Sunday, May 3, 2009

So many changes in such a short amount of time!

Well, I can't believe it's May. So much has happened in March and April. I kept feeling that calm before the storm feeling. Well the storms hit!!! The Grimms house wasn't even on the market when they sold it and moved to Florida! A decision they had been praying about, but it all happened suddenly when everything just sort of fell into place. They are missed! On my blog, you'll see the Grimm's daughter Alison in many photos. Ellie and Alison came home from China within 4 months of each other and have been like sisters ever since. We lived down the street from each other in Marietta, GA. Then our families moved down the street from each other again when we moved to Athens, GA. A few weeks after their house sold, Keith's company couldn't survive in this struggling economy and he was suddenly out of work. That was a shocker! Thankfully, God quickly provided another job with a great company. Unfortunately we have to move to Mississippi. We love it here in Athens and could stay here forever, but God has other plans for us. Keith has been training in New Jersey for a month. That has been incredibly hard for us to be without him! The kids and I miss him soooo much!!! After a month in New Jersey, he'll be home for 3 weeks for more training, then back to New Jersey for 3 more weeks! Then it's off to Mississippi probably mid June. We are praying for our house to sell by then!
While Keith was looking for a job, I took the girls to Tampa to visit my parents for their Spring Break! My sisters and I realized our kids had the same spring break, (what are the chances?!) so all the sisters and cousins roadtripped it down there together. We had a blast! That may be the last reunion for a while since we're moving, so I was so grateful for that! While we were there my neice Brandy asked Emma if she was a tomboy because she was running around playing ball with her cousin Will. Ellie over heard the question and said, "no, she's not a tomboy, she's a Chinese girl!". We all died laughing. Soooo cute!
While Keith was out of town for training, Tyler came home with some big news. He asked Emily Pierce to marry him! I can't believe our baby is engaged!!! They have dated on and off since they were 16 years old. They are planning their wedding in the Spring of 2010. Tyler will be 23 and Emily 22. Wow that sounds so young, but hey, when Keith and I married, he was 23 and I was 21 and he was still in college while we had our first two children. Somehow it all works out when you're in love! We really love Emily, she's a sweet, beautiful young woman.
Our next big event is our youngest son, Drew's graduation from high school! I can't believe it's at the end of this month! (I'm beginning to feel old!).The boys are all growing up. At this point, we don't know who will be going with us to Mississippi. We know Tyler won't. He'll be finishing school at UGA. Alex may be doing Americore before he finishes school. If not, he's considering taking a semester off and coming with us to see how he likes Mississippi. Hopefully Drew will go with us too! But they are young men now and can make their own decisions. Ugh, I have a hard time letting my kids grow and go. The girls will really miss them! I'm so thankful for the time we've all had here in Athens together. If we hadn't have moved here when Tyler and Alex were in college, the girls would have really missed out on being close to their brothers.
Let's see... what else has been going on? Well, the Easter Bunny came to town. Keith and the boys hid eggs for the girls in the yard. Then the girls went to an ACMP event with Fei and Ray (their Chinese mentors). It was another egghunt. The following week Fei and Ray took them to the movies, Monsters vs. Aliens! They are so good to the girls! We did some gardening at the "Athens House" with our house church group. Next week we will go to the community's annual "Movie in the Park" night. I love the small town feel here. Everyone goes to high school football games on Friday nights in the fall, the downtown parades and races and whatever events they have. And every year before school's out they celebrate with a movie at the local park. Everyone brings their blankets and fried chicken and they have lots of things to entertain the kids before the movie starts at dark. I will post pictures of everything when Keith gets home! I need him to help me!