Last Weeks of Summer Vacation and School Begins!

The summer has been so full that we have really enjoyed a few leisurely weeks of sunshine without commitments. We even continued to relish summer after school began. We did some more swimming:



Went to the zoo with Gina Owens and her family before they moved to Denver. Aren't they lucky? I will miss Gina so much! She has been such a wonderful and inspiring friend to me! I am grateful I can visit her when I go home to see my family!



We had some play dates, went skating and to the raspberry patch, and enjoyed being together.



We also have enjoyed getting back into school. The kids all love their teachers: Mrs. Kucera (Eve's), Mrs. Hanson (Sterling's), and Mrs. Kramer (Sheri's).



The only one who seemed unhappy with the adjustment was Christian. For the first few weeks he would say "E??, Ster??, Sheri?" each time they left the car to go into school. Poor little guy! Now he is my little buddy during the day and we enjoy going on walks, errands, and reading together.

Getting back into routine and having the kids productively occupied has also given me the chance to get the home ready to put on the market. More on that in the next post.

One other highlight I wanted to mention is the resuming of cooking club. Once a month I get together with my nearest friends and we take turns hosting lunch and sharing recipes of the dishes we bring. I sure have loved learning from these women! These girls have been some of my closest friends and supporters while we have lived here. I have learned so much from them. I have gleaned ideas about raising children in the gospel, teaching children, cooking tips, refinishing furniture, decorating, time management tools, healthy eating ideas, serving in the church, community events, trusted doctors . . .the list could go on! These women have been such an example to me through their commitment to God and their families! I will really miss them when we move! I wish everyone could have a group like this to be inspired by!

Camping with the Owens and Home Hunting

We were able to spend about 5 days regrouping in Omaha before heading on our next adventure. We headed down to Meramec State Park. Here we met the Owens, Eddingtons, and the Rowlands. They all arrived earlier and had floated down the river, which was an adventurous story for another time.
We enjoyed having some time to sit around the campfire, go on a hike, tour the cave, play outdoors, splash in the river, and catch up with old friends.




Another highlight was that Kristen helped to pull out Sheri's other top front tooth that was loose. Now we could call Sheri "Toothless".
Before:

After:


We had a great time and are very grateful that Kristen puts so much effort into planning these fun times together. I hope to be more like her in the future.

We stayed through Sunday morning and then left Sterling and Sheri with the Owens for the week so that the rest of us could go to Columbus, Ohio to search for a new home.

We were aware in May that Matt might have a new job opportunity coming. He began filling in as the Columbus plant manager beginning in June after we returned from Africa. We were about 90% sure that they were planning to offer him the position at this point and felt that July would be the best time to search for homes. However, Matt wasn't given a formal offer until July 28th. I had a lot of angst about whether our trip was premature and how long it would take for the whole process of moving to get underway. In an ideal world you put your house on the market in the spring and move before school starts in the fall. But in the real world these things take time. Sometimes this is a blessing and sometimes it brings challenges. In the end, it all works out, I suppose.

Back to our home hunt in Columbus, we stayed in a hotel for 5 days. I looked at many homes with a realtor, bringing Eve and Christian along for the ride. Eve was so helpful with Christian! I couldn't have done it without her. I think she also enjoyed giving her input. Our realtor joked that Eve would be a realtor someday. Each evening we would show our top 3-5 homes to Matt, focusing on a new area each day. By the end of the week we had a good idea of what we had to choose from, although it would take us a few more weeks to finally settle on a home to put an offer on. We drove home through Illinois, picking up the other 2 kids. (Thank you Kristen!) We were happy to be done traveling for a while! Matt, on the other hand, continued to travel back and forth to Ohio for work. Coming home on weekends became less frequent. Still, we felt very blessed by this new opportunity, especially since Matt will not have to travel with his new position once we are established. We decided to put the kids in school here in Omaha until everything is in place to move to Columbus. July was certainly a, event-packed month!

A week with the Murrays

The week of July 13th-19th was spent in Denver. After Sterling's baptism, Matt flew back to work for the week and I enjoyed some time with my family. We didn't try to pack too much in. I mostly wanted to relax and enjoy my family.

On Monday and Tuesday Jennifer and I went to Annie's house to work on a 4th of July craft while we talked and let the kids play. Monday evening we had a delicious BBQ at my parents' house. Tuesday evening we enjoyed dinner at Cat's house and celebrated her birthday (the 12th of July). On Wednesday Annie and I took the kids to Lollipop park. The kids had a great time.


Wednesday evening we picked peas from my dad's garden. We also went to dinner at Mimi's cafe, and enjoyed some Pinkberry frozen yogurt.


Thursday, we met Annie at the park, and continued our craft at her house. Annie helped to pull out Sheri's loose tooth. Yay! In the evening we enjoyed a Mexican themed dinner at Jennifer's house which was very tasty.




Friday we went swimming with Catherine at her rec center. This was the first time that Christian got somewhat comfortable with swimming, although he still didn't want to be without me.


In the evening we enjoyed a Asian themed dinner at Annie's house and celebrated my birthday (the 19th). Everything was delicious, especially the peach crisp and Japanese ice cream! Here is Cat with our finished craft that I gave her as a belated birthday present.


Friday evening Matt flew into town and we drove back to Omaha on Saturday. We were so grateful for the time we got to spend with my family!


We are always sad to say goodbye! Until next time . . .