Our last night in Tortola

We saved a few cupcakes for a small birthday celebration at home with Chip the night before we flew to the States. Am I insane for flying on my first child's 1st birthday - I say yes!!!! We fortunately had help from Chip's mom the last week of packing in Tortola - and she flew to as far as Dallas with Lindsay and I on July 20th. It all works out - Chip flew back to KC a few weeks later, and within a month we closed on our house. It sure has been a whirlwind!!!! Thanks Grandmother for helping in the BVI as we packed!!!!! Sorry Lindsay got you sick - but I hope you enjoyed your time with us!!! Good Bye BVI - we have many fond memories!!!!

Lindsay's First Birthday - BVI

Lindsay unfortunately got sick the week prior to her first birthday - thus making party planning in addition to moving to ANOTHER COUNTRY - a little hard to do. The day before we flew back to the USA was July 19th - also the day before Lindsay's first birthday!!!!! We fortunately had our last Wednesday playgroup on July 19th - so we had cupcakes and a little birthday celebration with Lindsay's playgroup buddies. Here are some photos from her last playgroup, and some of the cupcakes!!!

4th of July

Just a couple of cute photos of the munchkin in her Red, White and Blue!!!!

So Long to Good Friends

Here are some photos of our last fun days with friends in Tortola!!! We miss you all very much!!!

Lindsay's last Daddy's Day at Playgroup

Fire trucks - yippee!!!!!! It was Lindsay's last Daddy's Day at her weekly Wednesday playgroup - and it was exciting!!!! The kids loved climbing up in the BVI firetruck, seeing the lights, and playing in the water from the hose. Here are some pics.

Returning to the BVI

Well, we had a great trip to the states, and it was our last time to fly back to the BVI as residents. Lindsay made friends with the flight attendant on the long flight (Dallas/San Juan) - and had a blast until we tried to put her in the overhead compartment!!!!



















It was going to be a hectic month of packing and saying good bye to our friends of the last six years. Neither Chip or I was looking forward to saying farewell to our friends, but the move back to the USA became increasingly more important as Lindsay was getting close to age one, and we wanted to be closer to our families. I think we always valued our families; but it wasn't until we had a family of our own that we truly understood the value of having family close, and the importance of the relationships your child develops with their cousins, uncles, aunts, and grandparents. Seeing everyone just twice a year just did not seem like enough anymore. SO - we decided to make the move. Don't get me wrong, there are other benefits to living stateside again, to name a few - better healthcare, school and shopping options. Also, the capability of purchasing a home without major waiting periods and getting put through the wringer at least a couple times. However, we sure will miss waking up daily to the ocean, swimming and boating, and most of all the friends we made.




















Here are a couple of photos of our half day trip to The Baths on Extreme Machine with Uncle Joe of Patouche Charters!!! The next posts will be of of our last month on Tortola.

Happy 50th Anniversary!!!!

It was my parents' 50th wedding anniversay on June 10, 2006. We threw a wonderful party for them, and it was a lovely evening!!! Lindsay behaved very well, and we actually took my favorite Harris family photo, since one we took several weeks after Lindsay was born.

Cheers to Mom and Dad!!!! We love you!!!

Fry Reunion at the Farm

Fran's sister Paula and her family were so nice to host a wonderful family reunion at the Fry family farm. The day was great, and the kids had an awesome time playing and exploring.
Here are a few of my best photos from the terrific day!!!

Our trip back to Dallas/KC

There were five major reasons for our trip back to Dallas and Kansas City at the end of May/beginning of June.

1. Chip looking for a JOB!!!!
2. Start the house hunting process.
3. Debbie attending a Child Life conference.
4. The Fry Family Reunion
5. Debbie's Parents' 50th Wedding anniversary

It made for a very busy, but very exciting trip!! The conference was good, Chip found a job, and we were excited about the houses we were looking at - even though we did not find THE ONE while we were in KC. I will do separate posts for the reunion and anniversary!!! Here is a cute photo of Lindsay, our international traveler, in her headphones.

Malibu Flies Part Two

Trying the photos again!!!
Yeah - my plan worked!!!!

May 2006 - Malibu Flies

Well, with our decision made to move back to the states, we had to figure out how to get Malibu there without inflicting too much psychological trauma on the dog who has never had any kennel time. We came up with a plan to fly her to Puerto Rico, spend the night, and then take a Continental flight (they have the best pet program) - directly to Houston - where a doting Grandmother and Pops would pick her up. Here are a few photos of Malibu's last trip to the beach on Tortola.

We were going to miss Malibu lots for a few months during the moving process, but we were also taking a trip back to KC and Dallas in May/June - so we only had a week between when she flew to Texas, and when we did. Here is Chip and Malibu at the airport, as well as a last Lindsay and Malibu cuddle session on our bed in Tortola.

I am remembering why I did not hurry back to blogging. It says it is uploading these two pictures - but it is not. I am going to go to a new post and see if that works!!!

We have returned!!!!!!

Sorry we have not blogged in so long - we made a major move back to the good ol' US of A, and are finally getting a chance to catch our breath!!!! Lindsay is asleep, Chip is watching KU football, and I get the very important job of trying to update the blog. We are going for a May to September - months-in-review - format here - so bear with me on the following posts!!!!
Cheers, Debbie