Our New Home Sweet Home...

After weeks of packing up all our household goods and several hours of loading up the truck, we finally hit the road. Mommy drove the girls and Nana in our car, while Daddy drove a 26' moving truck through Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Ohio to our new home. The girls were a little confused by the trip--they're used to our moves taking a whole week, staying in hotels, and lots of sightseeing across the country. This move only took about eight hours in the car. We arrived at our new house around mid-night on Tuesday morning. The girls were excited to sleep in their sleeping bags in our new family room. Later that morning (after getting some rest,) the movers that Daddy hired came to help us unload the truck. The girls are super-happy with their new home. And, we are all very glad to finally be homeowners again. We still have a lot of unpacking to do, but e have lots of room...so come out for a visit! Who will be our first guest? Come on, John--don't break the tradition!

Our new house...

The girls on our front porch...

Our New Home...

Greetings from our Nation's Capital! After eight long days, nine states, and countless bathroom stops, we're finally here. We left the Central Valley just in time--right before a big heat wave and wild fires. But, it is pretty warm and sticky here. Our home is fairly spacious, so we have room for guests! Please keep checking back, as there will be lots more pictures and previous updates from our last weeks in California, as well as our trek cross country! (Those will be added chronologically, so you'll have to go back to find them.) Send us an email if you need our new contact info!

Cross-Country Trip...

Saying goodbye to our friends was so incredibly hard, but we had to hit the road. The first stop on our eight day trip, Vegas baby! We arrived in Las Vegas at about 9 o'clock on Saturday night (and it was still super-hot out.) We hadn't planned on getting that late of start, but it was worth it letting the girls get one last day at the pool with their friends. Neither the girls, nor mommy had ever been to Vegas before. But, friends of ours who had just been with their kids recommended the Monte Carlo. The hotel was very nice.

On Sunday morning after breakfast, we lathered the girls up with sunscreen and headed for the pools. We spent all day floating in the lazy river, jumping the waves in the wave pool, and just hanging out in the kiddie pool. The girls had such a blast.

Too cool for the pool...

That evening we walked down the strip and saw a couple of the water fountain shows at the Bellagio. It was quite impressive. However, the girls were much more content playing at the pool than walking around in the excessive heat and crowds.

Outside of the Monte Carlo...

At the Bellagio...

Happy Father's Day, Daddy...

Then we went to the Mirage because the girls wanted to eat at CPK. However, they did not even have a kid's menu, but while we were waiting on our table Mommy won $40 on a quarter slot and bought the girls little Siegfried and Roy white tigers! On the walk back to our hotel, we noticed that Maren was feeling extremely hot. She had be running a low-grade temp. for the couple of days. Of course none of us packed a thermometer, but she was burning up and very cranky. So, mommy and daddy took her to an urgent care clinic. They said her temperature was too high (103) and sent us to the emergency room at a children's hospital. After about two hours of waiting, monitoring, prodding, and both urine and blood testing, they diagnosed her with an ear infection and gave her antibiotics. It was a horrible experience--not the way we wanted to spend our night in Vegas. But, we just wanted to make sure our baby was okay. The antibiotics started working immediately, and Maren started acting more like herself the next day.

Monday morning we all slept in and then had to pack up to make it to our next stop on the map. We did make a quick stop at the slot machines on the way out--we came out ahead!

Too young to gamble...

We drove over the Hoover Dam, which was kind of cool. It was 110 degrees there, so we decided to just stay in the car rather than getting out to see it. Besides, the girls were watching Peter Pan (for what would end up being the second viewing of about ten.) We stopped in Flagstaff, AZ for dinner, and then headed to our hotel in Albuquerque, NM. That was a lot of time in the car--it took us way too long. We definitely do not recommend driving that distance in one day on an eight day road trip. But, we made it none the less. Tuesday morning after Logan and Carsyn ate breakfast, mommy and daddy took them to the pool for bit where we saw a real roadrunner. Maren was still sleeping--she needed the rest.

Coolin' off in the pool...

After we all got cleaned up and checked out of the hotel, we went to Old Town Albuquerque. It was a really neat area. It's like any "old town"--a lot like Old Town Scottsdale. The girls had fun looking around in all the shops and eating ice cream.

Old Town Albuquerque...

Our next stop was Amarillo, TX (only about a four-hour driving day!) But, it started raining pretty hard as soon as we crossed the Texas state line. It was lightening and thundering--something Logan and Carsyn didn't remember and something Maren had never heard or seen before. There was nothing really to do in Amarillo except eat dinner and go shopping (which daddy put the nix on the latter.) So, we just hung out in our hotel room and relaxed.

Wednesday we drove to Oklahoma City, OK. The girls had fun swimming at the hotel pool, but we really didn't do much in that city either, except grab dinner and watch the Cubs on t.v. Maren was recovering from her illness and ended up sleeping for almost 15 hours. She missed out on dinner, breakfast, and the pool. Poor thing. But, she's all better.

Thursday on our way to Memphis, we stopped in Little Rock, AR. Very much to our surprise, it had a very neat downtown area. We had wanted to check out President Clinton's old digs--the old Governor's mansion and the Bill Clinton Presidential Library, but we didn't get there in time. We saw them both from outside--very impressive. We might actually consider going back to see them.

Maren feeling pretty good at the Old Governor's Mansion...

At the William Jefferson Clinton Presidential Library...

We then ate dinner, and drove to downtown Memphis. Our hotel was a very cool old downtown hotel, very close to the river and just a few block north of Beale St. On Friday walked around downtown and Beale Street, and even talked Daddy into doing a little shopping. It was pretty cool place.

The birthplace of Rock'n'Roll...

Beale Street...

Then we stayed in Knoxville, TN also before driving the rest of the way to Northern Virginia. We got the keys to our new place on Sunday morning and the truck with our household goods met us there. We had fun and safe trip, and now we're looking forward to settling into our new home!

Au Revoir Lemoore!

After a very hectic and stressful moving day, we finally had all of our household goods loaded on the truck at 9:30 pm last night. We had made plans to go with our friends to the khaki pool one last time, but that didn't work out. Instead, Grace's mom watched the girls most of the day while dad, mom, and nana helped move. The girls had a great time playing with their friends. It was so nice to know that they were having fun and being taken care of. They were also able to say goodbye to their other best friends, Ashley and Jenna, and their mom. They are a great family and were so sweet to bring road trip gifts for the girls. It was pretty sad to say goodbye to them. Logan, Carsyn, Maren, Grace, Leo, and Sophie all stayed up pretty late that night watching movies and eating popcorn--it was a fun little sleepover. The next morning we went to the pool. Luckily, Logan's crush Nick was there, and we got to say goodbye to him and his family too (thanks for the pizza!)

Mommy's Girls--yes, we all have matching suits...

Logan and her best friend, Grace...

Carsyn and Maren...

Nick and Logan...

Then it was time to hit the road. Saying goodbye to Grace, Leo, Sophie, Lucy, Sarah, and Josh was heartbreaking. They have been such wonderful friends to us. We've become very close and our kids love their kids. Logan held back her feelings, but Grace just cried and cried. It was very hard to leave. We will definitely miss having our friends across the street! Thank you guys for putting us up, feeding us, and being so awesome!!!

Logan, (a very sad) Grace, Sophie, Carsyn, & Leo...

Last few days in Lemoore...

After packing up our household good all week, we are ready for the movers to come tomorrow morning. It has been extremely stressful and sad preparing for this move because we have gotten so comfortable here. The girls are involved in so many activities, have wonderful friends, and it's just such a nice a safe feeling living on base. We are definitely going to miss it. This week the girls also had their last gymnastics class with Ms. Shannon. They have loved taking dance and tumbling at the youth center. It has been so convenient for mommy too--only three blocks away! We also wanted to make sure and take a break from packing and let the girls enjoy some fun in the sun at the officer's club pool, so we went swimming on Wednesday and brought Grace too. We're crossing our fingers for a smooth move out tomorrow...

Last dance class...

Carsyn, Maren, Logan, & Grace at the pool...

Carsyn, Ms. Shannon, & Logan...

Our new Home Sweet Home...

Your new house...

it's so weird that you will come home to a brand new place. we love being in the house though. it's sooo much better than that apartment. it truly sucked moving in without you though. i will never do that again. i hated every minute of it. but, we're happy here. we especially love having a backyard! can't wait 'til you're home too. love you.

Having fun in the backyard...

happy valentine's day...

what a fantastic valentine's day...NOT! i was home alone w/ all three girls and the movers. what a nightmare. i will never move alone again. i hate moving anyway, but this is one hundred times worse. i still have three more days of this too. we went to disney on ice last weekend for v-day and that was pretty fun. carsyn slept through the entire thing though. here's a picture of them getting ready to go...

we love and miss you.

Are We There Yet???

Well, that sure was an experience...
On day one we drove as far as Topeka, KS. Nothing very exciting there. It was pretty hot there though. Day two we stayed in Denver, CO. It was very nice there. We walked around downtown a bit and saw the U.S. Mint. Just outside of Vail we stopped at an outlet mall--mommy's favorite. Colorado was definitely a pretty state (but, I did not enjoy driving through the mountains.)

Logan at the Denver Mint...

Carsyn and Logan in Silverthorne, CO

Day three we stopped in Grand Junction, CO. There was nothing to do in that town. On day four we arrived in Sandy, UT. We saw the great salt lake, but only from a distance--the girls were not in the mood for sight-seeing. Day five we opted not to stay in Reno, NV and kept driving until we arrived in North Lake Tahoe, CA. It was very beautiful there.

Carsyn and Logan in Tahoe...

The girls were so good in the car everyday--thank goodness for the DVD player! But, each night at the hotels and out to eat they acted like they were just let out of the looney bin. It was terrible. So, after six long days, eight states, and five hotels--we're finally here in...the middle of nowhere! We live in the agricultural epicenter of California; and it smells like it! It's June and it's hot, but everyone here says this is nothing. Supposedly it gets in the 110's--YIKES!!! Stay posted...

California, Here We Come!

Our seven-day journey across the country starts tomorrow. We will definitely miss our home (and Nana's) here in Speedway. We will miss all of our fabulous neighbors, St. Chris, and of course the track! We hope to keep in touch will you all! Come visit us in sunny California!

Logan & Carsyn at baby shower for Maren...