I'm Going to Kansas City....

This is a young gorilla hiding in a bag at the Kansas City Zoo. I thought it was cute!

This is Alley and Liam standing by the old truck in the Australia section of the KC Zoo. The red line near the bottom of the truck shows how far a kangaroo can jump at one time.

Michael feeding the sheep in the petting zoo!

One of our favorite things to do when we go to Kansas City is to go to the Zoo with Grandma Harrison. The Kansas City Zoo has been completely redone since I was a kid and it is a very nice zoo, divided into continents and the animals live in habitats that are more like their natural environments. They are always working on new things and making it better and better. My grandma is a "Friend of the Zoo" and this time when we went to the zoo with her, she got us a family pass to the Zoo for the whole next year! She did this because we are moving to Kansas City sometime in the next couple of months. This plan has been in the works for awhile but the trip we made to KC earlier this month was to job-hunt, visit a church we researched online, and check out areas of the city for possible places to live. Michael got a job while we were there and so the move is now official.

My parents decided a few months ago that they should move back to Kansas City to be near their parents in their older years. They are blessed in that all 4 parents live in the same city and are all still in fairly good health. They knew that as the years went on, they would feel the need to be there more often. Michael and I knew that his job prospects in Bristol were limited so we were feeling the need to make a possible move to another area. With my parents making this decision, it made our path more clear.

Michael actually had to start his job the week after we were in KC so he brought us back home and was here two days tying up loose ends and he headed out again. He is staying with my Grandma right now and working. The kids and I are here while we wait for our mobile home to sell and then we will join him. We do have one lady who wants to buy it so if everything goes smoothly with that transaction, we are hoping to be in KC by the end of April. There are many things about Bristol and Virginia that we will miss but we are excited about what God has for us there. We are looking forward to being near extended family and Michael is looking forward to getting to know them all better.

We really like the church we found and we are excited about making new friends. We don't know what God has in store for us exactly, but we know the future is in His hands and all we have to do is trust Him.

Please keep all the details of this move in your prayers...there are many things to take care of and many things to consider. Most of all pray that God would lead us to just the right housing situation. We want to buy a house eventually but we want to check out the areas for awhile first so we are concerned with finding a place to rent somewhere in between the job and the church so we can be active there without spending a ton of money on gas. There are certain things we need in a new place so we are praying that God will lead us to the perfect spot to meet all of these needs.

Kansas City, Here I Come!

Grandma Harrison and the kids. We had fun staying with her while we were in KC.
My uncle has a Great Dane named McCartney and Dresden loves him, as well as all other dogs! She is not a bit afraid of him...looks like he is tolerating her!
The girls visting with Grandma in the hospital room while Michael and Jon and Grandpa discussed "the wars" !
Our friend, Jon, stopped in KC for the weekend before starting a lengthy business trip the following week. He met my grandma and they enjoyed talking about Montana and various other topics. It was good to have him there but also a little strange since it was our Germany world and our Kansas City world meeting for the first time. I am quite certain that it will not be the last time, however! (the pic is a little blurry for some reason...sorry.)
We visited my Grandpa in the hospital. He actually went home just a hour or two after this picture was taken and he is recovering well.

A Dresden Day

Alley was in the living room, coloring with markers, earlier this evening. Dresden decided to join her, as you can see from her red hands and lips! This was just an hour or two after she poured an entire bottle of water on the coffee table which immediately ran under the glass top on the table and down both sides. I had to dry off several books, including my IKEA catalog, and I had to take the glass top completely off the table while the wood dried out. She is not quite 11 months old and I already don't know what to do with her sometimes! What am I going to do when she is two or three and can premeditate her actions?!
She did take her first steps last night at church which was pretty exciting. She is really alot of fun at this age, though. Her personality comes out a little more every day!
And I really need to figure out what to do with her hair.

"Quoot-ie"

Liam is not yet 5 years old but apparently he has been paying attention during Alley's reading lessons and maybe Grandpa's spelling-for-chocolate lessons are paying off, too!

Today, he was in the kitchen and he said, "Mom, you spell "cute"...QUOOT." I said, "That is a very good guess!" I was amazed at his ability to sound out a word and then spell it using what he knows about phonics....and he even remembered that "U" always follows "Q"!

It's late and I have to get to bed but I will try to write my post about our recent trip to Kansas City ASAP!

Happy Birthday to Me!

Today is my 28th birthday. That is really hard to believe, for me and also for my parents! It doesn't seem possible that I only have 24 months left to be in my twenties!!!!

Alley and Liam were very sweet. Last night, all on their own, they made me a card (above) and hid it from me until we came by the house after church on our way to Mimi and Grandpa's house. Alley snuck in and grabbed it and they presented it to me after lunch when I was opening gifts. Alley also wrote the message on the chalk board in the kitchen last night so that I would see it this morning when I woke up. It's fun to have kids old enough to do special things for you like that.

Michael is once again out of town on my birthday but it is for a good reason. He started a new job last Friday. (More details on that in my next post.) Thanks to the Army, the last time we were together on my birthday was 4 years ago, March 19, 2002. That was the day that we flew to Germany for the first time and it also happened to be my first time to fly anywhere, ever! A birthday I will never forget!

My family here made my birthday special anyway. Dad grilled chicken, even though he had to stand at the grill with his walker since he just had hip replacement surgery last Tuesday! Mom made some of my favorite side dishes and Heidi made me a delicious tasting, beautifully decorated cake. I opened a few gifts and just enjoyed being with my family. Michael called me and sang Happy Birthday over the phone. I also talked to my sister, Jana, and my grandparents this afternoon. It was a nice, relaxing way to spend a birthday.

Two Teethin' Girls!

Alley and Dresden are both getting their front right (from our perspective) teeth. It is funny that they would both be getting the same tooth at the same time so of course, I had to take a few pictures and share this with the world, or at least the very small portion of the world who actually reads my blog!

New Glasses

Alley and I had some "girl time" today. We ran several errands, one of which was to Sears at the mall to pick up my new glasses that I ordered 2 weeks ago. I haven't had new glasses in about 5 years and it was hard to choose a frame. I wanted something at least somewhat stylish but not too bold. I finally settled on this pair but had to wait half a month for them to be made!

Michael and my dad both said they liked them. Mom hasn't seen the finished product yet even though she was there when I was trying on every pair in the store! I hope other people do like them because I will most likely be wearing these for several years and other peple will look at them much more often than I do!

Iraq Departure

Early last year, Michael told me that he was scheduled to leave Iraq on March 10, 2005. Needless to say, the kids and I were counting down the days! He was not coming all the way home to Bristol then, just back to Bamberg, Germany for several weeks, but we were anxiously awaiting the day when he was safely removed from the dangers of being in Iraq during this war. I know that his days have already been numbered by God and that changing his location would not make him "safer" if God had a different plan, but from our limited viewpoint, I would much rather him be on German soil than Iraqi sand!

Last year at this time, the kids and I were staying at my parent's house taking care of their dogs while they were in Kansas City for a few days. March 1 started out like any other day and around mid-morning I was preparing to take my shower. (I had my cell phone glued to my side in those days, never knowing when I might receive a call from Michael and if I missed it, it might be a few more weeks until he could call again.) So, I went in and laid the phone down by the sink in the bathroom and turned around to head into the bedroom to grab my clothes and my phone started ringing. I glanced briefly at the number displayed but didn't recognize it. I answered it and I heard Michael say, "Guess where I am?" I said, "Iraq?" and he said, "I'm in Germany!"

I was not expecting this news for 10 more days so I was really surprised and very relieved. I don't think I realized what a cloud was hanging over us while he was there until it was lifted. It was so good to know that he was back in Germany and that I was not going to get a call or a knock on my door from a military officer telling me that my husband was never coming home. I knew that also meant a more predictable schedule for him so we could talk more often. It was very good news!

We didn't get to talk very long right then because he was calling on an Army phone that a Sergeant had let him use for a few minutes. He said he would call back on his phone card soon.

As soon as we hung up, I told the kids and then Alley wanted to call everyone we knew! I emailed alot of people and Alley called Mom and Dad and we called a few others to share the news. It was a great day!

The picture above was not taken that day. It was actually taken on July 28, 2004, the day that Michael arrived here at Tri-Cities airport for his 2 week R&R from Iraq. He sat next to a man on his short flight from Atlanta who offered to take pictures of his reunion with his family and later he emailed us the pics. I really love this one because it captured the moment so well. Liam had just turned 3 the day before this picture was taken and I don't think he really understood exactly what was going on with this R&R thing, so when Michael came through the glass doors at the airport, Liam said, "I found you!" It was so sweet! It made me think of how God sent Christ for us long before we even existed and He planned it all and then we say to Him, "I found you!" Michael had been traveling for a very long time, by convoy and plane, and waiting for several hours at a time in order to arrive there at that moment and from Liam's perspective, he found Michael. God teaches us in so many ways.