I can hardly believe it's been a year since we moved from Washington. In some ways it seems like just yesterday and in others a lifetime ago. When we first decided we would be moving back to Idaho we had planned to buy a home already built, but found our options to be lacking in December of 2017. So we decided to look into building. We looked at several communities but we knew we wanted the same small town family friendly feeling we had when we had lived in Rexburg and Moses Lake. I remember the first time we drove through Middleton it was before we even decided to move back, it felt like a place I'd like to live with my family. Everything seemed to fall into place. We were able to find a lot in our budget and surprisingly build a bigger home than we had planned. The build process took about 6 weeks longer than we were originally told and we ran into some snags along the way. But so it is with construction. We moved into our home on the 21st of July. We have loved it here! The community has lots of families, the schools are great, and the kids have made great friends. Our ward family has been wonderful and we are looking forward to spending many years here raising our family!
Just an update on all of the members of the family (since it's been 6+ months since I've posted anything). Tony is staying busy with his job a The House of Design. He really enjoys the people he works with and the projects he gets to be a part of. He got to travel to Mexico for work last June, which was pretty cool. He's done a lot of projects around the house before it got too cold. Mostly getting the back yard put it. He installed sprinklers, brought in gravel & top soil, and started to put up the fence. Now the back yard is too muddy to work in until our grass starts to come up, so the fence will be finished then. He works with the 11 year old scouts and the 10-11 year olds in primary at church. He's a busy guy and many times seems utterly exhausted, but he manages to keep going! We are so grateful for him!
I've been going through quite the transformation the last few months. To say the move and everything that went along with it was hard for me would be an understatement. I thought it was just circumstance and that once we got into our own home again I would feel better. By the time October came along I knew there was something more at play and sought out medical help. I was diagnosed with Bi Polar type 2, which is a type of depression. The diagnosis came with relief because now I knew what was "wrong" but also with uncertainty. I'm currently seeing a counselor and taking medication to help with the depression. My quality of life has improved immensely, not to say that I don't still have bad days. They're just less often. I also am working part time. I waitress at a Chinese Restaurant in Meridian. I work 3 or 4 nights a weeks for 4-5 hours. It's not too stressful and the tips are nice. The money I get from my job take care of all the little miscellaneous stuff which helps lighten the load a bit.
Carson turned 14 in October and I'm constantly amazed at how grown up he is! He does great at school and gets pretty much all A's in his classes. He's part of a robotics team. He loves all the nerdy stuff they do (don't ask me what half of it is) and likes hanging out with kids that have the same interests. The robotics team is a bit of a sacrifice for us because it's all the way in Boise and they're meeting more often now with it being "build season". But he really does love it, so we try to make it work. Carson is still playing percussion in the school band and loves playing Fortnight with his cousins online. With me working Carson has really stepped up to the plate in watching his siblings before his dad gets home from work. We've had a couple of dinner incidents, but it's all about learning right? We also got contacts for Carson and he looks so handsome!
Alaina turned 11 in September and is in 5th grade. She is obsessed with unicorns (just like every girl right now) and is just bounding with energy. She loves looking cute and is chomping at the bit until the day I'll let her wear makeup (12 years old). She is so excited to be starting Young Women's and going to Girls Camp with the recent change. She has an excellent teacher at school and her leaders at church are wonderful too. She had a hard transition but is really starting to blossom! She decided to try something other than soccer this year and enrolled in dance. She's in beginning hip hop and really loves it! Whenever her song comes on the radio she has to do her dance!
Charlie is 7 and continues to keep us on our toes. He's quite the little smarty pants and has already hit all his year end bench marks for 2nd grade. He loves playing with his friend next door. He loves being active but also loves to play video games. His favorites being Mind-craft and the Lego games. He also loves to build things and buys Lego's whenever he has enough money saved up. He just got new glasses a week ago and looks so handsome!
Lincoln is 3 soon to be 4 which means he is now a Sunbeam! He's still not quite sure about leaving nursery behind, but he has a great teacher! He is quite the character and surprises us with the big words and phrases he uses. We are constantly laughing and smiling at his little personality. Shortly after we moved into our house Lincoln was potty trained. Thankfully he picked it up pretty quickly. His favorite things to do are play with trains, construction vehicles, jump on the trampoline and play on the IPad.
(This is the face he makes when you tell him to "smile")
Obviously there has been a lot more happen with us the last few months, but in the interest of keeping this post less than 10 pages long, I'll cover that another time. Love my family, love my home!
