Month Three

This week marks our third month here in Arkansas. It also is a huge step forward for us, as we will be signing (Good Lord Willing!!) on our new house on Friday. Friday is also our 11th wedding anniversary! (YAY!) We joke, because last year he took me to Hawaii and this year he is buying me a house....he has to really step it up next year. (Joke) We have been blessed to have somewhere to live these three months as we have been transitioning, but it hasn't always been easy. The boys have been stuck in a bedroom with Jason and I and really unable to be themselves due to others living here with us.  They are ready for a change and to get their own things back. Jason and I are ready for them to get their own things back too! I am ready to open the back door and say "Go play and don't come in until dark!"I am also ready for my own bed, bath, closet, kitchen...etc. I sometimes feel like we have been prisoners, so it will be nice to be in our own space. It will really feel like it is real when we get our dogs home. I know the boys are also ready for that. We have finished up baseball season and are ready to just relax (ha) the rest of the summer. We have plans to head to Dallas and visit my Mammy Jo and possibly a small trip here and there to Memphis and Hot Springs. I have a possible job lined up for next year, so I am getting things arranged for that. (Until I sign the contract, I am trying to play devil's advocate!) I will be informing people as soon as it is official. I can tell you however, I am extremely happy and excited for the prospect. We are passing time with trips to the park, trips to the refuge, trips to gather eggs, and anything else we can do. We have been to Little Rock, The Louisiana Purchase State Park, the Arkansas Post and anything else we can find close by to do right now. For Father's Day today, we went to church, had lunch, and Jason grilled us steaks for dinner. We agreed that for this month, our house is our gift!! I will update with pictures when we finally get to sign on the dotted line!!!

 having fun at parents vs. kids

 parents vs. kids game

 the ring bearer with mommy before the wedding

 this kid...he was giggling the entire time

 The Ring Bearer for the Crow wedding

 a very rare picture of the two of us together

 yard ball

 when you live on a wildlife refuge...

On the Home Stretch...(hopefully and literally)

Traveling to tournament ball game-Go Bullets 

 The first travel team tournament...when their uniforms were still nice and white

Playing in the outfield on the travel team 

 Memorial Day fun in Little Rock...we watched Avengers 2

 At the movies being silly

Going for a ride at the mall in Little Rock 

 The Little Rock National Cemetery on Memorial Day

 Visit to President Clinton's Library

 Lots and lots of baseball

 Arkansas sunset

 our baby possums we put back in the wild after a cat killed their mama

 Tornado on Mother's day in Van

 afternoon fun in the park

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Month two onto month three have been very busy. We have a contract on our house in Marshall (yay), have found a house here we have put a contract on and are in our grace/waiting period with plans to move in on the 26th of this month, lots and lots of baseball (both travel and league), school finishing up, taking lots of tests to get my certificate here in Arkansas, praying for a job that suits our family, getting to know new friends, joining a new church, and having new housemates in the bunkhouse we are staying in until our house is closed on. Whew, did you get tired just reading that? We are blessed to have this time together as a family (and by together, I mean all four of us in one room with bunk beds each night). Crawford was blessed with a wonderful teacher for his finishing up second grade here, and his baseball teammates have become fast friends. And, we kind of love all the parents and friends we are making too. We have discovered that we can do just about anything we want in Little Rock, which is not too far away. We have been to the Presidential library, the National Cemetery, the Capitol, and Jason and Cash have been to the zoo. We also found a new part of Little Rock to us that has everything we can imagine in one general spot. It is full of shopping centers and restaurants. (Yall, they have a Chuy's!) We briefly made a trip to Texas for Crawford to be ring bearer in my cousins wedding and will be making another soon to get our dogs from my parents so we can bring them to their new home and backyard! The boys are getting lots of outdoor play time here at the bunkhouse and learning about lots of things from the interns and researchers living here too. We are anxiously awaiting moving into our new house and I can't wait to have a bath tub, my own bed, and all my goodies back. I will keep posted when we sign on that dotted line so I can show off our new house!! Please keep us in your prayers as we are still transitioning through all of this. It is a great little town, and Jason is loving his job, and we are all happy!!