Kindergarten!

Well, your first day of school! You are so excited and very ready for it. We visited last Thursday and met your teacher. I can't believe how grown up you are! Over the summer you have grown and matured. You have gotten stronger! You mastered the monkey bars all the way across. You became a great swimmer and you are a terrific big brother! You and Luke have really bonded since we moved. He is going to miss you while you are at school. I think you are most excited about riding the bus. You were actually angry with me last night when I told you I was picking you up this week. Of course I have been crying for a week. You are so confident that you assured me you would be ok. I am so proud of you and I do want you to grow up, but it just seems hard for me. You are an amazing boy and I pray for a great first year of school for you. I know you will quickly make friends and you are already a fast learner. You are already reading and sounding out words and spelling everything you can. I love you!

Week One

Week one in Huntsville, AL. We are actually in Madison, AL. It has all been so full of emotions that I'm not sure if it was a good or bad week. We had lots of goodbyes last week and were pretty emotional by Saturday night. The drive to the airport Sunday morning was better than expected, although that lump was certainly in my throat. The first leg of our flight went smoothly....security and check in was uneventful, even with one-way tickets. The boys were great on the airplane and we arrived in Dallas ready to ride the "train" and get on the final plane.

Of course it was too much to ask for a completely uneventful flight. Our flight had been cancelled...not just delayed. The first guy Jim asked said the other flight was full and we couldn't get on. We figured we'd give my college roommate a call and see if we could hang out with her. We called and she had a free Sunday afternoon! We decided to check at the main ticket counter and see the options for a hotel. Turns out they were able to get us on the 8:00 flight. We were so thankful Ali was willing to cart us to and from the airport so we didn't have to sit around for 6 hours. The kids had a much better time and I loved seeing an old friend and meeting her kids!

We landed in Huntsville, got two rentals, borrowed a pack n play and got milk and cereal for the morning. We finally got to bed at 11:30, unsure of what we had just done to our family.

Monday was spent at the grocery store, driving around a bit and trying to rest up. We all got the start of a cold and were pretty exhausted.
Tuesday we woke to find a beautiful, but cold, dusting of snow!! It was really wet and we knew it wouldn't last. Jim went to work and the kids and I hung out in the apartment. They have done really well and the apartment is good sized...three bedrooms and a living room/kitchen. For only having a few toys and nothing to watch dvds on, they have improvised well. Luke right away found the laundry basket and colored pencils and fashioned a drum.

Jim and I were definitely feeling unsettled most of the week. Not so much questioning our decision as I think the loneliness that we were expecting hit sooner than we thought. We know this will be a good move and we will eventually be settled and make friends.

Aidan started school on Wednesday and brought home lots of papers that he worked on. He did well and had a good day.

The rest of the days have been uneventful and we were very thankful to have been invited to dinner Thursday night by some friends with kids Aidan's and Luke's age. It was just what we needed to get through the week.

We have a renter for our home in California and that has been a huge relief. Everything is squared away in CA and now we are digging in to get things squared away here...doctor's, church, gym, pharmacy, bank....there are so many things! We close on the house friday and I know this will really be the start of our getting settled.

Oh! How could I have skipped meeting Aidan's t-ball team and having our first practice! Such fun to watch and meet new people. Everyone is very nice. I'm sure friendships will be formed.

God has been so gracious and we look forward to this adventure. I just want to be real and document the struggles with the joys. I'll post more with pictures soon.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AIDAN!

Happy Birthday Aidan! You are growing up so fast! You are such an amazing boy. You make me laugh everyday and you amaze me with your memory. You can quote many of your books word for word. I just told Daddy we need to harness that amazing memory for good...how much of God's word could you tuck in there? You are still as outgoing and friendly as ever! You continue to make friends at the park, grocery store and everywhere we go. Your friends at school are always excited to see you. You are a great big brother, too. Luke thinks you are the coolest thing ever and he tries to do everything you do. He misses you so much while you are at school and runs to the door when it is time to pick you up. You do not let him near your legos, though. He loves to have pillow fights with you on your bed and wants to be wherever you are. I pray you are always close.
You are still pretty easy going, although you are becoming quite the negotiator. Meaning, you don't like to be told "no" and you work very hard to get the answer you are hoping for. That is a daily challenge. You had another amazing year in soccer and are looking forward to T-ball in just a few weeks. You love school, although it is more the socializing that you love more than the learning. You have just gotten into Legos and I am amazed at how good you are at them.
You are still my cuddle bug and I love it. You continue to have a tender heart and are quick to offer a hug or encouragement. You are learning more about talking to Jesus and it makes my heart soar to hear you talk to him as your friend. You aren't so sure about heaven, though. You have a lot of fun here and are in no rush to live forever with Jesus. It is a lot to understand, so we just keep talking about it.
I love that you ask me to tell you the story of "the night you were born". You have been such a blessing in our lives and you fit perfectly! You have an amazing story with God's fingerprints all over it. I am so blessed to be part of it and to watch it unfold. You have the potential to do great things on this earth and my prayer for you is that you first trust God fully to lead you in those things. This journey keeps getting better and more fun. I know we have challenges ahead, but boy am I enjoying these days with you! I love you more than you will ever know and can't get enough of those big brown eyes! I love you to the moon and back.