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.

Hot Days

Not much new to update really. Still here at Ft. Hood. Matt gets off at a decent time each day and Joella and I keep ourselves plenty busy until then. Everything takes a little longer since we walk outside and around the building every time we want to use the community kitchen or check on a load of laundry. Keep in mind we walk Joella pace, so it really does take awhile... :) Plus we oftentimes get sidetracked by the park on the way back.

There are lots of people in transition here and it seems like we came relatively prepared. Eating out every night would get old, so I'm thankful we planned ahead with simple things like a pan, cooking utensils, etc. so we can make dinner instead when we want. I felt a little guilty last night for any innocent laundry-doer that got a whiff of our homemade brownies. We keep that place smelling good...

Joella is getting her fair share of the pool too. We walk there a couple times a week (1 car for now so we don't go far). She's not a huge fan of swimming yet but really likes going "uP, dewnn, uP, dewnn" on the steps leading into the water.

We get to catch up with some friends this week which is exciting. Crazy that we haven't seen them for a year - it will be fun to see how much their kids have changed too.

Joella being Joella...

He's Home!

Home as in - he's with us again! Matt traveled 26 hours or so on his way back. The update that made me laugh was his e-mail saying that he was finally out of the "stan" countries (he spent a LONG time in Kyrgyzstan after leaving Afghanistan). His flight got pushed out a day so we were here a little earlier than needed. It was nice to have all the packing and driving out of the way though so no bid deal. Bad news is that he already has to go back into work tomorrow. Weird, I know - right! Oh well. That's how it goes around here! Good thing for a long weekend :)

Below are a few shots from yesterday. There were about 150 soldiers returning and LOTS of little kids. The part that hit me was how many parents had to be away from their kids for the entire year. Bummer! The ceremony was short and sweet though and I'm glad we got to be there for it. If you can't tell, it's HOT...!

Right now we're hanging out hotel style and won't be settled for another couple of months at least. We're in the Ft. Hood / Killeen area in between some travel plans and our next move to Ft. Bliss / El Paso. Details details. What's important is that Matt's here!