Is it time to move yet?

Life is good and things are going going going as always. Austin and I are both ready to stop talking about moving and actually MOVE though! I am bogged down by the desire to get ready - clean, pack, give away, find a house, make plans - but it's still too early to really do anything majorly consequential. So...we wait! And meanwhile, our kids are really cute:

these are actually pictures from when my mom was here in October but I didn't want to forget to share them

EVERY SINGLE DAY

Austin turned 30 on the 30th! We both celebrated our golden birthdays in the past year. 29 on the 29th for me last October. It doesn't feel weird at all that this is our 30th year - I'm happy to be getting older with the one I love!

ready for camping! (although we've outgrown our teeny 2 man tent...)

Jack wanted to write a book for Austin's birthday. I helped him, but he did most of it! Isn't it sweet?

Stockton went through a brief but intense obsession with matches/lighting candles after this haha.

starting to pull herself up on things!

"24 hour" haha so cute

my little cooking buddy. This is how I get anything
done in the kitchen.

the princess was mad at HyVee but I didn't want to get her out of her carseat, so she got a sucker. Clearly the 4th child!

ear infectionssss

we are so excited to see Stockton's progress at school!

I went through my box of photos and found so many good ones! That's my dad with his dad when we lived in Maryland; Austin and I with baby Natalie; and my family in Cheyenne before Annie was born. I hope to swim at that same little lake with my family when we live there! Reliving these memories and especially now being the mom instead of the little girl in the pictures made me quite verklempt. Time is so strange and beautiful. I'm so grateful for my family!

back in our HP drawing days. I had to keep this one
because it made me laugh

BLUE LAKE! summer 2010

a letter from my mom....her reference to my fish
Pablo made me laugh out loud

Jack was upset because his friends at school weren't listening and they got their toys taken away, but he
said it wasn't his fault. His poor little sad faces were so cute and pitiful hahaha

Natalie crushing Just Dance

ugh this dumb sink...the faucet has corroded
and it shoots jets of water off to the side and
it is very irritating. Austin finally duct taped it, but still

climbing crawling everywhere!

looking through old pictures is SO fun...above is my dad holding me, and below is Jack and I

I went through my box of letters and was floored by how many I had kept over the years and specifically how many I had from my Grammy Bee. We have always written letters back and forth but this just showed me that I have been surrounded by love and support and encouragement and guidance for my entire life, and I feel so blessed to be in my family! There were letters from aunts and uncles, plenty from my parents, letters from my grandparents (especially tender were notes from my Grandpa Bee who passed away 5 years ago). I had a whole packet of letters from the kids in my cabin when I was a counselor at Blue Lake, and I had all of the letters that Austin and I wrote each other the summer we were engaged when I was in Europe. (They were horribly cringy and mushy and we threw them away haha). I found a letter from my dad in 2003 that talked about us walking across England....we've been talking about doing this for years but neither of us knew it went back this far! I kept some extra special letters but mostly I let them go, grateful for the support and love I have felt in my life. I am grateful that my parents taught me that letters are important and that keeping in touch with people that matter to you is worthy of your time.