MOVING and NEW YORK

The military bus picked us up at our hotel at11:30 Monday night. It would stop two more times to bring other families or soldiers to the Patriot Express Flight  that would depart Tuesday morning to Baltimore. The bus was painful, not for kids who slept the whole way, but for someone who is sensitive to where they sleep. Needless to say... I was feeling pretty exhausted by the time our bus stopped at 7 in the morning.

The 9 hour flight was uneventful. Naps, movies, airline food, and trying to keep ourselves entertained. Landed in Baltimore and had a 1 hour connecting flight to New Jersey. Then another hour of driving and we arrived at West Point around 10:30 that night, but our bodies were telling us it was 4 a.m. Germany time. We crashed in our beds exhausted and sweating.

When we woke up at 5:00 a.m. we stayed in our room. We couldn't really tell at night when we arrived but the area is beautiful. So many forests and trees, the Hudson River, and rolling hills. The campus is in a really amazing part of the state. The heat and humidity are *new* The boys look like they are melting and Ben is constantly dripping everywhere.

We signed the lease for "new" house here on the West Point campus. It is actually a historical brick QUINT, so we share the backyard with four other young families (two kids each, 4 yrs and younger). It is quite small for our family, especially since we have more humans than ever before. We are really going to have to figure out how to make every little inch count.  We are through a small forest to the elementary and Middle school and it is just a short walk for Ben up to the hospital and clinic. We met all of our neighbors at an ice cream social in our neighborhood and they were very welcoming and lovely. We are looking forward to getting to know them better and sharing lots of backyard fun.

After a few days driving and getting familiar with the area, we loaded up our bags again to fly west to see our families. We had a little fun in the airport taking pictures with a free email postcard and sent a few of the good ones. An hour and half delay on the runway due to weather put us behind schedule and made the time in the plane even longer. Everyone slept (except THIS lady) because I was rotating children from kicking each other in the face in their sleep.

We were happy to land in Salt Lake City. And excited to see Grandpa Eugene waiting to pick us up. We are sure having a great time visiting family and our hometowns again. Hiking up in the mountains, fishing in Swift creek, and then eating our catch of the day for dinner. OH! YES! WYOMING!!