and we're back. pt I: exodus

Hi friends and family.  We've heard from a few folks who've lamented the drop in posts. I (David) take full credit for the lapse but plan to catch you up to speed on everything that's been going on in the past few months.

Unfortunately, the recap starts with some unfortunate news (don't worry it all ends well).  In early February I lost my job. It was a first for me, and it was devastating.  It sent me into a tailspin of sorts and the only way we pulled out was through the love, generosity and support of our friends and family.

Almost immediately, our friends rallied around us. The unfortunate timing continued in that it was also around George's birthday.  We decided the best thing to do for our family was to leave Bozeman and go to Colorado Springs to be with Ashley's parents while we weathered the storm.  We had a lot of help packing and moving, and threw a bunch of parties.

The parties were bittersweet because in such a short time we had developed relationships with people that are so dear to our hearts.  Bozeman is an amazing place, and me, Ashley, George and Ed were absolutely showered with love.

Here are some pictures from the parties (yes multiple, I think we had like three or four, no joke).

Ashley and her friend Ruth talking about which Rush Limbaugh novel moved them the most.

 Here's Ashley and a fewof her "gal pals" (her words, not mine... ok they are mine)

 George is   j  u  s  t   starting to get into super heroes.  He found this batman mask and we were getting a pretty convincing "Where is she?" out of him ala Christian Bale

 One of the many things we loved about Bozeman was that the people there were so family oriented. It is such a relief to be in a place where people have tons of kids, understand kids, and love them. George and Ed had so many friends - it was a great place to have a family.

 Here's me goofing around with some of my friends. Even though Scott (to my left) looks like he doesn't like me, I'm pretty sure he did. All of my facial hair aspirations where lived out vicariously through Scott.

 Our friends had kids within the same week that we had George. It is so fun to think of people having babies the exact same time as you. These little trouble makers were all born within a couple of days of each other and were getting ready to eat their cake (Neely, George, Abram)

 Here are the kids showing how old they are. Neely and Abram both displaying the different "3" techniques, George not quite mastering it yet. Note to self, practice this with your child before you take pictures of him and can't remember if this was his third or fifth birthday.

 What George lacks in finger dexterity he makes up with hearty candle-blowing out capabilities. He can definitely carry his own weight in any candle situation.

 Ashley looking particularly beautiful with some of her dearest friends. We love these people so much.

By the time this party came around I was pretty tired of "friend pictures" so I got a little goofy.

So even though our heart ached to leave Bozeman and we still have wholes in our heart about the whole matter - life continues to march on.  Before you feel too badly about this episode, I'd like to alert you to the fact that the next installment in this series will be about our free trip to the Bahamas.