A's Birthday Present...a Few Months Early!!

A is a big fan of concerts.  When a friend contacted me about getting some tickets to a One Direction concert in Tulsa, I thought it would make a great birthday gift for our girl!!

A and Maddi were the best of friends for the year we lived in Arkansas.  They have kept in touch over the years, and we try to get them together anytime we visit.  The concert was a perfect way to get them together for an evening...and they both loved it!!

One thing we've learned throughout our years of Army travel...when you connect with really good people, you hang on to those relationships long after you leave!  We have made some great friends in every duty station we've been...and thankfully we have been able to keep those friends long after moving away. 

Thanks April for scoring the tickets for us!  It was a night A won't forget, for sure!  So glad we could experience it with you guys!

A few people showed up for the party...

A and Maddi

I actually enjoyed the concert!!  Loved hearing their accents when they talked!

A little pre-concert love!

Another Soccer Season Under our Belts!

Little R has found his sport!  No doubt about it, soccer is this little guy's game!

He improved SO much this season!  I think he scored in every game and most importantly played hard and had a BLAST!!

This kid just has NO personality!  NONE!!

He's got his game face on!

In action...

One of his best buddies from school was on his team!  Added bonus!

Little R turns 7!!

Little R turned 7 on Sept. 8th.  I know I say it all the time, but I simply cannot believe it has been 7 years since we welcomed this little guy into our family!  He has been such a blessing to our family...so thankful God (and his birthmom) chose us.

We celebrated his birthday with a party at our neighborhood pool and clubhouse...just like last year.  Daddy was here for it this year, which made it even more special!

R wanted a Skylanders party, of course.  This boy is somewhat obsessed with the Skylanders game and watching videos on how to defeat the levels.  We now have a strict policy of how much time he can spend in front of a screen each day, thanks to Skylanders! : )  But our rule-follower is always careful to start the timer for himself when he plays...and he sticks strictly to his time limits.

Our little R has definitely blossomed even more this year.  He has such a big personality, and he is always saying the funniest things!  He is in 1st grade, and his reading is improving in leaps and bounds!  He is great at math, and is always amazing me with his skills. 

He is full of questions about anything and everything.  To say this little guy is inquisitive is an understatement! : )  He LOVES his dog, it is so cute to watch them grow together. 

He still loves waffles and peanut butter sandwiches and grapes and pizza and chocolate milk!

He's still full of energy, loves to talk, but is always up for cuddling on the couch, too!  Especially with Mommy!  Now that Daddy is home, they are developing a neat relationship (finally), but Mommy is still his "go to" person.  I'll take that and eat it up as long as I possibly can!!

It's been another year of blessings with this guy!  We are so blessed to have him in our family, and he definitely keeps it from getting boring around here.  We love you Little R, and we can't wait to see what the future holds for you!

Set up and ready to party!

Instead of gifts, Little R took donations for our World Vision sponsored child in Ethiopia.  He loves getting the letters and pictures of what they are able to purchase with the extra money we are able to send.

Having a little fun with some of his best friends.  If all goes well, we plan for him to marry our little friend on the right! : )

Ready for cake!

Home is....

"where the Army sends you"

"where you hang your hat"

"where your heart is"

As most of you know, R returned from Germany over the summer.  He is working just a bit too far away to commute daily, so he is with us on the weekends, and during the week he calls THIS home...

 

 

So...for R...he has TWO homes...one is "where the Army sent him" and hopefully the other is "where his heart is". 

 

We like to joke and call it his "VAN down by the RIVER"...and we even had to show the girls the SNL skit to show them why that was even funny! : )

 

But seriously, we are blessed that R's dad had this sitting in his yard, and even more blessed that he is allowing R to use it for the time he needs it! 

 

Our life is definitely not "normal", but we are somehow making it work!  By the time we actually live together full time again, we will have NO idea how to do it! : )

Finishing off the summer...

As soon as we got home from our beach vacation, Little R had a week of British Soccer Camp.  I think he would have been much more excited about it if we hadn't been away from home for a week, and if it hadn't been so VERY HOT!

Practicing his moves!

There's ALWAYS something to laugh about with Little R around!

Grandma & Grandpa Craig also stopped in for a visit.  We spent the day at Frontier City, and had tons of fun!  Again, it was VERY HOT!!

Ready for some fun!

The Tilt-a-Whirl...one of my favorites!

T rode with Grandma & Grandpa.  Grandma didn't fare so well...

I was the only one who didn't want to get wet!

A's turn with Grandma & Grandpa

Lunch at Cracker Barrel!

And Little R beating Grandma at checkers!!!
 

A family trip...FINALLY!!!

While we were in Germany, we travelled A LOT!  And we loved it A LOT!  But when we got back to the States last summer, we were content to stay put for a while...a long while.  But by the time R got home this summer, we were definitely ready for some travel time.

I NEEDED to get my feet into some sand, so we decided to head to Orange Beach, AL for a week away.  We had to squeeze it in between Abbi's two cheer camps, but used every single minute we had.

It was a great trip!  We needed time to just get away and reconnect and relax, and Orange Beach was the perfect fit for us.  MiMi & PaPa met us down there and spent a couple of days at the condo with us, which was great.  Great trip, great memories!

A different kind of Paris for us this year!

It had to be done...R insisted. 
 

LOVED our condo!  4th floor with a balcony looking right out onto the beach.

First day headed down to the beach.  MiMi & PaPa brought the country to the beach...straw hats, and jeans over our swimsuit! : )

We decided to "disconnect" during the trip and go basically technology free.  We took games, and bought these UNO cards as a last minute thought.  Little R was a natural!!  He LOVED the game, and I couldn't even begin to count how many games of UNO we played during the week. 

You gotta eat seafood at the beach, right?  Wonderful dinner!

You also HAVE to do family beach pictures!  Even if your "best friend photographer" can't come along to snap the pics.  Little R was dressed and ready to go!

A little Daddy/Son arcade fun.

This little guy is LUCKY!!  He got TONS of tickets, and even picked out prizes for his sisters!



Frozen yogurt!  There was also a Dairy Queen in Orange Beach (which we don't have in Edmond), and all I'm going to admit to is that we visited more than once during the week! : )

One afternoon we decided to build a little sand castle.  It turned out alright!  Okay, not really...but we saw a couple of guys working on this thing all afternoon.  It was neat to return after dinner that evening and see it finished.

This little guy LOVED the sand!  He doesn't love dirt...but he definitely loves sand.  Our kids haven't been to the beach very much in their lives...but they are all three like me...it is definitely their "happy place".

Can you say PHOTO BOMB???

Our handprints.  We did this on the beach in Ireland, so now its a tradition.

Last photo of the trip.  Final evening on the beach before heading out the next morning.  Great beach, great trip, great memories!

Welcome Home Daddy!!

FINALLY....R came home from Germany in July.  It has been a long year of separation for our family, and we are so glad to have him back!

I arranged a surprise welcome party for him at the airport, and we had quite the turnout!  We have so many great friends here in Edmond, and they are always here for us when we need them.

And thanks to Katy we have these great pictures of the welcome party at the airport!!

R was VERY surprised!!

Little R's sign...he designed it himself, and the finishing touch was the "Jesus cross" at the top.

The group all gathered up and waiting for him to come down the escalator!

This is the moment he heard the cheers and spotted the group!

Our sweet boy was the first to run up and give him a big hug!



Hugs...

Hugs...

And more hugs...

High Fives for the kids...

And some friends are so good, you just gotta pick 'em up! :)

Sweet hugs...

Our little guy was SO EXCITED to have his Daddy home!

And finally a kiss for me!!  And our dear friend Katy was sweet enough to bring him Chick Fil A for his first dinner at home!

Again, we are just so grateful to have R back home with us, and so grateful for friends who chose to spend their Monday evening sharing in our happiness!!

Happy Easter!

It was great being back in the States for Easter this year!

On Saturday, our friends hosted a wonderful Easter egg hunt at their home!  Little R got lots of eggs, without the mad dash at most of the public egg hunts.  It was a great change of pace!

Little R has his Skylanders bucket, and he is ready to go!!

Fillin' up that bucket!

Even the big kids got to hunt!  A found mostly money eggs...she was a happy girl!

Having some lunch before digging into the candy.

Unfortunately, T didn't get to come with us because she had to work!  But on Sunday we went to church, and even got to enjoy service together since they didn't have children's activities that day.  Little R rarely goes to service, and I had him armed with lots of paper and a pen to entertain him.  But he kept tuning in to the message...any time the pastor would say "Jesus", little R would look up.  And he thoroughly enjoyed the music, singing along "Hal-ya-yoo-yah"....too cute!

No fancy new Easter clothes this year!  We decided to keep the focus where it needed to be...on Jesus!  (Actually, in all honesty, I did buy Little R a snappy little suit with a vest and tie.  But he decided that morning that he didn't want to wear it after all, so I returned it, and used the money for something he needed...a new swimsuit!)