Rocky Top...Just like the song says - We are in Tennessee. Nashville, to be specific. We got in tonight and will spend a night or two at John's brother, Greg's, house in TN. Laundry was the first priority. Kids are running wild with all the space. We plan on going to Graceland in Memphis on our way out of TN. Will keep you posted and take pics.

The Life of a Trucker...Well, I kind of feel like we might be experiencing the life of a trucker driver.  Except we stay in Holiday Inns and stop off at tourist attractions...ha!  We finally left Long Beach yesterday.  Sad to leave our sweet neighbors...  Spent the night last night in Harrisburg, PA.  Pennsylvania is SO beautiful.  It really is a nice drive.  We got to see our friends, Paul and Desiree, and their 3 girls who live in York, PA.  The kids have already gotten to go swimming 3 times in the hotel pools since we left.  Piggy-pie heaven!  Today, we drove through part of the auto tour of the battlefields at Gettysburg.  That was really cool to see where these battles really took place and to see some of the historic buildings.  Then, we went on to drive through a portion of Maryland, West Virginia, and then stopping for the night once we got to Virginia.  Tomorrow will be spent mostly driving through Virginia.  Would like to make it to John's brother, Greg, house in Smyrna, TN but we will have to see how our drive goes.  Loving the minivan.  Everything is going well.  I will post again at next Wifi hotspot...ha!

All Good Things Come to an End...Today is the kid's last day of school due to the move back to TX. Jacob's class through a party for him yesterday since his teacher will not be there today. The kids in his class all made him a card and drew pictures for him. It was very sweet. Julia's class is having a party for her today. They have both had a really great school year with wonderful teachers. We have been blessed.

We break down the beds today and head out tomorrow morning after the POD is picked up. Our neighbor, Brona, is cooking out hotdogs and hamburgers tonight. That'll be great since we are getting ready to have a week of eating out. Keep us in your prayers as we drive across country. I'll update the blog along the way, if I can.

Beth's Birthday...Yesterday, John and I took the kids to Julia's friend, Beth's, 5th birthday party. It was a lot of fun! And Beth's older sister, Victoria, was in Jacob's kindergarten class last year and still play together so both the kids were invited. There were about 5 kids total. They had 2 different outside bouncy toys for the kids to slide and play on. There was great wraps and sandwiches from Sorrento's Italian deli for the adults and pizza for the kids. And it turned out to be a really beautiful day to just sit on the deck, visit, and watch the kids play. It was also a really nice break for me with all the packing lately. We are SO excited about the move but will really miss Long Beach, our friends, and the beautiful, pleasant weather. I wish it could be in the 70's all the time! Ha!

Casual Dinner with Friends...We went over to John and Brona's last night for one last friendly dinner before we move. They have been such good friends to us and hope we will keep in touch in the future. We reminisced, grilled out, and laughed a lot. Here are a couple of snapshots.

Matthias...We had a playdate yesterday at the playground with Julia's favorite school friend, Matthias. They wait for each other every day before and after school. They are not in the same class but they have been great buddies from the git-go.

Mohawk Max....Here are a couple of pictures of our neighbor's baby, Max, the other day before they went to a bbq. Check out that COOL mohawk! Jacob is crazy about him.