Home again

We're home again and loving it (missing Texas family and weather though). We find a way to be happy no matter where we are. Even the colder weather won't get us down. It can't last for long. We are still settling in and unpacking. The kids' neighbor friends really missed us and have been living here a lot the past few days. Cliff is loving being home too. He will be with us for at least a few more months thanks to our tax return and a small savings. He is trying to decide if he wants to go back to the Middle East as a contractor for a year. It is a hard decision for him to make. He really missed us. But the money is very tempting. We would miss him as well.

We have a wedding and reception to go to tomorrow and we are really excited about it. We are taking the kids to the wedding and hiring a sitter to stay with them in the late evening. It should be a fun day. The kids don't mind when we go out as a couple. We make a pizza and they have friends to play with while we are gone. We feel like a young couple in love again. Not too shabby, considering.

We are still interested in traveling more in the future. Cliff hopes if he goes to the Middle East again we can use some of that money to get a bus and get debt free. He is not interested in selling our house. He loves it here and wants to have a home base. Today he got rid of four bags of clothes. That made me so excited and I saw him looking at "Sell A Bus" website. I think he loves traveling and meeting people as much as the kids and I do. We had quite a few adventures in Texas and we hope for more. We love our Iowa people too. We just know we want to see more of the country without the hassle of hotels and eating out every day. That was one thing we didn't like about our adventure. Well the eating out was fun, but not healthy and it was a huge expense.

A side note. Holden (6) has told us over the past month that he wants to work at Animal Planet as a veterinarian. He has always loved creatures of every size and shape. He is a smart little man and very determined. We support him no matter what and believe in him. Most people who know him think well of him. It makes me so proud to have a son like him. Well, I'd love him anyway.

We were so glad our neighbors did a great job of watching our house all winter and all was well here. Can't wait to see more of our friends over the spring and summer, and see some sites in Iowa we have missed.

We will try to post photos on Monday or Tuesday from the weekend. The photos here are my 94 year old grandmother, Maria at Christmas; Holden with a pot belly pig at a farm in Texas; the boys with a chicken at a farm we visited; and my sister and her son with one of my boys and Brownie. I'll post some photos from the last week we were in Texas when I get a chance.

Love to all...