One Month Down

Isaiah said to me yesterday, "Mom, we only have 17 months left." Well we did survive our first "southern summer" month. It has been a mild summer for the Georgia folk and a nice transition for us Cali folks.
This week we spent lots of time signing the boys up for various activities for the Fall. Joel and Ike are playing football for Crown Athletics. It is a Christian HomeSchool/Private school athletics organization. Joel is on Varsity and Ike is on JV. They are LOVING it.....even practicing in this hot muggy weather. Yesterdays practice got called because of a thunder shower. The coaches are great. They encourage the boys in their character as well as their skills. I overheard one coach tell a boy who greeted him say to the boy, "Son, you look at my eyes when you shake my hand." It was great advice and something I did not expect from a football coach. So I am glad the boys will learn some manners along with football. And since it is "Christian" league they are encouraged to "knock them hard on their backside, but give them hand up afterward."
Josiah signed up for Jr Greyhounds Lacrosse. He has always wanted to try that sport and we went and checked out a practice. The coach has 3 sons and his older boys play for the college and the high school. It will be a new challenge that Josiah will enjoy.
Isaiah still loves soccer and he is signed up with the YMCA. He got new cleats and is excited to start practicing.
We all continue to work out at the local YMCA. It is a great facility with lots of various activities to get fit. It is a fun diversion.
Church is awesome. The boys are loving their classes and Gary and I have found a Bible Study we fit in. Half the moms in our class home school so that is comforting. I am going to attend a Home School Support meeting on Tuesday night. I hope the gals are as nice as our Seaside Ladies. I sure miss our laughs.
Gary has finished training and is now ready to start traveling to other plants. He goes first to Tennessee then Pennsylvania, both trips in August. Having him away will be a new thing for us to adjust to.

A FUN vacation!

Sammie, Isaiah, Ike, Joel, Gary and Josiah in front of the Capital.

The Echenbachs and Closes in New York City.....

We journeyed north to Washington, DC and NEW YORK CITY for a quick vacation before Gary had to start training. We drove ten hours to Washington DC and toured around for 1/2 a day. It was honoring to see some sights and symbols that mean so much to us. After studying American History it makes it all so real.

Sunday we took a 3 hour train ride to Penn Station in New York City. We met our friends the Eschenbachs from California. We had a FABULOUS time wandering the CITY with the 12 of us. We did a city tour and went to the top of the Empire State Building, the top of the Rockefeller Building, took a boat to the Statue of Liberty, a walk around Central Park and walked through Time Square. We took a taxi ride that was UNBELIEVABLE. The guy drove 50 miles an hour down the city streets swerving in and out of traffic. Those yellow ones really don't stop. I am glad we all survived that experience. We saw THE LION KING on Broadway for our 19th wedding anniversary. A SPECTACULAR show....all of us enjoyed that. For Joel's 17th Birthday we took a STRETCH limo to the Diner where Seinfeld always met Elaine, Kramer and George. It was exactly like the outside but different on the inside. I did a order a BIG salad. SO EXCITING for all of us. Gary and I went wondering and we just happened to walk up to the TONIGHT SHOW and on the outdoor stage PAUL MCCARTNEY performed for 30 minutes to the crowd on the street. It was AWESOME!! We also watched 3 morning shows being filmed, NBC, ABC and FOX News.

We road the train back to Union Station in DC and finished up a short self paced tour through several of the Smithsonian's. You could spend days in there. We walked the mall and even got to sit in on Congress as they were voting. The boys wanted to Ding Dong Ditch Obama's house but for some reason those guys in black suits and black glasses didn't like the idea.

We were honored to see Abraham Lincoln's memorial, the Ford Theatre, the Vietnam Memorial, the Korean War Memorial, the WWII Memorial and the Washington monument. Gary was able to get us tickets to go up the Washington Monument and we had a spectacular view from up there. What an honor to read the God honoring words of such humble and God fearing men. Honoring God was truly the focus of their hearts.

It will be a vacation we will treasure for a lifetime. Enjoy the photos.

Unpacked and Settled

Well, we have officially unpacked ALL 1450 pounds of STUFF!! Where it all comes from I don't know but we are in and settled.
We have all taken a liking to the YMCA....It has great classes, fun cardio equipment, and neat activities for the kids. I hope we come home in better shape then when we left.
The boys have met some friends in the neighborhood. Five doors down lives Pastor David and his wife Sarah. They have 5 kids, 4 boys and 1 girl. The boys are 16, 15, 12 and 7. The girl is the twin of the 7 year old boy....too cute. They couldn't get their girl without having a boy too....God is so funny!
The 4th of July was exciting and scary...We ventured out to a near by community and JUST like the Pismo Dunes it was packed and crazy. Bottle rockets shot off horizontally and started some trees on fire under the power lines. Several people quickly called 911 and the fire trucks came quickly. Isaiah and I were in a bit of a panic because there were HUNDREDS of people there and only ONE small road getting in and out. Luckily it is the south and the plant life is green, lush and slow burning. It can't be the 4th without some sort of excitement.
We went to our neighbors church on Sunday, Eastside Baptist. It is HUGE! We got lost in the 3 story building looking for Isaiah's class. After wandering around for 5 minutes we realized we were on the wrong floor. Ike and Joel really like their Youth Group. The were warmly greeted by the Welcome Committee and have both gotten e-mails inviting them back. They went to a Beach Volleyball Bible Study Sunday night and met more people. They are planning on going to do a Work Service day tomorrow with the Youth Group. We are glad they are getting connected.
Josiah has a pretty bad ear infection. I took him EARLY Monday morning to the Urgent Care and he is on antibiotic drops for a Swimmer's Ear Infection. He is not a happy camper. We are praying he will heal quickly and be his happy self soon.
Isaiah liked his Sunday School class. He said, "Of the 10 kids in the class, ONLY 3 go to public school, all the rest Home School!" He thought that was great! We signed him up for soccer today and he is excited to start playing again.
Our neighborhood is FILLED with cute little FUU FUU dogs....Bobito will fit right in. It is hard being away from him. I hope he is not turning into a Ranch Dog with Poppa and Hildie.
I have several contacts for Home School activities. I have talked to 2 moms who have been very helpful getting started schooling here. It sounds pretty Home School friendly so that is nice. They are fond of the Hybrid Schooling where you go to class 2 times a week and school at home the other 3 days. I may look into it but it may be too much for our schedule.
I am including in this entry some photos of our home in Arroyo Grande. Dad rearranged the furniture and made the front room an Entertainment-Exercise room.
(For some reason I can not post photos today. I will try tomorrow.)