Goodbye United States!!

Today is the day we have been waiting for all year- we are finally getting on the plane and moving to SPAIN!!  Although I am regretting not learning Spanish prior to boarding, I pray we will be able to learn the language fast and embrace the culture we are about to experience.  

That is a LOT of stuff!!!

Waiting for Steve to come back from dropping off the rental car:

Waiting to board to our flight to Texas

Liam playing in between the seats:

Just before we left San Diego...

Our flight left San Diego late leaving us very little time to get to our connecting flight that took us to Madrid and of course, we were the very last row in the plane. Once we landed in Houston, we literally had to run to the shuttle, go to the international terminal which was miles away (or so it felt) and run to the gate. Luckily they were waiting for us (we were the last ones on the flight).

Madrid: here we come!!!

 

In Madrid we also felt a bit rushed. We landed after a long 10 hour flight to rush through customs, maneuvor our way through the Spanish airport. Once we finally arrived to the gate taking us to Jerez, we could breathe... but not for long, we only had about 20 minutes before we were on our last flight of the trip.

After a full day of traveling, waiting to board to Jerez (pronounced: Jereth), these kiddos were amazing~

Almost done:

 

We left San Diego Monday morning and arrived in Jerez Tuesday afternoon.  What a long trip- but so worth it!!!  We are finally here and love what we see so far. 

Last few days in California

Wednesday Steve went surfing in the morning so the kids and I walked down to the beach to see if we could get a few pictures... they are not the best but oh well.

Thursday Steve went up to Boise, Idaho to spend the night with his grandmother and Aunt and Uncle and the kids and I headed up towards Temecula to spend the afternoon with friends we made in Charleston.  It was so nice to be able to have so many friends that we do not speak with often pick up like no time has past at all.  That is how it felt going over to Jen Lehman's house for the afternoon. 

Although the last time I saw Jen, Morgan was only a few weeks old and she was still pregnant with Jake, I felt like I was with her yesterday.  

After hanging out and having lunch at their place, we walked over to their community pool and let the kids run wild.  Not only was it about 200 degrees outside... their community pools were amazing.  They had one pool for lap swim and playing, one pool for water slides, a kid/baby section, and hot tubs.  I would live there if it was not in the middle of the desert!!

Jake

Aydin doing a hand stand...

Shelbie, her boyfriend and Liam... I am so glad she came with to the pool because she was amazing with Liam (and I didnt have to get in)

 Throwing him back and forth.. although it was more like pushing him through the water... he never got air :)

 Morgan

 Me and Jen

 Shelbie took Liam down the water slide... and he LOVED it!!

 Picking flowers...

 Aydin

Friday we picked up Steve from the airport and chilled- I was not feeling well and Steve was a bit tired from his trip. 

Saturday Steve went to get a haircut and guess who followed in his footsteps??  AYDIN!!!

All summer long people have been asking him to cut his hair and he would not budge but when Steve went down to get his hair cut, Aydin decided he needed one too.  He did not get as short as he intitally said he was but when he finished, it was hard to recognize him!!

Before:

During:

After:

Today is our last day in the states!!  Can you believe that we are actually moving to Spain tomorrow?  I cannot.  I thought this day would never come...  Today Jen, John (her husband), Shelbie and Jake came to Coronado for lunch and to hang one last time.

Morgan and Jake deep in conversation

 Steve and John

They came back to the hotel to swim for about an hour before heading home...

Aydin and Jake

I love this picture...

 Pull ups on the bar... crazy kids

Even though we were suppose to hang out yesterday, I am so glad they came down to say goodbye.  I love this family and am so grateful that we have remained in touch after all these years.

After they left, we packed a bit and then had Joe and Debbie stop by to say goodbye.  We ended up hanging out on the roof top (loved it up there).  I am so glad we had the few hours with them before we left the states.

(no pictures to add of their visit- I didn't want Joe and Debbie to think I was camera crazy even though anyone can tell I am by looking at my blog)