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!!!

Christmas Eve

No snow and ice here!

There isn't much I love about Naples. But 60 degree temperatures with bright sunshine in the middle of December is one thing I do love. Especially when nearly everyone I know is shoveling snow and ice right now and enduring below freezing temps. Hannah played outside today on her "bike" and I actually (sort of) got her to cooperate when I took her picture. This is getting harder and harder to do. All she wants is to hold the camera, not pose in front of it.

Scared of Santa...and others....

Hannah was just a little scared of Santa...by little I mean she screamed, clung to Matt for dear life, and would not even look at him let alone sit on his lap...and that's quite normal. Most babies are scared of a fat man with a white beard and bright red clothes (even some moms are a little frightened by the creepy Santas, right Portia?) But being the good mommy that I am, I took the picture anyway. It's always a great conversation piece for when they are older. I have both Alex & Tara's screaming Santa pictures, so I had to have one of Hannah also.




So Santa fear I get, but explain this one:

Today I was standing in the long line at the bank and Hannah was sitting in the little toy section they have in the bank lobby. She could see me perfectly and she was quite content sitting there playing while I waited. The place was crowded with lots of people coming and going. Then this little old lady walked in and sat down in a chair next to where Hannah was playing, but the lady didn't look at Hannah or talk to her. Hannah took one look at her and screamed the same scream she gave when she got near Santa. She ran to me crying and clung to me for dear life. She was terrified of this little old lady. Ok, so the lady wasn't the most attractive person I've seen, but she wasn't sporting a white beard or anything. And she didn't try to talk to her or hold her, but Hannah was scared nonetheless. I ended up just leaving because to me it was obvious that she was scared of the lady and I didn't want to offend her. So what's this all about? We have to work on this fear of old people. How will I ever be able to take her to Wal-Mart in the states???