A little business to get out of the way: Please note that very soon, I will be shutting down this blog to public access for privacy purposes. If you want to stay updated on Club Amaro Adventures, please send me an email and I will send you an invitation to the site (AFTER I SWITCH TO PRIVATE ACCESS). If you'd rather just get the email version of the blog each time its updated, please sign up in the box to the right entitled, "Subscribe". If you are already a subscriber, you need not do anything. Thanks for understanding!! Now, back to your regularly scheduled blog update...

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I send greetings to you from my new (to me) $50 garage sale dining room table in my new (to me) Tennessee apartment. As I type, I'm surrounded by all our belongings that fall into one of the following categories:

1. In a box
2. Not in a box, but not in a proper place
3. Not in a box and put somewhere that seemed logical at the time, but will most likely get moved two or three times in the next two or three weeks
4. Not in a box and put in the perfect place

In addition to all our belongings, we have bonus items that include, but are not limited to:

a. boxes of all shapes and sizes - some new, some used and some REALLY used.
b. paper
c. paper
d. paper
e. paper
f. paper

And I'm not sure if I mentioned this, but we have paper.

First of all, let me say that I'm so thankful that all our stuff arrived and that it appeared to arrive in pretty much the same condition that it was when it left. The moving company that we hired was top notch (Chipman/United Van Lines) with only a few minor exceptions (who doesn't have those, eh?). That being said, part of the reason everything got here in one piece is because they used an entire forest worth of trees to wrap our stuff! You would not believe the amount of paper that we are dealing with here...I'm not exaggerating, I promise! I mean, it's really a problem. You hate to throw it away - I mean, we paid for the stuff, right? And, knowing that we'll be moving soon it would be wise to hold onto it. But what do you do with bags and bags and bags of paper? It's a paper problem. Let me give you an example...in our guest bathroom back in Concord we had a little dish that had a few slivers - and I do mean slivers - of soap. These slivers of soap were wrapped up in FOUR layers of 24"x 24" paper. A pony-tail holder, a small rock and some belly button lint - wrapped in 2 layers. A plastic cup - 2 layers. 3 votive candles - 4 layers. I could go on, but how much fun would that be for you...anyway, Bonni and Michael have a huge attic over their garage, so we are stuffing paper in big boxes and storing it. Hmmm....storing paper....who knew it would go down like that.

Ok, I apologize for going off on that - it wasn't how I intended to launch my first official post from our new place. But, alas - I am tired and sore...I do not feel like writing. However, I do need to let everyone know that we are here in our new place and we are getting settled. I don't have many pictures right now that are very exciting - for example:



I did want to say that I've received a few emails over the past week or so and I have NOT been able to respond to anyone! It's been so busy that I haven't had alot of opportunity to boot up and email. So, for those of you that have contacted me - please be patient - I will catch up with you very soon! Do know that I really, really, really love hearing from you and getting little stories about what's going on outside of TN...so keep the love notes comin' y'all....PLEASE!

Stay tuned for more adventures!

love and many paper layers...
k

Well it's been a little over 24 hours since our arrival and so far, so good! It was an amazing drive through Arkansas and west TN - lush and green, lots of trees and beautifully paved roads. We arrived to Michael & Bonni's house just after 6pm and were welcomed by lots of excitement and wonderful smells coming from the kitchen. We were thrilled to find out that Michael's mum was visiting as well (Granny Julia) - the last time we saw her was many years ago for the wedding, but she has proved to be a mighty prayer warrior for us during our miscarriage...she is a delightful English woman! So for those of you doing the math, the ratio of kids to adults is now even. We shared a wonderful dinner together and started the process of exploding our things into our quarters. The kids seem very excited to have Abby around...although Abby may have been a bit overwhelmed, she handled it very well.

After such a high excitement evening, we were definitely all ready for sleep. Abby was excited to bunk up with ALL FOUR KIDS, taking the term slumber party to a whole...nutha....level. As the adults hung out downstairs having tea and chatting, some took turns going up to the room to give the kids their "final" warning to settle down. Eventually, they all got to sleep...however, everyone except Abby was up at 5:30am...

Today was all about errands. Bonni was nice enough to let Abby stay and play with the kids while I ran around town getting electricity turned on, checking out the apartment, picking up mail and generally getting reacquainted with the streets around town. Although seeing the apartment was great, I'd have to say the highlight of the day was seeing Abby run around with the kids outside in the huge grassy area. They are having so much fun! They found caterpillars, ate Popsicles, played "Family" with the baby dolls and probably alot of other things that I didn't get to see.

Another great highlight from the day was the return of the circus tent. This was a small little play tent that you can crawl into and play around with. Well, yesterday a gust of wind blew the tent away - and since nobody was around at the time, nobody knew where it blew to! The kids were devastated so they prayed and asked God to please return the tent to them. Well, today in the afternoon there was a knock at the door - a young fellow who lives quite a ways down the road had seen the tent as he was coming home on the bus from school. When he arrived home, he hopped on his bike and rode down to the house to ask if the kids had lost their tent because he had seen one just like it down the way in a field. The kids were ecstatic! Bonni went to the field with the boy and fetched it. The triumphant return of the circus tent was a huge answer to prayer...proving once again that God DOES care about the little things and wants to bless us with the desires of our hearts.

Looking forward to tomorrow - we need to look for some furniture bargains for the new apartment since we either gave away, sold or threw out most of what we owned back in CA. Stay tuned for more adventures...

love from the 'boro,
k

Tired greetings from Little Rock, Arkansas....

Today (after several HOURS of packing our belongings) we said goodbye to Grandmama, Grandpapa and Fort Worth, Texas and jumped on the I30 towards AK.

We thoroughly enjoyed our time at the Dancing Bear Ranch (the nick-name of Gmama & Gpapa's home) - it was a great place to get caught up after time on the road. We had fun outings and relaxing days - we endured a few thunderstorms and 1 evening of tornado sirens. We took care of alot of preparations for TN and we watched alot of movies. We did alot of stayin' up late and alot of sleepin' in. Lots of hugs, kisses and "cozy" time. Thanks Gmama & Gpapa for a truly memorable time....we appreciate your hospitality and look forward to our next visit!

It's just shy of Midnight here at this cozy hotel in Little Rock - in some number of hours, our car (freshly detailed, plus a few dead Arkansas bugs) will complete the final leg of this 6 state tour. Our little car has put on more than 4,000 miles and hasn't parked in a place of its own in 2 months. This family is thankful for the opportunity we've had to do this road trip - it has been loads of fun and a deep bonding experience for the 3 of us. We feel blessed that Mike was able to work along the way, which enabled us to really stretch out the time and save a bit of money too. We have seen incredible sights and have a new appreciation for God's creation. Plus, we picked up a few words and phrases to add to our vocabulary, y'all.

We are excited to see our friends Michael, Bonni, Beka, Karin, Aaron & Judah (yes, that's 1 family) whom we'll be staying with until our stuff arrives (probably Thursday). Do the math people, that's 9 of us under 1 roof. The kids outnumber the adults. It should be a wild ride...stay tuned for new and exciting adventures as the Amaro's hit Murfreesboro tomorrow.

Tennessee will not know what hit them.

big little rock hugs,
k

PS: We have new cell phone numbers and mailing address...posting them here would not be wise of course, so if you're interested in the info, drop us a line using the contact email to the right and you'll get the information quicker than you can say Grand Ole Opry.

Howdy, y'all, from the great state of Texas! I think the last time I posted, I actually talked with a California accent. I'm not so sure that's the case now, having spent the last 5 weeks in Texas and Louisiana. OK...so I might not sound exactly like a rajun' cajun or a cowboy, but my choices of cuisine during this time would certainly qualify me for at least an honorary status.

There were more than a few times last week in Louisiana that I was reminded of that famous scene in Forrest Gump. You know the one...Bubba telling Forrest all of the ways to prepare shrimp..."shrimp gumbo, shrimp etouffee, grilled shrimp..." Heck, a whole chain of restaurants was founded because of it. Well, call me the Bubba Gump of crawfish! Crawfish pie, crawfish cornbread, crawfish etouffee, fried crawfish, crawfish and corn maque choux, you name it, I tried it. What can I say? If I'm in Louisiana, I'm a gonna be chompin' down the crawfish. Well, almost any crawfish...I never could bring myself to try the all-you-can-eat 3 pound boiled crawfish plates....I thought they might up and walk off the platter at any second...too creepy for my likin'...

Now Texas, that's a different story! Barbeque is the name of the game around these here parts. I live by a simple rule, I come to Texas, I eat BBQ at least once during my stay here. Our favorite place is fast becoming Red, Hot, and Blue. Great beef brisket served Memphis style (that is, with cole slaw on top) at a great price. Can't beat it, at least out here in Fort Worth. There might be a certain FCF BBQ chef that might give this place a run for its money...

So...you'd think that all I've done on this trip is eat, eat, and eat. Well, not entirely true. I've had time to ruminate on our cross-country trek many times along the way and thought I'd share a few musings and observations. Hopefully, this isn't worse than listening to a Kenny G song, but we'll soon see. I'll make sure Kristin closely monitors the number of hits this particular post gets. I'm guessing somewhere in the 300 range...as in 300 thousand. Yeah, right. Dream on.

Anyhow, enough nonsense. Almost eight weeks on the road and I must say this has been an excellent adventure so far (sorry Bill and Ted). We've been quite blessed to be able to visit family in CA, TX, and LA, making this trip seem more like an extended vacation rather than a move. We are grateful to so many friends and family that have supported and prayed for us. I can honestly say that Club Amaro has felt the effects of every single prayer that has been lifted up on our behalf. It has been absolutely amazing. Thanks!!!

Besides visiting and staying with family along the way, it has been exciting to see so much of God's splendor in creation. There are no words or pictures that can describe the majesty of the Grand Canyon or any of the other natural wonders that we've visited. Truly amazing spectacles, ones that we will remember for a long, long time. I know Kristin has already done a wonderful job of documenting our travels so far, so I won't repeat all of it here. Suffice it to say that we have had quite an experience and have enjoyed every moment of it. Well, except for that slip and fall that Kristin had a few weeks ago. Her leg is getting better, but it has been a slow recovery so far. :-(

So here we are, less than a week from traveling up to our final destination in Tennessee. As great as this trip has been, we are looking forward to finally settling down and starting a new home. It hasn't come without a price - namely, leaving friends and family behind in California. And you don't know how many times on this trip Kristin and I have looked at each other and said, "What ARE we doing?" But we trust that the Lord has led us down this path for a reason and His plan is always better than we could ever imagine. Why would we want it any other way?

I'll sign off with a verse that I've been pondering for the last few days -- Romans 12:12 "May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit." It is my prayer for each of you...

Peace, joy, and every blessing,
M

Hey y'all. I just love sayin' y'all, y'all. Y'all know what I mean? I can't remember the last time I said, "you guys" (a term for which I constantly got ribbed for by my Louisiana kin folk).

Anyway - another day has past and I can't wait to share about what a fun day we had. Aunt Jan and Uncle Richard recently purchased a plot of land in Mer Rouge, La. on a lake...complete with a pier and fishin' poles. So, the whole family headed out to what has affectionately been named "Byrd Camp" (after Jan & Richard's last name). It was a beautiful day - although it never hit 70, there was no humidity whatsoever. There was a pretty decent breeze throughout the day, but if you caught a good patch of sun, it just didn't matter. Of course, there was a constant stream of food available all day long in case anyone began to starve...and, we had Grill Master D (sans Black Beauty tho') on hand to cook us up some tasty burgers w/ all the fixin's.


Clearly, the hottest attraction going today was the fishing. A majority of time was spent on the really cool pier that sits on Bayou Bonne Idee...all the kids really enjoyed the fishing. Us "older" cousins (me, Robyn and Ashley) recall fishing during the summers at the Scott camp, so it was neat (once again) to see history sort of repeating itself.

The most exciting moment for this mama was seeing her baby catch a fish. Abby had the biggest catch of the day (I have approval from Uncle David to say this as he oversaw most of the catches coming out of the water)!! It was a pretty little white perch and Abby roped him in ALL BY HERSELF! She went on to catch another later on as well. She was very excited...I know it will be a fond memory for her.


Other happenings at the camp were tree climbing, princess dress up, eating, losing crops (i.e. napping), bubble blowing and lots of running around. And, to top things off, we had a little fun in the bathtub. All 3 girls jumped in the over sized tub at the camp and the baby Grayson was dunked in as well. This picture of the baby Grayson is the only one I can really post since these days 3 little girls in a bathtub can get one into quite a bit of trouble. But Grayson sure didn't mind! Everyone got squeaky clean w/ new clothes and everything then headed back down to the pier for a few last minute fishing attempts.

You should really stop by the Drop Shots account and check out more pictures of the days events. More fun memories burned into the memory bank...with the Byrd Camp being only a short day's drive away, I can see more fun times are just around the corner!

Tomorrow morning we pack up base camp and head BACK to Fort Worth, Tx. where we'll be prepping our things for the ascent to Murfreesboro. We also expect a visit to Texas this week from Uncle Steve. Perhaps there might be another Bita song coming soon!

Prayer Requests:
1. More travel mercies (good thing God never runs out!)
2. Our belongings will be packed up onto a truck on Monday, then begin their travel to TN on Wednesday...although they are just "things", they are still our things alot of which are needed, some not so much :) Please pray for protection, safe arrival and no complications for our load.

love & louisiana kisses,
k

7 weeks

It's been 7 weeks since Abby has played with other children. That's 1176 hours of "adult time". 70,560 minutes of constant adult-interaction. 4,233,600 seconds of growing up that's past without getting properly dirtied up, roughed up or princess-dressed up. It all culminated last night when we arrived in Monroe, La. and had dinner with my Uncle David and Aunt Bonnie. There Abby sat for a good chunk of time listening to 4 adults chit chat back and forth. Oh, don't worry - Abby did plenty of talking too, but towards the end you could tell that she was ready for a playground (didn't help matters any that I mentioned that her cousins would be there and I was wrong!) Abby has been looking forward to playing with her cousins all week.

As I mentioned on Little Moon yesterday, Abby announced to us prior to meeting up with her cousins, "I have my plans laid out for what I do when I see my cousins." Her plan was to run up and hug them tight. Well, she stayed true to her laid out plans and then some. We met up with my cousins Ashley and Robyn at the "Jungle Gym" to let the kids run around and play. Ashley brought her 3 kids (Addison, Emerson and the baby Grayson) as well as her niece and nephew. The niece was the first to walk in the door to the Gym and of course Abby thought she was one of her cousins so she ran right up to her and gave her a big ol squeeze! Poor kid didn't know what hit her. Anyway - she proceeded to hug all her cousins as they came in and the next thing you know, they've run off to play leaving the adults behind for some good ol catchin' up. The kids had a wonderful time gettin' all sweaty and familiar with each other. We had lunch there and just had a great time watching them have fun. After the gym, Abby got to spend the afternoon over at cousin Tori's house...Emerson came as well so the 3 girlie girls had more bonding time.

Grillin' and Chillin'

Later on, we went back to Uncle David/Aunt Bonnie's house to do what it is that us Moore's do best....visit and eat. No Moore gathering is complete without grill master D workin' his magic on Black Beauty (the smoker grill). We had smoked pork, chicken and sausage that was 'slap yo mama's hand' good; Aunt Jan's potato salad; Nana's beans; some Boudin Balls from Ray's that Jan picked up on the way to Monroe; some Texas Toast and some little weenies wrapped in bacon that Cuz Robyn made. It gets setup buffet style and you just sit where you can find you a seat. Mike and I sat at the dining room table w/ Jan, David, Ashley, Robyn and Stan (Ashley's hub) and had a good time chatting. The food was great and the family time is even better. The best though, is seeing all the kids run around screaming and giggling. I had a flashback to my childhood thinking about me, Steve, Robyn, Ashley and Jeremy running around in that same backyard while the adults were grillin and chillin. Now I get to see my daughter make those same memories with Addison, Emerson, Tori and Grayson (Kayley too, who we are missing!) How cool is that?

After hours of outdoor play, the girls spent the rest of the evening playing dress up...our little princesses - they were muy preciousa! And puttin' up with all that girlie girl stuff was sweet Addison who is ALL BOY.

He plays so well with the girls but doesn't compromise on his boyness. Although he's not the oldest cousin of this group (that honor belongs to Kayley who lives in Tx), he was the elder today and took charge when he needed to. Like when a rogue puppy dog kept running into the yard (you know they don't have fences round these here parts) scaring little Emerson, Addison was right there to chase him off his turf.


Another great attraction today was the baby Grayson...just under a year old, I think. He is a chunkster with a million dollar smile that will warm your heart. My favorite picture (to the left) shows baby boy chillin' in a super fine nap pose - complete with foot hiked up on the snack tray and thumb in mouth. Grayson even made and appearance in the blow up jumpy house with his Aunt Robyn. He is a good baby and very adaptable....you have to be in this group!

Tomorrow we head out to the "Byrd Camp" in Mer Rouge for more family fun...stay tuned.

love & miss,
k

ps: Stay up to date on the pics...there's some good ones!!

"Mom, I have my plans laid out for what I do when I see my cousins"

Greetings from the fabulous state of Louisiana...Sportsman's Paradise, Creole State, Child of the Mississippi, etc. Lafayette, Louisiana is the exact spot where we are at right now - visiting Aunt Jan & Uncle Richard. Our time here has been filled with fun times, good food and neateaux sights. Lots to update you on, so let me get started...

Dat Wuh Good...
Aunt Jan can handle herself in the kitchen...of course she descends from culinary fabulousness (my Nana who could probably kick the Iron Chef up one side of the street and down the other). Upon our arrival on Saturday afternoon, we were greeted with the smell of lovin' from the kitchen. Jan had prepared dinner - pan fried thin chicken breasts with a basalmic vinegar/garlicy sauce, rosemary garlic roasted potatoes (par-boiled prior to roasting - what a difference!), corn, cooked carrots with brown sugar and of course, rolls (for soppin' stuff up). A meal that would make you wanna slap yo mama's hand, fo show. Later on after dinner, we went over to see my Nana, who lives down the way from Jan. My Nana is a sweet little thing - she can't talk because about 3 years ago doctors removed her voice box. Believe me, she can write up a storm - and, her eyes light up when she sees Abby. Nana is the last of my grandparents, so I treasure the time that I can see her.

Lappin' it up, Lafayette Style.
Sunday morning we went out for brunch at the Blue Dog Cafe. Their buffet is so incredible and popular that the wait to be seated was an hour! Fortunately, we opted for patio seating (which requires extra walking to the buffet) so we were able to sit right away. All you can drink mimosas, live music and wonderful dishes like Corn & Crab Bisque, Crawfish Enchiladas and Gouda cheese grits...needless to say when we were done eating, we needed to do some walkin'.

We went down to the quad at the University of Louisiana (home of the Rajun Cajun's) and walked around. Now, please don't let your mind conjure up images of the concrete rectangle of your youth...this quad is a SWAMP! Complete with cypress trees, green water, alligators, turtles and fish that defy the laws of physics. The scenery was beautiful and the weather was perfect for strolling around. No trip around a swamp is complete with out a big ol' honken bag of dog food...yes, we took dog food with us to feed the aquatic life. The alligators were digging it and so were the turtles and fish...so, I guess that's fine, huh? (Sidebar: I'm thinking of a friend I have...one who is able to identify the origins of most mysterious animal poop....you know who you are...I'm apologizing to you for throwing processed dog food into a swamp for alligators, turtles and fish). At least I didn't throw a half of a McDonald's hamburger in the swamp for the alligator to eat (as seen in the photo to the right)...that was some dude standing next to us that did that. But boy that alli snarfed that burger up quicker than you could say Steve Irwin.


Painting at the Bisque...

Monday afternoon, the 4 girls (that would be me, Jan, Abby and Nana) headed off to Clayfish Bisque, a place where you can paint naked pottery (not to be confused with paint pottery naked) and then pick it up a few days later after it has been fired up in a kiln. We had the BEST time! We all picked our pieces, then picked our paint colors and went to town creating our masterpieces. Mike actually joined us a little later after he got off work - he was able to supervise and ensure that all that feminine pulchritude didn't get too out of hand. We were all very happy with our pieces - we'll see how well they turned out when we pick them up in a few days. Jan did a cute little tile with crawfish, using all 4 of our thumb and finger prints as the crawfish heads and claws. Nana did a tile with a Fleur de lis design. Abby did 2 figurines (a dino and a dog that she painted "dalmatian" style) and I chose a pencil cup and did a moon face on the front with a Genesis 1:1 bible verse on the back.

On Monday evening, it was time to bite tail and suck head (that is code for eating crawfish, or "mud bugs" as I like to refer to them as). I still haven't gotten to the point where I can order even a 3 lb (let alone a 5lb or all you can eat!) platter of the little freshwater crustaceans, I just like to watch other people do it (exhibit A - this picture, Uncle Richard eats a small 3 lb portion of crawfish). It's a messy ordeal and when all is said and done, you get a little more than a handful of crawfish. But, people eating it look like they are having fun. Who can resist holding the little buggers up and making them dance and talk? Anyway, we went to a place in Breaux Bridge (which by the way calls itself the Crawfish Capitol of the world) called, "Crazy 'bout Crawfish" (what a good name, huh?). A cute little place with lots of fun decor all around to look at. Mike and I went for the Crawfish platter which had little samplings of all kinds of crawfish delicacies. Abby had the critters basket which had shrimp and crawfish. Abby gave it "91 thumbs up" (a phrase coined by the little critter herself) and so did we.

Seaux HOT!
Today we headed to Opelousas to a dive (and I mean that in every sense of the word) called Billy & Rays. What prompted the 25 mile drive you ask? Boudin Balls, baby. For those of you that don't know what the heck I'm talking about, Boudin Balls are made from Cajun boudin sausage (a blend of rice, pork, and spices). The sausage mixture is made into little balls, coated with stuff and fried. You eat them warm, plain or spread on a cracker. These balls were good... This place also sells cracklin's, which is something I can't even bring myself to talk about. Quite frankly, it's where I draw the line in my dining choices. Seaux nasty.

After our short stop in Opelousas, we headed back the other direction and continued on until we hit Avery Island, home of the Tabasco plant! Everyone's favorite pepper sauce is made right here in the state of Louisiana. We took a tour of the facility and got to see the machines and workers in action. We learned about the process that a pepper goes through before it's bottled. Did you know that the pepper mash is left to age and ferment for up to 3 years? The mash is stored in white oak barrels that come from Jack Daniels. JD is only able to use the barrel once for their distilling process. Once the mash is ready, vinegar is added and it's stirred for 28 days! I hope you will now appreciate your little bottle of Tabasco...alot of time went into the making of it!

After the tour, we spent some time in the country store. One of the best parts of the Tabasco country store is the samples. They have all their products there to taste (using pretzel sticks) AND, they ask visitors to review new products they are working on. Today, we got to give our opinion on a Raspberry Chipotle dipping sauce (I gave it a thumbs up), as well as Tobasco Soda. Yes, that sounds gross, I know - but it's surprisingly good! It basically tastes like Coke with a kick...my Aunt (who likes her bloody mary's SPICY) did not care for it one bit. We'll see if Tabasco puts out these 2 products soon... Another fun treat we experienced was sweet and spicy ice cream. I would guess it was vanilla ice cream with red peppers blended in. Again - something that I would normally turn my nose up at! After we had our sample, we actually decided to plunk down a buck and get a full serving of it. A taste sensation!

Well, this post has turned out to be probably way too long...I hope you stuck with me. For those of you wondering what's up with my knee - well, it still hurts. I'm able to walk fine, but sleeping is tough and it's hard to sit with my leg in one place for awhile. I started out strong with the RICE (Rest, Ice, Compression and Elevation) but now the best I can do is Red Beans and Rice. Come on, I'm in Cajun Country!

By the way - I've got a bunch of great pics for you to see of our time here in Lafayette...head on over to the Drop Shots account and check them out!

We have a few more days here in Lafayette, then we head north to Monroe to visit more family...stay tuned for more fun-filled Club Amaro adventures.

Seaux long...
k

A few little things that have given us a laugh:

Don't forget your protein!
One thing we've learned is that when you say something, Abby is bound to repeat it. About 3 or 4 weeks into our road trip, I've started saying, "it will be nice to get into a proper routine" - or - "I can't wait till we get settled and get into a normal routine again". You know - it's nice to be on vacation, but at a certain point, you long for routine. Anyway - the other night we were tucking Abby in (way past her bedtime as usual) and she laid down, covered herself and said, "Man, I will be glad when I get back into my protein".

Word Slips
Here's a few word substitutions we've recently chuckled over:

"Yumsters" for youngsters
"Dooms" for dunes

The Turn Out
I should have my Mom write this one up as she was part of the original conversation. Abby was talking about how you know it's a boy or a girl when it's newborn...they "take it to the turn out"...apparently at the turn out, you find out whether it "turned out" to be a boy or a girl.

Yes, I know that is a completely meaningless title...but, my only other option was, "Let me recapitulate - oh wait, I never capitulated in the first place". That doesn't even makes sense...so, I went with funny.


It's been almost a week since my last post and I know millions of people are chomping at the bit to know what we've been up to! Well, I can tell you that although we've been having alot of fun, there's nothing that's too blog-worthy.

I did take a rather nasty fall on the bathroom tile on Wednesday. I was barefoot and the floor was freshly mopped...a recipe for disaster. Although I was a gymnast for a number of years back in the day, my ability to do the splits has been completely lost...and even if there was a small chance that I could do the splits, the area where I fell was small, and not designed for gymnastic activity. In case you were wondering, I can tell you with 100% certainty that ones knee is not supposed to bend left and right, but it will in a forced situation (like doing the splits in a confined space on a freshly mopped tile floor with bare feet). In other words, I started into the splits, and then my knee buckled the wrong way and hyper-extended. Yes, it hurt. Yes, I said bad words. I've been trying to nurse it back to health with RICE and it's feeling better unless I move it.

We've also enjoyed a few spring thunderstorms here. I remember each year growing up we would spend a few weeks in Louisiana (of course it was always in the hottest and humidist 2 weeks of the year). One of my favorite memories was the summer thunderstorm. It would be lik 85 degrees out, pooring rain....the thunder and lightning would make your knees shake. Unless of course you knew the counting rule: the more seconds you count between the thunder and lightning, the farther away the lightning was and the less you had to worry. As a kid, that's a comfort. Especially at night, sleeping in the room of a thousand windows (that would be the living room at my Nana & Papa's house). I would lay there, listen for the thunder...then count, "one one thousand, two two thousand, three.........whew!! it was a 7!" Anything over a 4 or 5 was like...no worries. Anyway - the room we are in here in Texas has a big window that's perfect for viewing storms....one woke me up in the middle of the night, so I got up, opened the blinds and just laid there watching the rain and lightning and listening to those huge claps of thunder. I love it!!

Tomorrow morning, we are off to Lafayette, La. to visit Aunt Jan and Uncle Richard and then we're off to Monroe to visit the rest of the family....Abby will FINALLY have some kids to play with! Poor Abby has gone over a month without proper child's play. She will have all her little cousins (well, they're technically 2nd cousins) to hang out with....she's very excited! I'm also going to make sure that Mike gets his first proper serving of mudbugs...here's a little picture of some of my family eating a "proper" serving of mudbugs:



Yeah...yum.

One other item of note before I sign off...we have an official arrival date for Murfreesboro. April 21st. Exactly 15 years and 2 days after the date I officially arrived in the Bay Area from San Diego. Our moving guys have a 6 to 12 day delivery spread, so although we arrive on the 21st, our stuff could be there as late as April 27th.

A few prayer concerns:
1. For protection for our belongings as they make their way out from California to TN...and, that the delivery spread would be closer to the 6 day and not the 12 day.
2. For traveling mercies - to and from Louisiana
3. For speedy and full recovery for my knee injury

love and won tons,
k