Recap - First Day of School 2013

My big girl started middle school this year.  Eek!  She is attending Sagewood Middle School here in Parker, CO.  She was very excited to start 6th grade.  Thankfully, Nora was here visiting on the first day of school so Shaye was able to have a super cool hairdo for her first day!  

Jaxson is in 3rd grade this year at Northeast Elementary School.  His teacher's name is Ms. Reini.

And my little Syd started kindergarten this year at Mountain View Elementary School.  It's not the same as what she was expecting in Texas.  Colorado does half day kindergarten.  So she goes to school all day on Mondays and Wednesdays, and half a day on Fridays.  Her teacher's name is Ms. Himpenstall.

So that left Paigey Poo!  She was going to be bored without Sydnee around, so luckily she was able to get into preschool at Little Blessings Preschools.  She goes Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays from 9-12. She has 2 teachers and they are both named Ms. Lisa.  I had to include all these silly pictures of her first day because it shows her personality so perfectly.  She's my love bug!

Recap - Kids Summer Time

The thing I was dreading most was taking Shaye away from her friends.  She had the perfect set up friends in Katy.  There were 4 girls who were all best friends and they were all friends of our best friends.  They were all great girls and had fun while being good for each other.  That alone may have kept us from moving if we had more of an option.  

We had a huge group of kids between all our close families.  They all got along and even if their ages varied, they played well together.  It was a fun summer for everyone!

Shaye and Lexi Peterson.

Brooklyn Robinson, Shaye, and Olivia Boyer at Nora's house celebrating Shaye's birthday.  The girls got to throw her a little party all by themselves.

Lexi Peterson, Shaye, Olivia Boyer, and Brooklyn Robinson

Paige was always the little fish.  She would be in the backyard swimming anytime somebody would watch her.  On this day she went out and was just putting her hands in and feeling the water.  It didn't take long before she just said forget it and got on the big step with her pajamas and laid in the water and played!

Emmy and Uncle Kyle came up on our last day to have dinner and say goodbye.   We definitely enjoyed being close to our families!

Brazos Bend was always fun for the kids.  It's a nature reserve that is famous for alligators.  The kids got to see several each time we went and on this trip they even got to touch babies alligators in the museum area.

Isaac Hudson, Isaac Peterson, and Jax

Recap - Summer Fun

We didn't have long, so we enjoyed our summer!  Summer in Texas meant swimming in the backyard, a few trips to the beach, and some exciting date nights.  

Jared Taggart, Sam, and Lance Boyer at the Robert Earl Keen concert in Houston.

Lazy days at the beach were the best!  The kids would swim or build in the sand for hours.  We would all sit and talk, swim a little, or take the paddle boards out.

Melissa Callaway, Kim Peterson, Me, Nora Robinson, Esther Boyer, Kim Taggart

Sam and Mark Peterson.

In the last weeks, we had a going away party.  Brian and Melissa Callaway were also moving at the same time as us.  We had a fun night of games and food and getting to reminisce a little.

Nora, Kim Peterson and I always went to Mario's yoga class together, so of course we had to get a picture with him!  In his class I learned to love yoga.  It was so challenging and I was finally able to get the mental focus that use to always make me laugh.  Working out with these girls was going to be one of the things I missed most.

Lance's famous olympics!  This was the last one we got to participate in and we came in 1st place.   Wahoo.
Lance and Esther Boyer, Sam and I, Jared and Kim Taggart, Brian and Melissa Callaway, Mark and Kim Peterson.

Recap - Wanna move to Denver?

Around the end of April Sam called me on his drive home from work and changed everything!  We thought we were going to stay in Texas forever now.  We bought the house of our dreams.  We had built our beautiful pool.  We added 350 square feet with a construction project.  And now... his company asked him to take a position in Denver, CO.  My heart sank and I just thought there was no way I was going to go.  Luckily, we had some time to decide.  We didn't need to be there till August so there wasn't too much rush.  In May, Newfield sent us on an exploring weekend to see the area and look around and make a decision.  Sam and I flew up and just drove drove drove.  We wanted to see as much as we could.  We wanted to get a feel for the different cities that had been recommended to us.  I had already put in a lot of research - contacting every person I could think of who had ever lived in or been familiar with Colorado.  The only reason I was even considering it was because it was Colorado.  I have always said if I could pick anywhere I wanted to live it would be CO.  Why?  I'm not really sure because I had never been there (more then passing through) before.  Maybe it was the Lord preparing me for this really hard move that would come.  I just always figured it would be there perfect place - beautiful, lots of outdoor recreation, out west but not so far out west it was desolate.  

So after our touring weekend we knew we would move.  Not because it was easy.  The first day of that weekend I thought - yes, lets move.  The second day I cried and said - no way.  I'm not leaving Katy. But eventually we made the decision and told his company we would take the new position.  We did so for a few reasons.  First of all, it was going to be important for Sam's career.  Nobody was making us go.  He would not have been fired if we said no.  But everybody knows if you turn down a new position because you won't leave that you are stunted in your growth there from now on.  Second, as I mentioned before - it was Colorado.  It was gorgeous and amazing, and we knew it would be a very nice place to be.  But mainly, as with all important decisions we make, we felt a peace that could only come from the Lord telling us that it was the right decision.  

That didn't make it any less sad.  We had AMAZING friends in Katy that we loved.  It was so fun and such a good fit that we hated leaving our community behind.  Our families were there.  We hadn't lived that close to our parents for a while.  It was so nice to have grandparents at important events and be able to see them more.  The kids had loved it and it was a really nice feeling to be closer to them.  We enjoyed a few months over the summer with everyone, and prepared ourselves to leave at the end of July.  We left that last week.  We had to leave our dream house (which we had sold very quickly and for a good profit - another blessing), and leave our friends and family and start again.  We're glad we got to stay all summer though!

Recap - 5th Grade Graduation

There was also a graduation ceremony for the 5th graders.  Shaye was in Ms. Salak's class at Stan Stanley Elementary.  She was only at Stanley Elementary for her last year, since we moved to a different neighborhood in Katy, but she enjoyed it and made friends as she always does!

Shaye and Isabelle Buantello.

Avery Allen, Shaye, and Kacey Lawson.  Kacey was our neighbor too.

Recap - Preschool Graduation

Sydnee did 2 years at Holy Covenant preschool in Katy.  She loved it!  She had great teachers and enjoyed going those 2 days a week.  The graduation ceremony, that was held in May at the end of the school year, was so cute.  The students walked up when their names were called and got a hug from their teacher and a diploma.  

Sydnee had all of her grandparents and her little sister there to cheer for her along with her parents.  She was precious, and sometimes I forget how small she is.  She loved her teachers this year - Ms. Melissa and Ms. Holly.