Not sure about this one....

Tara got a new haircut and she looks as beautiful as ever. When she came home from school I asked her if anyone noticed her new hair style and she said, "yes, 3 boys like me now." Hmmmm, maybe the old hairstyle wasn't so bad after all....she is growing up so fast....

8 men in 8 hours

It took 8 men exactly 8 hours to pack and load everything we have accumulated over the past 18 or so years. It takes a lot of preparation, planning and organizing to prepare for such a big move. I spent days and days getting everything ready. I wanted to get more done than I did, but it's too late now. It's packed...dust, dirt, and all. It's always a huge relief once the house is finally packed and done. But at the same time it's a very strange feeling knowing that everything you own is in someone else's possession. All we have now is what will fit in a suitcase. Now we pray that it all actually arrives!!

In the mean time, Matt & Alex are living on what the military refers to as 'loaner furniture'. It's nothing special, but serves the purpose. They will have quite the little bachelor pad for the next several weeks. But they have all the essentials....in other words, a computer, TV, X-BOX, bed, couch, chair....What more could a guy want, right?


Hmmm, she fits, so why not????? Would make for a much quieter and easier flight to Oklahoma...



Truck #1

Praying that the dark, cloudy skies go away....

Truck #2...They sealed the last crate literally minutes before it started to rain!!

One week from today....

It's hard to believe I leave Italy in just one week. It is a day I have looked forward to for many, many months. I'm still very happy that we are finally moving back to the states, but moving is always difficult, no matter the circumstances. Certainly the physical aspects of moving requires A LOT of work....even though we have people come in and pack our house for us, there is still much to do to prepare....but for me, the hardest part of any move is saying goodbye to dear friends. It never gets any easier. We have many close friends here that have been like our family...we share holidays, vacations, cookouts...our kids hang out together, play sports together, have sleepovers....we go to church and PWOC together....we take road trips, we talk about everything, share stories, laughs...tears. Oh, and the wine...nothing brings friends together like a glass of wine in Italy. It's true, I hear that wine just isn't the same once you leave Italy (I'll let you know once I leave). So yes, I'm still very excited about leaving Naples, but I'm already getting that pit in my stomach about saying goodbye to friends.

Happy Easter!!!

How cute is this....Hannah and her baby had matching dresses!!! Thanks Meg & Willow for the adorable dress you gave Hannah at her baby shower last summer.





These two pictures were completely staged. I was trying to convince Hannah to hold the basket for a picture, but she wouldn't cooperate. So Tara was showing her how to do it and I quickly snapped a picture of Tara holding the basket. It ended up being one of the better pictures of Tara. After Tara showed her what to do Hannah was ready to pose and smile! She even posed for a picture when we took her outside!!




Hannah and her mommy!!



This is what happens when your good friend (TINA) gives your 2 year old candy right after church. THANKS TINA!! As you can tell, Hannah wasn't complaining. She loves her miss Tina!! It's also really windy so Hannah's pig tails are flying away.

Happy Spring!!

Hannah Turns Two!!

Yesterday (April 4) was Hannah's 2nd birthday. I'm absolutely certain she is one of the cutest two year olds I have ever seen (along with her big brother and sister). Ok, so I know I'm a bit biased and all since I'm her mommy, but if you could see her smile and hear her giggle I'm sure you would agree. She has the sweetest personality and she is so loving, happy, energetic and full of life. It's going to be a fun year and I'm going to treasure every day of it....as I'm also absolutely certain that she will grow up (along with her big brother and sister).



Hannah loves Elmo, so naturally we had to have an Elmo birthday party! She is already in that stage of wanting to do everything for herself...so this is her attempt at putting on her birthday hat.
(You can see signs on our door that say '40' and 'old'...those were for my friend, Allison, who turns 40 on Monday).


Hannah liked us singing the Happy Birthday song.



Make a wish Hannah!

Moving Soon

Matt is retiring from the army, so for the first time in 20 years WE actually get to choose where we are going to live. We are finding this difficult and actually sort of miss not having that part of our lives planned for us. Matt is applying for civilian jobs in many different states, but our preference is the Midwest...something close to our families in Oklahoma. His military experience and background would be the civilian equivalent of a Human Resource Manager, so he has lots of options. His focus right now is on government jobs, primarily doing exactly what he does in the army only as a civilian (and without the stress of deploying to Iraq or Afghanistan for 16 months at a time).

I'm going back to Oklahoma in April (with Hannah and Tara) and Matt and Alex will return in June. I guess if he doesn't have a job by then we will just have to pick a location and hope and pray for the job to come soon after. The security of the military retirement pay is reassuring, but we certainly can't live on that alone. I can also go back to teaching...I'm a special education teacher and there are usually openings in schools for those positions. I had hoped to stay home with Hannah for one more year, but am realizing it might not be possible. We are all so ready to get back to the states and get settled. The army has been a great career for Matt and we have lived in some great places, but it will be so nice to live in one place for longer than 3 years. After living in Europe for 9 years we are ready to travel in other parts of the world (like maybe a return trip to China!!)

Say Cheese

Hannah is definitely at the stage of life where she would much rather be holding the camera instead of posing for the camera. I often have to take 10 pictures to try and get one good one (maybe that's why she doesn't like having her picture taken). Anyway, on Chinese New Year I put one of her Chinese outfits on her and we all made a big deal over her and the outfit...."Oh, Hannah you look beautiful!" She basked in the attention, but still wouldn't really cooperate for a picture. Then the next day she saw the same outfit laying out and she brought it to me and wanted me to put in on her. She immediately started walking around saying "Cheese!" I knew that meant she wanted her picture taken, so I nearly broke my leg trying to get to the camera as quickly as possible! She is just too cute!




To get her to smile I usually tell her to 'show me your teeth.' So this is her doing just that...literally!

What happened to January?

I can't believe it's already February 1st. January went by in a blur for me. I suppose that is what happens when you take the month off from your normal responsibilities and live the life of a carefree 20 year old. My niece, Emily, was here visiting and I took the month off from being a wife, mom, and overall responsible adult so that I could travel with her. Well, not that's not entirely true, but my wonderful hubby did agree to let me travel without him and the kids (lots less money, headache and hassle).

We started out with 3 days in Venice...including New Year's Eve!!





Then it was off to Rome for a weekend. Ok, so my hair really didn't look THAT bad, it was just super windy. Oh, and we got to see the Pope!






Back in Naples, we took a day trip to Pompeii. And even took Tara and Hannah along!




And then another day trip to the Amalfie Coast, with Hannah.




Then it was time for our annual trip to Garmisch, Germany. This time we took the whole family! We had a great time. Matt, Tara and Emily skied, Alex snowboarded, and me and Hannah just relaxed and enjoyed the snow. Well, Hannah didn't really enjoy the snow so much.







While in Germany, Emily and I took another day trip to Innsbruck, Austria....home of the famous Swarovski crystal (among many other fascinating sights).



After a week in Garmisch, we returned back to Naples and then Emily and I took another day trip to downtown Naples.



So that explains why I'm so behind on posting on my blog. It's hard to keep up with everything when your traveling the world. Now I'm back to the realities of my life and trying to catch up on all that I neglected for the past month. But I had a great time and owe Matt a huge thanks for being both mom and dad while I was out and about. And thanks to Emily for being a great travel partner. I had so much fun and the memories (and the pictures!!) will last a lifetime!

Happy Chinese New Year!!!