We Are Back from Vacation

2 weeks later & we are home. :)
Glad to be here, to be honest.
Wish i had a Cleaning Lady? Yes!
Oh, and someone to put all this stuff away too! Yes! :)

Today on the agenda? Food Shopping, and Unpacking... oh and the never ending chore that is Laundry.

Pictures to follow in the next few days.

A Big Huge Thank you to --------> Mom, Diana, Daddy & Molly, Aunt Jackie & Uncle Ed, Uncle Johnny, Edward, Tommy & Carolina, Mom & Dad Coble, Brenda & Adam (plus kids), Dwight & Michele, Rusty & Felicia and Uncle Ronny & Joyce; Thank you for taking the time out of your busy schedule to visit with us.
We had such a wonderful time, and cherished every moment!

We're here

:) Long @ss trip, but we're all good!
(Beach day #1... Fun! ... but burnt :) haha)
Today? Beach Day # 2... :)
Pictures + more to Follow ............

Today is the Day!

Today starts our vacation. :)
This is of course if Ethan can leave work! Ugh!
It's 2:38 pm and his boss needs to have a quick "update" meeting and scheduled him for a 2 pm appointment!!
So... needless to say, were all packed, and NOT on the road.

So, today when getting the house shut down, I checked the Pepper Garden. I had to pick a few peppers. :) Take a look at these... I have to say, Peppers are just the Easiest things to grow,... and very nice to have around the house. :)

Oh, the last picture is of our 'Fence of Morning Glory's'. We just love this plant, and plant them along a fence in the back yard Every Year! Look how big they got!!! :)
They just started to flower.
I cant wait for another month, that will be a Wall of Flowers. :)
OK! See ya when i see ya! :)

One More Day!

Evan, planning the trip, haha! He loves maps, just like his Daddy.
(Lets wonder if he will be a Navy Quartermaster too.... HMmmmm)


Olivia, Just being cute! :)

This week has just gone by so fast!

Tomorrow we leave for our Summer Vacation! :)

The car is already packed with all the camping gear & DVD players/DVD's... Oh, and the "Swimmies". It's hard to pack when your going from South Florida ~ Northern KY (Cincinnati area). The only thing left is to do: Road Trip Food shopping, Pack the clothing and shower stuff!!

So, this is how it will go (again),... Were leaving for Meemaw's House tomorrow after "SE" (summer enrichment), around 2 pm. We will drive for about 4 hours and stay with Meemaw for the night. Then, we get up Early as Hell on Thursday Morning, and head out. It will take 12~15 hours to drive to South Florida (with stops)... We should be there Thursday night.

4 days in Florida, should be a blast :):):)

Oh, and we need to drop off paperwork @ the Personal Property Office for our Move.

On top of that were working on Passports, trying hard to get them in process before we leave. (Although it's not looking promising.)

See ya Soon! :)

Fruit & Cake [...for breakfast]

Hostess Cake Round with Fruit and Whipped Topping. Delicious!
The kids Really Enjoyed, and it's Fun to make a special meal.
Try it! Super Fun, and Enjoyable.

1 Week Countdown

Today marks one week until we leave for our Summer Road Trip. I am finding myself getting very excited ... and worried all at the same time. It takes a lot to get ready for a trip like this.

During this past week my Brother came to visit. It was very nice to see him. Boy, he has changed, but only for the better. I was very impressed him & his ways now. He has truly 'gown up'. He just got back from a 16 month tour in Africa. Amazing!

Ethan & his work schedule has been busier than crap... it's been pretty awful. I can not wait for him to be back on the waterfront, and out of the ship yards. Soon enough, soon enough!!

Let's see, what else. Not Much! Summer Enrichment is going good. Olivia is enjoying herself.

Evan is driving me up a wall. He is ready for 'sissy' to be home for play time.

Thats about it from here. No News on Japan Stuff.

Happy 4th of July!

Another Holiday spent with Ethan at work. Today he has 24 hour duty, and... were at home.

This morning we did have a Special Holiday Breakfast. :) A Cinna Stick & Strawberry/Blueberry Fruit Medley (with sugar on top for the 'white') & Mimosa's (sprite & oj). The kids enjoyed that 'special' breakfast.

Today our Ticker says we have only 3 more months... Exactly. It's neat-o to see that ticker moving. Tomorrow it's going to say 2 months and some change, and that's going to freak me out!

Have a happy 4th.
I'll be posting some photo's later. ;)

Play Time

Olivia & I had a blast taking these pictures. Look at all her Funny Faces.
Click the Picture for a Bigger View. ;)
(I am not one for pictures, so this is a jaw on the floor moment. :) )

~Vent~

A few Changes have been made to the 'End of June' post; FL/KY trip area ... check it out.

Summer Enrichment
Were ending week #2. (and she is having fun... a blast, dont get me wrong...)
So, 2 more weeks left, not bad. But...
Yesterday Olivia was home sick. Tummy ache all night long :( Super Sad. A Stay home day for sure!
Well, after her long sleep, and a bit of a Recoup... she was feeling better, about noon.
She and Evan started some awesome 'play time' and it was wonderful.
Then I kind of got sad. This is because we have 2 more weeks of Olivia at school, then we leave directly for a 2 week trip across the Eastern USA.
I Really enjoyed Olivia being home, and just relaxing.
I know, I know... we have all of August, with No Plans.

As of Yesterday....

We have our Paperwork done and approved for our Passports. We need to go sometime in the next week for pictures. :)
We have also submitted our paperwork for Certain Moving Allowances & this week 'They' will send off our Dependant Entry Approval (for Japan).
After we get that paper back saying that we are Approved... then we can start booking Flights and Confirming our Household Goods Shipments.
So, it's a Hurry up and Wait period in our lives.
I know the next 3 months will fly by, and although i want to be In Japan, and Looking for a Cho and Eating at Noodle Houses... I also want to Cherish the last few months on American Soil, Enjoy my Good Friends & BBq's... and Also not forgetting to wish this time away from the Children. Before we know it Olivia will be celebrating her 7th birthday, and Evan his 4th. How can they be so old already? Time, it's a Mysterious thing!

It's hard to believe it's been 3 months ... 3 whole months ago we got the e-mail that our bid for Yokosuka was Accepted. That time went pretty fast! Well, we only have 3 months left... gosh... ... Hmmmmm

3 Years of Dance

Year 1, Ballet
Year 2, Gymnastics
Year 3, Tap

Evans New Do

Here is a Before Picture of Evan... with all of his hair.


WHERE's MY HAIR???????
Oh, I look handsome! (I have got to get a pic of it "spicy" as Evan says... Spikey. Adorable!)
This pic his hair is Wet :( and Combed to one side, Yuck! LOL ;))
He is such a Cutie-Pie!

~End of June~

Well, it's the end of another month~!
Time is just flying by! Before we know it it will be October! Actually, here is what we have planned for the summer...

*Summer Enrichment days until 17th of July. During this time... getting ready for our (what seams to be an 'annual') Kentucky Trip.

* Kentucky/ Florida Trip: We leave around the 16th of July and Return before the 30th of July. We will be Driving of course. Florida 1st, then Kentucky.
It's one Long Ass Trip, (that this year, Unlike most others...) we are going to drive NON- STOP(Except for the South Florida stretch to Northern Kentucky... we will hotel one night).
When we get to KY we will be ...................
Camping!! Yup! Were bringing the Big Ole' "house" Tent... and pitching it somewhere on Mom & Dad's Property. With last years 1 am camp fires @ the farm, we are opting to Camp! It should be fun... and are looking forward to it. (Rusty... Felicia... Kelley ... Roy??? If your Reading this, come on over, and bring a tent!!! Oh,... Brenda???Carol?? Dwight??? Being your Families too... and tent, and we can make it a fun few days!!)

* Lets see, after KY/OH Trip Ethan will be Working A LOT and getting ready for some 'REAL WORK' at Work.

*School Starts again!!! Sept 2nd. During the last 2 weeks in August we will have time to go 'school shopping' and get things together for our 1st 'Pack-Out'.

*Pack-Out #1. (unofficially, as in... we have not confirmed the date, but 100% we Want the Date.) September 8th. This will be our "express air shipment". This shipment will be of the 'cant live with out' items. It will be waiting for us in Japan.

*Pack-Out #2. (same as above.) September 22nd. This will be our "storage" shipment. Basically all the crap that we Cant (like washer, dryer & deep freezer) Take with us. Also, some Holiday items and stuff from our "Shed". There is not much Outside Storage Space in Japan. We had only a Small gardening shed at our 1st cho ... we are going prepared this time!

*Pack-Out #3 (same as above, & last pack-out.) This will be our Main Household Goods Shipment. We are allowed something like 9,500 pounds (13,000 pounds if we were traveling With-in the USA, but Japan we can only bring 75% of our Allowance.) So, this should take place on September 29,30 & October 1. (2 days for pack up and 1 day for Load the Crates.)
After that??

*Clean and Check out of our House and also Ethan gets to do a Final Check off the ship! Whoooo Hooo 3 yrs of Shore Duty here we come!!! (Sea Duty? SUCKS @ss!!!!)

*Sometime in the 1st 2 weeks in October... we will be in Yokosuka starting our Next Adventure!!
(Hoping for the 1st week in October... you know, Olivia's in School now... we need to get settled! Evan will start 'School' this April. In Japan they call it Yochien, and that's what Evan will be doing till he starts Kindergarten. He will be 4 in January.)

We are looking forward to the Next Year of Good fun, and Few New Adventures!
Evan, he is especially looking forward to... drum roll... Fuji-Q High Land's 'Thomas Land'. This is where Thomas Lives... and Evan Can not wait to Visit. He talks about it all the time. 'When we get to 'A-Pan' (japan) i am going to see Diesel 10... and go on a Thomas Roller Coaster.' He is just Adorable!!!

Ok, Well... Evan got a Hair Cut today and i Cant wait to post the pictures. He is now a BOY. ;) haha... Or as he would put it, "I look like Daddy now."