know...

First day of School

Gabe was very excited for school. I was very excited as well. He is definitely ready and very anxious to start school. I didn't cry, but, guess who did?...Eli, He was so sad and said, "I want to go with Gabey to school!"
Poor little guy. However, we had plenty of fun while Gabe was in school...someone even gave him a lollipop while we were out doing errands.
I picked up Gabe and we started talking about his day. Preface: I was worrying about one thing and one thing only...lunch time...I know, sounds crazy but Gabe eats whatever you give him, but he eats it incredibly slow. I knew I shouldn't give him much food, but I also knew he would be very hungry because he can't usually eat a full meal...just little meals through out the day. Unlike his brother who can tank food down and then be good to go for a few hours). SOoooooo, when he got home I asked him if he liked his lunch. He then proceeded to tell me about how everyone at lunch had to wait for him to finish eating. He had a big smile on his face and said, "I was the last one at lunch, no one else was sitting down. All the kids had to wait for me to go outside". I think part of him thought that was pretty cool as well as realized that it was kind of embarrassing. He also said that he didn't know what to do with his garbage because everyone had left so he told me he just put it in the lunch box. He said, "is that okay?"....I sure like that kid. He then asked me in a very sweet voice, "mom, maybe you can give me not as much food next time." I laughed inside and realize that he was hungry but he didn't want to be the last one left in the lunchroom. I guess Mondays lunch will be in much smaller portions.

Some updated pictures of Hazel and Eli. We sure had a fun day with it being only the three of us.
If you look closely, Hazel just got her first tooth. She sure is growing fast.

Family PIctures

We've finally done it! I am super picky on our family pictures so I end up critiquing everything and I end up not happy. So, for the last few years, I ended up taking them thinking I could set it up perfectly and then just use the 10 sec. countdown. Well, while we visited my family this summer we got all 42 of us together to get a once in a lifetime picture. No one was pregnant, so it was at the time, a "complete" picture of everyone. John actually flew home just so he could be in the picture... (approved by the military of course for the 4th of July weekend). I decided to take advantage of this opportunity and put a lot of effort into making us all look good together. So, here you go...I think the photographer was awesome and made everything exactly like I wanted it to, plus had more ideas of his own. This was my favorite even though some people aren't smiling.

Since I'm so behind giving an update...

here are some pictures of the events that have happened in the last few weeks.


Commisioned as a Captain Ceremony at Fenway Park


Graduation

All the dental mormon guys

Guys with the wives

Goodbye Good Old Car

So our CRV (named Chooter) died about 60 miles outside of Boston. We had to make a quick decision about what we were going to do. We needed to get to Lawton, Ok in the next few days but had no car. So, we called the military travel office, made arrangements to fly out the next day, bought a car the next day after flying and voila! We were in Lawton.

Stranded in Springfield, MA deciding what to do. The kids were having fun in the shade.

Hello New Car




These are three pictures of us trying to make some fun in the hotel and guest lodging.
We finally found an apartment three days after arriving. (Pictures to come)
But, we have a small problem....the moving company that was contracted by the military can't find a driver to deliver our goods. So, for the last few days I've been living with my brother and his family in Fort Worth, TX (3 hours south of Lawton and 4 hours north of San Antonion, where John is for officer training). We'll probably be here until we can figure out another solution.
Here are some pictures of what we've been up to...


Celebrating Gabe's 5th birthday...HAPPY BIRTHDAY GABEY!

I enrolled Gabe in swimming lessons with his cousins..

Attending library events (Critterman)....

And, working on some sewing projects..(pictures to come)
Thank you to all who have housed us, as well as inquiring about how we're doing. We really appreciate it.

We've FINALLY made it!

We've finally arrived to our new state! After a long, long, long, and I mean LONG week, we finally made it.
Sorry for the small pictures, they are from my phone because I'm to lazy to grab my real one.

Our trip across the country started out looking like this...(yes, that's the check engine light). I made sure to take a picture because I knew then, that it was going to be an adventure to get to Oklahoma. We ended up not going any further than 60 miles outside of Boston. We met really nice people who worked over time just for us, or didn't get paid at all because we were stranded. People want to do good and people are good.
Our options for the car weren't so good. It was one of those car decisions that everyone will make (is it worth it?, what's the price of the car?, how much time will it take to get fixed? how much stress do i want for the car?) So, to make a long story short...yes, Niki and Amber...this will be short...we left our car to a nice man who will tear it to pieces and give us very little money for doing it.
I wanted to cry...
Anyway, we got a flight the next day (i love the army) and then became car-less and house-less. Thank you to everyone for making our lives comfortable, and who continue to do so while we are in this stressful move.

This is Gabe and Eli in the Dallas airport waiting for our next flight. They loved sharing this smoothie.

We found a car (yay! for minivans) and have yet to find a home. I will be busy for the next few days trying to get the last few things done before John starts officer training... and not to mention trying to enjoy our time together before he leaves. So, updates to come....

John's new friend...

John has a date with these for the next few days....

because he did this.....

Playing this....

Marathon...he did it!

This is the slide show of the pictures that our talented Ellen Patton took while I was busy enjoying the moment. Yay John, you did it!
The night before the race, John said, "I think I'm going to get the itch to do this". I said, "John, these people are crazy" (meaning, the people we had previously been with....marathon runners). He said, "yah, I know".
His body was built for things like this...he can put it through h*** and back and it recovers so nicely. I wish my body was that nice to me!