Noel the Panther

We decided to have Noel play basketball when we moved here so that he could learn the game but also meet some other boys. He is on a team called the Panthers. He has never played before and was hesitant at first but now has really grown to enjoy it. He is still a little uncertain on the court but is good at following directions and passing the ball. He works hard at it and has a great attitude!

Animal Kingdom

Last Friday I decided to take the kids to Disney's Animal Kingdom. We had a great time and they were wonderful with me. The three older kids went on this big rollercoaster and when they got off Grace and Noel felt motion sickness and little Nathan II wanted to go again. So I went with him. It was fun but very fast! Some of our favorite things were the Lion King Show and the conservation island that had a petting zoo. We learned about owls and touched a snake. They also brushed goats and sheep. The other thing that we all loved was the parade. Most of the floats were made from wood and had people peddling or pulling/pushing them. They were beautiful and wonderful pieces of art. We spendt about 5 hours there and did not even see half of the park. So we are looking forward to another trip soon.

The First Swim

It did not seem to matter to much that the water is probably only 60 degrees. They all wanted to swim so bad in our new pool. So in they went. Grace and Nathan lasted the longest, while Ella did not much care for the cold. Daddy and I were happy to sit and watch from the side!

Lady Eagles

This fall and winter Grace had the opportunity to play on a competitive homeschool basketball team called the Lady Eagles. They were all homeschool girls 10 and under. They practiced 3 hours a week and had 2-3 games a week. Grace loved these girls and was very sad to leave them. Here are a few pictures from the first half of the season (which was undefeated).

Space Musuem

We stopped in Huntsville, AL to check out the Space musuem on our way to Florida. We all loved learning more about space travel and how rockets work. When we left all four of the kids said they would like to go back to visit again some day.

More Friends

Devin, Grace and Noel

Our Tennessee Friends

Grace and Alyssa

Ella and Ashley

Grace and Sarah Grace

Noel and Hunter

Saying Goodbye Part 2

Saying goodbye to Collierville... we made sure the last week we were in Memphis we had a lot of our friends over to say goodbye. Grace had the hardest time leaving her friends. We took 2 days to drive to Florida since our stuff was going to take 3 days to get here. We stopped in Huntsville Alabama to see the Space Museum which was very cool. The kids already know a little about the space program since their dad is very interested in it. So it was neat to see the rockets and learn more about the science behind how the rockets work. We then drove to a town outside of Atlanta to stay for the night. The next day we finished our drive and went to our friends the Foxes in Lakeland. On Saturday our stuff finally arrived and by Sunday am we were in the throes of unpacking. That seems like a long time ago since we have been working like crazy to get it all done. We, or the kids rather, took a few breaks to swim in our freezing cold pool. I keep telling them it is winter but they do not seem to care. Of course a cold front has come through and the temps are only in the 60's. We also got our Disney World Season Passes and went to Epcot for the evening. It was nice to get out of the house and we all love Disney. Tomorrow we start school again and try to resume our normal life.

We are here!

I have a lot to write but since we are in the middle of unpacking I will wait. But I wanted to let everyone know that we have arrived safely and are doing well. More to come soon....

Saying Goodbye Part 1

We have been very busy packing and preparing for our big day tomorrow. The movers arrive late morning and we will see our stuff again on Saturday in Lakeland. We have had many friends coming over to say good bye and Grace has shed many tears. The kids have done really well during this transition of boxes, people coming in and out and a major disruption to our daily schedule. They (with the exception of Grace) cannot wait to get to Florida.  

So today we are trying to finish all the packing. We had a showing this morning and Ella has a stomach bug. Hopefully no one else will get sick. So life is full of some interesting moments right now and we are trying to just take them in stride without freaking out :) 

Happy 2009!

So i realize that i am terrible at this blog thing. but i have decided to try again for 2009. several things have happened in the last six months that have been very exciting for us. the first thing is we are moving to florida in 7 days. we are so excited for this change. after we got back from florida this summer we realized that we love lakeland. also, that nathan had really built a nice size clientele. so we put the house up for sale and then the market crashed. so we waited and nathan went to florida every 3 weeks, continuing to grow in lakeland and at the same time to grow here. finally the week before thanksgiving it became clear that we needed to decide where we wanted to be. there are many things about memphis, collierville, in particular that we love but overall florida beats it all. so off we go.

we spent thanksgiving down in florida with our wonderful friends the foxes and decided that we would move into our other friends house that has been for sale for about a year and half. after returning from our thanksgiving week, we started to pack and prepare. grandma candy and papa dan came down for the collierville christmas parade and to celebrate an early christmas. we had christmas dinner with our friend lyle and in between that we have been packing and trying to live as much as a normal life as possible.

so happy new year to you all and hopefully i will be better at keeping you all updated. oh, nathan bought me a digital camera as an early birthday present. i think this will help :)