Where in the world will the Bal's be living?

Looks like now it's Salt Lake City!!



For those of you have been in on this saga, you can just ignore this post. It will just be a very short abbreviation of the long drawn out story that it really was.

Here's how the most recent installment played out.



Location: Bal Residence

I arrive home from work. Jason is already there.

Jason: "I have something to tell you."

Me: "Ok, what is it?"

Jason: "I don't know how to tell you this."

Me: "What is it, your pregnant?"

Jason: "No, that would be much easier to tell you. My orders got deferred again."

Me: *jaw drop and glaring stare* "What!!?? To where?"

Jason: "Hill AFB in Utah."

Me: "Your joking, right? They didn't really change your orders AGAIN. Utah!! What's in Utah!!"

Alrighty, you got the basics of it. Jason has assured me several times since then, that no one is joking. Yep, it looks like now we are moving to UTAH.

Well, this week anyway. I'm not holding my breathe at this point.

First, (back in May) it was South Dakota. We were all hyped up about moving to South Dakota. We were going to do lots of exploring, see Crazy Horse and Mt. Rushmore, and go to the Badlands. I had already checked out the photographers in the area, and did a Google streat view of downtown just to check things out. There was a mountain nearby called Brennan Hill, we were going to go to the rodeo, and the state fair is huge! We bought Brennan some cowboy boots. I was going to buy some boots of my own! We were ready to be out west and become South Dakotans. Yeah!!!

Then, while Jason was in the hospital back in June he got a phone call. "Your orders to SD have been rescinded, and now you're going to Cape Cod."

What!! No way!! Cape Cod??? Home of the Kennedy's and land of Democrats!!! At first I was pretty darn upset. We already had big plans and were ready to transition into our new western lifestyle, now we're going to New England??? What a huge difference! Blah!

After a few days, I adapted to this new idea, and again started my research of the area. Aside from the cost of living, the area looked pretty awesome. We were going to go see the Red Sox and the Celtics play, we were going to Plymouth for Thanksgiving, going to check out the cranberry bogs, and get fresh produce from the Farmer's Market. There was tons to do within a short driving distance, and we were ready for lots of weekend trips. Jason had talked to someone from his new squadron, and was confident that he would like his new job. We were still going to be close to the ocean!

Then...a month later we had the above conversation. And no, still not kidding. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure there's nothing wrong with Utah, it's just never a place I'd visualized us living.



*sigh* I'm sure it will be fine.



And no, for the inquiring minds wanting to know, Brennan will not be growing up to be a Mormon, and Jason will not be getting any more wives.



I am resisting looking up too much information about the area. I don't want to get too attached. Though, we will be close enough to visit the Redwoods, and I've never been to the Pacific Ocean. I think I might have to learn how to ski! And remember that show from a few years ago, Everwood? It was filmed in Ogden, the town right outside of the base. (OK, I said I wasn't going to look up too much information, not that I wasn't going to look at all.) It is also a 30 hour drive to Mom and Dad's. I don't think anyone will be driving that distance. Anybody got any frequent flyer miles they can spare?



It could be much worse. Of course, I'm not going to name the places that could be worse, because I don't want to insult anyone's town. So I'll just leave it at that. I'm optimistic about the whole deal (today). So is the life of a military family.

A Catch Up Post

Not ketchup, catch up, though we sure are going through a lot of ketchup with two extra kids in the house. haha. Hmmm...not funny? I'll have to try harder next time. But really, lots of ketchup!


Yikes! Notice the huge gap since my last entry and now? Where does the time go? I just got home and found a note the Jason had taken the kids to go get new ID cards, so thought I better just start typing this while I had a few minutes.


So on to the catch up portion of the post, shall we?


The Two Week Recap


Airport - We picked the kid up the Friday before last and we have pretty much been on the go since then.









HIVES -Big red splotchy ones, all over Brennan. They began the evening before we went to the airport, and just kept getting worse that whole weekend. We took Brennan to the doctor Friday morning before heading to Tallahassee, and the prognosis was a reaction to the antibiotic he was taking for the sinus infection he had the week before. Sheesh! Poor baby looked so pitiful. This picture was taken on Friday. Imagine this amount of spots times 5 when Sunday rolled around.




Senior Pictures - Shanny's going to be a Senior this fall, so we have been taking lots of pictures. In her words, she's been pretty "stoked" about that! This is just a sneak peek, there are several more to come.




Deer in the Backyard - It's nothing new to see the critters, Jason and I see them almost every day, but Shanny and Andrew thought they were pretty cool, so they took the camera outside and got some shots of them.




Margaritaville - The kids wanted to go to the souvenir shops out on PCB. Not an excursion I normally look forward to, especially on a holiday weekend, but we did it. We made it worth the drive though. The Bal's are all big fans of Jimmy Buffett, so of course we had to go to Margaritaville! Great food, great music, great fun, and we all got T-shirts to prove it. Andrew ate a whole platter or ribs and french fries, and was still hungry after that! Wow, that's a growing boy for ya!



















Fourth of July - Fireworks on the Beach! Swimming, People Watching, the Sunset, the Moon - so much to take in, we all had a great time! Brennan was a little unsure of all the commotion and noise so I didn't get to take any pictures of the "official" fireworks, but I got some great photos anyway. Oh, and the blurry picture of the kids? Yeah, the camera was still set up in manual focus for the show, so they didn't end up in focus at all. But, if you can make it out, check out Brennan's beach mohawk, courtesy of Shanny. : )



















Fashion Show - Shanny was the designer, and Brennan was the model. Much to his chagrin, as you can see in the last photo.









If all of that wasn't enough excitement, there have been Wii baseball, tennis, bowling, golf, boxing or skiing tournaments in the living room almost every day. Oh, and I can't forget about the Wii hula hooping contest! Unfortunately, I didn't get any photos of that, but I assure you, it was absolutely hilarious!

We've also been to the beach several times. On one of the trips we took family photos. I think they turned out very well. I'll post one today, but I'm not sure when I'll have the rest ready. With all of the senior pics I have to edit I'm predicting....oh, around Christmas time. Not really, but it feels like it.


Well, I think that's the condensed version of the event highlights. I'm sure there is more that I'm forgetting, and if I think of anything I will add it.

As for the coming weekend, sadly, Shanny has to fly home on Sunday. We're planning on driving to Tallahassee on Saturday and spending the night in a hotel. That way we can just hang out at the pool that evening, and nobody has to get up at 1:30 in the morning Sunday to get to the airport on time. Not that I was volunteering myself or anything, but it really just makes it better for everyone.

That's all for now. Remember we love comments!

Brennan's First Masterpiece

My baby's very first artwork. Well, I'll clarify, the first artwork that didn't consist of spaghetti sauce or apple butter. I'm so proud! I think he's going to be the next Claude Monet.

A Bee in Nana's Garden

My Mom, aka Nana, grows wild flowers in her flower beds. Here's one of the little critters all those pretty flowers attacts.

Old Boots, New Blog

Jason's Old Boots
Read about them here.


And check us out over at the new blog: The Bal Family blog


No worries, I'll still be posting plenty of photos over here, too! : )

Old Boots

If you know Jason at all, you definitely know these boots.

I bought these boots for Jason back when he was in basic training for the Air Force. They were supposed to be a Christmas present that year, but if I remember correctly, I ended up giving them to him that summer. Since then, they've practically been a part of the family. They've been through about everything, water, mud, manure - who knows what else. They've been washed up several time, they've been polished, and they've been resoled.

I have suggested several times that these boots in their scruffy, ugly, broken down state, really needed to be transitioned into "work only" boots. Jason' reply has always been that they are perfectly broken in, and that's how they're supposed to look (and then usually prompted a thorough wash up and polish). I've even gone the route of buying new boots to replace them, three different pairs over the years, but yet they sit in the closet barely worn.

Then, a few weeks ago, Jason came downstairs with one of the "new" pairs of boots on. He announced the retirement of the old, worn out boots. Just like that, just a day out of the blue, it's time for new boots. He was sad, I could tell, and actually I was too. Like I said before, the boots were like family. And now that I think about it, I think the boots had more significance than just footwear. The year I gave Jason the boots was a major year in our life. Jason joined the military, we got married and we moved to North Carolina, all within a few months. From that time forward, they were alway there. Through happy times, bad times, deployments, moves, promotions, travels, crisis, and so on, those boots have always been there.

So, to commemorate the boots, I took the picture shown at the beginning of the post. I'm going to have it printed and framed. So even if the boots never get worn again, the spirit and memories of the boots will always be with us.



...and one from the little tykster.

Happy Father's Day, Daddy!
Love, Brennan

Jason's Big News

The Air Force Tech Sgt results came out this morning. Guess who was on the list to be promoted! Yep, that's right! Jason got his line number for Tech! They do however, only promote a certain number of selectees every month, so he has to wait for his number to come up. That's ok though, the hard part is over. It's a very happy day in the Bal family today!

Congratulations, honey. You did good. :)

A Trip Down Memory Lane

I thought the best way to start out the new blog would be by sharing some photos from Brennan's first days until now.

You know, some of the same pictures I used to send out in mass emails.

I have taken so many pictures over the course of the last year and a half, it was hard to narrow it down to just a few. It was amazing going back though all my old photos. It's still unbelievable how much Brennan has changed in such a short amount of time. He's turning into such a big boy now, walking around and saying a few words, it's hard to believe that a year ago he was sitting in his Bumbo seat and eating rice cereal for the first time.

Here are some of my favorites.



Ultrasound, Our first amazing peek at our little guy.




Brennan's Birth Day




18 days old




One Month Old - It was Spring Break for Shanny and Andrew, so everyone came down to visit. Brennan's first time meeting his brother and sister, Grandma Brenda and Harry.




Six Weeks Old




Three Months Old




Four months old, and eating cereal for the first time.




Five months old, this was one of the first pictures taken in our new house.




Six Months




Seven Months




Eight Months - First Halloween




Eight Months - In the Pumpkin Patch with Nana




Nine Months - Thanksgiving




Ten Months




Eleven Months




First Birthday




February 2009, Mardi Gras Parade




March 2009, A day at the beach




April 2009, Easter Egg Hunting




May 2009, Mother's Day




June 2009, Swinging in the Park