Two Shout Outs

On a late Saturday night, we are getting things ready to go to church tomorrow. Will probably visit FBC of Gulf Shores tomorrow. I do want to give two quick shout outs to two people of whom I am very proud. First, my sister is out of the country in Peru on a mission trip with her church. They come back next week, but I am so proud of her in living out the Great Commission to minister to those around the world.

Second, my wife has been super mom this week. She has given the kids a great week of fun, made super meals every night, kept the house up and worked in getting us moved in. I am very, very proud of her and realize how blessed I am to have her as my wife.

Breakfast of Champions

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Our Piano

Shannon inherited a small grand piano from her parents. It was the same piano that she practiced on as a child as she learned how to play piano. Since her parent's death, my parents have been gracious enough to keep the piano as we did not have room for it in our Springfield home.

Our new home in Orange Beach has the layout which allows us to have a piano. Today Modern Piano Moving company delivered our piano. I took pictures of the sequence of the movers taking the piano out from the truck and then into our home. It was quite impressive to watch just two men move a 800 lbs. grand piano. Also some real cute photos of Shannon and Ava at the piano.

Happy 7th Anniversary

Today was our first full day in OB, and it was lovely. It was especially wonderful as it was our 7th wedding anniversary. I am truly blessed to have Shannon. She is an amazing wife and my best friend.

Shannon and Jacob went to the beach for about 2 hours today and had a blast. The whole family later went to our community pool and had a good time there. Ava is really taking to the water in terms of not be scared of it and enjoying playing in the water. Later, we met our friend (and my realtor agent) Steve Smith and his family for ice cream. Just a really nice day.

Tomorrow the real world comes crashing back down. No matter if you live near the beach or not, work is still work.

We Are Here

Made it in to Orange Beach last night. Unloaded today. Will leave tomorrow to pick up kids and spend night at my parents.

Next week when we recover a bit I will share more. Little too tired now to type much. But I do want to say we are absolutely thrilled to be here. I can't believe - we are actually here!

Moving Schedule

Packing tonight. Loading tomorrow. Driving Wednesday. Moving in Thursday. Driving back Friday to get Jacob and spend night with parents (who will have Ava). Stay on Saturday. Drive back with whole family Sunday. New life in Orange Beach Monday.

We're Packing

Almost one week until we move so we have to get into packing overdrive. Having the yard sale, btw sold over $700 in the two days, helped both in removing many items as well as giving us a head start in sorting. The kids are with relatives today so we can go uninterrupted in our efforts. I expect we will get quite a bit done today.

Yard Sale Update

Including pre-sales when we opened up to friends last night and today, we have collected over $600 dollars plus gave away many things we no longer needed before our move. We have sold our leather couch, chair and ottoman, Ava's old bedding and clothes, coffee table, extra long twin bed, lawn mower, patio furniture, unopened bags of multch and lots of others stuff. And we have plenty of stuff left for tomorrow's sale. Shannon has done a great job getting it all together, and I am very proud of her.

Yard Sale on Friday and Saturday

We are having our big pre-move yard sale Friday and Saturday morning.Shannon said something about it on Facebook and opened it up to our friends this evening. We have already sold over $200 worth of stuff so far. Lots of stuff still available. We have our armoire, extra long twin bed, every day dishes, weedeater, tools, coffee table, lots of kids stuff and tons more. For those interested, come on by.

This is our second ever yard sale. You may remember our first experience as domestic retailers.

Birthday Pictures

Pictures from my birthday, including my cookie cake, Jacob's gift to me (see if you can guess which one is his) and the party last night at AWANA.

My Birthday Day

Started with a very nice birthday lunch with the family at Rainforest Cafe. Came home to a birthday cookie cake (my favorite cake) and some nice gifts from Shannon and the kids. Then Shannon threw me a birthday party at the church after AWANA. Lots of nice birthday wishes from many people all day.

At the center of the day was my wife as the planner of all today's events. Her love for me shines like a lighthouse in the dark night. All her actions today demonstrated a deep affection to me. I am so blessed to have her as my wife and best friend.

I'll get some pictures of the day up tomorrow. For now, I am wrapping things up on a very nice 34th birthday.

Where Were You 34 Years Ago?

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Me? Started in mother's womb. Then, bright shiny birthing room. Poked, proded. Passed around to lots of people. Busy day.

Family Pictures

Karie, a college friend of Shannon's, is an amateur photographer and graciously agreed to take pictures of our family this weekend. You can see the photos here off of Karie's photography blog. It is a nice blog to add to your blog roll if you like photography.

Some very good pictures of Ava and Jacob as well of Shannon and me. The family photos are good, but poor Ava was cutting her molar on that day and very un-princess like so she was not particularly smiley at that point. But Shannon and I are very happy with them and will be ordering some prints of them.

For our family, if you would like a certain photo or two let us know in the comments or send us an email and we will get those for you.

Which Tux Would I Look Best In

I have been getting the Wall Street Journal for about 6 months now, and I have greatly enjoyed it. Besides keepng me abreast of the financial world, it has opened my eyes to a whole range of ideas. This week's Saturday edition opened my eyes to new ways to look at tuxedos. I only thought tuxedos were the classic black and white. But now designers are breaking new ground in tuxedo looks, although some may snipe and say the ground they are breaking is one of bad taste.

Not me. I am open to new experiences. I am not going to be shackled by convention thinking. I am a free spirit, a rebel, an iconoclast. But I still seek the fashion approval of my peers to fit in and feel accepted and loved. Thus, I have a new poll to let you tell me which tuxedo I should buy and wear to my next formal outing. See the choices below and vote for your favorite.

Homes for Sale

In our little cul-de-sac, we now have 5 homes for sale or lease. Our home is pending. Our neighbor is thinking about selling or leasing his home. That leaves 5 homes which as far as we know are not on the market. Going out in our neighborhood, there are at least another 5 homes for sale, only one of which has sold.

We were quite blessed to get our home sold and sold as quickly as we did. Especially with this glut of homes coming up for sale, at least in our immediate area.