Homecoming!

These are the pictures of our great reunion! For those that haven't yet heard the story, we were at the airport right on time to receive a call from Marvin saying he was in Charlotte. It seems that his first flight was delayed for a medical emergency(no, not his!) and he missed his connecting flight. Thankfully, he was able to get on the next one, which was 2 hours later. That meant a very long wait for very tired kiddos. It went as well as you might be thinking, but as soon as we set eyes on our hero, it was immediately better!

The boys and I are decorating the car for Abba's home coming!
(too bad it rained and ran all over before he got home, at least there are pictures!)



These are the kiddos waiting in the airport wearing the shirts I made special for Abba's homecoming!





Here are the signs we made. There were lots more, but they were hung up at home! If you can't read them, they say Welcome Home Abba!

The very first hug!


Very star struck!


Look at that look of admiration on my Josh Bosh, it melts my heart!

We are here, in a campground right outside Seattle. We arrived safely, albeit with TONS more character! What a trip. I'm sorry that I wasn't able to blog the whole way across, we just don''t get internet access in Walmart parking lots! We had a wonderful trip though. I'll go back and post stories and pictures from each day. Right now I'm up to my eyeballs in stuff I need to catch up on, so please be patient. We are looking into housing, Marvin and the big boys just went to scope some stuff out while the little ones take a morning nap. The only problem is that they don't seem to know how to actually sleep in a bed that is not moving. In time I hope!We found a great house that we could be in at the end of the month. The way the ship moves between bases here makes it very hard to decide where to live. It is a 2 hour commute between bases, not so fun! We are praying that we follow God's leading here, we do not want to regret our decision in a years time! Man, I was really hoping to catch up, but if the screams in the next room are any indication, the kiddos are gonna need a lot of help getting to sleep! I'll start catching up from our long journey tonight!

pictures!

Here are the kids getting down and dirty in the front yard. Abby is loving the dirt and Sarah is just in love with Suka, my Aunt Nancy's dog! And, no, she is not drinking that Diet Coke, she is just shaking it up for me!

So, here are a few pictures of our test drive to some outlets about an hour away. It was fun and the kids were great. Hopefully they will be just as good after several days! I'm dropping them off at Granny and Grandpop's house this evening so that I can get things done and get sleep as well. I am feeling a bit better about things as I am making a dent and following a plan now to get things done in time! The kiddos are enjoying some last days with Granny and Grandpop before our move. We are trying to convince my mom she needs to come live at our house during my dad's deloyment. He'll be going to the Afganistan and Pakistan border for a year with his FAST team. That means he is on the front lines of battle. His team is there to stabalize wounded soldiers in order to get them to bigger hospitals. Think MASH only on the actual lines of battle instead of helicoptering in the injured. It is scary to know he'll be there, in a true hot zone, but we know that God is in control of all things. I would appreciate prayers for him and my mom as they make prepartions for his deployment.

Getting closer!

Well, only 4 more days before my family is reunited. I have become a blubbering emotional basketcase! I started crying in church today. Why you ask? Well, I just started thinking about how much God has carried me through on this journey. We sang Jesus Bring the Rain and I just started looking back on the faitfulness our God has shown in these crazy circumstances. There are just so many times I almost lost hope until I remembered who God is. I have a new testimony now, what more could I ask? WE are busy making tee shirts and posters to welcome Abba home at the airport. Just thinking about being in his arms again, see there I go getting teary eyed again! I am so blessed to have such a wonderful husband!
I would appreciate your prayers. Here are a few specific prayer requests, I covet all that you can spare this week and in the coming weeks as well.
Prayer Requests:
1) Please pray for the boys. They are all excited and very much out of sorts. They know something big is happening and aren't sure what to do with their their extra energy and my busyness.

2) Pray that I can stay on task and get things done. There is so much to do in not much time!

3) Sanity!!!! Between Sarah's tantrums(yes, she is all girl after all!), Abby's new found trouble making skills(maybe the tubes are working a bit too well!), and the boys' anxiousness and nervous energy, I am finding it difficult to get much done and still mantain sanity. NOTE: I mean sanity, not patience, please don't pray for patience! ;)