Well, here we meet again on this long-neglected, humble blog a year later.
Our family did some moving on up this year. Literally. In elevation. We moved 30 miles west of our old town, Reston, to our new, tiny, nestled-in-the-hills town, Round Hill.
This area is a much better fit for our family: quieter, slower-paced, a tight-knit community, great schools, and lots of outdoor activities. We already have a sweet, supportive group of friends. And it's so beautiful, that I'm constantly thinking, "I can't believe I live here."
We are loving our new house and neighborhood. It is absolutely full of children and families in our stage of life. There is a fenced in backyard with a trampoline and hammock that gets lots of use in the warm weather, and a big basement with toys and a WiiU for the cold weather. We sent all three kids to the basement to play after dinner the other night. It was PURE MAGIC to have that option! (The basement also has a nice guest room and bath for visitors. HINT, HINT.)
The rest of the year will be told in pictures:
Our family did some moving on up this year. Literally. In elevation. We moved 30 miles west of our old town, Reston, to our new, tiny, nestled-in-the-hills town, Round Hill.
This area is a much better fit for our family: quieter, slower-paced, a tight-knit community, great schools, and lots of outdoor activities. We already have a sweet, supportive group of friends. And it's so beautiful, that I'm constantly thinking, "I can't believe I live here."
We are loving our new house and neighborhood. It is absolutely full of children and families in our stage of life. There is a fenced in backyard with a trampoline and hammock that gets lots of use in the warm weather, and a big basement with toys and a WiiU for the cold weather. We sent all three kids to the basement to play after dinner the other night. It was PURE MAGIC to have that option! (The basement also has a nice guest room and bath for visitors. HINT, HINT.)
The rest of the year will be told in pictures:
(I
can't promise they're in order.)
This
past weekend at Harpers Ferry, WV. Our attempt at a nice family
photo.
Hiking
at our favorite spot, Cool Spring. We have since moved on to
scooters and bikes.
Another
favorite spot- Dirt Farm Brewery. We're not actually huge beer
drinkers, but we love the location, atmosphere and the friends that
hang with us there.
Sister
started preschool this year. This is her and G the first day.
It explains their current relationship quite nicely. She loves her
school, her stuffed animals, and peanut butter "swamiches".
Sister turned 4 this year and is as sweet and fun as ever. And
sassy. We turned on the sassy this year.
In
addition to becoming a team leader at work, Joe also became the Den
Leader of G's Cub Scouts. The previous den leader owned a
winery that he opened up to the Scout families. Joe does not
own a winery, so he is skating by on his charm and good looks with
the parents. Joe and G are having a great time together (camping!
whittling!) and look oh-so-adorable in their uniforms.
G
is thriving in third grade and making lots of new friends in the
neighborhood. Out here he has the opportunity to ride his bike
and make forts in the woods. His current great love, though, is Texas
A&M football. We couldn't be prouder!
Joshua
had a big transition this year when not only did we move houses, but
he got a new school, attendant, therapist, and church. He's
done fairly well over all, but there has definitely been a bit of
regression from it. He has learned to ride a scooter very well,
plays with Sister and G more often and just today was given a
communication device from school. It's basically an iPad with
an app that will talk for him at the beginning, but will also
encourage his own speech. *(Update- he's not sure he has any
use for an iPad that only says words) This is him with his attendant,
Chris. They are pretty great together.
Our
school's color run. We are so enjoying our new school. We
LOVE the teachers and community. I have been substitute
teaching and am really happy to be back in the classroom.
Our
previous home church planted a new one in this community a little
over a year ago. Being a church plant, we have had to jump in
and serve more (I'm singing again, for goodness' sake), but we are
having a great time and wouldn't have it any other way.
Joshua
hanging out on the back of Quin, one of his favorite children's church
workers.
I
am busy making our new house into a home. Of course I have lots of
projects for Joe. The biggest one so far has been a new,
bigger island. It turned out so well and I could not love it more!
I
got to meet up with my dear friends Mary and Betsy in Budapest in
February for a few days. Such a treat! Thanks again Mom
and Joe for making it happen.
Joe
got to visit our Stephensons in Norway on the way home from a work
trip. He had a little bit of fun.
Mostly,
we did a lot of this: spending time together, figuring out public
outings as a family, and laughing a lot.
Merry
Christmas everyone! Lots of love from our family to yours in
the New Year.
