Welcome Home, Let's Party! (and other totally awesome events)

On March 29, I got one of the greatest surprises EVER! Jason was due to come home on April 3, but he decided to be sneaky and not tell me he was actually going to be able to come home early. Had I known he was going to be home that day I would have skipped the gym and made myself look nice, but that wasn't the case. I get home from the gym (and lunch at a girlfriends, yes I went in my gym clothes, she's cool like that) and start putting the boys down for their naps. Just after I get them all down the phone rings, it was Jason. I was so happy because he never calls in the middle of the day. So we're talking and then the door bell rings. I tell Jason to hold on while I check to see who is here. I look out the window and at first don't see anyone. Normally I would have just gone back upstairs, but I decided to open the door to check if someone was still there (probably not the safest idea); I open the door and there stood Jason (trying to hide in the corner of our porch). I was speechless! I ran up to him, jumped on him and gave him the biggest hug I could. He was finally home. No more Iraq! It was the greatest surprise.

About two weeks later I got the chance to surprise Jason. I had been planning a surprise party for Jason, sort of a welcome home, happy 30th birthday and a farewell all rolled into one. Mom and Dad W. came out for a visit during this time (which made it just perfect, you'll see why in a moment). On Friday, April 15, I told Jason we were going out for a fancy dinner with his folks at a hotel called The Partridge Inn. When we got to the hotel I told him we had to use this new entrance, because the regular one was being worked on. This door actually led directly into the banquet hall where all our friends were waiting. Jason opens the door for me and then steps in behind me. It took a few moments for him to figure out what he was looking at. Just then everyone yelled surprise! He had no idea, that's probably because we had to throw together an impromptu surprise party a week before because he was getting suspicious. We had a wonderful buffet dinner, dancing and way too much carrot cake. His cake was delicious, although I think maybe they told me we needed more than we did, because we came home with about 30 lbs of cake. They also had written the wrong birthday number on it earlier in the day. So glad that Mom W. and I went to check out the room before the party. They had originally written Happy 12th Birthday. Thankfully it was fixed by the time we showed up for the party. The DJ kept us all dancing till closing, and let me just say we have some dancin' fools for friends. It was totally awesome! In case all of this wasn't enough, Sean and Liz surprised all of us by being there. It was so wonderful to have the whole family together! Thank you Mom and Dad for coming out and thank you Sean and Liz for leaving your precious little one behind so you could make Jason's party even more amazing! We love you all!

How do you top off a party like that? Well, you enlist Nana and Papa to watch all five kiddos and you secretly book a room at the hotel. We got our first night alone in more than two years! It was wonderful. We even meet up with Sean and Liz and enjoyed an adult only breakfast, I can't remember the last time that happened. It was so nice to get an evening alone with Jason (and a morning as well). I am so blessed to have such a wonderful man for my husband.

In April Jason left once again, but this time just for a few weeks to get things ready for our move out west. He found us a house in the Cedar Hills area of Utah. I am very excited to see the house in person! We are nestled right up against the mountains.

This month has been extremely busy with the usual end of the year stuff, in addition to getting ready to move. First we had Emma's end of the year program. She was so cute. I can't believe she'll be in first grade this year! Such a big girl.




This past Saturday, May 14, was a very busy day for us. I participated in the Ft. Gordon Marine Mud Challenge in the morning. It was so much FUN!! I still can't believe that I did it. It was a five mile course with 19 obstacles. I ran with three girlfriends, Megan, Emily and Diane. What a great group of ladies. We completed the course in 2 hours. Jason came along and took pictures, and laughed at me...A LOT! I realized from looking at all the pictures that I'm not very graceful, but at least I'm not clumsy. While we were waiting to go over an obstacle Jason told me that he heard over the radio that someone broke their leg. That was not encouraging news, but I managed to not break anything, so yay for that! I did leave with lot's of cuts and scrapes on my legs and arms. Plus I'm still stained red from the mud. Maybe the third shower will get rid of it all. Will definitely be doing one of these again. Next time Jason and I will be on the same team, I would love to see him doing this.
















That same night the girls had their last ballet recital. While I won't miss spending tons of money on ballet, I will miss seeing them dance on stage. They danced so well this year (we will post the videos on youtube after the move to Utah). They both looked beautiful! Great Job my dancing princesses!








So we are all caught up for now. Tomorrow the packers come and put everything we own into boxes. I'm excited about the move, but am also sad about leaving. We have lived here longer than any other place since we've been married. To all our amazing friends we are leaving, we love you! Thank you for being there when we needed you, for making us laugh, for loving us for who we are, and for becoming our family!

I will be blogging during our LONG car trip with FIVE kids! I'm sure I'll have plenty of material to work worth.