New adventures ahead!

Pretty hilarious.  My last post was when we moved into our new home in Westminster, CO.  Three years later, here is a photo of us moving out of that house as we start a new adventure in Whitehouse, OH.  In between those two blog posts are years of schooling, playing, growing.  Wonderful neighbors, great family time, John Peter entering into our family, lots and lots of great friends coming in and out of that house.  Rosary nights, Lord's Day, Bible study, holidays, casual meals.  It was a terrific cul-de-sac and neighborhood.  We are going to miss so many things about it.  Most importantly, we are going to miss so many people.

This is quite sad - here are my parents on the front porch of our empty house with our 5 kids whom they got to see at least weekly, usually more.  It's all so overwhelming that Ann did not quite know how handle herself.  She perked up with a Wendy's frosty a few minutes after we pulled out of the driveway, though.  

Matt received a promotion from FOCUS at the end of May, which required a move closer to his area (the East Coast).  Since Matt's family is in Ohio, FOCUS was open to us moving there, and we saw it as an opportunity to live near the McCartneys for awhile.  We don't know how long it will last, but we are grateful to have the chance to do it, although it was one of the hardest decisions we have had to make.  We are letting go of so much in the Denver area: my family, priests we love and are friends with, a homeschooling community that has been a huge support these three years, terrific neighbors and close, close friends!  In our last few days before the move, we had visits from four priests (OK, one was Fr. Uncle Tony, but he still counts, of course), making us feel very loved and richly blessed.  We offer the sacrifices to Jesus and trust that He will bless us as we cling to him and ask him to use us in our new community.  

Fr. Nathan and Fr. John 

Life does not stop!  We are living for a little over two weeks with Matt's parents, and we've filled their house with noise, laundry, school books, dump trucks and little girl shoes.  We visited Grand Rapids (Ohio) and played near the river (see statue pictures, taken in Grand Rapids.  Bridget makes weird faces in every picture these days.  She reminds me of Tony.)  John turned 2 one week after we arrived and we celebrated at one of our favorite spots, Oak Openings Metropark.  The kids love to fish in Mallard Pond.  

We are especially grateful to spend some time with Grandma Fran, who turns 90 this week.  John's birthday would have been her 67th wedding anniversary to Grandpa Bob.  

I wanted a way to share more photos with those we've left in CO, without putting them all on Facebook (I'm toying with the idea of getting off it altogether...) or sending them in an email.  So back to the blog I might be.  Someone's crying - nap time's over!