Back by popular demand....our family blog! It has been almost 2 years since I last posted any pictures or an update, and since we've recently moved from Washington to Texas, it's time to rekindle that fire again :) Quite a few of our friends and family are not on Facebook, so this is the next easiest way to send mass family updates. Plus, someone gave me a brilliant idea to print my blog updates every once in a while and put them into albums so that we always have them. Such a good idea! I will try my darndest to update semi-regularly...you know, in between raising this clan, working part time, homeschooling 2 of 3 children and my wifely and social duties :) We shall see how this goes! hee hee.

Here is a recap of the last 6 months for those who are not quite in this awesome Thomas loop. Boy I feel sassy right now :)

At the very end of December and after A LOT of prayer, Casey and I made a ginormous decision to relocate our family to Fulshear, Texas. He desired to quit his job at PSNS shipyard and pursue a career in real estate...and this area of Texas seems to be the perfect place. He moved down here and lived with my very generous aunt and uncle while the kids and I stayed in Washington for 3 months without him. I continued to work, almost full time, while my mom and dad, friends and Casey's family helped me tremendously by keeping our kids when need be. Casey flew home to pick us up at the end of May and we moved in with my aunt and uncle once we arrived in Texas. I immediately started my new job as a labor and delivery nurse at a local Catholic hospital about 20 minutes away. Which by the way...I've been commuting 60 minutes one way for the last 8 years....this 20 minute business is UH-MAZING! Anyhow, we lived with my family for just shy of 1 month, then moved into our own home on June 27th. We are currently renting a new construction purchased by my aunt....it is so spacious and wonderful! I guess anything would feel amazing though after 4 months of living in other peoples' homes....3 of which I was single parenting. Wowza. We are just finally starting to settle in and exhale. It has been a long year thus far.

So that's us. So far, so good. We are meeting neighbors (the girls and I went a little old school and actually baked cookies and delivered them....and Leesy wrote them notes with smell good markers that said "I am so glad you are our neighbors."), found a church, joined a life group, went on a few play dates, hired our first babysitter, etc. I am determined to meet friends and form a support network here. It helps me miss my people back home less :(

So without further a do.....enjoy!

Rachelle's family visit-June 2013

Rachelle and her clan just happened to be a part of a wedding about 6 hours away the weekend we moved into our house. So, we moved in on a Thursday and their 5 arrived on Saturday. Apparently I attract chaos :) No just kidding...it was wonderful to see them all again! Posting these pics actually just makes me miss them all over again :( Our two families haven't all been together under one roof in over 2 years! It was definitely time. 

Callie and Julianna (3 & 4 years)

What? Everyone doesn't rollerblade in the cul de sac in their swimming suit cover up and dress up wings?

They played dress up for pretty much 3 days straight. 

          It's just a wee bit hot these days....so we did a whole lot of swimming at the community pools.

Not sure Callie's goggles could get any tighter. Poor thing. But hey, she finally looks asian :)

The Crain family

Daddy and his girls

Rachelle and Addalyn

The one and only picture of me during their trip. It always goes that way right?! The mama never gets any representation. 

Buddies-Addalyn 2 years, Callahan 3 years

The whole entire kid gang. There are 10 of us between our two families now. 

Jonah's 1 year photo shoot

We hired the same gal who took our family Christmas photos to do a mini 1-year-old photo shoot for Jonah just before his birthday. I HIGHLY recommend her. She is affordable and so so good behind the camera!

Our Jonah Bologna turns 1!

It just occurred to me...I actually haven't blogged since long before Jonah was even born. Here I am posting about his first birthday and I never even got around to posting a picture from his birth. It never ceases to amaze me how quickly time passes...especially the first year of my kids' lives. 

Anyhow, we celebrated our little man's first birthday with most of our friends and family two days before our across country move. Can we say just a wee bit hectic? Jonah is such a funny,  hunky lil' dude and an unbelievable blessing to our family. I'm so thankful we squeezed in a birthday party to celebrate him. He is so worth it.  It was also really, really nice being able to hug all of our loved ones goodbye. 

I caved and ordered these cupcakes from a local cupcake shop instead of making everything like I usually would. SO GLAD I DID. Whew! It was a CrAzY weekend!

                                              The daddy and the boy. Pretty much love them :)

                   Once again, thank you Tawny for his bday outfit! Already miss that TonTon love!

              I mean come on....look at that squishy face! I could kiss those sweet cheekies ALL day long.

 Our last family picture (and maybe the only!) before we said goodbye :( These are Casey's parents, siblings and niece/nephew.

Homebase 2013 (Callie's first preschool performance)

Both girls  had their end of year homebase concert just before we moved. Homebase is a drop off program for homeschooled kids that allows them to socialize with their peers and learn from a different teacher for a few hours each week.  This was Callie's very first time ever doing something like this....and she pretty much trended like her sister. She cried after every drop off....for FOUR months! Now in her defense, she kind of had a lot of change going on...but sheesh louise. This mama couldn't catch a break! Fortunately their good buddies Ella and Lucy also went to homebase, so it made it bearable for them. 

I was trying to take pictures, video their singing, shush Jonah in the front pack and facetime with Casey (he was already in Texas at this point) all at the same time....so these pics are the best I could manage! Talk about multi-tasking!

                                          They sang a cute lil' version of "Jesus Loves Me"

Anneliese was in the K-1st grade class and they performed a reading about Lewis and Clark with sign language. Leesy mostly stood there and looked like she'd seen a ghost :)

 Folks...it's a real life miracle! She participated and actually did some of the hand motions! Love this kid.