We Have Arrived

Wow, I think we can finally say we are settled in San Antonio. I can't believe graduation was a month ago. The time has really flown by. After graduation it was a whirlwind of packing and loading the moving truck, a few final visits with friends and then we were off to San Antonio. What a long drive! I'm so thankful to my mother for watching the kids so I could do it by myself. I spent the first week cleaning, painting and just sitting around waiting for our furniture. There is nothing like sitting around in camp chairs and staring at one another in the evenings. It was fun to have Michelle, Abe's sister, stay with us and keep me company during the day. We were hoping that our stuff would come before the kids arrived but we weren't so lucky. We still had 4 days of "camping" once the kids arrived so those were some long days. Our first military move has definitely been a learning experience. The movers finally came at 5:30PM on last day of their 2-week window and unloaded until midnight. The driver laughed when I asked him when he was going to come back and unpack the stuff, which is included in the military move. It was pretty frustrating but most of our stuff made it here safe and sound.

The next couple of days were a whirlwind of trying to unpack before the Fish family came for a visit. It is so fun having family within driving distance. We were so excited that everyone could come down from Dallas and stay with us. They are such easy company. We took a trip to one of the nearby rivers and had a day of tubing. I really wish I had gotten some pictures but Carol was the only one with a camera. The kids had a blast playing with their cousins and everyone played so great together. I had a last minute trip to Dallas for work so we followed everyone back to Dallas to continue to the fun at Zeb and Leah's house for a few more days. They were so sweet to watch the kids so I could do some training. The house isn't nearly as excited without Michelle and all our family around. We are still adjusting.

We are finally starting to feel like we might like our ward. It is always so hard to leave a place you love and have to start all over again. Our new ward has an interesting mix of military and non-military families. We are pretty close to an Airforce base and I guess they have some training programs there that only last about 4 months. So there are a lot of families that just come in for a very short time and everyone seems very hesistant to befriend them because they will just leave. So when anyone hears we are military they assume we are short-term. Finally people have started asking how long we will be here and they are somewhat satisfied with the answer of 3 years. Today they had a 4th of July pancake breakfast and the family at our table said to her husband "Honey, they are going to be here for 3 years. That is pretty good. I think we can be friends." We all laughed but I think she was serious. So Independence Day was jam packed with fun activities starting with the pancake breakfast and then a great lunch with some of Abe's co-workers. Abe got a new grill for a graduation present and he cooked up some delicious chicken for us. Then we went to a member of the ward's house for a pool party and bbq. I would have to say that the lack of fireworks on 4th of July has been a let down. There are in a really bad drought in San Antonio so they thought fireworks were too much a fire risk. We are all missing them. Maybe next year.

I added a few of the pictures we have taken since we have been here. Hopefully I will get better. On Saturday Abe took Ethan for a little father/son time and they went rock climbing at the YMCA. Ethan was a little hesistant to begin with but with enough coaxing he made it all the way to the top twice. We always knew he would be a great climber. We also braved the heat for some bike riding at the airforce base. It was perfectly flat sidewalks that were great for riding. We are starting to feel at home here and enjoying all the things there are to do (and all the shopping that is so close.) We are missing our Virginia friends very much but our guest room is fully operational so we would love some friends to come visit.

Graduation Here We Come

We can't believe that the event we have looked forward to for the last 4 years is finally here. I knew May would fly by and it did. All the things we wanted to do one more time and all the people we wanted to visit one last time, some of them happened and some of them didn't. We will miss this beautiful place very much. Every time I drive through the mountains to get to work I'm reminded that we are very lucky to live in such a wonderful place and have such wonderful friends.

One last canoe trip down the New River. The water was pretty chilly but Ethan still wanted to float down.

One last playdate at Elicia's house. I felt like I was flashing forward 14 years when Vann threw the car into reverse and sped out of the garage with my baby girl. I don't know if I can ever handle the idea of her dating.

Do you like Taylor's "swimsuit"? Playing in the water hadn't been in the plan but the kids wanted to really bad so that was the best we could come up with. I told her to just play in her clothes but she didn't like that idea.

We went with some friends to a Salem Red Sox game on Memorial Day. We thought it would be so much fun but the heat was overwhelming. The kids were melting before the game ever started. Taylor and I spent most of our time on this bench in the shade where she made friends and flirted with older men.

One last playdate with Summer. Last year Summer watched the kids while I worked so the kids got to be really tight. I will have to admit that I also missed my improptu chats when I would pick the kids up. And look, her kids will pose for pictures.

Abe's school put on a picnic for the families the day before graduation. The kids had a blast on the inflatible slides and running around. Taylor loves to have her face painted!

They had an awards ceremony and graduation dinner at the school. I always love a reason for Abe to have to wear a suit.

We took one more walk around Pandapas Pond. Someone, who will remain nameless, has scared Ethan about the idea of ticks getting on him and sucking his blood. So Ethan wouldn't take one step off the path our whole trip. It didn't help that Abe's dad led him to believe that there might be rattlesnakes in our yard in Texas. On top of his concern about fire ants thanks to our last trip to Texas. He may never camp again.

Before graduation there was a promotion ceremony for all those graduates who will be entering the armed forces. It was a wonderful ceremony and they had an amazing General who spoke with so much enthusiam that I think we all wanted to join the military by the end of it. We are very proud of our soldier and what he is willing to do for us and for our country! He thinks we should address him as Captain Fish now.

And graduation was way too long but it was wonderful to see Abe walk across and be hooded. We are SO proud of him. We were so thankful that both Abe's parents and my parents could come and support him. Ethan and Taylor couldn't get enough of having their grandparents there and were sufficiently spoiled for those couple of days.

Ethan really wanted to take some pictures of the graduation. He was so cute and serious about it. He started to panic when he realized it was Abe's turn. I didn't get a chance to download any of the pictures he took to post though.

A little snack break outside during the ceremony. After 2.5 hours we were all ready for a snack break.

The Summer of Cousins

We were lucky enough to be able to fit in another quick trip to Richmond to see my older sister, Emily, and her two kids while they were visiting my mother. The kids were so excited to be able to see their cousins and they played so well together. We hadn't seem them in a very long time but they just hit it off. Emily and I forced them to take lots of pictures and they endured it pretty well. For my kids they did amazing!

During our two days there we also made it to the zoo. The kids loved it. I was pretty impressed with Taylor and Ethan's willingness to let the animals eat from their hands.



Taylor was not thrilled with the smell at the zoo.

Taylor and Emily's daughter were best buds. Taylor loved to follow her around and do everything with her. It was so great to have constant entertainment for the kids.

We also managed to work in a trip to the park after the pictures. It was such a great trip. Hopefully we can convince them to come visit us in Texas. Now we just have to wait a few more weeks before we get to see our Texas cousins and we can't wait.