I have been putting off this post for awhile (obviously).
Maybe because it officially closes this chapter of our lives.
A very fun, busy, friend-filled chapter.
There's a lot of things I missed blogging about,
especially those involving trips to family in Albuquerque.
especially those involving trips to family in Albuquerque.
Exciting news: we had family move within five hours of us!
We celebrated Thanksgiving with them and then when there was a baptism/baby blessing,
I took the kids out for the events.
Mine and Brendon's first road trip ever was to visit the Shirleys and it has been fun to have so many pit stops and sleepovers with their family over the years.
As for Lubbock, our last few months were pretty normal:
preschool for Henry and Maggie twice a week, play dates, playing at the park, visiting the library, etc.
Maggie started preschool in January.
She decided to be mute during school,
but she stayed without too much of a fight (after I handed her off to the teacher),
and she participated mentally and was very cooperative in doing the activities
(so long as it didn't involve talking).
Bless her teachers! They did so well with her.
Henry, on the other hand, loved his second year of preschool.
And when the school year was over, we were all happy not to have school in our schedule.
She decided to be mute during school,
but she stayed without too much of a fight (after I handed her off to the teacher),
and she participated mentally and was very cooperative in doing the activities
(so long as it didn't involve talking).
Bless her teachers! They did so well with her.
Henry, on the other hand, loved his second year of preschool.
And when the school year was over, we were all happy not to have school in our schedule.
During our time at home, we played in our awesome backyard a lot:
Henry and Maggie played in mud,
they introduced Hazel to the slide,
and Henry climbed our perfect-for-climbing tree.
Once school was over, we packed in as much friend time as possible.
We went to the parks, to Safety City, and had lots and lots of play dates.
{Hazel in her element, accompanied by her buddy, Landon.
Carissa and I timed these babies close together, making our similar families even more similar.
There's nothing like having a close friend to share such exciting life events with.}
{Grace loves Henry and although she's younger than Maggie, Henry adores her right back.}
We also went on a small (2.5 hour) roadtrip to Abilene zoo,
and reached a milestone with Henry losing his first tooth.
Brendon had a couple weeks off before we moved.
We tried to do something fun every day.
Sometimes Brendon took the kids to do something while I cleaned the house.
Brendon and I went out together to see some friends play jazz music at a nicer restaurant in town
(seeing our friends perform was on my bucket list),
Brendon and I took Henry and Maggie to the lake and played with paddle boards,
we all went to the lake and played on the "beach" with our friends,
we celebrated the fourth of July with friends,
our little family went to the drive in,
and we went out to eat a couple of times.
Brendon graduated from residency!
Hallelujah!
For some reason they thought it would be a good idea to have all of the family come to the nice, fancy dinner followed with talking and awarding and presenting.
You can tell from these pictures how great my children did at holding still for a 30 second picture.
They did even better during the dinner.
Let's just say all the parents that brought kids were out in the hallway for a majority of the meeting.
Brendon loves these things as much as the children do.
But it was an official "W'ere Done" celebration.
And it feels good to be done with training.
{During the presentation}
{Family photo fail}
For our final hurrah, we had a large gathering of dear friends for dinner at our house
(because it down-poured right when we were all supposed to gather at the park).
We ate and mingled with our many friends who became like family.
It was the perfect ending to our time in Lubbock.
It was hard leaving so many great people behind.
We loved our babysitting co-op group (with four kids Henry's age),
my workout buddies,
the plethora of children to play with at home or the library or the park,
our go-to friends for everything from ingredients to babysitting overnight to a great chat to emergency babysitting
(I guess it sounds like we had a lot of great babysitters),
and, for Brendon, his associations at work.
What a fun ride it was to be in Lubbock.
I loved it from the first day,
thanks to a sweet friend who showed up at my door and immediately invited me to do something.
It was the perfect place for our family during residency.
A place where lifelong friendships were made,
our family grew in number and strength,
our marriage relationship tried, tested, and triumphant,
and where we grew closer to God.
Lubbock,
I miss you. Well, maybe not you but your people.
{Hazel in her element, accompanied by her buddy, Landon.
Carissa and I timed these babies close together, making our similar families even more similar.
There's nothing like having a close friend to share such exciting life events with.}
{Grace loves Henry and although she's younger than Maggie, Henry adores her right back.}
and reached a milestone with Henry losing his first tooth.
We tried to do something fun every day.
Sometimes Brendon took the kids to do something while I cleaned the house.
Brendon and I went out together to see some friends play jazz music at a nicer restaurant in town
(seeing our friends perform was on my bucket list),
Brendon and I took Henry and Maggie to the lake and played with paddle boards,
we all went to the lake and played on the "beach" with our friends,
we celebrated the fourth of July with friends,
our little family went to the drive in,
and we went out to eat a couple of times.
Brendon graduated from residency!
Hallelujah!
For some reason they thought it would be a good idea to have all of the family come to the nice, fancy dinner followed with talking and awarding and presenting.
You can tell from these pictures how great my children did at holding still for a 30 second picture.
They did even better during the dinner.
Let's just say all the parents that brought kids were out in the hallway for a majority of the meeting.
Brendon loves these things as much as the children do.
But it was an official "W'ere Done" celebration.
And it feels good to be done with training.
{During the presentation}
For our final hurrah, we had a large gathering of dear friends for dinner at our house
(because it down-poured right when we were all supposed to gather at the park).
We ate and mingled with our many friends who became like family.
It was the perfect ending to our time in Lubbock.
It was hard leaving so many great people behind.
We loved our babysitting co-op group (with four kids Henry's age),
my workout buddies,
the plethora of children to play with at home or the library or the park,
our go-to friends for everything from ingredients to babysitting overnight to a great chat to emergency babysitting
(I guess it sounds like we had a lot of great babysitters),
and, for Brendon, his associations at work.
I loved it from the first day,
thanks to a sweet friend who showed up at my door and immediately invited me to do something.
It was the perfect place for our family during residency.
A place where lifelong friendships were made,
our family grew in number and strength,
our marriage relationship tried, tested, and triumphant,
and where we grew closer to God.
I miss you. Well, maybe not you but your people.
