JP and Murphy Dancing

Enjoy our dancing (and naked) boys! This dancing ghost was a gift from Grandpa and Grandma -- needless to say, they LOVE it (and Mommy and Daddy are already sick of the song!) Unfortunately, they didn't inherit good dancing genes!!! Do you think this video will resurface at their weddings??? Yeppo! More pictures to come this weekend...promise!

Good times in Arkansas…

Here are some more pics from our adventures in Arkansas. As I mentioned before, we are really enjoying our time here. Little Rock has so many great family-friendly things to do, we are in heaven (and we haven’t even started hiking yet…since it is still over 100 degrees here)! The first few pictures are in our backyard with our neighbor friend, Grant! Matt bravely took both the kiddos out on the lake in the kayak -- they LOVED it and Mommy enjoyed the free time too! The last picture is of JP and Murphy's first conspiracy together against me! It was not even that bad -- but they had a blast doing it and I had to capture the "first" on camera knowing that there will be many more to come!!!

JP is loving preschool and Murphy loves his uninterrupted Mommy/play time. We love going to the Museum of Discovery, the Zoo, an indoor play place called The Wonder Place and swimming at the community pool. Our goal is to have JP full-up swimming by March – and he seems to be making really great progress with his swim classes…

We spent Saturday downtown at the water splash park…it’s right on the river and free! The boys loved it! Sunday we went to the zoo for my birthday…granted, it wasn’t the most spectacular zoo we’ve ever visited, however, it had funny monkeys and that is all that really matters, right?

Thank goodness for iPhones – they make taking pictures of the kiddos so much easier! Until next time…enjoy the adventure!

Settled in...and loving it!

Here are some pics from the past 2 weeks. We are all settled in and, now that the weather has cooled off (slightly), we are really loving Little Rock! Between the Museum of Discovery (a Children's Museum), an awesome indoor playhouse, swim lessons, the Little Rock Zoo, kayaking in the lake in our backyard and good ol' "Southern Hospitality" -- we really do love it here! (Don't worry, we're still itching to get back to Southern California in March!)

Have a great Fall Y'all! More pictures to come soon!

The Glynns have resurfaced!

Hey everyone...my apologies for being MIA all summer! As you know, we packed up our house shortly after the last post (mid-May) and did not receive our household goods until Monday. Yeppo...three months in transit! Despite not having our stuff...we've had lots of fun in the midst of all our moves!

Here are some pics from when we first arrived to LA. We spent a month in CA hanging out with family, celebrating the fourth of July in San Diego, and visiting Matt's new C-130 squadron. The tour of the plane was pretty cool...in one of the pics of the plane, you will see a little blurp at the top -- that is JP waving out of the top of the airplane. Needless to say, he had a blast! While in Moorpark, we also spent an afternoon at the Reagan Library. The boys loved seeing the Air Force One, the Helicopter and all the cool pictures! It's quite the sight!



The Murphster Walks!

This next video is of Murphy on his first day of walking. It's too cute... I have always been told..."Don't worry, when he finally gets going, he's just going to take off!" With Murphy, that couldn't have been more true! His first day walking he took nearly 20 steps and he hasn't stopped! You can tell he loves being able to keep up with JP like a big boy!



Big Bear and a trip to the ER

In late July, the boys and I went up to Big Bear with my parents for a relaxing weekend in Big Bear. JP loved his monkey balloon hat...Murphy wasn't too sure about his Elmo hat! After getting back to LA, we then had a fun trip to the ER. Like all good mommies, I dropped JP on his head (and I'm not kidding!) I tripped over a dog gate at my parents' house and dropped him straight on to his head. Of course, everything is fine, but I was a little worried as the bump quickly grew into an egg! A proud Mommy moment for sure!



Fun with the Cousins!

One of the best highlights from our summer was watching JP and Murphy hang out with their cousins -- Lillie (almost 6), Emilie (3), Brodie (2) and Maggie Mae (2 months -- she waited for Auntie Megan...I was finally able to be there for one of their births!). Yes, when they are all together, it is a small circus -- but they are hysterical and truly love being together! We can't wait to be back in March so that all of them can be together again! These pictures are at my Mom's house as she keeps them all busy making brownies!



Making Our Home in Arkansas!

The boys and I arrived here last week. Yes, it is unbearably hot and humid...but that aside, we have an AWESOME set up here! We have chosen to live on-base for the next 6 months. Our whole set-up is all about convenience. Our home is a great one-story house (money when you have a new walker in the family!) with a HUGE backyard that has a lake in it. Go figure! We have our kayak here....so it's fun to take JP out for a quick trip around the lake when Matt gets home. JP has already started at a nearby PreK program and loves it, the base is HUGE and everything is just out our door. We know that Arkansas doesn't have a big draw...however, please know that we have a guest room ready and waiting for anybody who happens to be passing through!



P.S. -- Don't you love the boys' fashion!!! This is what the Glynn family looks like when we are chilling at home. Throw fashion out the window and just have a good ol' time!

The Murphster's Scoot...

Murphy can crawl (though that is a rarity) -- yet has decided to resort to scooting across our tile floors to save his knees. I thought I would capture it on video before he takes off walking soon!

JP sings Happy Birthday to Auntie Mollie...

We were having technical difficulty with the audio....hence JP yelling into the camera :-) He was a little shy on the phone yesterday, so we thought we'd give it another shot!

We can't wait to sing to everyone in person very soon :-)

Happy 1st Birthday, Murphy!

I know everyone says this...but time has flown by this past year! I'm in disbelief that Murph is already 1 year old!!! It has been so much fun watching his personality develop and even more fun watching him interact with JP. I can tell that they will grow up to be "best buds"!

We spent the morning with our Friday playgroup buddies...Murphy loved eating his cake (though he was rather careful with it) and enjoyed playing with all of our friends. We're heading off to the pool this afternoon to continue Murphy's birthday fun so that the boys can splash around for a while!

Here's to a year filled with many firsts Murphy -- We love you!

Keukenhof -- finally!

After six years of saying I wanted to see the tulips, I finally made it happen. With Matt in the states, I figured it was as good a time as any to get away for the weekend (Matt has no desire to drive 4-5 hours each way to look at tulips!) The boys were awesome on the trip...10 hours in the car, and barely a peep was made...the Freeborns were tons of fun to travel with, and Willem and Mariann's apartment in The Hague was perfect! Unfortunately, the weather made for a pretty disappointing trip :-(

Wind, rain and 40 degree weather + not a lick of rain gear = miserable experience at the Keukenhof! You live and learn, right? I think Murphy's face says it all -- poor thing, it was torture for him!

With that said, all the flowers truly were stunning! I would go back in a heartbeat -- just next time I would reschedule if the weather wasn't looking great. Despite the bad weather, the pictures still capture the beauty of this place -- truly a wonder to be seen! Enjoy!

Bonn Marathon!

After months of training through all the elements, we trekked up to Bonn for our much-anticipated half marathon (Megs) and marathon (Matt). The weather turned out to be too nice for us (is that possible??) -- yes, we hadn't trained in heat and sunshine at all for the last 4 months, and so we found ourselves not hydrated enough to brave the elements. (I know, once we return to LA, this will be "normal" -- but until then, 75-80 degrees is a scorcher for us!)

We had a BLAST! The boys loved cheering us on from the hotel balcony (we even got lucky and were upgraded to the Presidential Suite...not too shabby!) and Matt and I loved the whole experience. (Being able to train together made it a lot of fun!) You can tell JP was anxiously awaiting Matt's arrival at the finish line :-)

We are enjoying some much-deserved rest right now...but I'm sure we will dive back into the training for a new race once the dust gets settled in CA.

Enjoying the sunshine...

Though it may have been short-lived...we enjoyed getting out and enjoying the nice weather the past couple of weeks (it is now back in the 40s with lots of wind :-)). JP is loving his big-boy bike, known in Germany as "Puky bikes" and Murphy is just happy to be in the mix!

April Pics...and a new look!

Once again, we find ourselves almost at the end of the month! Where did April go? The weather is nice (hence JP sporting his uber-cool sunglasses), so we have been spending tons of time playing outside and going for walks!

Murphy has finally sprouted 2 teeth and is getting rather efficient at his "scoot" across the room...but is still showing no desire to pull himself up and start walking! Given our stairs in the house, I will gladly wait a few months until we have moved out of our house :-)

JP's vocabulary is growing by the hour. The things that come out of his mouth are so funny...the 3s are proving to be a great age so far!

Matt and I are off to see what we are made of in Bonn this weekend to run our long-anticipated marathon (half-marathon for me). Despite having it out for us throughout our training, it looks like the weather is going to be perfect! We have run through the snow, hail, hurricane winds, rain, volcanic ash...and now we could get sunny skies and 65 degrees -- how perfect is that!?!? We've always said that the marathon will be the "beginning of the end" -- it's crazy that it is already here! We'll be in CA before we know it :-)

And lastly...a new look for our blog for both Spring and the new chapter we are about to embark on. We can't wait to see what is in store for us in CA! Enjoy...

Where did March go?

Hard to believe that March has come and gone! This month was filled with many milestones as JP turned 3, Murphy became mobile (in his own scooting sort of way) and got his first tooth!

Given that the weather has somewhat warmed up (though we're not out of the clear yet...it's expected to snow again on Thursday -- seriously??), we went out for many family hikes (especially loving the hike up to Burg Ramstein). We also enjoyed having Oma here to gather leaves in the backyard and read many stories to JP (JP was in heaven!). We spent a lovely weekend with our Dutch relatives -- Matt's grandfather's first cousins who still live in Holland filled with hiking and yummy food. We are so thankful that we have been able to spend some time with them before going back to the states.

JP loved his birthday...we celebrated it the entire week! His Thomas the Train cake was definitely the highlight of his party -- he loved it!!! As you can see...the boys have too much fun together! We are loving watching them interact more and more. I especially love Murphy's victorious smile as he successfully reaches JP's toys. JP isn't too thrilled about his new-found mobility...but he sure loves all his news tricks! (High-fives, waving, making noises like an airplane, uh-oh...it seems like a new one crops up everyday!)

And lastly...we have run, run, and run some more!!! Matt is now averaging 55 miles a week and I am averaging 30-35 miles a week in preparation for our marathon/half-marathon next month!!! Though the weather has tested our dedication....both of us have enjoyed the training (we'll enjoy a break too!)

Enjoy the pics...the countdown has officially started for our return home in June. 86 days and counting!

Fasching 2010...didn't disappoint!

Yet another Fasching celebrated in Germany (Germany's version of Mardi Gras) -- and, once again, it did not disappoint! We are always amazed at the simplicity of the event -- dress up (both kids and adults) and have candy thrown to the kiddos and alcohol to the adults while watching a parade of happy drunks go by in front of you. In a matter of 20 minutes -- the kids have bags filled to the top with candy, chips and popcorn and the adults are loaded. It's truly a sight to be seen -- not to mention, EVERYBODY participating is VERY happy! (Matt was a hot "Zorro" in a costume that was probably designed for a 10-year-old :-) and JP was his favorite...a lion!)

Snowed in...

And loving it (okay maybe it's driving Matt a little stir-crazy!) No joke...the German government has nearly run out of salt for the roads, so they have drastically reduced the number of roads they will service. Apparently, Orenhofen is not at the top of their priority list! So...we're stuck at home...but loving it none-the-less!

Here are some pics of the snow here this weekend in Orenhofen. We are relishing in it...knowing that our "Snow Days" in California will be few and far between!!! Chance and Lucie LOVE running in the snow, JP and Matt love building snowmen (even if they are a little PG-13 rated) and going sledding -- we have one happy crew here today!

JP with Jana and Lena...

Jana and Lena are like cousins to JP. They are so sweet with him and JP LOVES the attention! (Can you tell "updating blog" was on my to-do list today???)

From Jana, Lena and JP

JP and the A-10

Here are two pics of JP sitting on Dave's A-10 at his fini flight. Dave and Megan are leaving here next week (so sad!), and so the boys and I went out to the flight line to watch Dave finish his last flight at Spang. JP was so amazed being out there -- thought Dave getting sprayed with water was very funny -- and LOVED sitting on the gun at the front of the A-10.

From Dave's Fini Flight

From Dave's Fini Flight

Murphy's giggle...

Full belly and all!!! Nothing compares to the belly laugh of a baby... Don't worry -- we intervened to make sure that JP didn't chuck Murphy across the room...but obviously Murphy wasn't too phased by it! (Sorry about the quality...it was taken with our camera which is way too old!)

Brotherly love???

Here are some pics of JP and Murphy having some "bonding" time. (Video to follow) Murphy LOVES all interaction with JP, even if it does get a little rough at times!

Matt's trip to Greece....

This is definitely one of the perks that Matt will miss once we get out this summer... Boss says, "We need someone to fly a jet back from Greece...and oh, by the way, you get to hang out there for a couple of days just to take in Athens." Needless to say, he had a great time taking in the sights and resisted his temptation to jump the waist-high fence preventing him from taking a lap around the true Olympic stadium.

Christmas 2009 -- one month later!

Here are some pics of the boys on Christmas morning... Better late than never, right??? Murphy is sitting on a special blanket the Nana made for his first Christmas -- a gift she has made for each of us, and now all the grandkids too!