Enjoying the Beautiful Day!

It's 78 and sunny, with a cool breeze today, so before Morgan's nap this afternoon, Hunter and I took her outside to swing on a swing for a little while. Hunter LOVES to push Morgan on the baby swing, because it makes her giggle like crazy :o)

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In case you were wondering, that is the back of our house, right in front of Hunter.

CRAWLING!

Well, for now it's just a low-crawl, but either way, she's getting from point A to point B!

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Bait has been set:

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Hi Blue eyes :o)

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Almost there

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GOT YOU!

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Wonder who she's calling? I think Grandma and Pappa :o)

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The House on Maverick Road

Finally!

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Here are some pictures of our newest humble abode - second floor pictures to come next week :o) At 1,800 square feet, this is the largest base house we've had - we are loving the space, but still longing for painted rooms and a 'man cave' (I'll let you guess who wants what :o)

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This is your view as you walk in the front door - we offer quite the welcoming party :o)

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Behind the couch is our dining room table, and behind the half wall is the playroom.

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View of the living room, from the kitchen.

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Playroom!

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Our view from the back door - 10 steps to the park + earshot from the kitchen window + surrounded by a circle of homes= lots of afternoon freedom for Hunter!

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Kitchen. If you go down that little hallway, the pantry is that first door on your left. Keep going, and on your right you'll be at the laundry room, on the left is the door to the garage, and straight ahead is the half bath.

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Planning desk - (LOVE)

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Well, there you have it! This is home for the next few months, at which point well pack it all up and start all over again :o)

The Next Adventure

Lucky for us, we have received orders uncharacteristically early this time around! We will be leaving Texas at the end of May, and moving on to....

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Where is Fort Gordon? I'm glad you asked!

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Fort Gordon is located about 10 miles west of Augusta, Georgia

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We are SO excited! Not only did we get our first choice of duty stations, we are on the opposite coast (after 7 years, we were way over the west coast!), and only a long day's drive to Chicago!

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We will be stationed in Georgia for the remainder of Justin's enlistment, (Feb 2014), and after that is yet another guessing game. But for now, we are thrilled, and looking forward to the move!

Snow Day

On February 1st, we were expecting to wake up to cold weather, but we woke up to much more than that!

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The whole street was covered with a think layer of ice, and snow covered the ground and rooftops! The local schools were out for the day, and the whole town seemed to shut down. I decided to let Hunter experience the joy that comes with an unexpected snow day - he was thrilled!

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He got to play outside with his friends, wearing whatever winter gear we could scrounge up (all of our winter coats/gloves/boots are still in Chicago!)

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The following day we dealt with rolling blackouts and afternoon temperatures in the teens, so that wasn't so fun. I had dinner in the crock pot and ended up running two doors down, where they had power, to plug in our dinner! It was an eventful/weird/memorable week to be sure :o)

Christmas 2010

Christmas was busy this year, with lots of family coming and going - it was a great time!

Uncle Bill came into town for a few days before Christmas - he and Hunter played many, many games of Go Fish!

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Morgan and Pappa checking out the Christmas tree

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The Chicago cold caused a massive crack across Justin's windshield, so we had to have that replaced

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Justin and Hunter built a snowman!

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Grandpa Layton taught Hunter a few card tricks

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My two favorite women in the world!! (my mom and my grandma :o)

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Hunter, in his pj's, catching snowflakes on his tongue

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Christmas Morning!!

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Hunter, being the awesome kid that he is, stopped looking at his own presents from santa, to help Morgan check out her's :o)

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Hockey Guys!

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Look at that face - GUNS

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"Dad...DAD...can I play with my gun??"

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Of course, Pappa had a real target from the shooting range!

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It was a very fun Christmas, especially since so many of us were able to be together, after many years of being spread out all over the states!

Thanks mom and dad, for more amazing memories in your home :o)

An extra special Christmas Eve

As usual, I am behind with the blog - but I have a good excuse this time! We are finally feeling settled in in our new home in Texas, so it's time to catch up!

We had a great trip to Chicago, where we celebrated Justin's birthday, Christmas, our 7th wedding anniversary, and the New Year!

Christmas Eve was made extra-special this year, because Morgan was baptized that evening, at Community Presbyterian Church. We were joined by many friends and family, and it was a wonderful way to welcome Morgan into the Christian community.

Morgan was gorgeous in her ivory silk dress :o)

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Reverend Doctor Stewart Pattison, a very good family friend, baptized Morgan. (he baptized Hunter too, when he was about the same age as Morgan!)

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Morgan was so sweet -

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We are blessed to have our very dear friends, Eric and Rachel Schwarz, as Morgan's sponsors

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My dad, Morgan, Justin, Hunter, me, my mom, and Danielle

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We were so happy to have so much family there!

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The four of us

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My mom and Justin

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Justin, with Senator and Mrs.Freborg (my grandma and her husband :o)

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Sweet little Morgan Elizabeth was exhausted after the eventful evening. Visions of sugarplums :o)

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