Holiday Ball

 Johnni and I hadn't been to a military ball since I was in ROTC, but tonight I had my Battalion holiday ball. We dropped Joella off with some of our friends and went on a date of sorts.

 

Since we had a military ball every year in ROTC, tonight sorta reminded us of being back in college. Good times. Here's a photo from the last ball we went to in 2007. A lot has changed since then. Things like, you know, I had more hair back then.

When we looked in the mirror tonight before going out the door we felt a lot older. I guess a kid, a deployment, and almost 5 years will do that to you.

No news is good news...

We are so far overdue for blogging...it just seems so overwhelming sometimes to think about all of the time we could put into keeping up this blog up to date. For today we're just going to do a quick post with a few photos -- hopefully we'll get back into blogging again pretty soon.


Here are a couple photos of our Thanksgiving. Johnni and I have really been enjoying our time here in El Paso. We feel like God is working on our hearts and changing our lives -- we are so thankful to have the friends that we have here and a family of believers in Christ who challenge and support us.

We had some of Joella's best friends over for lunch...it just so happens that their parents are some of our best friends here too! Here's Ittai, Joella, and Daniel before the feast.

 

We also got to catch up with Joella's grandparents back in Iowa. Sorry we didn't make the 24 hour drive back (ok, we're not that sorry!).

In other news....I've been working some really long hours lately at work, but hopefully that will slow down pretty soon. We bought a house down here, which is something Johnni and I thought would not happen for at least 10 years because of all of the moves we've had to do...but it felt right and we haven't regretted the decision yet -- ask us in a few years! We didn't realize how much we would appreciate the conveniences of a house after the 3 months of living in hotels.

That's all for now -- I don't want to get burned out after one post back!

Where in the world...?

Am I the only one that watched Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego growing up? Loved that show...

Anyway, we've been on the move for awhile now. It's been great, but we're getting ready to settle for a bit. Just a few more weeks hopefully!

After a few weeks at Ft. Hood the "can't believe he's home" thoughts transitioned into a "new normal" as a family of three again. Of course the new normal included mastering our sneaky ninja skills past 9pm when Joey went to sleep. Everything and everyone piled into 1 room is a bit cluttered, but it's "fun" and works for now. Not many pictures on this post (more to come) but this one pretty much sums it up. Life in a suitcase, the best toys being things like daddy's belt and anything within reach in the hotel room... Living  La Quinta style once again...
After catching up with friends from Alabama who were also at Ft. Hood this (Trisha and her girls), we loaded up for an awesome week in Canada with our great friends, Ben, Chelsa and their family (including Aubrey aka "Aubwee" of course). "mo aubwee, mo aubwee" first thing in the morning, right before/after naps, and before she went to sleep at night. Poor Sage got called Aubrey later on in our travels too! To say that Lyle & Deb (Chelsa's parents) were "welcoming" is a vast understatement. Deb watched the girls for us so we got some time to hang out, and by the end Joella was calling Lyle "bapa" (same word she uses for Grandpa or Papa).

This started off our round of amazing hosts. Some much needed time to get away and relax. We couldn't have asked for a better way to do it! Flights weren't the most fun, but Joey was super cute when she showed us how to yawn / fix her ears like Daddy taught her.

We had just a few days in Iowa. So nice to see the people we did, but we felt a bit rushed and didn't get to spend as much time with everyone as we would have liked to. We picked up Kaeda, a trailer full of stuff, packed Jane & Jerry's truck FULL, and started the journey south again. Matt got some golfing in, and we stopped by my family reunion where I learned that my cousins think I'm a "cool adult." Not sure where they get that idea, but a shout out to them regardless.

We got smart and stayed with friends both nights on our trip back to TX this time which made a WORLD of difference. I tease Amber that we owe them about a month's worth of rent by now, as many times as we've crashed at their place...

Seeya later, Iowa. How's it going, Oklahoma? I guess we're "home," Texas... We couldn't believe that Kyle and Kayle hosted us just one weekend after moving into their house. We were impressed! There house is now dog and baby proof - I guess we had the pleasure of breaking it in for them.

We were at Ft. Hood again for about a week and got to catch up with Rich and Ruthe and their kids. They are an amazing family that took us in the day they met us last year and did the same thing when we were back in town this time around. They are up to some awesome things! They are preparing to move to Papua New Guinea as missionaries where Rich will serve as a helicopter pilot flying Bible translators into different areas. We are praying that they raise the rest of their monthly support needed to send them before their deadline in the next few months.

We didn't get to see everyone we wanted at Ft. Hood. Before we knew it, everything we owned was once again packed up in the moving truck (most of which has been in boxes since we moved from AL a year and a half ago), then on the move again for El Paso.Thanks to that same cousin that agrees I'm kind of cool (Amanda), we met a pretty great church family right away. Within the past week week we have already joined a small group, been invited over for lots of dinners, gone camping in New Mexico, and gotten hooked up with a place to live. We have driven around the city a LOT. Even as direction-challenged as I am, I have a clue where we are most of the time if that tells you anything... Joella has been a trooper, but we are all ready for some down time and "normalcy" to our days. Just a few weeks and we'll be out of here I think. Until then I guess we'll enjoy the pool outside our room :)

So, we're not exactly world family travelers like B&C or B&K, but that's what we've been up to.

Where in the world is Carmen Sandiego...? I don't know, but we're in El Paso.