It has been a long time

Well it has been a LONG time and a lot has happened since the last time we were here.

Baby sister joined the family last year.

Paul graduated from UConn.

We spent the summer in Utah while he worked with Utah Shakespeare Company and worked to find a teaching job.

A week and a half before the fall semester started Paul got a job teaching at a University in KY.

We packed up everything in the car, left 3 days later and were on the road again.

The Bishop and his family out here hosted us for a week and a half while I searched for someplace to live while trying to get our lives settled even though we didn't have a mailing address.

After looking at too many apartments and houses I was about to break. Suddenly an e-mail was passed around amongst the faculty about a house in town. Finally!!!

It is a cute little farm house and the longer we are here the more I like it. Even though it is small, the house works great for our little family. I love having a laundry/mud room and there is so much storage. We also have a garage, this is such a wonderful blessing with girls that we need to get buckled in and out of the car, there's also some extra storage in there for seasonal totes and camping items.

The house is old so there are obviously things that are old and much past repair. There is nothing flat or square or flush or even in the house. In the living room there is a huge bulge in the hardwood floor. The heat/AC was placed years after the house was built, I would even say decades, and since the house is so old it couldn't fit between the levels so the upstairs is hot during the summer and freezing during the winter. But the floors on the first floor are freezing as well during the colder months. The house is up on a platform and I swear there is no insulation underneath so slippers area a must.

Family New Years Letter

Hello Family and Friends,

This year we have decided to take our last winter in the New England area and enjoy what the season has to offer, especially since the power hasn’t gone out. We are so excited to start our own family holiday traditions while we are also planning on expanding our family in April. A little fun fact for you, this will be our first Christmas in the seven years we have been married that we will be waking up in our own place. We have always taken the break between semesters to stay with family and see everyone.

During Spring Break we were able to head down to the Outer Banks area in NC. What a pretty area, we could have stayed there. There we visited the Wright Brothers Museum, Home of the First Flight. Abigail loved the beach and chasing the seagulls, but she got a bit weary when the tide came back in. She scurried as fast as her little feet would run to get back to dad.

This summer we spent some time seeing sites as a family. Our niece and nephew came out for a few weeks as well. Abigail LOVED having her cousins out here and having them to play with. We were able to see the Hill Cumorah Pageant and the Sacred Grove. It was a great experience to be able to see such a wonderful and Spiritual place with family. A day was spent at the beach and we all had a blast: Abigail playing in the sand and making friends, the cousins playing in sand and seeing the ocean for the first time, burying Paul and chasing crabs. At the Children’s Museum in Hartford we all got to learn a bit about electricity and play with different activities showing us how to make circuits. The Boston Children’s Museum had so many fun things for the kids to do: climbing, creating, coloring, we stayed super busy the whole time we were there.

For our 7th Anniversary we found out that we were expecting and the due date is going to be in April. Why not add something else to the list? That will be a very busy Spring for us {Baby, Thesis, Graduation, Moving} but this coming year is going to be busy and exciting as we start the next chapter in our lives and family. 

That's right, Paul will be graduating this year and we could not be more excited!!! He has had a number of opportunities to design shows and to assist on many as well, from Connecticut to Montana.

Mindy has loved being home with Abigail and watching her as she discovers new things and her own personality shines through. 

Abigail turned two this year. Every time a package or letter came in the mail she would get so excited, the whole day was spent carrying the cards or toting everything around in her little laundry basket. She is a Daddy’s girl for sure, Paul could be gone for 20 minutes or all day but as soon as he walks in the front door, Abigail will stop what she is doing and run to the door "HI!! HI!!" grab onto her dads leg and not leave his side until bedtime.

We are looking forward to the fun adventures of the coming year and hope that you will have a great year with family and friends as well.

A Simple Thank You

Today I wanted to say thanks to family and friends.

We always loved getting together with the families when we were living closer. Sunday dinners at my parents house were the best, all my brothers, their wives, nieces and nephews sitting around the table laughing at funny stories from family vacations or stunts pulled by one, or a number of us, while we were growing up. Sometimes it surprises me that we all made it through our childhood, and with such great relationships now. Of course these are all things we can laugh about now but maybe weren't so funny when they happened. We would get together with Pauls' family and play games for hours. I have really missed getting together with all the family, watching as my nieces and nephews grow up or having my sister so close that I could stop by anytime.

One of my biggest worries about living so far away, wasn't even for me, but for Abigail and others children who would join our family. I was worried that because we wouldn't be able to go to every family gathering, birthday party or holiday event that family members would forget her. Of course we keep up with family over many different types of social media but what about her birthday, Christmas and other family memories?

We came home the other day after some quick errands and found a box at our front door. It was a Christmas gift from a Great Aunt! This is the same Aunt that sent her a birthday gift that she still takes around everywhere with her, it's a little doggie purse. When it was her birthday, Abigail got a number of cards in the mail with sweet notes from family. My favorite part was watching her. Once she noticed the brightly colored envelop she would gasp with excitement, tare it open then run over to me so I could read it to her and we could look at all the fun images on the cards. It was a week long of birthday excitement, waiting to see if and who she would get something from. Her grandma will usually send a card for all the holidays, letting her know that Grandma is thinking of her and is so excited to see her again. Right now Abigail is too little to get all sentimental about it and I'm sure it means more to me right now than her, but we love that others take the time and make sure she knows she is loved.

So, I wanted to say THANK YOU to all those who have and will continue to remember her when the families get together, as she reaches different milestones and as holidays come and go! 

Spring Break at the OBX

For Spring Break we had the chance to go down to North Carolina and spend some time at my cousins condo. This semester has been such a busy one for Paul and so the chance to get away as a family was just what we needed. I was hoping for warm weather so that I could take Lady A into the water and so we could go walk around the fun little towns.

The drive down there took forever and when you add a toddler it takes even longer. She only slept for a total of two hours in the car so we had to stop a number of times to get out and stretch. After 14 hours we finally made it. The sun was shinning and the temperature was perfect, but it would soon be bed time so we ordered pizza then put Abigail to bed.

My cousin and her husband just bought the condo and have done a lot to renovate it. Walking in the front door was like walking into home. Immediately it felt like home, so cozy and calm, just like a beach condo should be. There was a balcony that over looked the courtyard and ocean, this was Abigail's FAVORITE spot. Trying to get her to come in was like pulling teeth. Sunday was a bit chilly so we stayed in watching movies and enjoying having nothing to do. Abigail insisted on the balcony door remaining open so she could go in and out, her little hands were so chilly by she insisted on staying out to be in the wind.

Monday we went to the Wright Brothers Museum and National Park. It was fairly simple but enough to for us. We walked to the top of the monument and Abigail loved the wind that greeted us up there. We, of course, got our traditional book and playing cards that we normally get when we go on vacation. This time was also got one for Abigail so that she can start building her collection from places she has visited.

The sun came out for a bit but it was nap time, that is the way it seems to go. After nap time it was perfect to go out to the beach. Overcast and too cold to get in the water, we all walked along the beach looking for fun shells. At first Abigail wasn't sure about walking on the sand until she noticed us picking up shells and putting a couple in my pocket. It took her no time at all to get into that, she even picked up crab bits and pieces, and tried to help me find all the good ones worth putting in my pocket. There were some seagulls that were out too and Abigail kept trying to catch them. All in All, I think she really enjoyed her first visit to the beach.

As it got close to the time we needed to go in I could see the fog closing in on us. While we got dinner ready Abigail was out on the balcony {not a surprise} and the fog got thicker. In the evening the fog was so thick we couldn't see any other condos except those around the same courtyard as us. The lighting effect was so neat as exterior building lights would beam through the diagonal slats underneath the buildings.

You might be wondering what has captivated her so. Well it was the last two hours of the drive and we were NOT going to stop. So I took Pauls' iPhone {because I forgot the portable DVD player ~ hello McFly} plugged it into the power and the AUX for the stereo, Then I put hair elastics around either end and strung a cord through them and attached it to the head rest of Pauls' seat. Abigail watched 'Dispicable Me' for the last bit of the drive and we were able to make it in peace and quiet.

Don't mind the bed head they both have going on.

 

Seagulls!!!

You can see the shock on his face as the freezing water hits him.

On the way home we were able to stop my to see my cousin and her husband. I love having family out here {still a bit of a drive} that we can go and visit, spend holidays with and enjoy their company. They were right along the way home and we last saw them for Thanksgiving this was the perfect chance to stop by and thank them for the weekend at the condo. It was also a great way to break up the drive home for Abigial and to miss all of the rush hour traffic we would hit.

Time to Catch Up

Ok....really, there is no way to catch up over the last year.

We have been so busy, two moves, a month in Utah for Christmas and a lot of family. So Instead of trying to go over it all, how about we do a photo recap.