Happy 8th Birthday and 4th Month-aversary!!

We have had a big couple of weeks, so I have a lot of catching up to do!
On August 5th, Campbell turned 8!!  I can't believe my oldest baby is 8!!  Where did the time go?  He has grown so much this summer and the time is flying by.  We threaten him weekly that we will put him in a shrinking machine, but he is so grown up, that he now understands there is no such thing:-(  So, he opted not to have a party, but still wanted to have a "theme'.  So (like Thomas the Tank Engine way back when...) he wanted another Star Wars cake.  I thought that EVERYONE around here would make a Star Wars cake (chocolate with chocolate icing), but it turns out, not many bakery's do!  Of course then I felt silly, when I realized that I am capable of making such a thing...and one of his favorite cakes is a Texas Sheet Cake with fudge icing: part one covered.  Unfortunately, decorating a cake is NOT my strong point, but Jay said, "I can draw a Darth Vader on a cake."  So part two was covered, as well.  You can see from the pictures that the cake turned out great and Cam had a great day!  Thanks to all of you for sending exactly what he wanted!  Cam is such a special boy.  I love the young man he is turning out to be and love how his heart has grown to accept his new brother.  He wants to teach Cael all of his tricks (good and bad) and is very protective!
Later that week, on Saturday, we went out for marathon training.  Jay and I happened to look up and see Cam standing on his bike seat cruising down the path.  Now, this is not unusual for him as he is a quite a hot dog on wheels...but Cael was also standing on his bike seat cruising down the path.  With GREAT trepidation, I asked them to do it, again, so I could get their picture...so now we have two hot dogs on wheels.
Speaking of Cael: On August 12th, we celebrated his 4th month as a Ferland!  He is doing so well and his resiliency never ceases to amaze me.  I can't think of a thing that we say that he does not understand, and he communicates so well with us!  In fact, on today's run, he told me that he wanted to stay in Texas forever (I don't think he quite realizes that we are not living in Texas, anymore).  He said that he would build us a house and a Taco Bell and that Campbell and Tucker (the dog) could live there, too.  Now of course this is sweet on SOOO many levels.  First, we really don't go to Taco Bell very often, but he does love quesadillas and wants to be able to share them with us, anytime.  He also has heard us complain about the "smallness" of our house, and wants us to know that the house he will build, will hold all of us and our things.  He is a very sensitive boy and we are so blessed to have him in our family!
On Friday, Jay flew back to Texas to pick up our truck and the boat.  We are so anxious to cruise the Potomac!  His dad is meeting him there and will share the ride back to Washington, so Jay is looking forward to some one on one with his dad.  Meanwhile, I'll be bachin' with the boys.  After we dropped off Jay at the airport, we went to the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center near Washington Dulles International Airport.  It is the companion facility to the Museum on the National Mall. but WAAAYYYY bigger.  We saw a SR-71 Blackbird, the fastest jet in the world;  the B-29 Superfortress Enola Gay; the Concorde, and the Space Shuttle Enterprise.  Of all of those, Cam was most impressed by the Corsair hanging from the ceiling and the Enola Gay (he is really into WWII aviation).
Finally, on today's 14 mile training run, we looped back through the Washington Navy Yard and the boys wanted another picture on the USS Enterprise anchor from WWII.  There is also a picture of the boys underneath the T-28 that hangs at the entrance of our base.
I think that about catches you up on our end.  How are things in your neck of the woods?

Mt Vernon Trail

We are STILL training for the marathon and we had plans of running at Andrews Air Force Base after dropping our car off for some work EARLY (0645) Saturday morning.  As luck would have it, the parts that were supposed to be there were not...so we loaded up the kids bikes and headed for historic Old Town Alexandria and the Mt Vernon Trail.  It is over 18 miles long and goes from Georgetown (or there about) to Mt Vernon...the home of our nation's first president: George Washington.  We started at about mile 9 and ran almost all the way to Mt Vernon.  Our goal was to get 14 miles in, but we ended up doing 15!  The run was gorgeous!  It is a paved and shaded trail that runs along the Potomac river under a canopy of 100+ year old trees.   We had a break in the heat on Friday so the high was only about 86 degrees.  Even the boys said that it was one of the best rides they have had!   The one picture is of the boys in front of the Jones Point lighthouse...as Jay was falling backward down a hill.  After the run, we walked Cam's bike over to the bike shop in Alexandria for a tune up. Right across the way was an AWESOME restaurant that was still serving brunch, so we stopped in for pancakes, eggs, burritos and chicken strips...just to name a few of the items we scarfed down.  Still in the carb-recovery mode, we took the boys for ice cream...yum!
This afternoon was spent catching up. Kim started her LAST war college class and had a ton of reading about Carl von Clausewitz (ugh!) and the boys had a wrestling match...you'll note that Dad eventually won!
Cael is doing great with his transition to Washington and the English language.  I can't believe we have had him home for 3 months!  He has discovered the Indiana Jones and Toy Story series.  So his new favorite saying is: "To infinity and beyond!" and he says it perfectly!
We hope that you all are doing well...can't wait to take you all on the trails so make sure you bring your running shoes or your bikes!!

     

Greetings from Washington DC

Hello, Dear Friends.  We have been away for almost a month!  So let me try to catch you all up on our lives.  We are slowly settling in to our little house on Bolling Air Force base...little being the optimal word. Really, because of another BRAC decision, the base is actually combined with the Navy's Anacostia Annex, so we are practically on a Navy base!
Our second load of household goods finally arrived...almost three weeks after it was supposed to...and we are missing quite a few items.  Those that did arrived are severely damaged.  As it turns out, the truck broke down "somewhere" and then no one seemed to know where it had been taken....But I have been reminded by my wonderful family that at least we are all together and healthy!  Things can always be replaced.
So here are some pictures of our house (from the front and one from our bedroom window at sunset...except for the construction, we have a beautiful view of the Potomac river!)
We have also been discovering the area by foot.  As many of you know, Jay and I are training for the Marine Corps Marathon on October 31st, so we are finally getting some of those long runs under our belt.  Cam and Cael are expertly riding along side us and serving as our hydration and nutrition crew!  The last two Saturdays, we have logged 11 mile runs in the hottest summer in Washington DC history! When we finished this morning at 1000 it was 99 degrees.  We thought we were leaving the hot Texas summer behind, and it has actually been 10 degrees hotter that San Antonio for the last 2-3 weeks...UGH!  Several weeks ago, we ran from our house to the US Capital, about 4 1/2 miles away (9 miles round trip).  Last week we ran over to Fort McNair, home of National Defense University and the former home of the Army War College.  Today's adventure took us to the Washington Navy Yard, which backs up to the Washington Nationals Stadium.  You may be able to see the stadium behind one of the pictures of the boys.  They have a Navy museum on the base and the grounds outside are full of historical artifacts.  Attached are pictures of the boys on the removed top-section of a WWII submarine, Cam sitting on the anchor of the USS Enterprise from WWII, Cael in front of one of the large guns, and Jay in front of the NCIS building...yes, they were looking at him closely through the multitude of cameras.
We'll try to be better about updating now that we have real internet!
Miss you all!

Pictures from last post

Still not working after all...will keep working out the bugs...

We made to Washington DC!

Sorry for the delay in getting an updated post to the blog...our bloggees have been clamoring for news...any news! Needless to say, we have been working long hours trying to to move out of one house and into the next before I start my new job.
When I last posted, Jay was working to get the storage building completed...well, he did and it turned out fabulously!! My man really knows what to do with all those tools we just hauled out to Bandera. Speaking of hauling things...we made several midnight runs out to our property to leave some of the furniture that we knew we would not have room for in DC. As it turns out...we should have left a lot more furniture (more on that later).
So the movers arrived on the 17th. Toward the end of the day, it was beginning to look like all of our stuff was NOT going to fit on that truck! Well, sure enough, because the driver already had 1/3 of the truck filled from an earlier pick-up and they underestimated the size of our move, they had to bring in a second truck...we are told that it will arrive somewhere between 2 days and 2 weeks after the first shipment (more on that later, too). All in all, we had a very nice crew and they assured me that our necessities would be on the first truck to arrive at our new home.
We had big plans of hitting the road on Friday afternoon after our base housing final inspection, but that was not meant to be. We did not actually get on the road until Saturday afternoon. Much thanks to our dear friend, COL Harney, for the help loading the freezer full of venison and salmon onto the trailer. We (OK, seriously I) could not have done it without him!!
All in all, the trip out to DC was long, but uneventful. So for those of you who have known us for awhile, this is something to celebrate and be enormously thankful for!! ( i.e. No pets died, no transmissions lost, no boat trailers broken in half somewhere in Louisiana, etc)
So we arrived tired, but on time, for our appointment with the housing folks at Bolling Air Force Base...the site of our new home. Now, we knew that coming to DC meant a change in lifestyle. No more large historic home on Fort Sam Houston with wrap around porches. We had prayed for a place that was close to work and within our budget...and that is exactly what we got! So we were a bit under-whelmed when we actually walked in and saw the house. It was built in the 50's and like all the surrounding homes, were slated for demolition a couple of years ago. However, the budget dried up to build new homes, so they opened these back up...which we hope explains the smell that existed in our house (not to mention the water treatment facility a 1/2 mile down the road). However, the funniest comment came from Cael Enyi. Bear in mind, we have seen the very meager conditions in which he lived in China...and there is a definite odor throughout most of the country. So when he turned to me and said, "Mama. New house stinks!!!"...We totally cracked up. He has already adjusted to our American way of life. Meanwhile, we are looking around the place wondering how in the world all of our stuff will fit. If fact, the first truck arrived on the 23rd and as we wade through a sea if boxes and wrapping paper, we are still wondering how we will make everything fit...with our next shipment due to arrive on July 2nd. Hopefully, the legs of my coffee table, the shelves and drawers to my refrigerator, my cup towels, and all of my non-uniform shirts will be in the truck! (oh, and the kids trains, the light sabres, some of Jay's tools...things like that:-)
Now I must also share the good things about this place. We have an incredible view of the Potomac river. As you step out from our street, there is a paved walk along the river with gorgeous views of DC. We can see the Washington, Lincoln, and Roosevelt memorials from here and just a few steps more,the nation's capital pops into view. It is so pretty at night and we hear that the 4th of July is pretty spectacular from this very spot.
So speaking of being close to the city: After we picked up the keys to our house, we raced over to my new duty station to get checked in before the duty crew left. So Jay pulls up to a gate to let me out. Mind you, we still have the u-haul attached. As I jump out and race up the hill to the guard shack, the guard steps out and starts yelling at me to get that vehicle out of here...along with several other things that I won't repeat. As he is yelling at me, two blacked-out SUVs drive up to exit the gate (which are blocked by my husband who is waiting for open spot with traffic). Jay finally clears the area and the guard returns his attention to me. "Do you know who that was? That man rules your world and if I hear about this from him, you will hear about from me! Do not EVER drive up to this gate and block this area, again. Do you understand?". Of course I calmly told him that I was new (don't think he really cared) and that I would most assuredly, never do that again. So then he took my ID, smiled, and said, "Welcome to Washington DC". Yeah. Right! So, as it turns out, LOTSnof big wigs live there now, and we more than likely completely freaked out the security team of Admiral Mullen, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and I haven't even been in town for 4 hours...this is going to be a GREAT tour of duty!!!
Attached are a few pictures of the house and kids playing in the yard with a sled (yes, that's right). It has been in our attic for 3 years and the kids just want to get it broken in before the temps dip below 90 degrees! They also had a blast playing in all the packing paper and boxes (who needs light sabers, anyway!?) They have also really hit it off with our next door neighbor's kids with girls of the same age! Both their mom and dad are naval aviators and Cam has already been soaking up war stories!
We still want visitors! Your guest mattress just may be resting on the top of boxes that just could not be unpacked, so if you don't mind, neither do we! I've also attached a picture of the 1970's toothbrush holders, so don't go bringing any of those new fangled contraptions to these parts!!
Thanks for your many prayers...keep 'em coming. My first day of work is Monday, so Jay will face the mountain of boxes on his own for those hours...I think work will be easier!!


Ok...pictures aren't posting so will get those up ASAP...

Last Week at the Ferland Ranch

So I'm getting a little melancholy (and a lot freaked out) that this is move week...we are NOT ready on many levels!  But to make sure we are getting loose ends wrapped up, here is what we have been up to:  Jay has been diligently working to get our storage building completed at our property.  I've posted a few progression pictures (to include a couple of "helpers").  As of today, all that he has left is to get the siding on, as the roll up doors will be installed on Monday...while I am here with the packers at the house.  The boys and I went out to take lunch to Jay and our wonderful friend, Kelly, who has helped us the last couple of weekends.  Meanwhile, I have been the substitute school teacher and I feel like I'm finally getting in the groove of things (Cam has 3 weeks of school left due to the long trip to China and the recovery after the trip!).  I have also been going room by room and analyzing our things.  Knowing that we are going to about half of our current square footage, with NO attic, NO basement, and NO garage, we have to really decide if each and everything is going to move with us...or stay in the storage building that Jay is trying to complete in time (so we're back full circle).  We also pulled the RV out of storage and got it hooked up to a space in the RV park on post.  Each evening, we try to make a run of things that we don't trust with the movers.  (for those of you who do not the horror move we endured coming here, I won't bore you with the details...suffice it to say we all have a little post-traumatic stress disorder)
On another note, I have to brag on the tremendous bike riding skills of both of our boys.  Cam has become quite the dare devil.  There is no curb too big or mud puddle too wet, that he won't conquer.  He loves to cruise along with no hands on the handle bars, and stands up on the seat at high speeds (YIKES!)  But he is very good and being watched ALL the time by his new little brother.  As a result, Cael, has gotten really good on his bike, as well.  He is up to riding about 5 miles a day while we run, and finishes every ride with, "Mama! No crash!" (he has a little PTSD, too).  He now likes to show off riding with one hand while waving with the other, or wiping a sweaty brow.  As of today, he has learned to use the curb to push off and start "all by myself!"  When we came in from this morning's run/ride, I noticed that my hibiscus plants (that we planted 3 years ago and have had maybe 2 blooms the whole time, due to the drought) are in full bloom.  Cam noted that the blossoms are "as big as my face!"
After the lunch delivery, we took one last hike around the hills on the property and looked at every rock and critter in our view.  You'll also note the incredible fashion sense of both boys: shorts, cowboy boots, and hats...boy, I will miss this place!

Howdy Y'all

Yesterday, we went out to our property in Bandera...known around these parts as "The Cowboy Capitol of the World".  Naturally, Cael had to get his first pair of boots and a hat to match.  Since we were all dressed up after church, today, we decided to go ahead and take a few pictures from the front porch.  We will REALLY miss our porch  in DC...especially since we won't have one!  We hope you all had a great weekend!