Getting settled in Mississippi

So here we are, and we're enjoying our newest adventure.  Who would have thought that we would end up in the South?  Well, I am surprised to say but it is really great so far, and it already feels like home.  There are the nicest people around (and I might note, quite a few members of the church in our neighborhood too, which I wasn't expecting), beautiful scenery, good parks and family entertainment, neat history sites and architecture, and amazing food (though if I keep eating the way I have been I will be doubling in size shortly).  So here are some pics from MS, and a tour of our house too.

Don't worry- it's not a real gator. We were at our favorite restaurant The Shed, with some neighbors and the kids found this.

Goodbye Nevada, and hello Mississippi. The kids were having fun with our old address labels. 

Family pic on the very closest beach to our house, just a few minutes away.

We went to and art fair in our neighboring town of Ocean Springs. Don't you love the fountain?

The Biloxi lighthouse. Only this and one other survived hurricane Katrina out of twelve lighthouses.

I love the old colonial houses along the beach.

It's crazy, but sometimes you only see a sidewalk and a plot where a house used to be because it was destroyed in the hurricane.

Or stairs leading up to a house, but no house.

Trees everywhere! Here is the street that our church is on.

Beautiful sunset over the back bay, right by our house.

Eating fried catfish (& biscuits, yams, coleslaw, fried shrimp, fried chicken, fries,hush puppies) at a yummy restaurant called Aunt Jenny's.

A picnic up by the back bay of Biloxi.  This is Marina park & it's on base, and a minute from our house.  Side note: we went to a BBQ for the new interns and their families here, and along with normal food items, they had 40 lbs of crawfish with jalepenos!

Marina park.  Do you see Will?

More of the marina.

Here's the view as we come around the corner from the main loop on base to our house...

...and here is our house!  The one on the right.  We're on a corner, so our neighbor's driveway and front door is on the other street, and the house is connected at the garage only.  Can't hear a peep.

and we LOVE our new neighborhood!  There are parks everywhere, and kids everywhere, and it's nice and quiet too.

...and here is our house!  Nice and spacious. 2150 sq feet to be exact. 

Anyone that came to our last home knows that we had the smallest little space on earth for our kitchen table, so this is a real treat to have lots of room to spare now!

Family room.

I finally have a front room! I always wanted one.

The boys' room

Claire's room

Our room. It also has a massive walk-in closet, and a bathroom with double sinks.

Extra room (Toy/guest/craft/music/study)- everything we want it to be!

Super excited to actually have a nice big laundry room now, with nice new appliances to match.

Downstairs bathroom.

Nice covered patio in the backyard.

Here are the boys with some of their things they made at the library, and art center here on base.  I think I'm going to have to find a place for dozens of painted ceramics, because every time we go to pick up a completed project, they beg to stay and paint another.

We love our new house! We just need to finish putting stuff up on the walls, and unpack the last couple of boxes, and we are done!

This was on a walk in our neighborhood, we were exploring one of the many docks on the back bay.

This is the hospital where Blair works, in the middle there.  I took a picture across the bay as we were coming back on the freeway from somewhere.

another angle

Captain Curtis wears his dress blues to work on Mondays.

Here's the view as we come out of the main exit on the base.  Beach Blvd is the street you have to turn on, and that is the ocean right ahead.

The kids love the beach!  Here we were with some neighbor friends.

Claire is getting used to the sand.

You can't beat a park with an ocean view either.  So tranquil.

A little water park in Ocean Springs we went to that reminds me of toon town.

My mom was here for just under a week, and helped us get settled a bit.  We went exploring and found a dirt road in Ocean Springs out to see  a less traveled view of the ocean, and the boys were checking out crabs scurrying all over. 

Here was my mom with the boys a different day back in Biloxi.

See the casino in the background? We can't get away from it! We're still in a gambling town. That's the Beau Rivage, owned by MGM.

Love it!