Going away party, Hello TLF, Goodbye Car & Field Trip

Abe invited me and the girls to an award ceremony they were having for him on Tuesday. He let me know that it was nothing really, but that his office was making a bigger deal out of it than it was. The girls and I showed up and the entire room was filled with people front to back that work in Abe's office. The "ceremony" was pretty quick and the did make a big deal about Abe's accomplishments and the medal he received. I was glad that we went and could be a part of it.

On Wednesday before Abe's going away lunch, people from work asked Abe to bring us to the office on our way to the restaraunt. One of the guys that he works with had everyone gather around and "spot lighted" Abe a little bit. He made him homemade Lederhosen and made him put them on and wear them. It was just a funny little tribute they put together for him.





Lunch with Abe's work was really fun. There were about 30 people that showed up to support him. The girls had a lot of fun and a girl that Abe works with even brought them some stuffed animals. I knew that everyone really liked Abe, but this really made me realize how much they value him and will miss him. He made such an impact and I am really proud of him. They were all really generous and bought all our meals, and even gave us a wad of cash. It was all way more than I would have ever expected.



Things have continued to be a little bit insane and somehow we are surviving it all thus far :) Yesterday (Wednesday) we checked into the TLF on base, which is temporary housing and is like a hotel. I was at my friend Katy's house when Abe brought the girls over to check in and he said he was a little down. Adeline apparently was really excited and was running around and thought everything was so neat. She really has been remarkably positive about all the change we are going through. That lifted Abe's spirits... and mine when he told me about it. I am so lucky to have such a great friend that let us stay with her for EIGHT nights. It was so comfortable staying over there and really fun since I am going to miss her so much. We got to be "roommates" for a week :) She insisted that we stay until we left, but that is a long time to have people staying in your house. Being able to stay with them a good chunk though has definitely helped break up the time we do have to stay in the TLF. It has a kitchenette, a small table to sit at, a couch that can pull out into a bed, and then one bedroom. It is not ideal for a family of 4, especially when Norah has to sleep in our room!

cute picture of the girls and William when we were at Katy's house


I couldn't resist taking this picture of Mary, Adeline and Kaden having a little tea party/snack on the porch


Abe left at 4am this morning to drive down to New Jersey to drop off our car at the port. I was thinking we wouldn't see our car for at least 3 months, so I was happy to hear that they said the 3rd week of November we should be expecting it. 5 weeks would be way better than 8-12! Hopefully they are accurate. After he dropped the car off, he took a taxi to the airport and flew back to Boston. Goodbye car, I will miss you! Now we just need to figure out what to do with our second car since it still hasn't sold yet!!

Today Adeline had a class field trip and I volunteered to go along. She has been asking about it for weeks and woke up super early this morning because she was so excited. It was Adeline's first time riding on a school bus and she thought that was pretty neat. As the bus was driving off base, they didn't stop like they were supposed to so the guards could move some barriers that make up a little obstacle course to get out. The bus couldn't quite make the obstacles and ran one of the barriers over. After a big bump and a loud bang, the tire did turn out to be flat. We had to transport all the kids onto a second bus that was following us and had to cram in. The kids got to feed some animals, go on a little "cow" ride, hay ride, go in a corn maze and then get a pumpkin. My back is killing me after bending down to help little kids all morning!







These are some random pictures from last couple of weeks that I wanted to post. I took the next couple of pictures on the day that the movers came to pack our first (express) shipment. They were playing so well together and were making me laugh. They were watching a movie and I found them like this hugging each other watching it.




My friends and I took all our kids to a "flu shot night" at the pediatrics office that we go to. We promised all the girls ice cream after their shots.