WAY too long!

(I'll try to most more regularly and not group them together so badly as I'm going to do over the next couple of days.)

The title, however, refers not to my lack of blogging, but how long it has been since we've seen some of our old friends. A month or so ago, one half of one of our very favorite couples we got to know in Florida was in town! Scott (minus Caitlin and little Rowan) was here in San Antonio for some training. Hooray!

While we were in Florida, there weren't any of the aunts or uncles around, and eventually Wendi and Hailie (since Benjamin couldn't talk yet) called them Uncle Scott and Aunt Caitlin. Thanks for visiting, Uncle Scott!

By the way, Ben is still saying, "What's his name?"
Me: Are you talking about Scott?
Ben: Yes, Scott. Where is him?
Me: At home with Caitlin and Rowan.
Ben: He can come to my house and play.
Me: I'm sure he will again sometime.
Ben: Today?
Me: No.
Ben: Caitlin can come today?
Me: No.
Ben. Okay. :o(





Also, not too long ago we saw another of our favorite Florida families (who are in Texas, too - just about two hours away), the Greene family!!!

We met in Austin (an hour for each of us), but we wanted to meet at the University of Texas and the campus was SO full of people, we decided to meet at a nearby park... not the neighborhood I'd buy a house in, but it was fun.

And after ALL the work it took to get together, can you believe I took NO pictures of my adorable pregnant friend Krishawn who is having twins?! Or, the eldest son, Jonathan? Neither can I!

Hailie talking to Joshua... who she still has a crush on...


Jeff holding Landon. Landon's such a handsome little dude! Even after he took a big bite of dust.


Good to see you guys!

An Ode to Ben

There is a little boy we call Mister Ben
He loves to torture his sisters - again and again.
One day he found their markers
And then he really drove them truly bonkers.

He colored the walls, the furniture, the beds,
Which was quite disturbing for our little coeds.
He wouldn't give them back, no matter how they begged.
Finally, Ben relented, said yes, and later reneged.

This is quite tiring work, you see
For a little boy who just turned three.
Opportunity comes! There it is! Upon him it did creep!
But a silent claim: "I'm not giving them back, even if I am asleep!"

Brothers

Now, I don't have a brother. I have what I call my "brothers from another mother" (Brent's brothers), but I didn't grow up with any. My dad was the lone male in the house. (No wonder we had a boy dog... it's all making sense now...)

So, I'll say that I simply don't get Ben's relationships with his sisters. I mean, aside from the normal sibling thing. He tells them all the time how pretty they are (usually after he tackles them and apologizes) and things like that.

But, I guess an older brother is a different beast than a younger brother. He switches to the most sweet, kind, understanding, adoring person alive when dealing with Elizabeth. He calls her "My Lizzie". It's adorable. He is just heartbroken when she cries. He gets frustrated with me if I don't pick her up when she is slightly less than happy. Benjamin is constantly looking out for her welfare and defending her right to do whatever he thinks she should. He has found a great purpose since his baby sister came along.


So, to all those who have older brothers or are older brothers, I say, WHAT IS ALL THAT ABOUT?!

Thanks. I feel much better now.

What a good baby!

Elizabeth is a smiler! And she coos and giggles! And she especially loves...

Her daddy. We all do!

Fun Stuff in San Antonio!

We decided that before Brent re-joins regular folk (you know, that go to work), we ought to see some of the cool stuff here.

So, we went to the River Walk. They give these historical site-seeing tours on boats.

Did you know that San Antonio is the seventh largest city in the country? Well, that explains why there are so many tall, tall buildings downtown.


We also went to a hamburger place that we heard has THE best burgers in the city. It's called Chris Madrid's. Very cool atmosphere. Good burgers. But, if those are the best of the best, they don't have very good hamburgers here.

Benjamin liked the tour, too!


Elizabeth wasn't so impressed.

The twins wanted me to mention that we get some serious sunlight through our sliding glass door from outside to the dining room, especially in the morning. (Nope, no curtains or blinds on the sliding glass door.)

We're Alive!

First, we hope your Christmas was great and fun and full of all the things a Christmas ought to have! Ours was hectic, small, and warm. In short, it was great! As I managed to delete all the pictures from our camera that included Elizabeth's blessing, Benjamin's birthday, and Christmas morning (yes, I've learned my lesson!), this is the most Christmas-y picture I have to share.











We made it to San Antonio and we found a house to rent. Here 'tis:

Bigger than our last house (the difference by which it is larger is more square feet than our first apartment... funny) so I have to clean more.

Brent will (hopefully) begin work this week. Wendi and Hailie begin school (full-day kindergarten) tomorrow. Ben will begin potty training this week (so long as he doesn't resist too hard).

Happy New Year!

Yee-Haw!

As our family tends to move every year or two, we figured it was high time to do it again! Well, honestly, this wasn't something we consciously decided... sort of. The story is, the office Brent was working for wasn't busy enough for two dentists. So, it is "adios" to Brent time.

We want to be somewhere that Brent doesn't have to work twelve hours a day to be successful. This means that we need to move somewhere there is a need for dentists. Idaho is pretty overpopulated, and so is most of the northwest for that matter.

Luckily, there ARE places that need dentists. For example, San Antonio Texas. Brent has accepted a job to work on Fort Sam Houston (for the military - a contractor for a company that contracts with the military - though not IN the military).

Hooray! And, away we go! Wish us luck!