Where we've been....and where we're going...

Its April.  MID-April and I haven't posted a SINGLE time this year!?!   Why? Busy-ness I suppose...which means this will be a very long catch up post!  :)

We spent January 1st in Cincinnati visiting EnterTRAINment Junction with our friend Marenda and little Oscar.  The details incorporated into each display were amazing!  In addition to the model trains, Christmas trains, and Train-themed play area, they also had a 'trip to the North Pole' which involved navigating a mirror maze and a spinning tunnel - I think the kids made the 'trip' 5 times while we were there!  :)  Santa and Mrs. Claus had already headed out for their vacation since Christmas was over, but a friendly helper was still there to pass out cookies!  ;)  (We passed on the cookies after the 2nd trip!)

Upward basketball games also began in January.  Billy and I coached a team of 2nd and 3rd grade boys and Alexa was on a cheer squad, so our Saturdays throughout January and February were pretty busy, but fun!  In addition to coaching, Billy also refereed several games.  Though Brody was too young to participate this year, he had fun 'helping' us coach at the practices, and he loved being a 'referee' at home!

 The Ohio State Buckeye Basketball team sponsored an Upward night with discounted tickets, so we were able to go watch the #1 team in the nation play as well (at least they were the #1 when we watched them in January).

February went by in a blur, but on the 22nd of the month, we welcomed a new member to our family!  Miss Penny Isabella!  Our house was just not the same without a dog, so we visited the local shelter's Mingle with Our Mutts event on the 20th of February and filled out an application to adopt a cute little shepherd mix!  The shelter had called her Minnie since she was the runt of her litter, but we weren't sure the name would fit a full grown dog (depending on her size), so the kids chose her new name!

March also went rather quickly, in part due to the fact that Billy had three back to back work trips.  However, we did finally receive the news we had been waiting for - we learned that Billy was selected for the Defense Comptrollership Program at Syracuse University and we would be moving to New York in May!  We will be there 15 months while Billy attends graduate school FULL TIME and earns both an MBA and an Executive Master of Public Administration (EMPA).  


Before we knew it, spring break was upon us and it was time to leave for the trip we had ALL been looking forward to!  Since Billy was deployed all of last year, we decided to make a BIG family trip once he was home.  After researching a few options, we decided to book a cruise to the Bahamas on the new Disney Dream!  It was a first cruise for ALL of us and it was just the break we needed!  It was also a great photo opportunity, so the cruise details will be in the next post!