The Big 4-0!!

Happy Belated Birthday to Dan! Now just in case there are those of you thinking I missed my own husband's birthday... I didn't. We celebrated in Pensacola with all of his family, and we celebrated on the actual day in Atlanta with Daniel and April and Noah. This message is the only "belated" part of the whole event. Moving and setting up temporary living with my parents has put a wrench in my blogging. And in my computer's ability to upload photos, apparently. So, pictures will have to wait. Happy 40th birthday Dan... just a few days late. Now that I think of it, I have pictures from Father's Day, too. I also have pictures and stories from Florida. And, I have pictures and stories from visiting Noah and his parents in Atlanta. I'm doing ok with making the memories and I'm pretty good at preserving them. But, my apologies for not sharing them as fast as before. Anyway, Dan turned the big 4-0 last week. We made plenty of old-man jokes (and we still are), and we decorated with black balloons. So cruel. It's ok, though. We all think he looks WAY younger than 40, and he's been known to act very much younger than 40. I just hope his "advanced" age causes him to forget all the teasing and joking in time for my 40th. Which is still a few years away, thank the Lord.

Before I Forget

I need to take a few minutes to fondly recall our trip. It's been several days since we "officially" arrived. I can say with all honesty that I do not enjoy driving across the USA. I know some people do it for pure pleasure, and I can respect that. It's just not for me. Maybe I dislike it because the Army tells us to do it. Maybe I dislike it because it feels like we are on a strict time schedule. Maybe I dislike it because I'm going to the unknown. (We all know how I feel about the unknown.) Anyway, it's over. This trip seemed to go a little smoother than two years ago.

The first photo is of our moving truck and our boxes... some of them. The next picture is a sight I saw for many miles... the boy in the back seat with his toys and his "girls" (picture #4). I drove the Jeep with Elijah and the cats and so much stuff I couldn't see out of the back window. Dan drove the truck with himself and a good portion of the luggage in the back. We did manage to squeeze in a few fun adventures... picture #3 is a Salt Wash in Utah.

I even have some nice memories... the beautiful deep canyons in parts of Utah, the unbelievable Rocky Mountains (we drove through snow at Vail Peak!), the fun restaurant in Denver (Mexican Cliff Divers!), the Oz Museum in Kansas, the rolling hills of Kentucky with their obviously expensive horse farms, and all the green grass and trees! (Finally!)

I did not enjoy the extra day we spent in Denver when the truck broke down. The money we spent having that repaired. The day that Elijah sat in gum (his own) in the back seat and proceeded to peel off all his clothes. (I was so afraid we were gonna be stopped for indecent exposure.) The winds in Utah that were almost impossible to drive in. Stopping for gas and having to fill up two vehicles. (I will spare you all the pain of telling you just how much we spent in gas alone to get here. It's too painful.) Unloading and reloading the two vehicles every night and every morning at the hotels. Trying to keep the cats (cat) from escaping and running down the hotel hallway. Dealing with an active 9 year-old at night in a hotel after he's been in the car all day. I suppose if those are the worst things that happened... we are all doing well. Blessed. And, as I "blog" this, I am surrounded by family. That's a nice happy ending to a long exhausting journey.

New Time Zone

We are back in Eastern Time. Actually, I'm blogging from Dan's parents' house in Florida, so I am vacationing in Central Time. But, this family has finally landed. This will be a quick post, and I will add pictures later, but we are done driving. (At least until we leave here to go back to SC!) OK, maybe we aren't done driving, but we're taking a break. 2500 miles with two cats and the boy and a MOUNTAIN of crap we obviously needed. We have a few "road stories" to tell, but we will save those for another time. We appreciate all the prayers for safety... We are so happy to be with our families... We had a blast with the Wrenns... We miss the Fort Irwin gang (me especially... hello to all my Iron Peaches!) We are gonna enjoy a few more days of "relaxin" before reality returns with a vengeance.