We Made It!

Well, it's taken me a while to get to this post, but we are back in the good ol' USA, and getting settled into our new home here. Apparently my computer prefers the other side of the ocean, because it has already decided to crash since our arrival here. That's part of my excuse for not blogging earlier. Of course, we still have Jason's computer, so it's not a very good excuse. Anyway... The picture abovce is one we took on the day we moved out of our flat. Seven guys showed up at our house early that morning and proceeded to wrap every piece of furniture we own in cardboard and plastic, and then they loaded all our possessions onto this truck. For some reason, they loaded the boxes and smaller things first, and then put our couches, etc. on top. I won't be the least surprised to find a broken dish or two when we finally unpack, but hopefully most of it is okay.

We had a good trip across the ocean. I think on every flight someone stopped us as we were getting off to comment on how well-behaved our children had been--always something a mom is glad to hear! It's never an easy trip, but the kids really helped by not melting down on us--and by sleeping a good bit. We were glad to finally get to P'cola and hug some necks. Our friends here have really gone out of their way to prepare the house where we'll be staying for the next six months. This...

is how the pantry looked when we arrived--and the fridge looked about the same! Talk about spoiling us!

And here are a few pictures of what we've been doing since our arrival:

Riding scooters...

Drawing with sidewalk chalk...
Playing with Mimi...

and playing with Mimi some more, and playing with Mimi some more...

and going to the beach! We made a trip out there this Tuesday since the weatherman was forecasting rain for the rest of the week. We took a picnic lunch, and then had a blast playing in the sand and getting our toes in the water.

Lee Anna, who just a few years ago wouldn't even let her feet touch the sand, could not get enough of the sand or the waves! It was so much fun to watch. Next time, maybe it won't be quite so windy. We were scared to even take the camera out in all that blowing sand!