Illinois? Virginia? Alabama?

I guess I am finally ready to write this post. I know lots of you have been anxious to hear about our future plans, so here it goes...the title of the post refers to the fact that over the past few weeks we have thought at some point that we were moving to each of these places. It all started with us thinking (for a few hours) that Tod had been assigned to work at the Rock Island Arsenal. Then due to acronym confusion and miscommunication, we found out that actually he had been assigned to work in the Washington DC area. We thought that for about a week and then found out that the headquarters of the government division he will be working for will be relocating to Alabama. And so as of right now, we are moving to Huntsville, Alabama at the end of August!

As you can imagine, it has been such an emotional roller coaster for our family. We were all really disappointed to find out that we wouldn't be returning to Iowa. We had really hoped to move back into our house and resume our life there. I have had a tough time coming to realize that that part of our life is over and it is time to move on to something different. If anyone knows someone moving to Iowa, I happen to know a really great house that is up for sale (again)! When we thought that we were moving to the DC area, it was exciting but so overwhelming from a financial perspective with the high cost of living. Finally, with the news of Alabama, I have felt peaceful and happy. (Of course, I am also skeptical because it could always change!) I don't know much about Huntsville but have heard lots of great things about the area. I'm sure we will be learning a lot about it over the next few months.

The picture is a reminder that thankfully, kids are blissfully unaware (for the most part!) that life is complicated and unexpected. The girls have only requested that we move somewhere where there are no tornados and it snows. Sadly, I don't know that Alabama qualifies in either of those areas!

More Beach Pictures

Escape to Houston!

The last few weeks have been a little stressful for our family (more on that another day), so we were thrilled when the Harris family invited us to come visit them in Houston. We were even more excited when we found out that Grandma Patsy would be there too. We let Ashton take a day off school and on Friday, we happily left Texarkana and headed south. We had such a great time! Some of the highlights included spending Saturday in Galveston at the beach, eating at the Rainforest Cafe (so fun!), having a tea party with Grandma, playing school with the cousins, and seeing baby Reese Lynn be blessed, not to mention Kyle and Tod's eventful trip to the Astros game! We were so impressed with Houston and the great area where Emily and Kyle live. Texas seems like a well kept secret to me. Finally on Sunday afternoon, after an amazing "Patsy" meal, we begrudgingly loaded up and headed home. The kids begged to stay longer and were playing right up until the very last moment. They slept for most of the way home. The weekend was exactly what I needed...the opportunity to relax with people I love. Thanks to the Harrises for having us and to Pat for making the visit extra special. We can't wait to see everyone this summer.

A Close Call!

We had our first encounter with scary Texas weather on Monday night. At midnight, we were awakened to someone pounding on our door and ringing the door bell. That alone is quite alarming. When Tod cautiously opened it, it was our usually calm and laid back neighbor saying that there was a tornado overhead and we needed to get to the bathtub (standard hide out for tornado protection!). Tod grabbed the girls, I grabbed Regan and a bunch of pillows, and into the tub we went. I wish we had a picture! And no, not all of us were in the tub. Next, things got loud! There was golf balled sized hail (dents on the hood of the van to prove it!) and the wind sounded like a train. Then it was dead silent! That was scary because I have always heard it gets really quiet before a tornado hits. So we waited...and fortunately nothing happened. It passed by and didn't touch down. So back to bed we went...of course the girls were not going to sleep alone after that trauma. We got all settled and the sirens went off again...back to the tub.

We had no idea what was really going on because we have Dish TV which is no help during an emergency because it goes out. After the second set of sirens passed, people were sticking their heads out the doors and saying it was pretty much over. We didn't get much sleep that night! It is amazing to think how a natural disaster could change you life in a second and how much you really mean it when you pray for safety. I also have a renewed zeal for emergency preparedness.