It seems like a long time since I have written anything, and I think that is because our family has been so busy! In the last few weeks we have moved the horses, dogs, cats, books, boxes, furniture and all the little things that end up in the pile that you think why are we moving this again The move went well and the unpacking did too. We finally have everything in  order including curtains on the windows, which always makes things look better. The pictures are up in the gallery along with pictures of the outside of the property so you can get a feel for the lay of the land. The house is up on a high spot with the rest of the property kind of rolling down small hills away from it, which gives us a pretty good view.

We then had a a great visit with Derek’s parents who came to escape the cold Jackson weather and to enjoy some warm Florida sunshine. They also got to enjoy some great Florida humidity when it rained a couple of evenings here and the mornings were a little damp. Overall we had lots of fun and Heidi got some good spoiling. While they were here Derek and I got to take a ride on the Water Management area that our property backs up to. It was nice to get away for a little while and it was good to work the horses up into a good sweat.

Heidi has been doing really well. At her last Dr.’s appointment she had moved up into the 15th percentile for weight and height at  15.8 lbs and 26.5 inches. She is tall and skinny just like her Daddy. She has also started to crawl and pull her self up on furniture and toys. We have a video of her playing with Grandma and crawling around the floor which is pretty darn cute, but also pretty tiring to keep up with.

We hope that everyone is doing well and enjoys the pictures!

Derek, Nichole, and Heidi

Thought I would update everyone with what is going on. First Happy 80th Birthday to my Grandma and Happy Graduation day to Jay who gets to graduate from High school today.

Things with us down here in Florida are going pretty well. It is starting to get pretty hot which people down here are saying that it will be a pretty hot summer so the pool will be getting a lot of use.

I went to the Dr. yesterday and they did an ultrasound just to check and make sure things were going well since I have been a little small. The baby looks great and everything looks normal. It is about 5 lbs now so hopefully it will only be about a 7 lb baby when it comes in a month. It was not cooperative again since it was playing with it’s feet so the tech could not even tell if it was a boy or a girl. Good thing we didn’t want to know. Here is a picture of the face, it looks a little grumpy, I think since we were pushing around on it to make sure all the fingers and toes were there.

Looks like 10 toes to me.

The tech said that the baby also had a lot of hair, it is the white flowing stuff that the arrows are pointing at

We hope you are all doing well and we will talk to you soon!

Derek, Nichole and Baby

The first day we left it was Saturday morning the 16th. We got up and got everything ready, thanks to Wendy and Charlie we got the hay secured in the front stall of the trailer and then caught the horses and got ready to go. Istu was great, but Emma decided she really did not want the shipping boots on and did not really want to get into the trailer. After we did get the boots on and her in the trailer she kicked at Derek as he was closing the door. He got a bruise on his hip but is fine. We eventually came to figure out that she was coming into heat and that is why she was such a butt on the whole trip. We were able to stay at a boarding barn about a mile from Derek’s Aunt and Uncle’s house. The second night they stayed at another boarding place in TN which was really nice, we were able to put them out for a little while on pasture which seemed to help a little. Emma did fine the first and second days in the trailer but did end up kicking Istu on the third day so he is a little swollen on his right hind leg. He is not lame but it is tender as she gave him a pretty good kick. They did really well overall and are adjusting pretty well to the new place, though Emma is still not sure what is going on with the goats at the next door neighbor’s place.She keeps Nubian milking goats and sells the milk so it gets a little loud around milking time.

Summit did really pretty well, she stayed in the truck with Derek and did sleep some. She got on pretty well with Derek’s Uncle and Aunt’s dog Shelby when we stopped at there house in Kansas City KS the first Night. Thanks so much Uncle Gene and Aunt Marjean for letting us stay! The second night in the hotel she was so tired she just crashed with Sam on her bed. The final day she was really glad to get here and be able to be in a house. She has really liked going out to the barn to be with the horses and inspect the property every few hours, though she still has not gotten a sleep schedule down so she is pretty tired. She made a new fried, Souki, the great Pyrenees puppy from next door. They like to wander around the property together and she is really cute.

The cat did not fair quite so well on the trip. She spent the first few hours of the trip car sick and threw up in her carrier. She then proceeded to poop in the carrier as well so she was just not feeling very well. After Sam got her cleaned up, since I can’t touch the cat poop she seemed to do ok for the rest of the day. We fed her a little the next morning and she threw that up so on the third day she did not get breakfast and did really well all the way to the new house. She is liking the new windows and all of the lizards that move around the windows.

Derek, Sam and I all weathered the trip really well. The first night was great thanks to Uncle Gene and Aunt Marjean for letting us stay with them in KS. It was a little long for a first day but it was nice to see the family and spend a little time with them.  The second night was not too bad. We stayed in a hotel in Fairview TN, just out of Nashville by about 20 miles. It was close to the place where we were keeping the horses. We all got some sleep, though not a much as we would have liked. The third day seemed to be the longest, even though it was the shortest drive time. We got stuck in traffic after an accident outside of Nashville, so we were moving along at a crawl. That was when Emma got Istu in the trailer,  After the Accident things moved pretty well until we hit just this side of the AL, FL line when the speed limit started dropping. It went down to 45 in some places with stop lights through the small towns so it was kind of frustrating, but we made it through. We stopped at the official Florida welcome center, mostly because I needed to go to the bathroom for the hundredth time it seemed. We were all glad to get to Florida and be able to be at the house. Thanks so much to my sister Sam who helped me drive, and even though it was a little scary sometimes, we made it and I could not have done it without here.

I have taken some pictures of the new house and put them in the gallery. It is just the outside, since we don’t have any furniture yet so I figured I would post pictures of the inside of the house once we get unpacked.

Hope all of you are doing well!

Derek and Nichole

So it is moving day. We are just sitting here watching the guys from the moving company pack up the house. It is really nice not to have to do any thing other than sit here after 3 days of cleaning and organizing so they could come in and do the packing.

This last week has been pretty good. I had my baby shower on Satuday, thanks so much to Amanda Miller and Kimber Magness who planned and took care of everything. And thanks to Tracy Nunn for making the really cute cake!

there are some more pictures in the gallery.

It was a lot of fun even though I had to try and eat baby food and guess what it was, I got most of them close to being right so that made it fun, even though the turkey stuff was gross.

Other than that we are just getting ready for the big drive this weekend across the country. The horses and trailer are ready to go and my sister is here ready to help drive the car so we should be good to go.

Hope you all are doing well and will post again from Florida.

We just got back from Panama City Beach. Derek had to go out to coordinate research with the Office of Naval Research, they are who sponsor his gradutate work. We decided to make it a family vacation as all it would cost was a plane ticket for Nichole as everything else was paid for by the school. We were able to stay in a condo right on the beach and really had a great time enjoying the climate, the beach, and swimming in the ocean. It was really the first vacation that we have had since we have been married. Plus during the visit they interviewed Derek for a job at the base as a civilian researcher in the lab. The interview went really well and Derek really likes the lab and the people who will work there. So we might be moving to florida next summer sometime to start the job. We will keep everyone posted. Also we took a lot of pictures while were down there so have a look in the gallery, it really is a beautiful place. Hope everyone is doing well.

Love,

Derek and Nichole