Almost Paradise

It's not exactly ocean front property but it's pretty darn close. We are pinching ourselves each day when we look out the windows. (We do have houses blocking our view somewhat but hey, not bad for military housing). I think this is my favorite assignment yet! (We'll see what Devin's job is like).

The view from Bailey's room (also the guest room, come and stay with us!)

The land in the background is Catalina Island. This is the view from our bedroom.

From our driveway.

From the kitchen window.

Sunset (view from driveway).

I will post more pictures of the inside once I have some rooms organized. Stay tuned!

The Birthday Girl!

Last week my sweet baby girl turned 2. How can she be 2 already I keep asking myself? Unfortunately for her (or maybe more for my sake) her birthday fell during a very chaotic life changing time for our family since we had just arrived in California 2 days before and were staying in temporary housing. So there was no big celebration or party. I didn't make an original homemade cake. I bought a a cake from the store and purchased gifts that did not get wrapped. I'm sorry things were so crazy that mommy couldn't get something more memorable put together in time. In reality, she's 2 so will she really remember? But I can't help but feel bad about it. She did enjoy her gifts and we spent the day doting on her a bit more than usual. My little princess is growing up too quickly. 

 In her birthday outfit.

 The cute Tinkerbell cake we picked and she ended up not liking.

 Checking out her new kitchen. (couldn't resist the expression with the nose picking is hilarious)

 Balls are still her favorite!

Big girl bike. She can't wait to get out and keep up with her brothers!

Happy birthday princess!

January Happenings

You probably noticed the new blog makeover. We aren't in California yet but will be by the end of the month and for the next several years. Here's to a new chapter in our lives!

January has been busy for us. I decided to make over my parents' bathroom. Whoever owned the house previously thought it would be nice to spray a THICK stucco like texture on the inside walls. We spent 5 days sanding the walls, repainting, hanging shelves and a new mirror and fixtures. This was a total blast for me as I love home projects!

Before

After

We took a weekend trip to Winter Park and spent days sledding, and swimming. We did ski one day and took the boys for their first time. Unfortunately the weather did not cooperate and we had 2 very grumpy and cold boys. They've both announced they will never ski again. Oh well. Maybe when they are a little older and we'll go closer to spring.

I gave Bailey her first "haircut". Really just a trim of her bangs. She wan't very cooperative but I had to document it! Yesterday, I got red streaks put in my hair. (Just something I do for fun once in a while) Today my mom and I are going for massages. I'm going to miss the freedom to leave my kids with my parents so I can have some "me time".

We are in the last week here in Colorado. I'll be spending the week packing and preparing for our long drive across the southwest. We are excited to be reunited as a family when we see Devin next weekend. We are looking forward to this next adventure and living in sunny, warm California!

Christmas Festivities

The boys put together a gingerbread train.

Last weekend my sister and her family came for a visit and the cousins made Christmas cookies together. They had a blast playing together.

Yesterday we took the Santa Express train to the North Pole. The kids wore their jammies and enjoyed the train ride and the cookies and getting a bell from Santa.

Photoshoot (121 photos), by Andrea O'Dowd

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We're Home!

We arrived back in the U.S.A. late Monday night. The long day of travel went much better than I anticipated. We even had very cordial flight attendants who weren't grumpy at us for bringing kids on the flight. Our only hitch was when their flight computers listed us as having one more bag checked than we actually had which of course is a security risk. This resulted in the flight being delayed 30 minutes because I had to go down to the cargo crew and verify which bags were ours. Turns out they mixed up the numbers and there really was no extra bag.

We are currently in New Mexico spending Thanksgiving with Devin's parents and enjoying the blue skies and crisp fall air. We may even get some snow tonight!

Yesterday our new minivan arrived via truck from Arizona. Teagan was quite upset when it arrived to find it was silver and not his requested blue. He quickly recovered when he discovered the van's interior amenities like a dvd player and plenty of cup holders!

We are enjoying our time together and trying not to think about the fact the Devin has to go back to England next week. This is the most relaxed he has been in months and he is dreading the work ahead of him and being away from his family.

So this week as we celebrate Thanksgiving we are thankful to be home with family, enjoying good food and shopping and American football.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

1 More Week!!

The kids and I have only 7 more days in the U.K. One week from today we will board our overseas flight bound for Los Angeles and must endure an 11.5 hour flight with 3 kids. Oh joy!!
I hope they sleep for most of it! From LA we will catch another flight to Albuquerque where we will spend Thanksgiving with Devin's parents and also pick up our new car! Woohoo! We will be so happy to have a large car again and wider streets to drive it on! After a week there, Devin will return to England and the kids and I will drive to Colorado Springs and stay with my parents for 6 to 8 weeks! It will be nice to spend Christmas with them and enjoy some snow. The kids are hoping for enough to play in and go sledding. It will be sad to be apart from Devin during the holidays and for so long. We haven't been apart more than 2 weeks since he deployed in 2003. It hasn't really sunk in that we are leaving England but I think it's because I haven't really had time to let it. I know if I sat and thought about it I would start to cry. It's always a two-edged sword for us having to move every few years. 3 years is only barely enough time to make good friends but long enough to create memories. I now have to let go of everything here but at least I can take the memories with me. On to the next adventure and new friends! Farewell England. We will miss you!