The boys getting Adalee

Adam and John in the rain

After the Splash Park I decided to see if our favorite hair cut place was open. We affectioned refer to it as "We Closed" (it's a really long story). They have been outside the gate at Campbell for years. They used to cut Abrahm's hair when he was just a young Lieutenant back in 1996. As I walked up to the door, they were just closing, but the owner saw us and told us he would cut the boys' hair anyways. He was so kind and great with the boys. I really miss him. I asked him if he could move to France. He is thinking it over :-)

Alden getting his hair cut

Adam getting his hair cut

On Saturday night we left all of the kiddos and headed for a grown up only dinner. I had been looking forward to it for the past few months. I love that these ladies took time out of their busy schedules and came to hang out with me. I laughed so hard and enjoyed catching up with them so much. These ladies truly helped get me through my last deployment and I miss them terribly! I love you ladies!

Kerry, Kathy, Monica, Me, Lori and Emily at the Looking Glass

On Sunday morning we got up and headed to church at our old church, Madison Street United Methodist Church. It was so great to see everyone. The kids loved playing with all of their friends. I miss everyone there so much!

Adam, Alden and Adalee with Trey, Sarah Emily and Katelyn after church on Sunday. Such great friends. We really do miss them!

Monica, Adalee, Sarah Emily, and Katelyn after church. Adalee was so in love with Sarah Emily. She is still talking about her!

On Sunday after church we headed to Huntsville to my parents' house. We really had a nice time just relaxing during the last leg of our trip. It was really too hot to spend much time outside so we stayed in and played games, colored, painted, and watched movies. I was able to get out of the house while Grandma Jean watched the kiddos. We also enjoyed spending lots of time with our cousins. Rachel came over everyday after work and played with the kids. She even took them over to her house and let them help her walk their dogs. The kids really loved her. Tracey and Steve also came over and hung out with us alot. It was nice catching up with everyone!

Rachel being suckered into playing with the kiddos

Rachel playing Hungry, Hungry Hippo with the kiddos

Alden, Adam and Adalee with Tracey and Steve

"Aunt" Tracey with all of the kiddos

One of the days we were in Huntsville, Mom took the kiddos to Chuck E Cheese. It wasn't actually too bad when we went. School had already started, so there was no one else in the whole place most of the time we were there. We were the first people to arrive for the day, so they gave my kiddos all of the tickets that were in the machines once they finished testing them. The kids were so excited.

The kids enjoying their Pizza at Chuck E Cheese

Adalee loved riding the rides.

Playing a game with Grandma Jean

The kids showing their treasures they got with their tokens to Grandma Jean.

On Saturday morning we loaded up the van in Huntsville and headed to Atlanta. It was a fairly easy trip with no issues. Once there we went to a great seafood restaurant that Abrahm and I had gone to. It was so yummy. The name is Spondivits. It I pretty much a dive, but the food is well worth it. Fortunately we arrived early so we didn't have to wait to long, but the place was totally packed and so was the waiting room by the time we left.

That night proved to be a little interesting. The air conditioner went out, and it was unbearably hot in our room. At one time the thermostat read 78 degrees F. Then if that wasn't bad enough somehow the fire alarm was triggered at 6:00 am and went off and on for the next 2 hours or so!

Listening to Grandma Jean read them stories

On our last day we got up early (beacuse of the extreme heat and fire alarm) and ate breakfast. After breakfast, the kiddos put on their swimsuits and we headed down to the pools. There were indoor and outdoor pools. It was so hot in the hotel that we spent most of the time swimming outside. After we finished swimming, we ate lunch and then got everything packed up to head to the airport. We were truly exhausted! We had a great trip, but were definitely ready to get back home and get into a routine.

Hanging out at the indoor pool

While we were swimming, we watched all of the airports fly overehead. I think one took off about every minute to minute and a half.

Adalee being goofy

Adam really enjoyed playing in the pool

Swimming the length of the pool

Alden floating in the pool

One last picture with Grandma Jean and Papaw at the hotel before we went to the airport.

The kiddos at the airport watching them load our plane after they put their pajamas on. They kept telling me that the walkway was "kissing" the airplane! Thanks Daddy for that one. :-)

The kiddos having their snack and watching a movie on the plane coming back to Brussels. After the movie they ate dinner and then went to bed. They got about 5 hours of sleep on the plane. Mommy, not so much...

Day 21

Wow! Three weeks down. It's been a wild and crazy three weeks. We finally made it home yesterday. We had a great flight and everything was on time which helped tremendously. The kiddos slept for 5 hours on the plane. Unfortunately I didn't get any sleep. There was a lady on the plane with two kiddos. One was 2 and the baby was 3 months. The two year old screamed about half of the flight. About 3 hours before the flight was over I asked if she wanted some help and she gave me the baby to hold. I walked up and down the aisles and snuggled her while she slept. She was such a tiny little thing. I loved getting to hold her, but so glad those days are long behind me. It was really nice to tell my three kiddos it was bedtime on the plane and for them to go to sleep.

A good friend came to the airport to pick us up so we didn't have to haul all of our luggage on the train and metro. It was so sweet of her. She is 9 months pregnant and I was worried we may deliver little Annika in the van. All went well and we got home safe and sound. The kids stayed up all day and went to bed at 7:00 last night and awoke at 9:00 this morning. We have had a pretty good day and gotten some unpacking done and made our first trip to the Citadel (the place where Abrahm works) without Abrahm. It went well. I even had a whole conversation in French! We also took Adam to his French lesson and then the rest of us went to the park. Did I mention how amazing the weather is here? It is so cool and breezy. Lovin' it! I can't say I miss the weather of Alabama, that's for sure.

So, overall we had a pretty successful day and are looking forward to some rest this evening. Lots more to do before school starts next week. I will try to update the blog with pictures soon. I took over 1200 photos on this trip so it will take some time to get through them. Hopefully now that I am home I will be posting pretty much everyday or every other day.

Day 14

Has it been a week since I last posted? Wow! Time sure does fly when your having fun. I still can't post pictures, but I will give a quick update. Last Tuesday, we left Pennsylvania and met Mom and Dad in Jeffersonville, Ohio. We spent two days there shopping at the outlets for the children's back to school clothes.

On Thursday we left Ohio and went to Brookston, Indiana to see my brother Chris, his wife Michelle and their two kiddos, Will and Madison. The kids loved playing with their cousins. They spent most of the day swimming and splashing in the pool.

On Friday we headed to our old stomping grounds in Clarksville, TN. We spent the night with some dear friends and enjoyed dinner with even more friends. On Saturday we got up and I got to meet my dear friend, Kelly and her kiddos at Chick Fil A. We had a great visit. After that we headed out to Fort Campbell to meet my friends Lori and Kerry at the Splash Park so all of the kiddos could play. We then stopped by our favorite barber shop to see if he could cut the boys' hair. He was just closing, but remembered us, so he held the store open so he could cut the boys' hair. After that I went to drop the kiddos off at the hotel with my parents so I could meet more girlfriends for a special night out. I met Lori, Emily, Kathy, Kerry, and Monica for dinner at the Looking Glass. We had such a great time and ended up staying out way too late! We rounded out our time in Clarksville by going to Church on Sunday morning at Madison Street United Methodist Church.

We left Clarksville and stopped in Nashville at Green Hills Mall on the way home. After a yummy lunch at Panera Bread and a look at some of the shops, we headed back home to Huntsville.

Once getting to Huntsville we have had a little rest and a little running. The kiddos had a pajama day with Grandma Jean while I ran some errands sans kids. It was really nice for both of us. Then today we met my cousin Diane at the mall at had lunch together. We also went to the Post Office to mail all of those back to school clothes we bought! Then tonight almost all of the family came over for dinner. It was great seeing all of the extended family.

We still have a few adventures left before we head back to France on Sunday. I will post photos as soon as I get back home. Thanks for keeping all of us in your prayers. Abrahm has been delpoyed for two weeks now and we really miss him bunches. He is staying busy, so that is a good thing.

Day 7

Well a week has passed since we said goodbye to Abrahm. It has been quite the week. Abrahm is finally on his way over to Afghanistan today. He should be there by in the morning. It was a hard day for me since my thoughts kept drifting to Abrahm. Being at Gray's Run was a good distraction for the kiddos. We awoke to a delicious breakfast. After getting dressed the kiddos headed with PopPop to go fishing. Adam and Alden had been begging to go fishing for such a long time. They were quite excited to finally get to do it. It was a very good day for fishing. Adam caught several and Alden and Adalee each caught one.

After fishing PopPop took them for another four wheeler ride, while I packed up and got ready to go home. When the kiddos and PopPop returned, we ate some lunch and let the kids play some more. Around 4:00 we loaded up the car and headed home to the farm. It was such a nice relaxing time at Gray's.

Day 6

Today was a day the kiddos had been awaiting for a long time. We packed up all of our belongings and headed to Gray's Run. We got there just in time for lunch. After eating lunch we waited for the Kennedy's and the Ulrich's to show up. When everyone showed up there were 8 kids in all! We had an 8, two 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, and 2 year old! All the kids had a great time running, playing, and going for four wheeler rides. (I have some great pictures I will post when I get back to our house. For some reason I can't post any pictures from my in laws house.)

Everyone stayed for dinner and then we headed to the fire pit to roast marshmallows and make smores. While we were busy roasting away we had a little visitor stop by. Right behind us on the bank was a rather large black bear. I guess he thought the smores smelled pretty tasty. You should have seen us clear all those kiddos out of there! We were moving pretty quickly. I don't think we were ever in any real danger, but I wasn't hanging around to find out! We did enjoy watching him from the inside of the lodge though! Never a dull moment with us.

Day 5

Today was a busy day as well. More visitors came to see the kiddos. This time Nana, Zedo, Aunt Janet, Aunt Karin and Uncle Scott came up from Harrisburg. Even Uncle Kirk came over for a quick visit and to eat lunch. We had a nice visit with everyone. The kids kept everyone entertained with their new "bug" masks Grammy bought them. Adam enjoyed showing off his French skills to Nana and Zedo by translating some of a book that they had bought him.

By the end of the day we were all pretty exhasuted, but had to get everything ready to head to Gray's run tomorrow. The kids are beside themselves with anticipation!