The Slogging Blog: 2007

Saturday, December 22, 2007

Thanksgiving 2007

Click on the picture above to see our photo album from Thanksgiving.

Saturday, December 15, 2007

We've got Christmas spirit! Check it out at...

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1429232125
http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1151336300

:)

Thursday, December 13, 2007

Christmas Wish List

The Marshall Family has a wish list for Christmas! It is as long as my leg. No, just kidding. Thankfully, it is actually quite short. I'll just go through what the kids want in order....

Colum: Lego people, props, & small vehicles

Joella: American Girl stuff, like things for her bitty twins and the Kit doll, plus accessories, from American Girl. Girly stuff from American Girl too. Do we see a theme here? A one year subscription to American Girl. I have a Gift Registry!

Liesl: American Girl stuff, like things for her bitty baby. I have a Gift Registry too!

Therese: Fisher Price buildings, people, & animals

Noni: Useful things from One Step Ahead. She has a Gift Registry!

We have a wish list at www.chcweb.com too. It is a list of things we would like for our school.

Wednesday, December 12, 2007

Christmas Letter

Here is a scan of our Christmas Letter along with the text below it... the real deal will be mailed out soon. Merry Christmas! Ray

December 2007

Holiday Greetings from the Heart of Dixie!

What a year of changes 2007 has been for us. We were sorry to leave Ridgecrest in June, where we had been living for the last two years. It was very nice to be surrounded by our extended families. Our latest child was born in the same town as her Aunt Vivian! Her name is Noni Clare and she was born on June 11, 2007. Summer and Mic helped us to drive our cars across the country from California to Alabama in July. (Mic also helped Ray to spend his money on a Bionicon bike). The kids had a lot of fun hanging out with their Uncle Mic, Aunt D, and cousin Giulia. Mic and Ray got to do quite a bit of mountain biking. (If you're looking for a cool bike, check out Bionicon). We also took in some sights along the way. The more memorable ones? A buffalo farm in Kansas, Moab in Utah, and Graceland in Tennessee.

Since then, we have been exploring Montgomery. It is the capitol of Alabama and a place with a lot of things to do. The zoo is excellent, and we have been visiting several recently born baby animals a lot. There is a fun children's art museum. The city also has a riverfront where they hold free concerts and shows. We took a historical trolley tour of downtown Montgomery and also walked around Old Town Alabama. Those are just a few of the fun things we have done. We took in a ballet show of A Christmas Carol. The kids really liked that a lot.

We have several firsts to celebrate in 2008. Joella will have her First Communion. Noni will have her first birthday. Ray will have his first master's degree (and his second hopefully). We look forward to exploring many of Alabama's sights for the first time and to yet another move courtesy of the Navy. The next move should not be as far, and will be to a place where we will be surrounded by friends. Which is the next best thing if we cannot be near family! Ray's next duty station will be NAS Oceana, VA. This will be our first time living in Virginia! Like I said, a lot of firsts for us next year.

Please check out our slogging blog every once in a while to stay up to date with the Marshall Family. We will try to post pictures and entries at least once a month. Here is the website address: http://sloggingblog.blogspot.com. Feel free to post comments. We WANT to hear from you!

An interesting tidbit for this holiday season: In 1836, Alabama became the first State to recognize Christmas, which finally became a federal holiday in 1870. Good on ya, Alabama!

Saturday, November 17, 2007

Noni's 1st Halloween

A Pea in the Pod

Slog Blog #2

Hmmm.... does anyone read the blogs? Check out the pictures? I was kind of hoping that some people would post comments or feedback. Anyway, we're getting ready for Thanksgiving. We had our first Thanksgiving meal tonight. It was yummy. Our kids had fun playing with all the other kids that came. It's always fun to get together with all the other families from Ray's work. I have been running hither and yon... I didn't realize the magnitude of the planning that goes into making Thanksgiving happen. Nonetheless, the kids and I are looking forward to having grandparents visit us over this holiday week. We plan to keep busy with trips to the zoo, children's art museum, and the park. The day after Thanksgiving, we will break out the Christmas boxes and start decorating the house.... while listening to Christmas music! And we'll have a wrapping party and start sending the presents out. It feels so good to have the Christmas shopping done. Hey, don't hate me 'cuz I'm beautiful!!

Q. What do you call a genius at Alabama?
A. Visitor.

Saturday, November 3, 2007

slog blog #1

Thank goodness Halloween is over! The kids wore their costumes a total of 4 times and got to go trick or treating twice. At least we only have Thanksgiving and Christmas to get through before the year is over. The kids had a lot of fun celebrating All Saints' Day along with Halloween. We carved a baby pumpkin (complete with bonnet and pacifier) as well as a pumpkin to bear the sacred heart image. Joella went as Saint Ursula and Colum went as Saint Tarsicius for an All Saints' Day party. We are making fast work of the candy in the house. I don't think we'll make it through the week before it's all gone!! We're all doing good here in Montgomery. Haven't had a chance to get out of Montgomery much because it seems like there's always something or other that we feel obligated to do during the weekends. Hopefully that will change once the holiday season is over. I can't believe it's already the holiday season. I asked Sears Portrait Studios when they would do their holiday pictures and they said they are already doing them. I said "But Halloween isn't over yet!" to which they replied, "We're trying to avoid the holiday rush." WOW. I'll be 33 years old this month. Monetary donations would be appreciated. J/K. I'll probably splurge by having Ray take me to the Cold Stone Creamery for my free ice cream. Where does the time go? Rays says I should make paragraphs but this is the way I think so we'll leave it just as it is.