Closing of our home

October 31st will never be the same for us, because we closed on our home in DeWitt, Michigan today. Being Halloween an all, thankfully nothing spooky happened with the closing process. Now we just need to finish packing and get moved. Thank you to everyone for your prayers and encouragement as we finish out the moving process. People have been asking us for pictures of the home so here they are:

New England Fall Leaves

John is done with his dissertation. Defended on Friday, October 10th. He received all 5 signatures from his committee members and has a few changes to make to turn in his book, but we are so thrilled and can't believe he's done!  The next day, we left for New York. We decided to take a week off and celebrate the fact that John is done. We had a great family vacation. Let's see....we went to Albany, New York,  drove through Vermont and New Hampshire; stopped a few days in Maine (absolutely gorgeous with all the Fall leaves); drove through Rhode Island and then on to Connecticut. I think my camera took over 200 pictures. Crazy, I know. Here's a few and the rest are on the kodak gallery site.

Checking off our list

When we first moved to D.C., John and I made a list of all the things we would love to see and do in this area. As we were making plans for our vacation to Boston and Maine, it was fun to go back to our list and see what we've done and crossed off our checklist. Thought it would be fun to share. We've definetely seen and done a LOT while we've been here for 4 years - not to forget 2 trips to UK and 2 to Malaysia. Crazy! We're a world traveling family, I tell ya ! But it's so much FUN! FUN! FUN! We are also in the midst of creating a book together on blurb.com, that tells the story of our last 4 years. Anywho,.....here's the list I found... the ones in green are things we have done/ seen.

Pentagon
Harpers Ferry - Fredrick
Arlington Cemetery – Nov 2004
Air Space Museum – Nov 2004
Capitol – Nov 2004 - John
Supreme Court
Library of Congress
Capital Children’s Museum
National Building Museum
Bureau of Engraving and Printing
WWII Memorial - 2004
Korean War Memorial - 2004
4th of July Fireworks in D.C. - 2005
Vietnam Memorial
Washington Monument Tour
Jefferson Memorial –2004FDR Memorial – Mar 2005
National Museum of Natural History – Oct 2005
Botanical Center – Sept. 2004
Brookside Gardens
Cabin John Park – Sept 2007
Lincoln Memorial – Mar 2008
Embassy Row – John - 2006
International Spy Museum
National Zoo- 2005, 2006 2007
Thomas Dixon Aircraft Observation Park
White House
Smithsonian
Ford’s Theater
National Christmas Tree
Winery
Horseback
National Geographic Museum
Holocaust museum - 2005
Union Station
Hard Rock Café
B & O Railroad Museum – John - 2005
Downtown Baltimore
Mt. Vernon
Georgetown
Baltimore Aquarium
C&O Canal
Great Falls National Park – March 2008
Sea Kayaking on the Chesapeake
Maine - October 2008
Philly
Virginia Mountains (Shenandoah Valley)
New York – Feb 2006
New England – fall leaves October 2008
Gettysburg – July 2006
Cherry Blossoms - Mar 2005, 2006
GW Bush Inauguration – Jan 2005
Sailing in Annapolis – Summer 2006, 2007Ocean City/Rehoboth Beach
Easter Egg Roll at White House Mar 2008
Baltimore Zoo April 2008
Atlantic City, New Jersey August 2004

Phelps Fan ?

When the olympics was on, it was fun to watch it with Sydney. She took some swimming lessons this summer and it was neat for her to see how people swim in the races. She definetely enjoyed watching Michael Phelps win. The strange thing is that just a couple of weeks ago, she woke up one morning telling us that she dreamt of Michael Phelps. I thought she was kidding and asked her if she knew who he was. She said "yes, he's the swimmer!". And proceeded to say, "and he smiled at me" and then started laughing.

Is it possible for a 4 year old to be a Phelps fan or have this kind of cute infatuation?

This is definetely one for the books.

Exciting Days Ahead

I can't believe that we finally see the light at the end of the tunnel. John finally gets to defend his dissertation October 10th !! He actually turned in his 220+ page book in 2 weeks ago. I keep telling him that I can't believe we're actually at this point, after 4 crazy years.

After his defense, we plan on traveling to Boston and Maine for 6 days as a family. We want to see the New England Fall Leaves and take a scenic train ride with the kids. Oh...and Maine will be so beautiful this time of the year.

When we get back, we will seriously start packing and getting ready for our move. We close on our home on October 24th (God willing!) and then move to Lansing November 8th. YAY! Absolutely cannot wait. Once we close on the home, we will send family and friends pictures of the house. Sydney cannot wait to move either. She keeps talking about painting her room red and green. Right! I don't think she knows what she's asking for. HA !