Still together!!

Well, we made it to Cleveland safe & sound. We got here last weekend after a LONG 13.5 hour ride. We drove through the night and Kennedy did awesome! She woke up here and there, would have a snack or we would sing songs and she would go right back to sleep. Although it was the longest ride we've ever had here (we had to take it slow because we were pulling a trailer) it was one of the easiest. We have stayed pretty busy since being home because my two very bestfriends had their babies this week! Shannon went first, Blake Anthony was born on 7/17 (last friday) He weighed 7lbs 3oz & 20in long!! So far he is proving to be a wonderful baby (not to mention a super cutie)!! Her husband Keith, did manage to make it here, from Portugaul, about one week before Baby Blake made his arrival, and we are so thankful!!!

Lindsay was next! We went to a baseball game with the hubbys this past Saturday night on a date and around the 5th inning she started complaining of some cramping. We made it through the game, went our seperate ways, and at about midnight she called saying she thought she was in labor. She went to the hospital at 1am and had the baby @ 11am. SUPER FAST! I got to the hospital at six that morning and thought I was going to wait around all day for that lil one! But she wanted out!!!! Lindsay did an amazing job, and Aubrey Margurite Haas is one of the most beautiful babies I have ever seen. She was born @ 11:02am 6lbs 13oz 19 inches long!!!! I'm so happy for Shannon & Lindsay, I love you both very much!!

Kennedy is adjusting to her new home with out a problem. She actually wants my parents more then she wants Kendal or I. We are very thankful for my Mom & Dad and all that they do for us and for my sister for re- arranging her entire room for Kt & I to have a place to stay! Kendal & I are leaving tomorrow morning and heading to Sandusky, Ohio for a two day get-away to Cedar Point Amusement Park! We are very excited!!! Well, thats about it for now~ Here are a few photos of what we have been up to.

Having a blast @ the park w/ Daddy

Watching her favorite show w/ Papa and sharing a snack

Walking in the front yard with Grammy, My mom bought her a new pair of shoes that squeek everytime she takes a step! They are so stinkin cute!!!

She got in trouble for something and Papa was protecting her from her mean ole mommy:)

Shannon & Keith came over w/ the new baby and the girls for dinner and ice cream!!!

While Shannon and the kids were over we all decided Lindsay needed to walk to help get that baby out so we walked two miles to the ice cream shop~the 12 of us looked so silly on this hike of ours but the kids loved it & wouldn't you know it~ Lindsay went into labor the next day :-)

Finally, some ice cream!!!

At the base ball game, when she started feeling her first contactions

The Newest Addition to the Broersma Family!

Baby Blake

And the Newest Addition to the Haas Family

Baby Aubrey!!

Packing & Relaxing...a good mix of both

Complete Chaos has hit in the Tripp household this week. "Real" packing has begun & the stress is mounting. As everyone knows, I am an anal retentive, way too organized for my own good kind of person. I tend to stress myself out when there really isn't any need. Kendal on the other hand, is such a procrastinator I think he would be comfortable waiting until 2 days before we were supposed to move to start taping together his first box...he has done these kind of moves many times so its no big deal to him. However, this time he is not just moving himself, but two other people and our things are going three different directions. Plus, we are leaving behind a home which needs maintained & a bazillion pieces of paperwork & communication go along with that!!!! Needless to say,when want something done, sometimes you have to just do it yourself! . Being so ridiculously prepared for things has managed to help a little this week. We have known about Kendal's orders since March, so every week or so, I would pack a box here or there and stash it in our spare closet. For three months I have been sending Kendal on weekly goodwill runs, and have organized all of Kennedy's clothes in rubber-maid containers from Newborn-and up. Looking back, I think Kendal is finally, for once, thankful for my paranoid, overly prepared behavior :-) We obtained a storage unit at the beginning of the week and almost the entire house has been moved there. All that's left is our furniture. We are now living out of suitcases, as of tomorrow we will be sleeping on the floor for a few nights and I'm pretty sure I'd rather starve than eat fast food one more time. We are moving into lodging ( a small temporary suite on base) on Wednesday and will fill our Uhaul Saturday. We will leave Charleston Sunday evening and hope to be in Cleveland by Monday morning!! Once we arrive in Cleveland we will have 17 more days together before Kendal leaves for S. Korea. We have very few things planned in those few days as we would just like to be together as much as possible. I will try my best to blog, but I may suspend it and start up after he leaves to give myself something to do! We love you all so much~ hope you are having a great summer :-)

At the begining of the week, two of my closest girlfriends here, senced I was on the verge of a breakdown and decided to come over & help me pack up my kitchen & downstairs of my house. They quickly realized why I was so stressed out. I once again, was trying to be too organized. I wanted every box packed "just so" and labled "just right" "We can't mix cups w/ bowls & plates w/ utensils"
I was demanding everything be in its own box, with only my handwriting as the label. The girls yelled at me to get out of their way and wouldn't you know, my kitchen was packed & loaded in the jeep on its way to storage in just 25 minutes. If it weren't for the two of them, I'd probably still be on the first cupboard! THANK YOU BOTH SO MUCH for all of your hard work this week, I am so blessed to have such amazing friend! Love you both!!

Crazy Aubrey Scrubbing my cupboards
and the kids playing below her:-)

Allison scraping glue from old contact paper
WHAT A PAIN IN THE BUTT!

ME! Sitting in the corner doing as I'm told~ lol

The kids played for an hour, climbing in & out of every cupboard, they loved it

Kendal, flexing the guns while hauling boxes to the jeep

I just have to share this photo. Everyday when Kendal comes home from work for lunch the two of them sit in front of the tv together sharing snacks and watching the news. They just make me giggle!

Friday afternoon was Kendal's going away luncheon for work. All of his co-workers and their families joined us at a local Mexican restaurant. It was so nice to see everyone and spend time w/ them one more time before next weekend!

Giving Kendal is plaque and thanking him for all he has done

Giving his speech
That evening, back out to eat we went! Our friends, Chris & Jess took us out to dinner to Kendal's favorite place, Texas Roadhouse!!! We sure are going to miss those two (baby Christopher too) :-(

After packing all week we decided we should take a day to just be with one another! We loaded up the car this afternoon & headed over to the new Memorial Waterfront Park in Mount Pleasant! It is a BEAUTIFUL park, with a fishing dock, lawns for picnics, over sized swings, playgrounds,a war memorial, sweet grass basket vendors & a visitor center


Hanging out on the swings
On the fishing dock

Kennedy loves birds. The minute she see's one she points it out and starts saying what sounds like "tweet, tweet" as loud as she can (we have been working on animal sounds lately) The pier was full of pelicans diving into the water trying to catch fish and she was in her glory! We must have stood there and watched them for 45 minutes!

Then we went over to the lawn area and had an awesome picnic dinner! It was so nice to slow down and just spend some quiet time together, I think Kennedy really enjoyed it as well!!!
And Kendal enjoyed every last bite of his fried chicken! LOL!

4th of July

I'm a little behind on blogging due to the current chaos taking place in our home this week. Packing is underway, so forgive me a little! 4th of July was super fun as always. It is one of our favorite holidays!! This year, we did the same thing we have been doing for the past 4 years now. Kendal's co-worker has one of the most beautiful backyards ever, with a swimming pool, complete with a diving board and slide! It is a perfect spot for the holiday celebration! Every year all of the guys he works with, along with their families meet over there for a day of yummy food, drinks, and of course splashing in the pool. This year some of the neighbors shot off some pretty big fire works so we hung around for the evening and just watched them from the backyard. It was too busy of a day to drag the kids into the mess of the over crowded parks and force them to stay awake. We really enjoyed ourselves and getting to spend one more holiday with our awesome friends!

Some of the gang

Swimming in the pool w/ Daddy

Hanging with Mr. Adam, she loves him for some reason ;-)

Going for a ride with her boyfriend

Watching fire works



My gals, I'm going to miss you guys so much :-(

Trip to Ohio

First things first....

CONGRATULATIONS TO CODY & ELIZABEH!!!
They got engaged the first day we were in town. We are so happy for both of you!

Our first day in Ohio, we arrived very early. So we headed back to Mom & Dad's place to rest up and settle in!

Playing with Aunt Carli

Grammy & Papa bought her a car for her Birthday. Papa even made her a specialized license plate with her nick name on it!!!

Going for a walk with Papa

She also got a new club house/swing

Playing with Papa

Loves going down the slide

The next day we headed over to the hotel where Kendal's parents were staying for the weekend
Swimming in the pool w/ Grandma
Having a snack with Grandpa

Then we took Kendal's family over to the bridge where we were married, since they weren't able to be there with us on our special day. We took a path under the bridge and found our selves in a beautiful area in the Cleveland Metroparks!! What a perfect afternoon!
Looking over into the valley
Posing by the water

We had a picnic at one of the local parks where we also got a chance to play in the wading pool!!

Gaige looking like water is spouting out of his ears~ lol

Then we swung by and picked up my Mom from work and headed over to Lake Erie Nature & Science Center!! We also went to Lake Erie Huntington Beach, but for some reason I don't have any pictures from our trip there so the Nature Center will have to do! It was such a beautiful afternoon! I think we all really enjoyed ourselves!

~Smooches for Smoochie~

Some Cousin Time

Covering Daddy's bald spot :-)

Super fun...Climbing through an old tree

Peeking through a hole in the middle

After a little rest our group then went downtown to catch an Indians game! (You can say I kept everyone pretty busy...they all needed a good nights rest by this time)
Getting ready for the ball game to begin
Gosh, those lights are bright Mommy

The Indians won 9-2 GO TRIBE
After the game the stadium put on a spectacular fireworks show!! I was very impressed as I think everyone was! What a jam packed day~ but we sure had fun!

Kennedy watching the fireworks
The next morning we met at mom & dad's for a delicious breakfast & then off to the zoo!

Our group minus a few
My loves


The Mom & Father-in-law got roped into playing in an Australian band


Jared got in on the action too

Gaige with Kangaroo ears
Checking out the Kangaroo's
The Grandpa's

Looking at the Baboon's with Papa
After the zoo we went out to dinner as a family to one of my favorite Italian Restaurants, Buca di Beppo! I neglected to take any pictures during dinner probably because I was too busy stuffing my face with all of that yummy food! Afterwards we headed over to One of the BEST PLACES ever, MALLEY'S ICE CREAM PARLOR! I insisted on taking everyone there~
My beautful little sister, Carli and her boyfriend Ryan
"GIVE ME MY ICE CREAM"

Even Jared was excited about his ice cream

Afterwards we came back home and spent the evening preping for the big b-day party in the morning and drinking wine! mmm!
The morning of the the big party...
Kendal & Mom cutting veggies and fruit

Jared and Gaige
Greeting our guests

The uncles


The Grandpa's
Kennedy's playing with her buddy, Brayden

Opening her presents, which by the way, that bench/toybox she is sitting on, Kendal's parents made for her!! It is exactly what I had been invisioning!! I am in love with it!

More cake smashing (by this time, she's a pro)

Here Daddy have some cake!

Messist time by far


Together again after a very long year with out each other! Eliana & Kylie are the daughters of our dear friends, Shannon and Keith. They are the couple I first lived with when I moved to South Carolina and have since been stationed in Portugaul! Shanon is due next week with her third baby and was able to come home to Ohio to have him with her family & friends close by:-) And yes I said HIM!!! Third times a charm!
Being silly!
My two very best friends ever!!! And they are both having babies in the next two weeks!!! OOOOOOHHHHHHH I CAN NOT WAIT!

And I couldn't leave out those delicious cupcakes! OH MY!!!

MMM, chocolate and peanut butter

After the party Grandma, Grandpa Tripp, Jared, and Gaige had to load up and head back to Iowa, while we stayed around for two more days~ My camera battery died right after her party and I didn't bring the battery charger so I couldn't snap anymore shots! It turned on for a split second on the plane to catch Kennedy having a snack and singing Itsy Bitsy Spider with Daddy! Hope you enjoyed our photos!! We are now in overload mode getting ready for dooms day! We have just 18 days to pack up our entire house and get back on the road to Ohio....wish us luck!! Love you all!



Thankyou so much to both of our families for helping us have a memorable time! We really enjoyed having you all in one place together!! We are so blessed to have such amazing people in our lives, We love you so much:-)