Christmas 2012, Washington, DC style.

 We had a great first year in our new home in South Riding, VA! The house was awesome, but we also found our way to Great Wolf Lodge in Williamsburg, VA. After the Christmas season we made our way to San Juan, Puerto Rico!

Great time at Great Wolfe Lodge in Williamsburg, VA

Dinner in our new house!

Scott made it home safe and sound! December 6th 2010...sorry for the break in the action.

Go Bucks!

Downtown Doha, Qatar, what a place.

Scott had the opportunity to serve this great country for 6 months during 2010.  His time as you can see varied from the hotter than hot (143 degree) desert to the plush city of Doha, Qatar.  We were all so happy to come back together as a family just before Christmas!

What an awesome homecoming...okay I'll admit it brought tears to my eyes.

 After his time in the "sandbox", Scott took several long flights to end his 6 month deployment and made the perfect Christmas season complete.

Dance and Scouts

It's hard to believe we are well into fall. Where has the time gone? The boys have been busy camping with the boys scouts, including one week at scout camp, white water rafting, beach camping on Assateague Island, and they will soon be visiting the Naval Academy in Annapolis. In the photos below, the boys were ready to head out the door for a week of summer camp. They were clean and well rested before they left. I wish I had a picture from when they came home...

By September school was in full swing. The boys began playing intramural football with some of the other local home school boys. I know they both like it even though they are sore for few days each week and walk with a limp on occasion. Stay tuned for football photos soon.

Not to leave Lily without something to do we were fortunate to have a couple of the big sisters of those football players offer to teach ballet. Lily was SO excited! She couldn't wait to buy her tights and leotard. I don't know how many times I heard her ask if it was time for dance class. Here she is on the first day of dance...September 19, 2010.

"Come on Mom! It's time to go!"

Dance class was a success! Lily is still going strong and loving her dance class with all her friends. It's so cute when she shows us her little routines and she spins around the house.

Fall also brought changes in the scout troop. Nate and Drew had been working very hard on earning quite a few merit badges which were given out at the fall court of honor.

Way to go boys!

One last item of business for Nate to take care of at the end of the court of honor was the official handing over of SPL duties to the newly elected troop member. Nate has a look of relief on his face, don't you think? Now he is ready to tackle his Eagle Scout project. Good job Nate!

It's time for me to download pictures from our trip to the farm and Halloween. Check back later!

New House

Our new house @ 10 days before closing. This was the day the kids and I enjoyed a fiesta sponsored by our home builder. We had a great dinner and I was able to sample some yummy frozen margaritas. We also met some of our new neighbors.

Papa Harry was able to spare a few days to help with the move and while he was here he put up quite a few ceiling fans. Thanks Dad!

Scott's parents were here to help as well. Thank you! I am so thankful for all the neighbors who helped pack the rental truck, Scott's co-workers who helped unload the truck, and our family who did so much for us during all the craziness.

Gram was able to visit in August. The kids had just started school but we took a few field trips and enjoyed some sites.

We had a nice day at Mt. Vernon. Lily was very busy working on the Adventure Map.

We all enjoyed the Steven Udvar-Hazy Air and Space Center. What a cool place!

Well, not all the field trips were totally educational. A ride on the carousel at the mall can bring out the smiles.

Look at those happy faces. Thanks for visiting Mom!