We are alive - just been busy!

I know our blog is in desperate need of an update. The move got hectic towards the end without Josh around (read on for that story). So, here is a catch all of our lives for the past few weeks.
Josh left Iraq in early April to head home. Between military logistics and the volcanic ash from Iceland he did not arrive until the end of April (Wednesday, April 28th). We had 3 days of him at home (Thursday, April 29th-Sunday, May 2nd) before he headed to his hometown to see his family for one last time before our move.
On Saturday, May 1st, I had the privilege of accompanying my niece while she shopped for her wedding dress. My sister (her mother) and other niece (her sister and Maid of Honor) were there as well. We found two very different dresses that she liked at the first store! My sister even found a mother of the bride dress that was perfect for her. I hope all the other planning goes as smoothly for her and my sister. The wedding will be the summer of 2011.
While Josh and Andrew were visiting the family (Sunday, May 2nd-Wednesday, May 5th), the girls and I were at home preparing for the movers. The movers for our household goods came on Monday the 3rd and Tuesday the 4th. The evening of the 4th I drove to Josh’s family’s hometown and the next morning (Wednesday, May 5th) we had some family pictures taken and then we all headed back home.
Thursday, May 6th the last set of movers came for our non-temporary storage. Meanwhile I took Andrew to the orthodontist to have his braces removed. At noon we went to the preschool graduation at Leah and Leila’s preschool. They were not graduating, but the girls were the ones who always sang the songs so they moved it to the 6th so they could sing. I knew it would happen and it did . . . the girls ended up not singing a word!!! When they saw me in the audience, they cried and I had to go to the front and sing and dance with the class while one clutched to me and the other sat on the floor. It was classic!
Friday, May 7th we spent the day running final errands, etc and tying up loose ends. Saturday, May 8th we flew out and planned a long layover in Orlando. On Sunday, May 9th we boarded Disney’s Wonder cruise ship. It was a wonderfully, relaxing cruise!
We boarded and went to our beautiful suite. The girls had a hide a bed sofa and Andrew had a Murphy bed in the living room while Josh and I had a comfortable bed in the master bedroom. We had a wonderful verandah to see the ports as well as other ships. It honestly felt like a dream.
We enjoyed breakfast in our room each morning as a family and just went with the flow for the most part. Josh ran in a 5K on Castaway Cay, Disney’s private island and I enjoyed snorkeling at Castaway Cay. I even had a wonderful bamboo massage at the spa on the ship and laughed to myself when the masseuse commented that I had a lot of tension in my shoulders. Hmm, I wonder if that could be from lifting two 30 pound two year olds? :)
One night the waiters surprised us with a cake that said “Welcome home, Dad!” at dinner. Andrew enjoyed the kids club and the pools and the girls enjoyed the water play area and spotting the characters. It was a great time for us to re-bond as a family.
The night before our cruise ended we surprised Andrew with the news that we would go the next day to the Walt Disney World Resort for 11 days! Andrew was definitely not expecting that so he was pleasantly surprised. Our plan is to just take it slow and casual. We won’t worry about getting to the park when it opens or trying to make certain dinner reservations. We will just see what happens and if we want to ride something or eat something we will stop and do it. We do plan to try to get to one of the water parks since we have never done that before.
I'll post pics of everything soon! :)