Yes, we're still alive...

Every day I get on here and feel guilty because I haven't posted in a while. We have been in Falls Church for just over a week now, and everything is going great. Our ward is fabulous, and everyone at the kids' schools are really friendly. Of course, it took a little bit longer for Aubree to be enrolled because of her Diabetes and all the paperwork that is required, but it is all taken care of, and she's settling in nicely.
Aubree is the one I was worried about the most, but she is doing awesome! The kids at the schools here are either Foreign Service kids and won't be here long, or they are used to all the Foreign Service kids coming in and out. She is playing the violin in the band (the violins play the oboe music), and the band teacher wants her to join the jazz band to play the piano. Jazz band would be an after school activity and start in a couple weeks. There is so much more offered here than any other place we have lived.
Chris is loving school. They are studying ancient Egypt, and it's spilling over into art. He comes home so excited about school! There are lots of boys in our building, so he and Nick have plenty of playmates.
Nick is still in preschool 3 days a week at the community center. The first day we walked in, I introduced him to his teacher, and he was off! I don't think there is such thing as a stranger in Nick's world - there are only friends he hasn't met yet. He has gotten into an obnoxious loud, "I'm totally crazy" thing that is driving me crazy, and I'm hoping it will get old for him - fast. The joys of a 5 year old with no place to run.
The snow was pretty crazy when we first got here, but it is slowly melting. Nick has loved playing in it in the courtyard off our patio, but it isn't so much fun playing by himself. There is a park close by that the city dumped a bunch of snow in, but are now removing, so we're going to go check it out and let him get out some energy.
Mike is doing great in his language training. He's teaching us new words every night that he has learned, and I am trying to get a good handle on the alphabet. If you want to see and hear the alphabet, visit this website. I'm having to take Mike into work every day, since he doesn't start until 12:30, but we're hoping that his class will switch to morning so he can take the shuttle in. It's only about 15 minutes away, though, so it's not too bad.
We are starting to explore the area. Last week we went to the Great Falls Tavern Visitor Center with some friends. We saw a portion of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal that runs parallel to the Potomac River. It was cool to see the lock system they used. This Saturday we're going to learn how to use the Metro and visit a museum.
While we miss all of our friends and family, we love being together as a family again. We have some family coming this summer, but please let us know if you want to come visit us. We would love to have you!!!