A new way of life

A lot has happened since the last time I updated the blog.  For starters, we moved hundreds of miles away from our home in Rowlett, Texas to start a new chapter of our life in the Pacific Northwest.  But, let me back up and give a brief review of some of the other things that have happened.

Joel had a birthday!  He turned 6 this year, and for this birthday he wanted to invite his 2 best buds to Chuck E. Cheese.  We were hoping it would be lower-key than normal, but that place is a zoo on weekend afternoons!  His buds were able to come, along with Grandma and Grandpa, and he had a great time.  He got lots of Lego goodies, but more importantly, he had a lot of fun with his "posse".  Hopefully this link will take you to some of the pictures from his party.  And this link will take you to some more pics from his actual birthday, including a trip to Chick-fil-a to celebrate it's birthday, too.  (They opened in Rowlett on his first birthday.)

After Joel's birthday, Steve left to begin work at his new job in Seattle.  I joined him for the first couple of days to househunt, while the boys stayed home with Grandma.  Then I had to come home and the boys and I were alone for a few weeks.  During that time we went to the Rowlett Holiday Parade.  This is an annual trip for us and I will miss it!

We also celebrated Thanksgiving.  Joel's class did a special program and had a huge feast.  Evan's class had a feast, but I didn't get as many pics from it, and I think the ones I did get were deleted from the computer.

At the first of December Steve came back and we got ready to move.  It was hard saying goodbye to everyone, but it was also exciting to be setting out on this adventure.  We were living in an apartment in Seattle for the first few weeks.  At that point, we weren't sure if the house we were trying to get would work out.  While we were waiting and Steve was working, the boys and I played around Seattle.  It was a lot of fun and felt more like a vacation than a move.  One of the most exciting nights for Evan and me was our attendance at a Seattle Seahawks Monday Night Football game.  We also visited the Seattle Aquarium and the Space Needle.  Steve went with us one week to see Santa and his reindeer at the Issaquah Reindeer Festival.

We moved into the house after Christmas and the boys started school after New Year's.  So far, they seem to be doing really well.  They are making friends and seem to be transitioning well with the curriculum, too.  They like their new school, but still talk about their old friends sometimes, too.

They did get about a week off from school last week thanks to the big snowstorm.  Thankfully we did not lose power at our house, and we were able to get out a few times and play in the snow.  This was the best sledding we had ever done.  It probably helped that we finally got real sleds.

So, that is a brief summary of the last few months.  I have to admit that a lot of it is what I remembered thanks to the facebook photo albums.  We are starting to develop our new routines.  The boys get to ride the bus to school  Joel only goes half a day to kindergarten.  After I pick him up we have some time together before we meet Evan at the bus stop.  Then it is home again for snacks, playtime, and homework.

We have been working on getting the house organized and put together.  We are down to the last bits that need to be unboxed or stored.  Since we weren't sure which house we would be in, we brought some things that we ended up not needing.  We also picked up a few new (to us) things for the house.  These last few things usually end up taking the longest, but I am hoping to get it all knocked out this week.  Then I will have some pics of the house to share, even though it may not be in its final decorated state.

We didn't get our Christmas cards out this year, but I am hoping to get some Valentine's cards out this year.  Hopefully I will be able to post on here before then.  I am going to try to keep up the blog better this year.  Wish me luck!