Mom's Birthday

Mom’s birthday was last week on Tuesday. Since it fell on a weekday, we celebrated on the weekend while Dad was home. Aunt Karen came out and we had cake and presents, and Mom and Karen tried to stay up watching movies (without falling asleep!). Then on Tuesday, Mom, Natalie, and Owen had more cake when Grandma Laura and Grandpa Roger had a cake delivered. Mom got nice flowers, and had a really good day. We thoroughly enjoyed both cakes, as you can see from the pictures! Later in the week, we had a play date with Natalie’s friend Arianna. Natalie always enjoys herself, and Owen has an especially good time throwing the girls’ dress up clothes and dolls around during these get-togethers. And most importantly, Mom has some quality adult time and conversation with Arianna’s mom. The weather was beautiful all week (80+ degrees on Wednesay!); then the winter storm hit and nixed our weekend plans. Dad couldn’t get home as planned on Friday night, and didn’t end up getting home until the middle of the night on Saturday (and had to head back early this morning!). But Aunt Karen came out to keep us company and hang out since it was our last weekend in NJ as we are moving this Saturday. This week will be crazy with packers here starting tomorrow and all of the last minute things to do. Then we have the long drive to Houston ahead of us on the weekend. We’ll keep you posted…..

Vacation and moving

Boy have we been busy, busy, busy around here! We went on a house hunting trip to Houston the middle of last month (and found a great house!). Then we came home for a week and dealt with house showings and all until we left for vacation at the end of the month. Our trip was packed - Miami, Key West, and then on to Ft. Myers. We had smooth flights (and we don't have any Jet Blue horror stories!) which was great. We had a great time in Miami: college reunion (wow, the Barry campus has grown, and we saw some familiar faces), beach walks, and our favorite restaurants from the old college days (La Cantina and Monty's). We drove down to Key West and enjoyed Duval Street (although not quite the way we did in college!). Then we headed to Grandma Laura and Grandpa Roger's house for some rest and relaxation. We had beautiful weather and spent a lot of time by the pool and playing outside. We were able to celebrate Grandpa's birthday with him which was nice (and Natalie is addicted to birthdays - or is it the cake?). Memaw and Grandad drove down from Lake Wales for a visit too, so that was nice. We hated to come home to cold weather and the real world. Dad had to leave for Houston when we got home, and Mom had to look forward to house showings, work, and kid care on her own (with Dad home on the weekends). We made it through the first week, and we signed a contract to sell our house, so that's a relief! Now we are scheduling movers and all the little details for our family move at the end of the month. Very exciting!