{"id":710,"date":"2012-03-06T14:47:00","date_gmt":"2012-03-06T14:47:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/2012\/03\/a-brief-family-update.html"},"modified":"2012-03-06T14:47:00","modified_gmt":"2012-03-06T14:47:00","slug":"a-brief-family-update","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/2012\/03\/a-brief-family-update\/","title":{"rendered":"A Brief Family Update"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hello friends!  I have a lot to talk about — but I need time to sit down and just do it.  Things have gotten pretty busy here…between my involvement in the base Spouses’ Club and Cub Scouts, I’ve been spending more time with community work than ever before!<\/p>\n

The boys started baseball a couple weeks ago (both boys), so that’s been keeping us busy too.  Their season will start after spring break.  No pictures yet, but I’ll get some soon, I promise!<\/p>\n

Both boys earned their Cub Scout badges in February.  We are so proud!<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
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Timmy’s face is painted as part of the ceremony for earning the badge.  The orange square badge is pinned on upside-down until he does a good deed.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

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Jacob’s face is painted too, but you aren’t really see it.  Jacob’s light-green badge is upside-down until he did a good deed.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

<\/a>I added one more layer to my already-crazy life, which I’ll write more about later.  Here’s a teaser for you:<\/p>\n

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Dave’s back surgery recovery has been continuing.  He was cleared at the beginning of February to resume exercise and he’s been slowly working back up to his Air Force fitness running requirements. I think he and Jacob could run a 5K together by May!  I’m hoping they can do the Sunset Stampede<\/a>!  The boys and I did the run last year<\/a> and it was a great time!<\/p>\n

If you are either Dave’s or my Facebook friends, you will already know about our latest diversion — a new car for Dave!  For those who might not have realized, not long after we moved to Florida, Dave began looking at a “fun” car to enjoy on his 15-mile U.S. Highway 98 commutes between Navarre and Hurlburt Field.  I had convinced him that our household budget would appreciate his waiting about a year, which he patiently did.<\/p>\n

Now that his back is feeling better, Dave is back to wanting to go out and explore the Florida panhandle.  I’m so excited to have my Dave back (no pun intended!)<\/p>\n

So we spent much of February shopping for a convertible.  Between a nearly $10,000 trade for the Prius, and Dave keeping his search to a used model, this turned out pretty reasonable.<\/p>\n

We looked at used BMWs, used Ford Mustangs and new Mini Coopers.  I want to thank my sons publicly for their tolerance of road tripping all over Pensacola, Crestview and Fort Walton Beach, test driving and sitting patiently while the grownups talked to the car dealers.<\/p>\n

And here’s the new car:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
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Dave was particularly interested in a 2011-or-newer Mustang V6 for its exceptional mileage.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

The very next day, Dave let me drive the new car with my friend Stephanie to Walt Disney World to run a half marathon (for another post), and after that weekend, the weather was absolutely LOUSY.  San Francisco-type fog rolling in waves from off the Gulf of Mexico for FIVE DAYS!  Starting this past Sunday, it’s been BEAUTIFUL and worth while to have a convertible.  We can’t wait till this spring!<\/p>\n

So there’s a brief update on our lives — keeping up with our jobs, the kids and our community.<\/p>\n

TTFN!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hello friends!  I have a lot to talk about — but I need time to sit down and just do it.  Things have gotten pretty busy here…between my involvement in the base Spouses’ Club and Cub Scouts, I’ve been spending more time with community work than ever before! The boys started baseball a couple weeks … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[],"tags":[23,174,35,21,178],"class_list":["post-710","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","tag-automobiles","tag-baseball","tag-music","tag-running","tag-scouting"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t