I'd have to say that moving would be high on the list of things that Jonah & I dislike doing, however, it has to be done. We'll be excited when it's Thursday & it will all be over with & we'll be on our way up to Michigan to spend a good 3 weeks together as a family. We're going to try and not be as eventful as last time & relax some. We're excited about visiting with family & friends though, however, we're pretty bummed that it didn't work out for us to stop in Tennessee on the way. The cost of travel is just way too much on our wallets right now.
As of the moment, we're busy boxing up our stuff & doing lots of last minute preparations before we head up north. Ella & I will be staying in Michigan the full 7 months that Jonah will be deployed. For the time being, all of our belongings are going to be in storage until Jonah gets home in the spring. Then in the spring we'll move everything into a new place (hopefully on base). We figure we'll be able to save money this way & it will be nice for Ella & I to be close to family again.
Tomorrow is Jonah's 24th birthday! We're starting the celebration today with a little cookout on the beach with some friends & their families. Seeing that our kitchen is all boxed up at the moment, we're doing whatever is easiest in the way of cooking/entertaining. Yesterday I picked up some yummy cupcakes for a get together. They've yellow icing with batman rings on the top. I figured they were appropriate seeing that Jonah & I are going to go see the new batman movie together tomorrow night as his big birthday present. We're pretty excited b/c our friends Bob & Dana are going to watch Ella for us so that we can have a date night. FUN!!
Here's a little Ella update: she walks everywhere now. She has the occasional fall, but it never seems to mind her at all. She has 7 teeth that are working their way in. Yesterday she had crackers for the first time & thinks they are delicious. She's pretty much done with purred foods & seems to be mainly interested in whatever we're eating. Once we get up to Michigan, we're going to get her started on whole milk, so that should be rather interesting. She takes 2 naps a day & goes to bed around 7PM each night. She knows how to wave, clap, & give a high five. She's pretty super cute & so much fun. She's discovered that she can squeal really loud though & thinks it's funny (also realizes she can get our attention along with everyone else this way); it's cute when we're at home, but in the car or at a restaurant isn't so cute. LOL. Ella is turning one year old on August 7th!
Above are some older photos taken around 4th of July weekend. Jonah & his friend Bob did color guard that Sunday & got to wear their dress blues. Handsome!