We MOVED!

Thanks to some AWESOME friends and family we MOVED!  Seriously.  We picked out the house but some great people helped us load and unload all of our junk...I mean treasures.  Why did we move?  More space.  If I'm going to be outnumbered I should at least have some space.  All the boys are loving it.  I'm loving it.  It's great!

Both kids are in school.  Alik is in first grade, Misha is in preschool.  They both love school.  SHHH don't tell them that mom did not love school.  Hopefully this will be the best kept secret.  Misha tells us each time he comes home about his adventures in preschool.  Alik is learning about spelling, technology and all different kinds of artists.

Jason is gearing up (literally) for hunting season.  I sure some deer some where will be located in my freezer within the next 4 months.  He is still traveling some.  Mostly trips out to the local factories.  Marisa and the kids miss him while he is gone but try to send him off with enough hugs and kisses to get him through.  Jason is also helping out with games on Sunday night during the weekly kids church program.  He is looking forward to spending that time with the kids....And Marisa is looking forward to a quite house!

Marisa is still studying for her master's.  She is in her second to last class (finally!!!).  Keeping up with kids, hubby, and house is enough for her.

We readopted the kids!  It is not as complicated or dramatic as it sounds.  It was our nice day in court.  Our family came.  The judge was great and even let us take pictures!  It was not required but something we choose to do so we could celebrate our forever family.

Arrrgggghhhhh, Misha turned a whopping 5 with a Pirate Party.  Nobody had to walk the plank but there were several scallywags that tried to steal the captain's treasure.  With a pizza as a treasure map and a roaming granny clue the treasure was challenge to locate.  But all had fun.

Marisa put a whole pile of pix out on Picasa and maybe when Marisa gets done with class we'll get better at updating the blog.

I got in trouble.....again

Most of you have figured out how this works.  I post something and then you don't hear from us again until I get yelled at.  Well you can all thank Julie.  She not only yelled at me, but she also gave me "the look".

We left off at trains and reptiles....Misha's birthday.  I have to say the Iowa Reptile Rescue and the people that work there are AMAZING.  Check out the pix.

Then it was more travel for Jason.  Off to exciting Thibedeau, Louisianna.

Christmas brought excitement, dancing (Misha jumping up and down and around going "It's Christmas! It's Christmas! - that was the day after Thanksgiving), sickness and travel.  All of us had a great Christmas.  We tried hard to remind the kids the true reason for the season.

In January Marisa was off to India again.  She was there over a weekend and was able to see a little more of the country then she did last time.  It was amazing.  The trip was great and she's thinking about going back again this year.

Jason continued to travel throughout January, February and March.  Mostly around the state of Iowa. 

April swept Jason and Marisa off to Hawaii on a seven day cruise.  In case you missed the Facebook posts, Hawaii was amazing.  Meanwhile Granny slapped on her combat gear and held down the fort.  She shuttled kids everywhere.  Hid Easter eggs.  Chased bicycles.  And probably has seen every playground in a 20 mile radius.  It's impressive what Granny's can do.

Alik finished Kindergarten and is still excited about school.  He did well and we continue to work on reading, numbers and some addition.

Misha is doing great.  He's grown another 2 inches since January and still hasn't really gained weight.  He definitely has a sweet tooth.  Misha is excited about starting pre-school in the fall and wants to be just like his big brother.

In May we went a little crazy.  We found a house on a small acreage that we liked and we bought it!  And now we have boxes everywhere!  We move in one week and everyone is excited to be moving on to our next adventure.

Next time I'll get to send this from a new house!