missing YOU!

SO...nothing totally awesome to report...it's feeling more like we live here...Mark and the other two guys (Mike and Greg) are getting praised left and right for the awesome job they are doing so awesome that the Navy wants CMS to bid out the remodel of the rest of this building!  YEAH! 
         We've done a few fun things...we took the family to a strawberry patch last weekend and we picked our own...their company there is called 'pik-yor-sef'  we'll be going back here lots!  They have tons of different fruits at decent priced!  The kids had a ball picking!  In fact our goal was to keep it under 10lbs. too bad we ended up with 17lbs!!  Our freezer is now officially full.  But they'll go pretty fast cause Mark and I use them in our shakes every lunch and the kids love'em frozen! 
                           We took another trip to Salinas to the Latino store - this time ALL WAS NORMAL!!  I'm glad to report nothing over the top happened.  Before we left Mark took our trash out and hit the jackpot!!  Some college guys must have cleaned out the apartment cause Mark came back to the van with 4 huge garbage bags filled with glass, cans, etc. we got $15 from that free-be!!  YEAH!
     We also used our free tickets and went to the word famous aquarium!  What a fun day!  The kids loved it...and so did Mark and I!  We got to touch tons of starfish, and other sick/scary looking shelly things!  We learned that the sea cucumber (the same one we watched Bear eat on one of his Man vs. Wild shows) that they poop from the same hole they breath out of.  You can ONLY imagine how that hit the kids...Keegan over the others.  He looked the lady square in the face and sad, "Woe, woe, woe...wait a minute...you mean to tell me he poops out of his bottom? And he breaths!"  I'm not sure he got the fact that the same end did both...but it was funny!  She about lost it.  We got to touch slimy bat rays and a few other fish.  We saw a huge beautiful octopus and learned that he changed color when his mood does!  He gets dark red when he's hungry, then we saw him turn white as he took a nap...neat.  We got to watch a scuba diver feed the fish in the 3 story high tank...that was amazing.  It makes you feel as if you are down IN the ocean!!  It was a really cool place.  The kids and I went back with Jackie (each free ticket lets 6 people in at once) and it was fun to see where the kids headed back to!  I was able to learn a lot more the second time.
   Otherwise things are quiet here.  We are sad and somber as we pray and wait for hope in finding more survivors from the Joplin tornado.  My Mom and Jamie were visiting my Aunt Debbie and Uncle Bob who just celebrated their 35th wedding anniversary (YEAH!!) anyway...they had a tornado too close with in 4 miles? Anyway, luckily they had a basement to be in!  Aaron and Lindsey Brockett (our preacher @ TPCC and his wife) are from Joplin and are leaving this Saturday with a crew from our church to help out.  His cousin's house was flattened and he said his grandmother's house had all the windows blown out...he's got huge ties there, so we are praying for him and the crew headed down there.
    We've had a few sunny days here which helps things tons, but I'm SO homesick for summer and my world.  I'm trying to think positive, but it's super hard somedays.  Don't get me wrong we are doing fine here.  But communication with all I love is really hard because I'm super busy with the kids (we are all always on top of each other here in the apartment) so to talk on the phone is super hard cause there's NO WHERE to hide!  The other problem is the time difference!  And just plan missing home.  It's funny cause we all seem to go in spurts with the home sickies...Keegan started with tears one day missing his whole flamily, then I cried with Carlie on the phone and a lil'more after just hearing her and how she's missing us, then Ella told me it felt like we would never go home...in fact we just finished The Great Wizard of Oz in school and so she told me, "Mom, if I had the magic slippers I'd hold all of us and click my heels and we'd be home!  I can also just tell the Mark's missing his family and our home as well.  So if you get a second just give us some prayer!  We are very close to finishing out our 2nd month!! 
 
           In fact we've got 6 more days (on our paper count down chain) until we pick Nauna up from the airport!  She's coming for a week!!  AND on top of that Paw-Paw is also flying into L.A. (which means we have to go there to pick him up) and if we are there we might as well head over to DISNEY LAND!!  YEAH!!  but SHHHH...the kids have NO clue!  We watched Tangled again and the kids noticed the Disney ad at the end of the movie and they asked me if they'd even be able to go there...I said maybe someday!!  I decided life would be MUCH easier IF we did the 6 hour drive before telling them...that is why it's a secret!

    It was super cute this morning while we sat eating breakfast Ella asked, "Mom, if we go to that place...you know the one we saw after the movie...is it true what they said would happen?"  I was a little confused so I said, "You mean if we go to Disney someday?"  "Yeah, Mom...they said ALL your dreams will come true if we go there...is that true?"  How sweet and cute!  I explained to her that they weren't talking about ALL her dreams, i.e. if she dreams for a bike it wont happen; but if she dreams to be like Rapunzel of Cinderella then yes, those dreams can come true by going there and meeting them or riding a ride with them in it type thing.  She just sat there and chewed on the thought then said, "Yeah, I'd like to go there when I'm a little older!"

So Memorial Day is the problem...no one cares about it here...at home we have all sorts of things; the race, parades, all sorts of fun!!  Here...nothing!  I think we are going to try to see if we can get one of the grills at the COLD pool to work and grill there!!  We'll see.  I never thought this journey in life would or could get harder then it was a few years ago...I don't think I'd say it's harder, but I guess I'm just ready for life to be easier!  I know...I know...welcome to reality...life's not easy...so life goes on.
Have a GREAT weekend - please know that we are missing you all and being home!!
Our prayers for are everyone effected by the storms and we are praying for continued safety!
 I'll throw out a few pictures when I get a chance!!