Cummin(s) to America - get it?

Well its been a busy year blog fans, Stu has at last finished his Aerosystems Masters Degree (with lots of silverware but he wouldn't want me to say that) and because he is such a goodie two shoes, somehow managed to get promoted and achieve an overseas tour to none other than United States of America! My only achievement this year was to reproduce a mini Stu (not actually sure that is an achievement.... watch out world!). Harry William Joseph Cummins was born on 1 June and he has managed to slightly even up the numbers in our house. Currently he may not be joining us in America as the US Embassy will only issue him with a Visa if the application is accompanied with a passport style picture with his eyes open, head straight, no supporting hand on show and no facial expressions. Stu continues to brief him but so far his performance has fallen shockingly short of Embassy requirements.... pictured below is Eloise doing her best to impress the US Immigration Dept. This was the result of 5 mins of non-smiling practice and peels of laughter!

So here's what we know: Our personal belongings are being shipped next week (the lady at the MOD helpline genuinely explained to Stu that we could not ship children, in a very serious tone Stu replied he assumed that it was due to the restrictions on shipping food and the lady responded with... well yes that is the case but you can't ship fluids either!) We are flying to DC on Friday 8 October and we plan to spend a couple of weeks in a hotel near Naval Air Station Paxtuent River where Stu will be based for the next three years. Our plan is to take over Stu's predecessors house so we hope if this all comes off that we wont have to stay any longer in a hotel than is necessary. The house we hope to live in is in Leonardtown and has a fully furnished basement flat so we look forward to seeing as many of you as possible. Stu says our Austrian friends need not fear, it has its own patio doors. From what we can gather we are situated 1 hr south of DC between the Chesapeake Bay and the Potomac River so plenty of crabs, oysters and lobsters... much to the girls' delight! We are very excited about starting this new chapter in our lives and can't wait for the pre-move admin nightmare to end. Keep y'all posted x

PS Stu says after we move the FOD will be re-instigated due to public demand.