Back to life....

Yeah, I know...you've all been ANXIOUSlY awaiting my next post. Admit it, they are just so exciting! OK, humor me. The last couple of weeks have been busy to say the least. Two days of Girls Camp for me, then Todd and I were off to sunny and HOT Arizona for a few days. I got to lounge by the pool and read while he went to his seminar. I knew what would be coming in the week ahead so I tried my best to relax and not think about all the things I had to do as soon as we got home. Then came the delayed flight home which led to us standing in line at US Airways counter for over an hour only to be too late to catch the flight we were supposed to have been transferred to (I really couldn't complain after meeting a family of five who had been at the airport for about 9 hours already). We finally made it home at 1:30 a.m. last Monday morning. Then off to work a weary Todd goes and I set about the task of getting everything packed that I hadn't done before we left, which seemed to have multiplied since we were last home. All last week was nothing but cleaning and packing and more cleaning and packing. Todd's parents came each night and helped us get a couple of loads brought to the apartment. Several people gave us a hard time for not calling on them to help, but I was soooo unorganized I didn't really know where to begin. Trust me, if everything had been boxed up and ready to go I would have gladly asked for more movers!
Luckily the 4th of July came around and gave us a much needed break from all this chaos. Todd started with the fire department as a volunteer that night and we as a family were invited to the station for a BBQ. We ate and talked and laughed for a while before I headed off with the kids to watch the fireworks in Moses Lake. Lauren was mesmerized for a while and said "whoa" more times than I could count. Unfortunately for Todd, there were no fire calls that night so he still hasn't had the opportunity to fight a fire, he was pretty bummed.
Saturday it was back to work and we finally got everything done at the house and are completely moved out. We had another BBQ with friends that night and headed out to another fireworks show. Todd was pretty worn out but Garrett won him over and talked him into it.
Sunday was my not so much anticipated birthday :) I'm officially 29, the one and only year I can say it truthfully. I can't believe how unbelievably fast my 20's have gone and I am so not looking forward to next years birthday, but I am definitely looking forward to whatever trip Mishelle and I decide to take in honor of the big 30! My young women all signed a sweet card for me and we had yet another BBQ at Roger and Velvet's house. I LOVE BBQ's so I won't complain at all to have 3 in one weekend! Plus we had something different at each one. Yummy food to say the least. Yesterday I got to go to lunch with Mom and Mishelle and had a great time eating delicious Teriyaki Chicken and fried rice. My kids especially enjoyed MY fried rice :) Last night Todd gave me my present...a new camera! Yeah! It's exactly the one I've been drooling over at Walmart since my old one bit the dust a couple of weeks ago. Good job Todd! I was hoping for a bigger camera the next time I had to purchase one, but I wasn't expecting my last one to die quite this soon, and with our trip to Arizona and a move, I'm pretty lucky to have this one.

Now it's back to life and we're working hard to get settled in. I have to say I'm loving this central air right now. Swamp coolers just don't compare! Our apartment seriously looks like a tornado ripped through it, but I'm hoping to have it looking presentable by the end of the week. (The poor Qwest man had to try to get through it the morning, I was more than slightly embarrased!)
Well that should get you caught up on what we've been doing...hope you stayed awake through all of that :)