Tanner turns 8

tanner at 10 months

Oh my Tanner! This baby boy that we had took so much...so much.... energy! And I have seen how much I have grown up because of him. It is hard to realize how fast these past years have gone by and I hope that I have not screwed him up too much :). He has caused me to pray more, have more patience, be more protective, & love more unconditionally. I miss his baby years, those fat cheeks and round hands and yet, I have my little Jacks. Who looks just like him. I hope Jacks gets even a little more of Tanner too.

We threw a Rock Band party for him. I should preface this that since we know we are leaving in a few weeks, and the gang of boys Tanner plays with on our street is always around my yard or next door, I thought this would be easy and perfect for a last hoorah of sorts. Just plug in the Wii. Have some cake. I sent out invitations with backstage passes to access the party (see below). But then I had some of the boy gang tell me they were so excited to come to Tanner's party because we were going to make a stage in our house! Oh my! So, I rented some DJ lights, Ryan made a stage curtain and acted like a bouncer, I tried to have a red (wrapping paper) "carpet" up to the front door with stars with each of the boys' names on them (thanks Amy S.!) but the "carpet" blew away in the wind. I had inflatable guitars, over a dozen black star inflated balloons from the dollar tree, glow sticks, tried to set a band food table with candy jars, watermelon and jello jiggler cups, we had pizza delivered, blew through 80 something drinks (yes EIGHTYish), and I sent each boy home with the a Rock N' Roll t-shirt (like the one Tanner and Landon have on in the pictures), pop rocks, and whistle suckers. I didn't get enough pictures! We harassed the Gold's to come over and help us control the crowd. Extra hands were needed, so thanks to them.

Tanner told us he loved the night. We had kids break dance, the drum stick broken on the FIRST song by a sheer second-graders drumming force, and told ourselves maybe another rock band party. Maybe. When Jackson is 8 and Tanner can help then. Just maybe. ;)

Emma's full table

Emma turned 4 earlier this month. We had a "family party". The best kind of party- no planning or invitations! Even though we have not lived by family in a long, long time, we are always so grateful to "make" family where we live. This picture does not even show how many people we have come to love here in Kentucky and have stepped in as surrogates family members for us. We've spent holidays and birthdays with them. We've been taken care of by them. My little family is going to have a really big adjustment to make in the next couple months. We will miss our Kentucky family and yet our excited to live by some Grandmas and Grandpas and uncles finally.
My neighbor boy. Gage. We love him. He shows up unexpectedly enough that we expect him. (Some classic Gage lines, "I know you love me," and, "I know my new hair cut looks good, " in regards to me complimenting him on it.)

She had many presents, but had asked for a white dress over and over. A wedding dress it was.

I love The Locator

Do you watch it? "You can't find peace until you find all the pieces," is the pitch.

I just love it and cry and have even caught my husband weeping a tear.

I was mentioning to my LDS friend RuthAnn how much I loved this show. They moved here from Florida. Come to find out they call Troy Dunn (ie- The Locator) & his wife, close friends. They hung out in Florida together. Troy is an LDS bishop and successful businessman and Ruthann and her husband had lunch with him lately at PF Changs. He wrote me a note: (not that you care, but click on it to get a clear read.)

She quietly handed me the note in an envelope while I was working in nursery. When I opened and read it I got so excited. Too bad the male nursery leaders didn't appreciate the note! They had not seen the show. Take a look at how the show started and then Troys favorite reunion:

RuthAnn said he pitched his show to other TV stations. They wanted to dirty and drama the show up more. He wouldn't- and he was right. Some TV executives have had to eat crow. Check it out on WE tv. Thank you Troy Dunn! And RuthAnn! My husband says he's going to frame the note for me as an anniversary present... whatever, I still want the ring. :)

She's four.

And I realized I have just one more year home with her. I don't think I will ever be ready to send her to school...

To Build-A-Bear with Ryan and I this morning, and lunch too. We have a family party tonight with Pizza and cake. She came downstairs this morning and saw that I had really simply decorated and she smiled and laughed and thanked me too. It should be the other way around. How grateful I am that she is ours.

Easter 2009

We used the Resurrection Eggs again this year. We talked about Jesus and colored eggs and anticipated the Easter Bunny, then when he came on Saturday morning (Ryan worked in the morning on Sunday) Emma found the first basket and asked, "What's that for?" We rushed too find them all, to then rush out the door, for a 9am Saturday house showing (vacuum as you go out you know?) But, it was a nice weather weekend and we finished off Easter Sunday at dessert with some favorite neighbors.

House here and there

Our house here.

Still on the market. Just shy of 2 months. The price is right. I just wish I could pick my house up and move it 2/3 houses over. Can't help that. But, I have a "scenic view" says my yard sign. (I'm laughing, because it is a wooded lot, no mountain scape here!) Anxiety is kicking in a bit. They say it will sell. Oh, please sell!

Our house there.

So, this Air Force life is a new thing for us. We weren't sure if we were going to even keep our spot. There is only 1 internal medicine doctor on base, which will be my husband, he will also run the coumidin clinic and sit on some cardiology board or something. Things have been a bit complicated for us. Finally we heard from the doctor Ryan is replacing. He is LDS. Has 4 kids. They were heavy to leave, but had always said if the AF offered them an international spot in England as a family (that is key, those type of orders aren't all too common) they would go. Upon talking to them we realized how rare this opportunity was for them and since Mtn. Home is not the most desirable spot, the fact that we wanted it and they could go to England was really pretty military miraculous. I can say that my family, and probably them too, has really felt the Lord's care over us and knew the desires of both our hearts. We have felt really grateful. And been reminded that he does watch over us!

I had some homes for my mom to go down and look at. I gave her a rough itinerary and networked enough to know where we wanted to live. We knew we were just going to rent- the market is slow there and with just over a 3 year commitment, and truthfully, I think home ownership is seriously over-rated, renting was the perfect option. There were great opportunities because the city is practically all military and with orders and changes going out all the time, families were stuck in homes trying to sell them fast or get them rented.

My mom spent the day with my grandma, and they checked off my house list, took pictures, drove the neighborhoods and took so much weight off our shoulders! How much Ryan and I appreciated this! We decided on a 2 year old custom home from an F14 fighter pilot that got pulled to move to Italy. They will be gone for 3 years. They are leaving there front loaders, ride on lawn mower, piano, surround sound system, tools, and deep freeze. They said, "Welcome to the Air Force family!" We promise to take good care of it.

I should be cleaning.

I have 2 showings between tomorrow and the next. I'm trying to tell myself "it will sell, it will sell..."
And my house is really bad... I've been under the weather (i.e. stuck on the couch sick) but am on the mend and am going to try to salvage the rest of spring break for Tanner.
I had great plans. With an itinerary and everything. Maybe before we move....

I did accomplish this:

I added a Favicon to the top of my address bar. See the little heart up top on my address bar?

It was easy. And I know, really, really important stuff. :)
You can add one too.
go here.