It's Really cold here!

Hello Everyone,

Two important things to report since the last time I wrote.

The Arizona Cardinals beat the Vikings. (Yeah!)

And....

IT'S COLD HERE! I mean really cold!! We are definitely going to need long legged underwear. So far it has snowed 1 time, but it didn't stick. It was the first snowfall Dawson has seen.

Dawson is so funny, he is soaking up this whole new experience of living in Kansas. He wants to walk to his bus stop in the cold, and he's trying to not wear a winter jacket as long as possible. Keegan on the other hand has half the walk to her bus stop (the front of our cul de sac) and I am driving her every morning! She is not adjusting to the cold at all. I was the same way as her when I lived in Wisconsin. I never did like the cold. I can tolerate this so far. Probably because of my old age!! Also I am trying so hard to keep a positive attitude.

We are all doing good. Both kids are doing so well in their classes. They are both looking forward to Christmas vacation. Keegan is nervous for all of the exams coming up. Her classes are so difficult. I can't believe next year is suppose to be her toughest year in this IB program that she's in. She manages herself so well. I am beyond impressed with how well she does. Her theater production is finally done. Until the next one! The next musical production she has volunteered and wants to learn the technical part of it. Hopefully it won't be as demanding.

Dawson has one more weekend of soccer, but he will play 3 games total. I'm sure he will be exhausted by the end of it. I still haven't been able to get off on a Sat to go watch him. I'm hoping I will be able to watch his last game. Dawson has a very unique class in school that he really loves. He is being taught how to fix computers. He's learning how to take them apart and put them back together. Plus so much more. It sounds like something he will be able to do as a career if he continues and likes it. His teacher is very knowledgeable in this field.

My hours at Home Depot have been cut back a little, but it's okay so far.

David is doing good. He is very thankful we moved here when we did. Now the Post Office is placing their employees where they want and with no more choices. If the people don't like it, too bad, they're out of a job!

We had a very nice, quiet Thanksgiving. It was the four of us having a nice big dinner. Afterwards we went down town and walked across the bridge of the Arkansas River. It was sort of cold but very pretty. When you all come to visit us, you will be very surprised what a neat city Wichita is. It has so much character.

Hope you had a nice Thanksgiving and you enjoy the Christmas season. This year is going to be so hard for a lot of people with all of the extra added expenses. I hope it will be a year we all turn to God and grasp the true meaning of Christmas more than ever before. I know I am sure looking at Christmas differently this year.

Hope you like the pictures attached. Keegan is all dressed up in her musical costume. Dawson is happy because it's snowing outside, and pictures from Thanksgiving.

Love to all. God bless all of you this wonderful Christmas season.

Marjie

Update on what's happening this week

Hi there,

Update on what's new this week.

Dawson did make the team for an indoor soccer league. He was pretty excited. This team is really good, so he was very proud of himself. The facility is not close to our home, but his friends mom will drive them to practice every week. David will take him to his games on Saturdays. He thinks it's a lot more difficult than outdoor soccer, since they can play off the walls, so the ball can ricochet anywhere! I'm seeing less and less of Dawson. Almost every day he calls me after school and wants to go to his friends home. His friend seems like a good kid, plus the parents are home. He is growing up so fast. Again I have to say, I feel like the kids are much safer here in Wichita.

Keegan and I went to see the performance "Wicked" last week. Wow, what a great show it was. If you haven't seen it, you need to. I only regret sitting too far from the stage. We couldn't see their faces. The music was outstanding. It was fun for Keegan and I to do something together. We haven't been able to do much, since she is always slammed with homework and I'm working a lot of hours. Every day after school Keegan has musical practice until 6 pm. On the weekends they get together to do sets for the musical. She is getting very industrious. She uses a drill and many other tools. Her knees are covered with bruises! In one of the dances they fall to their knees and spin around. She is getting quite the workout! She did say last night she enjoyed plays more than musicals.

David is supposed to go back to his regular job this week, instead of being a supervisor. I am glad. It seemed like it made him very unhappy with his job, because of the added stress.

Nothing much with my job. Just trying to deal with all of the rude customers lately. Because we are so under staffed and they can't hire any new people, the customers take it out on us employees. Many times I am working Decor and Flooring by myself for up to 3-4 hours before someone else comes in. I'm complaining huh? I do appreciate that I have a job!

The weather is cold and it's supposed to SNOW this week! Dawson is very excited, Keegan is not. I'm not sure how I feel about it, I guess I'll tell you down the road. There are so many things that we really love about living in Wichita, that I'm hoping the winters won't change our mind. I keep trying to tell myself how much I hated the summers in AZ. I'd like to think we are in between the two!!

I posted a few more pictures for you to look at. I finally got some pictures of the front of our house.

I better go before this is too long to read. Maybe it's already too late.

Love to all. May God continue to bless you.

Marjie

Three Months in Kansas

Hello,

It's been so long since I have written. Maybe everyone has given up on me by now. I am going to try and write something or put in some new pictures weekly.

Dawson is really growing a lot this year. He has an appetite larger than all of us. I'm not sure where he puts all of his food. He has finished playing soccer and now would like to get on a fall indoor soccer league, but I'm not sure if I'm up to driving him all around. He couldn't find anything close to our home. He did well his first quarter in school. I think it's too easy for him, but I think he is into "easy" this year. Dawson attended his first school dance a couple of weeks ago. When I went to pick him up, he was all sweaty! I thought, wow... I guess he really got into the dancing scene. No, he and a bunch of guys went into the gym and played basketball the whole time!

Keegan has been in 2 plays now. A school play, and her Drama class put on a play. She is quite the actor. Now she is practicing for their school musical "Once upon a Mattress". I think she is loving all of it. She too did well in school with her grades. She doesn't have much time for anything except school, Drama, homework, eat and sleep. A couple of weeks ago she and I went to a dinner show and saw the musical "Chicago". We also have tickets to see the musical "Wicked" in November. Keegan went to her high school homecoming dance and had a great time.

David and I are mostly working. Nothing to really talk about. We are just both thankful to have jobs.

The fall season has been so gorgeous. Although It is leaving us way too fast. It has been so windy that the leaves are falling as fast as they are turning their pretty colors. We also have had a lot of rain and some very cold days. We are not quite ready for winter,but I'm afraid it's close. Both of the kids walk to their school bus stops in the mornings. Dawson loves it, Keegan complains about how cold she is! (Dawson has to walk twice as far to his bus stop!)

I have a few pictures attached. Autumn in Kansas and pictures of the kids ready for their school dances. It is getting late, so I better go.

God bless you all.

We love and miss you,

Marjie

Ohmygosh look what's in our back yard!

Hello everyone,

It's been awhile since I have been in touch. I guess we've been busy with our crazy schedule.

Dawson is still loving everything. He's having a great time playing soccer. He's doing well in all of his classes. Although he still looks forward to the weekends. He usually watches sports on TV or the computer. He does have a friend from his school that lives pretty close to us. They take off on their bikes or get together sometime during the weekend. I never remember letting Dawson go bike riding without me or David when we lived in Phoenix. This is such a nice neighborhood here.

Keegan is going crazy. She can't put much more on her plate. I mentioned on an earlier blog that she got a part in their school play as an eccentric woman, who is rumored to have been in the past an axe murderer. The play is a comedy (not suspense). Keegan doesn't have a huge part, but I guess the funniest part. She's having a lot of fun with it. After school most days is play practice. When she gets home she is doing schoolwork until bedtime. She is also doing well in her classes, but definitely more homework then last year and a lot tougher subjects. I've never seen Keegan get as nervous as she does the mornings of whatever test she is about to take. She doesn't usually stress out over test. Hopefully she can continue to do her theater/drama. She understands that her school grades are her priority.

David is still working as a supervisor at his work place. I think he's getting a little more used to it. This post office is a lot bigger then Phx, so he has to be responsible for a lot more people.

I'm getting along fine at the big orange building! Everyone is finally so nice to me and not treating me like the new kid.

Okay, the real reason I wanted to blog tonight was to tell and show you a picture of what I saw outside this morning while eating my oatmeal at our kitchen table. I saw a deer! It looked like a young doe. I hurried to grab my camera. If you read my blog sometime back, you'll remember that I saw a fox outside and didn't think to get my camera. I tried to wake the kids, but naturally the deer was gone before they looked out the window.

It's starting to get cooler here and we are loving it. The leaves have just started to change a tiny bit. We are going to have such a perfect view looking out from the back of our house.

The last two weeks we were able to check out a church in our area. I couldn't go today because of work, but David and the kids went. It's a very large church, approx. 3000 members. The music is phenomenal. Very talented people.

The kids are almost ready for bedtime, so I'm going to sign off until next time.

God bless all of you,

Love,

Marjie

This month has gone fast!

Hi there,

It's too hard to believe that we have lived here for a month. Wow, where did the time go? Seems like yesterday we were rushing around our home in Phoenix packing up our belongings. Made a terribly long road trip, took forever finding a place to live, getting the kids set up in school, and making sure David's and my jobs were lined up. It's funny that I can even ask "where has the time gone?"

We know for sure, we love this nice weather Wichita is having right now. I guess it is kind of unusual. It's suppose to be dry, hot and the grass should be turning brown. Instead it's lush green, sort of cool and has been wet.

A quick update on a few things. Dawson is loving his soccer team. He's the biggest kid on the team, so that works in his favor. He still is doing great in school. His favorite class is P.E. He just doesn't have a bad thing to say about anything!

Keegan is making more and more friends each day. Drama class seems to be where most of her friends are coming from. I know that none of you are surprised by that. Yes, she did get a part in the play!!! She text me today from school to inform me. She was hoping for a bigger part, but I think she should be really proud of herself. Around 50 kids auditioned. It looks like approx 15 main players in the cast. It will be a comedy. The play is called "The Man Who Came To Dinner". She will be an eccentric lady who is a nut case!

David and I are still getting used to our jobs. Even though they are basically the same jobs we were doing in Phx, it's still different. My co-workers seem to be warming up to me a little better.

This weekend David and the kids went to an air show. Then David and Dawson went to a Wichita Wingnuts baseball game. I think Dawson knows more about the team then most people from Wichita! Not surprised by that either, right?

I think that is all for now. I have to work early tomorrow morning. David should be home from work soon.

Thank you for the cards you sent to Keegan for her birthday. It was fun for her to get something in the mail at our new home. Her thank you cards may be running late since she has been loaded down with homework (including the weekends). It will not be an easy year for her.

We miss everyone. Hope you are all doing well. We will continue to keep you in our thoughts and prayers.

God bless you,

Marjie

Closer to normal!

Hi everyone,

We are all glad last week is over. It was pretty stressful for all of us.

Finally last Friday I received a text half way through the day from Keegan that read "I love lunchtime!" Was I happy to see that text. All week long she hadn't found anyone to hang around with. A girl went up to her at the end of her class before lunch and wanted to know if Keegan wanted to join her and her friends. The girl ended up introducing her to about 20 other kids! Today (Monday) Keegan had a place to go and felt included.

Dawson is probably doing better then all of us. He is making all kinds of friends. He's loving his P.E. class, naturally. Saturday he started soccer practice at the YMCA. I can tell he is going to have a lot of fun on the team.

Keegan is trying out for the high school play tomorrow. She's very nervous. I know she will do a good job.

David's job is still going good. He started that new position I told you about last week. I guess he did okay, but I know he would rather just key addresses then to supervise. A lot more responsibility then what he had to do in Phx.

I started Home Depot. I'm in the same dept. as before. The kids were funny when I left for my first day of work telling me the same things that I told them for their first day of school. They did fine being left alone while we were both working.

We unloaded the final stuff out of our storage unit this weekend at U-Haul. So we are officially done moving. Our garage doesn't look like it. I keep unpacking and it doesn't look like I've done much.

Tomorrow is Keegan's 15th birthday. I hope she has a good day at school. Unfortunately we won't be doing much to celebrate. Her friends gave her a party before we left Phx. Now, I'm so glad they had done that for her. Her favorite food is steak, so maybe we'll grill out this weekend.

Nothing else new. All 4 of us like it here. The weather has been so nice. Yes, it has been raining a lot, but we are not sick of it yet. It is still very refreshing to us. I guess you can get tired of triple digits and sunshine day after day! Luna and Nike are not happy with all of the thunderstorms. Otherwise they seem to like our new home. Although Luna is a turkey, she doesn't want to come in when she's supposed to. She loves the big grassy yard.

Take care and keep in touch. Love and kisses to all of you.

God bless you,

Marjie

Busy week for all of us

Hi again,

Just a quick update.

Dawson had a great 2nd day at school. Three good friends already. Loves his classes and teachers.

Keegan also had a better day. Still not a good lunch experience, but I'm sure with time she'll find someone to hang with. Kids are talking with her during each class. "Loves her Drama class".

I start at Home Depot today. I'm happy and a little nervous. Not nervous about the job (same place, different building!) I will be working from 4:30 to 11:00pm. So the kids will have to do homework, make dinner, and go to bed before David and I come home tonight. Not the ideal scenario. Good thing is... the kids are responsible, and we live in a good neighborhood. The kids will probably love the arrangement, right? I WILL be calling home many times!

David was asked to start today and whenever they need him to be standing up as a 204B. (a what?) It is a supervisor position that informs the employees what station they are to work. Past that I don't know how to explain it. I do know he will get paid a little bit more.

That's our busy week. Unless something big changes, I may not be writing too soon.

So bye for now. Hope you all have had a great week. Keep in touch.

Love you and may God bless you.

Marjie

Update on the 1st day of school

Hello,

If you read yesterdays blog, you know I could hardly wait to see the kids after school to get the scoop.

Picking up Keegan was interesting. The school is huge, and I couldn't park anywhere close to where I dropped her off in the morning. Although I did find a parking lot around the other side of the building. I only hoped she would be able to find me. Luckily there was a big "W" on the side of the building, which meant west wing. At last using our cell phones, she found where I was parked. This morning was a whole lot easier dropping her off, since we found our little unknown west side area. Plus her 1st class is in the west wing. Yeah!

All Keegan could say was "I love my Drama class and teacher". She hated lunchtime! She said there was a big mob in the hallway when the bell rang. (The entire school has lunch at the same time!) She went outside to get some fresh air, tried to sit by a few people. One kid got up and left her. Another girl just ate her lunch and stared at Keegan. The rest of the day was average. Her teachers talked a lot about 1st day routine stuff. Keegan did say there were a lot of cute boys in every class. Actually she phrased it differently, but this is my interpretation of it! She is very optimistic for her 2nd day. In her math class, the teacher had a chart up on the wall with every one's name on it. They had to solve the problem in order to find out what chair they were to sit in. The teacher informed them everyday they will get a new math question and different chair to sit in! (Yikes, I would be in trouble!!) She did well navigating herself around to each class. I'm sure today will be better for her. She did pull out a notebook in each class and make personal notes about different kids that she found interesting. (That is so Keegan like, huh?)

Dawson had an entirely different experience yesterday. He was happy about everything. He enjoyed his lunchtime! Made several friends. Even exchanged phone numbers with 1 kid. He was a little concerned when he ended up in an 8th grade drama class. He went to the teacher right away and told her he didn't think he should be there. Immediately they took care of his schedule and put him in his P.E. class. Good thing, because Dawson would have been miserable in a drama class. I was very proud of him for speaking up. His only other dilemma was his combination lock on his locker. He hasn't ever had a locker before. We practiced last night on paper, so I hope today he can figure it out. He did enjoy his first experience of going to a different classroom for each subject. He spoke very highly of every teacher. Although he did say one was pretty scary, whatever that means. He never could explain what scary meant! He was the first on his bus, and the last to get off. He said it did seem like a long ride, but was OK with it.

They both were exhausted and went to bed a good time. I don't feel as nervous today for them. I do hope Keegan's day goes better. She was a bit sad and I think really misses her AZ friends. Thank goodness for texting, otherwise she would be a sad girl if she couldn't continue to communicate with her AZ friends. They were all excited to hear about her day and helped her feel better about everything.

The 1st picture above is a small glimpse of the wooded area behind our home. In about 20 feet is a stream. Kitchen, living room, basement and the kids sitting outside. Our duplex looking from the back is the one on the right side.

I worked in the house all day doing the same thing, trying to get settled in. I have a couple of pictures for you. I'll send more when I can figure this blogging thing out a little better!

Love and kisses to all of you.

God bless you,

Marjie

A big day!

Hello again,

I will be so happy to find out how the kids did at school today. I'm not sure who was more nervous, them or me! Dawson got on his school bus okay. I drove Keegan to school. It took me exactly 15 min. It took me 10 min. to get out of the school parking lot!

On the way home the sky was getting really dark. So I decided to speed up. I could tell a big storm was brewing. Sure enough it was pouring so hard It was tough seeing my exit. When I got home Luna was scared to death. It has been raining ever since. I still haven't found Nike (our cat) she is also afraid of the thunder.I saw a red fox outside in our back yard this morning. It came out of the woods, stared out toward our homes, then ran back into the woods. It was so beautiful. I don't think I have ever seen a fox that close up. We have seen a couple of brown squirrels and some neat birds. Our neighbors said sometimes deer will come out from the woods. I need to think faster and grab my camera next time.

Yesterday our neighbors brought us a loaf of bread to welcome us. This is definitely a lot different for us then what we are used to.

I plan to keep busy so today will go fast. I will keep you all posted how the 1st day of school went for the kids.

Take care. Miss and love you all.

God bless you,

Marjie

Getting ready for school

We are doing all of the typical things this week. Spending lots of money at Wal-mart on school supplies, buying a few new outfits, and getting our time schedule back to earlier bedtimes and waking up before the sun.

Both kids are enrolled and ready for their new schools. I know we are all anxious. I can't wait until I hear those magical words "I love my new school" or "I love my new friends". Keegan is excited and Dawson is wishing the summer would last longer!

I haven't heard from Home Depot yet, so I'm starting to think they are not going to hire me. I have already started looking for a different job. I'm sure what ever happens, I will be happier.

Not much is new today, so I'll just leave some pictures with you to look at.

God bless you.
Love,
Marjie

The beginning of a new chapter in our life

Hello everyone,



I'm hoping to keep my own journal of our experiences and adventures here in Kansas. I know eventually Keegan will not be able to keep everyone posted when school starts and the homework starts piling up.



Sometimes it might just be pictures of our family. You know me and my camera, I never stop taking pictures.



Tonight when everyone has gone to bed, I plan to sneak downstairs to read Keegan's blog. I haven't been able to get her laptop from her. Now that we have our Internet connected, I can read what all of you have been reading!



Have a good day. God bless you.



Marjie