Moran Family Fun

This year I was able to go to Youth Conference for the first time and it was amazing. The theme was Finding the Hero in You and there was lots of fun super hero stuff to go with the theme. It was spiritual and fun and I can't wait for the next one. The first day, as soon as everyone arrived, we were assigned to our groups. My group was the green group, better known as the A-Team. I didn't really know what the A-Team was or how they were super heroes. For the first part of the day we were at the softball fields on base playing games. When the games were over we took a group photo and then had dinner. We needed to get everyone to church for the variety show so there were lots of minivans waiting for everyone.  When we got to church for the variety show I found out that I was the third performer on the list.  I played a song from The Corpse Bride on the piano.  I think I did alright and only made a couple of little mistakes.  Before we went home ...

It back to school time again and I wanted to share a few photos of Natalie and Samantha's first day back this year.  Natalie is five so she's "starting" kindergarten even though she's been going to the kindergarten in town for two years now.  Her three week summer break was just long enough for everyone.  She was excited to go back to school and see her friends and have some fun. Samantha started second grade this year and was happy to learn that not only would her class this year be made up of all the same kids, it would also be in the same classroom and be taught by the same teachers.   I'm not sure what Natalie was upset about, but it was a rough couple of minutes for everyone when she did not  want to go to school. And then, three minutes later, she was perfectly happy and back to looking forward to school.  Welcome to our life with Natalie.  It's like a roller coaster, but less fun. Once the pictures were done she was ready to go and...

I know Madison already wrote about Space Camp, but I wanted to share some pictures I took of her graduation ceremony.  I was excited to see Madison and have a chance to really hear about her week.  She did call me every night, but she could only talk for a minute or two and then it was lights out.  I got to the Space Center early so I could get a seat near the front.  I was able to spend a little bit of time looking around before the ceremony began.  The graduation was held in the Davidson Center, a huge building that houses the Saturn V rocket that was used for the Apollo 11 mission. The rocket is suspended from the center of the ceiling and extends for almost the entire length of the building.  The Saturn V rocket is 363 feet tall (about as tall as a 36 story building) so there was plenty of room for displays.  Most of the building was taken up with displays about the Apollo space program.  I liked learning more about such an exciting time for...

This summer I went to Space Academy.  It was amazing experience and I really want to go again. There were five separate groups  at Space Academy and I was on Team Calypso. My team had seventeen kids between the ages of twelve and fourteen. We were all kids who got the military scholarship to come to Space Academy. The people on the team were: My awesome and amazing group!!!!! Top Row (left to right): Anna, Carson, Jake, Marissa, Weston, Josie, Cheyenne, Cassandra and Jake our afternoon team leader Bottom Row(left to right): Ben, Josh, Clay. Jordan, yours truly, Tessa, Ryan, Samantha On Sunday we quickly got in, got my stuff, dropped off my stuff by my bunk, and had orientation. In orientation we got with our group and James showed us around. We had a small presentation on our missions we were going to be doing during the week and went on the Mars Rock Climb. I wasn't wearing appropriate shoes so I had to sit out. Watching everyone climb the roc...

When we first moved to Germany one of the biggest stresses was getting a driver's license and learning the German rules of the road.  After almost four year here this time around, I like to think that I'm almost a native German driver.  I was worried about coming back to the States and not remembering how to drive in America.  For the first day or so I was a little timid behind the wheel but I quickly remembered how things work around here.  I also quickly realized what I like so much about driving in Germany and started wishing that some things were different in America.  Here's the things I miss about driving in Germany: 1.  Traffic lights that turn to yellow before they turn red AND before they turn green.  I really appreciate the warning that it's time to stop and the reminder that it's time to go.  I can't even tell you how many times I've been sitting at a light and feel surprised by the green.  A simple yellow light would help to get...

I felt as if I needed to spend one day shopping while I'm here.  It's not that I can't find all the things I need in Germany, it just that it's hard to find the things we need/want in Germany.  On base our only option is the BX and I have issues with the selection, prices, and customer service there.  Off base there are lots of stores but things are just different - different styles, different pricing, different currency.  Usually I end up ordering off the internet and hoping that I get what I was hoping for.  Shopping here in America is not only easier, it's cheaper, and there's more selection.  So I spent a whole day shopping, shopping, and shopping some more for clothes, school supplies, shoes, thank you cards, fabric, Christmas presents, and make up.  When I was done I realized that there was no way everything would fit in my one suitcase so I stopped by the post office and picked up boxes and customs forms.  Here's what I ended up with at the...

For my first full day alone in Alabama I decided that I wanted to explore the downtown Huntsville area.  I got out my trusty map of Huntsville and figured out how to get from my hotel to the tourist office downtown. I made it there without a single wrong turn (hooray!) and went inside to find some interesting things to do for the day.  The lady that works there was so friendly and helpful - I guess that's sort of a requirement for a job like that though.  She gave me a map of the just the downtown area and traced out the route I should take for all the things I wanted to see and do.  She also got me all set up with discounted entrance fees to the places I wanted to visit and told me about a free concert in the park that was going on that night.  And she gave me a free bottle of water.  I decided to leave my car there and walk everywhere I wanted to go that day so I set off with my map, tickets, and water. My first stop was the Huntsville Train Depot which...