DC Outing

We took the kids to DC to give them a little taste of the heart of the country.  I think their favorite part really was the metro ride. It was perfect weather and I just love all the history in DC!

4th of July

For our first trip since we have moved to the DC area, we spent the 4th of July with family!  It was so much fun to actually be near family for a holiday.  We went to NJ to visit Aunt Chrystal, Uncle Greg, Carson, Lauren and baby Maddy.  The kids enjoyed each other so much.  We went to a firework show, and also had a small party for Maleah.  When it was time to go, the kids all had tears.  Noah cried for abut 45 min and still has a hard time with it.  I had no idea how much even to them, family meant.  I look forward to more family get togethers!

Home is where your heart is

A few pictures of the home we have left behind.  I will treasure every memory that we made in that house.  It was the place my children called home, where we sat around the table, camped in the back yard, and star gazed.  Now we will take our memories and all our 'stuff' and build it somewhere else.

Happy 3rd Birthday!

June 30th marked another special birthday.  My little miss has turned 3!  I cannot believe how big she is getting.  She is the perfect mix of diva, princess and tom boy.  I love that she will run around the house in her (now) torn up hand me down spiderman costume, her jewelry, ninja sword and a handbag.  I guess I find it funny, because in reality that is her personality all summed up in one picture.  She is sweet and cute, but can give you a show if she is in a mood.  She can dig in the dirt, scream in fear of the bugs AND put on her lipstick.  Ah, I am one lucky mom.  This year I will have the privilege of having her all to myself during the day.  She will be attending "potty training boot camp with mom" and we will fit in lots of nail painting and hair doing.  I have been blessed by her funny phrases, witty humor  endless words and "I wuv you moms".  Even on the toughest days, this girl keeps me on my toes and leaves me with a smile.  What a wonderful birthday gift I got-to share with my sweet Mia!  Happy Birthday!

We are moving!

 Time for Dave to cut the rat tail off!  We are movin' to the big city!

It is no secret that Dave has been looking for a job for the past year upon his return from Afghanistan.  It has been a very stressful and prayerful time in our family.  Though he was networking mostly for a job in Huntsville, we decided to broaden the search and see what God had planned.  I was a bit hesitant to think about the DC area as an option, so we saved it for last.  Within days of applying to positions in DC, he had interest.  This is where God taught me to trust him.  We did our research on the cost of living, area and job and accepted the offer.  The next day after talking to a real estate agent we began discussing the plan for our family.  Should we put the house on the market and all go?  Should we live apart for a year?  The latter sounded good to me. But, we did decide that since our prayers had been answered we should leave that up to God as well.  So, I called 3 people that I thought might be looking for investment property or know someone looking, one of which was the owners to the rental house next door.  Then I prayed.  I asked God to show me that this was a move he had planned.  That he would make it so smooth, only he could do it. Not even 24 hours later I got a call back from the people who owned the house next door and 30 minutes after seeing the house we had a cash offer. 1 week later we closed.  At the closing they looked at me and said "we want this to be easy for you. This is going to be a good move for you!"  Wow.  We have tried to sell our house off and on for 4 years and it sells in a day! I am in shock.  From this point on everything else fell into place.  We found a house that outlined everything I wanted to live in our price range, our wonderful friends, my mom,  and church family stepped in and helped us pack up and clean out.  It was an amazing example of God's provisions for our family.  In the weeks past, I am happy to report, that we had a smooth move of an over packed 26ft Penske truck (In which we ran out of room!) as well as our expedition following.  We got unpacked and settled in and Dave loves his job.  The kids and I are adjusting well---It is a rough life hanging out at the pool all day.  We are so thankful for all of the time we had in Alabama and for all the wonderful families we got to know.  We are so excited to see what is in store for us now. I suppose I need to change my blog name to Virginianparkers?  I guess in reality we are more like oregonian-alabamian-virginians.  Can't wait to see what else might get added to the list later in life!  

Preschool Graduation

I cannot believe that my little boy is now a preschool graduate!  May 2014 he officially said goodbye to his preschool and is ready to move on.  He had a "Very Hungry Caterpillar" ceremony including the release of their caterpillars they grew.  So cute!  Above is a picture of Noah and his teacher, Mrs. Lore, whom was wonderful with him.  He left her class reading to some degree and writing really well.  I think he is ready for the "big" school ahead!

Spring Program at Fords Chapel

Here are a few shots from the spring program this year.  I love all the various faces that the kids make during there performance.  Noah actually sang this year and so did Maleah.  Though there were a few times that the kids didn't look too happy.

Locks of Love

March 2014- I said goodbye to 20inches of hair.  I started growing it out after I gave birth to Noah and decided that I would enjoy the long locks.  But, after 5 years, it was time to say goodbye.  It was fun and I hope to have Maleah join me in the next round in a few years.

Easter 2014

It was a beautiful weather this Easter. We spent the morning at church and then had dinner and an easter egg hunt with our friends.

Behind time

It's July 16, 2014 and I am finally sitting here taking a breath realizing I have been checked out for a long time-4 months to be exact! Easter, zoo trips, fishing trips, family trips and even our biggest life event...a move to Virginia, has not been noted for our family book! Perhaps it's because this is the first time in 4 months that I have been able to stop running my marathon or I just really like back logging. Either way, I'm going to be committing myself to posting some highlights from these past events...so look out!