When I updated ya’ll last I had grand ideas of writing a new post every week. To say I fell short of this goal is an understatement, the picture above is a picture from a year ago and below is a picture of a week ago. I began the year with a "trip" (aka deployment) to Iraq. While I was deployed, Kristie was home by herself for over four months with four children and somehow (I don’t know how she did it!) managed to fix up our house in Las Vegas, list it and sell it! When I returned in June, the house was sold, the movers were scheduled, and we were off to Alabama! During the move we thought it would be a good idea to pack up the kids up, aging from 18 months to 5 years old at this time, and take a two-week road trip across the country. Which included a stop a Mount Rushmore, visiting family and friends, and an extended stay at Grandma and Papa’s . Finally, we arrived in Bama and that's when time really started to move quickly and I can’t tell you where the last four months have gone. Unpacking the house, settling into the new squadron, and getting the kids enrolled in school were some of the highlights. The most impactful heartwarming part of the last four months is Gabe’s wonderful new school. The entire school - his teachers (who we love!), the principal, the front office and everyone in between has been so supportive and encouraging for Gabe to be included. Gabe is in an inclusive classroom and he has grown so much in the last four months! 
Gabe enjoys going to school, his unprompted speech has exploded, with expressions like, “I know, right!” It has been a busy year for all of us with great experiences and I leave you with something one of his teachers said to the effect of “I realize he has more for me than I have for him, and he will teach them (classmates) more about compassion than I ever could.”