Well, we're now the proud owners of a home in Ballinger, Texas, for what it's worth. We spent the last few days there waiting for the loan to close so we could dot all the i's and cross all the t's. Now we're driving into Dallas and will probably be heading north in a day or two.

The house is a turn-of-the-century structure with a second floor bedroom and bath (a perfect guest room). The first floor has an entryway with a fireplace and the staircase and opens into the dining room on one side and the livingroom on the other. It has some unique spaces and tall ceilings and mostly hardwood floors. It also has a porch that wraps around the front and one side. Ok, I made it sound pretty good, but it does need some TLC, updating, and repairs, but we're looking forward to the challenge. And if any of you are looking for a challenge, by all means, come down for a weekend and we'll give you all the challenges you need.

Why Ballinger, you might ask. Well, it will make a good home base for us since it's centrally located between our 4 boys, our Mom's, and our friends in Snyder. It will be a good place to relax when we're not on the road and to have more time to spend with everyone.

I should have taken some pictures while we were there, but that will have to wait for another time as we needed to get back on the road as soon as possible.

Doug is in his second week of preparation with his unit in San Antonio and will head to Washington on the 24th for a final orientation before deployment to Iraq in mid-march. His unit should be overseas for 6 months, then will be back stateside on a base in Florida before coming back home. Please keep him in your prayers for protection and a safe return.

Everyone else seems to be doing fine. We talk to all the boys regularly, as well as Tamara, Heather, and Ashley, but don't get to see them nearly as much as we'd like. Maybe that will change with the new home base. We love and miss you all and hope to see you soon.