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 !

Funny story about "SPACE"

I was getting ready today to go for a baby shower and had a lot on my mind. Caleb wasn’t feeling well so I put him down for a mid-morning nap to get some extra rest and then decided to jump in the shower. Sydney wanted to play a computer game but I told her she had to wait till I was done with my shower. As soon as she heard the tap get turned off in the bathroom, she came running to the bathroom to see if I was ready for her to play her game. I repeatedly told her “not yet” and told her to wait. While I was combing my hair in the bedroom, she came in and complained that I was taking too long. It had been a long week and part of me needed her to be patient and part of me just needed some space to be by myself to get ready, to think of what all I needed to do for the day.

So, I turned to Sydney and said “Sydney, you’re going to have to wait a little longer AND you need to give Mommy some space”.

Sydney looked at me with a confused look – looked around the room and said “but mommy, there is lots of space for you and me in here”.

I thought to myself, I’m not even going to try and explain this to a 4 year old who cannot wait any longer.

I had to write this one down and maybe someday when she’s a teenager and she tells me that she needs her space, I’ll have to remind her of this line she once said and see what she thinks of that!

I'm loving it

Caleb had his first corn on the cob this summer. I think he's lucky that he doesn't need to floss after eating corn (like the rest of us) because his teeth are all quite spaced out. Sydney can chow down at least 3 heads of corn. She must have Iowa genes somewhere in there. I'm surprised Caleb didn't try eating the cob either, but he does a pretty good job eating every kernel he can get his teeth on.

Jeanne Jugan Nursing Home

I'm so grateful to my friend, Katie, who introduced me to a nursing home in D.C. that she volunteers at. I've been taking the kids for several months now and it's wonderful meeting the residents there and spending time with them. Some of them don't have family; some have alzheimer's and dementia. Sometimes, the kids play bowling with the residents and help put the bowling pins in the middle of the room and hand them the ball to roll. Other times, they have tossed balloons to them. Sydney likes to bring a book with her so she can read to them. Mr. Brown, Kathleen and Paul are some of the kids favorite residents to visit. We always feel so grateful whenever we come.

Grant comes to town

This past weekend, Grant (or should I say "Uncle Grant") came to town. On Sat. afternoon, we went to the Spy Museum in D.C. John wanted to take the GW parkway so he could show Grant some of the scenic sights in town, but he got so excited that he kept missing his turnoffs, and we ended up in Georgetown - stuck in traffic - and worried if we were going to make it to our 4 o'clock show at the museum. Luckily, we made it through all that traffic and got there in time. Phew! After the museum, we had dinner at Kopitiam (The Malaysian Restaurant) and John took Grant to see the Lincoln Memorial while I played with the kids on the lawn by the Vietnam War Memorial. On Sunday after church, we just stayed indoors and the kids had fun with Uncle Grant. While the kids napped, we three played Settlers of Catan and Grant won. Before he left that night, we sang sang Happy Birthday and had some brownies. Yum yum. Happy 25th Birthday Uncle Grant!!

Dissertation Progress

So, the last 4 years are slowly coming to an end and John is still cranking on his dissertation. The goal is for him to defend in mid-September. He's working his tail off and hoping to finish the race soon. We're heading to MI in mid-August to look for a house and hopefully we can find one that fits our family needs. We are all very, very proud of the way John continues to persevere and do his best everyday. I don't know how he does it but there is a secret in there somewhere. This is a picture of the Cherry Hill trail that we have often gone on (these past 4 years). Lots of tears, and lots of laughter as we talked and prayed about big and small decisions. The kids have been apart of it all as we have walked on this trail as a family. When we first started on this trail, Sydney was a baby in her stroller. Now, when we walk as a family, Sydney rides her bicycle and we push Caleb in his stroller. We will miss this trail after we have moved, but hopefully we will find a new trail in Michigan to make new memories on.