Meanwhile, back at the ranch

The ranch changed locations!

Right, so I fell off the blog wagon, aka, we moved from North Carolina to Southern California via Maryland, a cross country road trip, and a month long stay in Westchester with super generous friends.

Now at last, we've found a little place, thanks to Cal-Trans, to lay our heads and hang our hats for the next few years at least.

For other shots, check out the Instagraming we did on our trip, but here's some high lights from the camera :)

 Ritaroo got her solids on before we left

Then, inspired by a friend who also moved, we made sure to grab a shot of my babies exactly where they came into this world.  Nothing makes a house feel special like birthing two children in it. *sniff*

 Ritaroo in the kitchen

 Jo-Jo in the living room

Our last family moment at 13 Brave Trail:

Then, we went for a quick Nana and Abuelo visit and stopped by memory lane, aka my high school where my sister is currently teaching math.

 A family legacy

 Testing out the track

On our road trip we ran into *four* friends - two were planned internet friends (one of which I don't have on my camera, only the phone, Lenetta we're on Instagram together!) that we met for the first time, one was a dear friend who left Bragg right before us and one was an old Bragg friend who had moved away in 2011 and was randomly in Des Moines the weekend we were!

Pittsburgh Stop:

 The beautiful Tam and her adorable boys from Please Send Parenting Books

Chi-Town (aka stinkin' cold-ville):

Iowa and the Swimming Pool Hotel:

Air Force Base in Omaha:

Tap the Rockies!

Then, we detoured through Arches National Park in Utah for the amazing rock formations.  Mr. 1st Lt. did his part to keep 'em standing:

And then we hit up Vegas and finally arrived to Los Angeles.  An uneventful, relatively smooth trip with lots of memories followed by my immediate shattering of the back windshield in the van in the parking space of the condo we were staying at in LA.  Epic. Fail.

We passed the next four weeks of soul-sucking house hunting with the consolation of lots and lots of family time and realizing how happy our kids could be without most of their stuff, including a bed that doesn't deflate every morning.

 And someone started crawling!

Don't get me wrong, I'm insanely grateful and happy to have my stuff back, but I'm glad for the reminder about what really matters and for the push to be more grateful for all the wonderful stuff I do have.

We're still settling in, in need of hanging some pictures, ordering some shelves and organizing our lives because big ch-ch-changes are right around the bend.  My sister's cross-country wedding in July, Mr. 1st Lt's first Army Reserve Drill two weeks in July, starting homeschooling kindergarten for the Boyo in July and then in August, most likely giving the Mr. a hug and a kiss goodbye for a TDY school for the reserves for 10 weeks.

Whew.  I'm already tired.

Really, Mama? Still with the pictures?