Cousins

We were blessed to live so close to family for a little over a year while we were in Florida! I can already tell that we will miss that a ton while we are in VA! Although we do have some fantastic friends here and I look forward to what God has in store for us while we are here! I ran across these pictures of when Garrett and Sarah and the kiddos came to visit before we moved and I wanted to post them! They are too cute!

Groundhogs

While we were in New Jersey every time we would leave base in the evenings to go eat we would see these critters all over base! Originally I thought they were Nutrias! After I did some research I discovered they were Groundhogs! We would literally see about five or six every time we would drive on or off base in the evenings! That is until I had my camera with me! We went two days and didn't see any when I had my camera! However, they did finally come back out and we got some pictures! Base Security stopped and asked if he could help us when we stopped to snap a picture! He could not believe that we had never seen groundhogs before! He laughed and carried on!

Philadelphia

Once again we took advantage of the weekend off and went to Philadelphia! Goldie got us another great deal on a four star hotel and we spent the night! We went to the New Jersey aquarium on our way into town! Kenan really enjoyed it except for the hippos! He wasn't so sure about them! He latched onto Goldie and whined every time it came around! We found it pretty comical!

The next day we walked around the historic part of Philly! We saw Independence Hall, the Liberty Bell, the Constitution Center, Second Bank, and more! We stopped to get an authentic Philly Cheesesteak! It was so hot that it was hard for me to enjoy the outside! Goldie kept making fun of me because I kept saying I needed "Relief" and the hot philly cheesesteak and restaurant without air conditioning wasn't doing it for me! On our way out of town we drove passed the "Rocky" museum!

New York City

So while we are in New Jersey we decided to take advantage of how close we are to New York City! We have never been before so we were really excited! Thursday night Goldie got on the internet and found us a four star hotel in downtown Manhattan for literally a third of the normal cost for a hotel that nice. So Friday when Goldie finished with class we were off to NYC! We took the bus from Jersey to NYC and arrived about 6:30pm. The walk from the bus station to the hotel wasn't bad and we went right past Times Square and Rockefeller Center. We went to bed early so we could hit it hard on Saturday! We started the day off by going to the Empire State Building! What unbelievable views of the city we saw! We then ate at a Papaya Hot Dogs! We took one of the bus tours around the city to see more in less time! We didn't get off anywhere but got to see a ton of the sights! We did exit the bus at Times Square and walked up and down the streets! We checked out Rockefeller Center! We also went to Central Park which was the highlight of the trip for us! Goldie and Kenan rode the merry-go-round and we watched skate dancers and all the various side shows going on! We also found a gorgeous grassy spot and parked it and let Kenan run around! Everybody thought Kenan was adorable! A couple of guys who were playing ball decided to include Kenan in their game! They were very impressed with Kenan's ability to catch (and throw) a ball! The other people enjoying the park were impressed with Kenan's skills as well! That is how we finished off the day and headed back to the hotel. We took the bus home on Sunday! So it was a really frantic and fast trip but we thoroughly enjoyed it! We could have spent a whole lot more time there!

Operational Security

You may have noticed that I haven't been using my hubby's name in most of the posts! Well, I have changed anywhere his name is mentioned to Goldie (one of his Navy nicknames). Due to the nature of his job I have decided it would be in our best interest to not use his name for safety reasons! I know you are probably thinking,"what is the big deal, somebody could figure it out anyway"! True, but I don't want to be the one that makes it too easy for anyone that might wish harm on him or our family. I personally would rather be safe than sorry! So get to know my hubby, Goldie!

In Need of Prayer....

Well, it looks like we will be having an addition to our family come the end of February or the beginning of March! As most of you know it took us three years to get pregnant with Kenan! That is after a very scary ectopic pregnancy the year before he was born. So we weren't really sure how long it would take this time! Apparently we got enough practice for Kenan that we know what we are doing now! ; ) We weren't necessarily trying but we weren't not trying and lo and behold here we are! We are excited and shocked! Goldie called it about three weeks ago when Rock wouldn't leave my side and had to be sitting on me - not beside me but on me! I finally took a test when I thought I might be late and sure enough it said pregnant! When I looked at the calendar I realized I was later than I thought! So I found out that I am six weeks along and the computer says my due date is February 28th. For those of you doing the math - that makes Kenan and this baby about 23 months apart. Did I mention that Goldie will be going on deployment around this time so most likely will not be there for the birth? That really stinks but we know that God has a plan and he works all things out for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. (Kris paraphrase) So, I am sure the details will work themselves out with time but we would definitely appreciate your prayers for this pregnancy and for the logistics of it all!

A Lot Going On

Okay, I haven't downloaded any pictures since the move but I thought I would at least blog! I know, I know - it is more interesting with pictures! So we made the trip to VA without a hitch! It is crazy to make a pit stop with two dogs and a baby and trying to coordinate who is going to do what! We could not have done it without, Phillis, my mom-in-love. Thank you! We drove the whole way in one day and got to our house full of stuff already! Yay! You should have seen us unloading Goldie's camaro off of the trailer and into the garage! It doesn't drive so it was all done manually by two girls and one guy! Great fun!

We started unpacking all of our stuff! Everything is pretty much out of boxes but not everything has found it's spot yet! Once again, we could not have done this without Phillis.

Well, in anticipation of our move we got rid of a couple things! The main things were our tv and our bedroom furniture! So we are living out of suitcases until we eventually buy furniture! We have had our hand-me-down furniture since we got married so it is time for a change!

My hubby had been researching HD televisions for over a year now but would never buy one! Our first tv (20 inch) we got for free when we moved into our first apartment. Our second tv we got when I won a shopping spree at the exchange in 2004. We bought a 32 inch tv that weighed a ton which we had until a week ago. So two free tv's in 9 years is not bad! Well, he finally bought his dream tv last week. We got an amazing deal and got a bigger, better tv than we had originally thought we would get. We also paid less for it - you gotta love a deal! (That is not to say that it was cheap!)

Did I mention that Kenan got Hand, Foot, and Mouth as well as cut a molar during all of this! He was miserable and so were we! We spent all day on July 4th cleaning up the backyard! There were weeds that were no kidding 8 feet tall! I have pictures to prove it! It looks so much better after some TLC! We had two functions on July 5th to go to so we split and Goldie went to one and I went to the other! We still had fun but would have loved to all go as a family! I got to meet two cool couples who husbands are going to be on the ship with my hubby! Thanks, Chris and Amy!

Lastly, we made the trek up to New Jersey! Traffic was HORRIFIC! We sat in standstill traffic from Norfolk to DC which is normally 3 hours but took us 7 hours! We thought that we would arrive around 8:30pm that night but instead rolled in at 2:30am. It was miserable and Goldie had class at 6:50am that morning! So he was exhausted as was I.

Okay, I think that gets everyone up to speed! Sorry for no pictures yet! I will add them as soon as I get a chance to download them! Hopefully, you are not bored to tears!