Happy Birthday, Olivia!

Levi and I can't believe our baby girl is now 4! She's getting to be such a big girl. We often joke that she's "four going on fourteen" because she can speak like quite the grown up young lady sometimes. :) I'm sure all parents think that their kids grow up too fast...it just doesn't seem possible that Olivia is already 4. Sometimes I catch a glance at her and just marvel at the budding young person she is - no longer a hint of baby anywhere. And while at times it makes me sad (well, nostalgic anyway), she's such a delight that it's hard to wish her to be any age other than she is at this moment...

Olivia is very loving. She is generous with her hugs and will often tell Levi and I "I love you" completely out of the blue. She picks flowers (weeds) out of the yard or the park to bring to me every time she's outside. She is happiest when both Levi and I are home. She loves to read books - either us reading the story to her or just sitting on the floor by herself and "reading" them, and we usually make weekly trips to the library to keep her supply fresh. She's one of the most athletic/energetic kids I've ever seen...I can't count how many people have commented on her ability to run far longer than most. She loves being outside. She loves to wear dresses and skirts with tights....and then play in the dirt. She is very excited about being a big sister, and often will hug my belly and tell me how much she's going to teach Caleb to do.

Olivia is a really good kid. I can't stress this enough. She listens, she's polite, she does what she's told 9 times out of 10. When she's having an off day, Levi and I almost don't know how to handle it because they're rare. :)

Okay...now time for pictures of her birthday party! We had it at a place called Inflatable Wonderland, which is basically a big room full of jumping castles. There were 9 kids from her class at school there, which was a perfect number of kids. She had lots of presents to open from both friends and family!

Her "theme" was Rapunzel. I'm not certain if that's her favorite princess, but I think it's safe to say she's ranked pretty high!

This cake was supposed to be chocolate with bavarian cream filling. It was white with raspberry filling...which we didn't discover until I started to cut it after she blew the candles out!  Luckily Olivia didn't notice, because she kept telling everyone it was chocolate. lol.

Doing the Hokey Pokey! It was the only dance she'd play along with.

Blowing out the candles after a nutritious meal of hot dogs, veggies, fruit, and Kool Aid. :)

Lots of kids having lots of fun. It was a great party!

Olivia, Daddy and Mommy love you very much, and thank God every day for giving you to us. :)

Austin: We've Arrived!

So really, it's been almost 2 weeks since we arrived in Austin...

(please note - I'm abandoning writing in the 3rd person, ie, writing about "the Jacksons" instead of "us," because it's too hard. :P Plus, you all know it's me, Charity, writing this blog and not Levi. Hee hee.)

Anyway. We left Nashville at the very end of June and made our way to Austin. Thankfully and luckily, Tim & Kathy bought us a Garmin GPS as a going away present. It was (and still is!) so helpful! It has helped us find places to eat, places to stay, the post office. pretty much everything. Every now and then it's wrong but most of the time it's indispensible!

We beat our furniture to Austin by about 5 days. Let me tell you, by the time it arrived we were VERY ready for it. Squatters, we are not. I never realized how much I loved our couches before I had to sit on the floor for nearly a week!

We really love our new house. It's so nice! Two story, with 3 bedrooms and a loft that we turned into an office.

The front door. Pretty stone! And a purple door. :)

 Office space. :)

Living & Dining room, as seen from front door.

As seen from the stairs...

Back toward the front door

Kitchen and Dining Room

Our neighborhood is definitely "suburbia" but it fits us. There is a community playground, a community pool, and an elementary right in the middle of it all! Olivia has definitely enjoyed all of that!

So now we're all settled, and are slowly exploring our way around Austin. In the midst of it all, was Levi's birthday! HAPPY BIRTHDAY LEVI!!! To celebrate we went to a fun restaurant on Lake Travis called The Oasis.  It was yummy food and an awesome view because (according to the menu) the restaurant is on a cliff about 400ft above the water. Definitely a place to take visitors!

And that's it!  Olivia and Kitty are waiting for visitors! :)