Today, 1 year ago, we closed on our house here in
Wheaton and started the next adventure in our lives. Wow, has it really been a year? In some case, I say it seems longer than 1 year, and then in other ways, it has flown by so fast. Here is a review of our lives this past year. Our boxes were delivered on November 4
th (Tuesday), also known as election day. Word to the wise, never move on election day if you actually want to watch the election - TV is not hooked up on day of delivery. The weather didn't bad here until the middle of January. All I can say, I have never been more cold than when it hit -26 degrees, folks that's cold. Snow stayed on the ground for 6 weeks, you didn't see anything but white everywhere. It was bitter cold outside. The cold stayed around until April. I have to say, January
thru March seemed to last a
LOOOOONG time. It gets dark around 5:15 and the sun comes up at 5:30 in the morning. That means that during this time, the boys get up by 6:30 - YUCK! They would burn off energy by running around the house, I don't recommend this, but we were needing something! April started with promises from other people that it would warm up. Well, it did a little and then the rain started to come down. The only thing I remember about part of April and May was lots of rain, I mean LOTS of rain. Everyone told us it was the coldest winter and wettest spring they have had in awhile. Thanks, but it doesn't help us get used to it! We left for Texas for 3 weeks in June and when we got back, we had a little warm weather. I remember a man telling me it was going to be a really hot day - it was 90 degrees, only 3 days in the summer got over 90. The rest of the summer was really pleasant outside. We rode bikes daily and played outside all day long. The fall hit very quickly and the jackets came back out. I have to say, I am really not looking forward to the cold weather yet, I don't think I have thawed out from last winter.
In some ways this has been the best experience for me and our family. I stayed home with the boys which is something I wouldn't have done before the move. Getting to experience this time with the boys has been challenging but awesome! Staying home with children is the hardest job EVER! I didn't realize this until I did it. We love our neighborhood and have met friends in it with children the boys age. We plugged into a new church. This fall I started a ladies bible study, another thing I would never have done before. I feel the Lord has stretched me this year with patience, reaching out to others, and being okay at being alone. I have had the hardship of
miscarrying a baby and then the long months of getting over it, and we have met wonderful people here that will be friends forever. In some ways this has been the best year with more time with my boys (2little, 1 big) and in some ways in has been the hardest year.
Carter loves taking pictures. This is his picture of his feet!
We have been busy getting ready to put our house on the market and getting/keeping it clean. We spent last weekend in Chicago enjoying the sites and watched the Miracle mile parade with 800,000 other people. We went swimming in the indoor pool after the parade. Word to the wise, never let your children drink a extra full cup of chocolate milk before the start jumping in the pool. After 10 minutes both boys managed to clear out the 15 people in the pool by throwing up IN THE POOL, yes, I said both of them! On a lighter note, Ryan and I also celebreated 7 years of marriage. He was so sweet to come home with flowers. He also left his wedding ring in his swim shorts in the HOTEL! Well, it only took 7 years to lose it!
