Ellis' in Greenville

Well folks, he did it.

Done now after 3 or 4 years of working on papers by candle light. He'd put the boys to bed, hang out with the wife then when I'd get sleepy he'd get up and go study for an hour or two. He was so good at keeping his study time from interfering with family time that I didn't even know he was working on a Masters until 2 years into it. The man hasn't had a Sunday afternoon nap in four years. If he was home and we were sleeping, he was studying.

Boy is he glad he's done!





After graduation Mike and I left the children in Greenville and headed back to Abilene to oversee the move. Due to cutbacks in the Air Force this move was less government supervised and much more of a headache. See below. Mike and I spent hours chilling on this rug waiting while the slowest people in the planet packed and moved our stuff. I'm so thankful that the boys weren't there going crazy.

Helpful people like this one (Joe) kept the kids happy and healthy while Mike and I were moving.

For the last two months we thought we were going to have a house built for us in Arkansas. Turns out we were wrong. God changed the plans for us on that. No problem except that we didn't have a place to live and needed to begin the house search again. Well, we found one. We drove up and looked at it and immediately put in an offer. After a little bit of negotiating we bought a house! I'm very excited about moving in and making this place home. It comes with an acre and a half of land for the boys to explore. It couldn't be more perfect for our family.

Ty had a birthday. My smiley little guy has turned four. For those of you with little bitty kids, four is big. No longer a toddler, no longer struggling to communicate, no longer having potty training issues. No, this guy is big. I'll put up a birthday post soon. I'm working on collecting all the pictures. Here he is waiting on the UPS man to deliver him a package full of birthday party supplies --glow sticks!

So I told you the house was perfect for us right? Well it is, or it will be... after we add another 500 sq. feet. Dad is showing Mike how to build stairs.

We've been being a little more creative with activities for the boys since we are not at home and doing our normal routine. Here mom brought home a big piece of cardboard for the kids to draw on.

Austin helps himself to fruit often.

The boys have access to an awesome swing set in the backyard. Mom and Dad's is a fun place.

The boys and I have been to this park several times. Here my big guy is enjoying a picnic.

I snapped a picture of all three of them (in the same place). See how Austin thinks he's one of the big kids.

Hannah invited the boys over to her house for a sleepover. They did cool things like this. A masking tape race car track. The guys had an awesome time.

Dad needed some pictures of pregnant women for a video at church to show the need for workers in the nursery. This picture was taken two days before the baby was born.

Next post: Baby is here!