The New 20.

Well it happened.

Good-bye 20's.

You were a good decade.

Mission, Marriage, Kiddos...

and lots of great memories.

Welcome 30's.

I look forward to what you have in store...

First Day of Kindergarten

Thatcher's First Day of Kindergarten

August 23, 2010

Okay, so first of all I cannot believe I am writing this post.

Can someone please tell me when Thatcher grew up and got old enough to leave me and go to school ALL DAY LONG?

Oh boy.

Let me tell you, it was hard for me to let go.

Hard for me.

Easy for him.

He was SO excited.

He has been counting down the days for over two weeks...

Well that day finally came.

He was SO cute, and looked so big walking into that school.

Like I said, I lost it.

Oh the places this kid is going to go...

I can't wait to help him along the way!

Outside the Elementary School.

Walking into school...

He found his hook and cubby right away...

Sitting at his desk.

So far he LOVES it.

He loves lunch time, recess, math time, coloring and cutting. He is making new friends, and told me after his first day that there is a girl who sits across from him with "beautiful eyes".

Yikes.

Tonight I told Thatcher that I am going to be one of his room mothers.

He told me, "umm I like to be alone at school with my friends".

Great.

He is already getting embarrassed by his Mom.

Too bad.

Home Sweet Home

It feels so nice to have a house again...

We have been in the house for almost a month now and have made some serious progress on getting settled.

But don't worry, the Den is still filled with boxes and clutter.

My "craft room" upstairs is a disaster.

And I am embarrassed by the garage.

All projects that will take time to complete...but I love it!

And there is NO decor up...yet.

But, that will soon change. :)

Be sure to check out my other blog while I take on the challenge of decorating this beast one room at a time! LOVE!

Anyway...

I can't say enough how blessed I feel to be moved into this home, to be getting settled in a great area and to have enough space and a backyard to send the boys to so I don't lose my mind! :)

I wasn't born a Texan, but I got here as soon as I could...

So I know I have been MIA so I thought I would do a little update...

WE MADE IT!

We are now Texans.

It has been a whirlwind of a move, and it still isn't even close to being over as we are still in temporary corporate housing waiting for our house to be finished NEXT WEEK! We are very, very excited. What I am not so excited about is sorting through tons of junk, eh, I mean our stuff. But I am excited to get all organized and settled! We are still getting used to the idea that we are actually done with school FOREVER!...and settling into "real life" again. It is still very surreal. It has been very busy, but also very fun.

We are all adjusting well to our new life...

Todd is LOVING his new job, and is excited to get up and go to work every morning, which as a wife, is SO wonderful to see. He is a very, very busy guy, and we don't see him much during the work week, but we spend a lot of QUALITY time together when he is home on the weekends, which is great.

Right now the boys and my days are filled with exploring Frisco, picking out paint colors, furniture shopping, doctor and dentist visits to get the boys ready for school, swimming to escape the Texas heat, visiting our house multiple times a day, and enjoying being together before school starts next month.

The boys are wrapping their minds around the idea that we are now in Texas. Several times a day Tagg will ask me "Mom, are we still in Texas?" They love our new house (especially the idea of the backyard!) and can't wait to move in, and they love all the swimming they do now. They of course talk about missing Boston and all their friends and living close to Grandma and Grandpa, and how it is too hot here! I assure them that they will make friends, Grandma and Grandpa will visit, and even though it is hot here now, in the winter when we would of had to stay inside in Boston, we can go outside and play in Texas!

We feel tremendously blessed at how everything lined up perfectly to get us here to Dallas. We feel so strongly that this is where our family needs to be at this time after witnessing many miracles that helped us get here. There have been nights where Todd and I have recounted all the events that led us here, how doors were opened, things fell into place, and how guided we felt, even down to the neighborhood we felt we should move to . After being here for just a few short weeks I can already tell that this is a pretty perfect place for us. I couldn't ask for anything more from the area, our ward, the schools, etc. It has been a powerful witness and humbling reminder to me of how intricately involved the Lord is in our lives, and if we let Him, He really can make much more out of our lives then we ever thought was possible.

Every afternoon you can find us here...

Coming along...

Handy Man Todd measuring our windows for blinds...

"Because I knew you, I have been changed for good..."

Moving day came and went and we survived.

Barely.

But we did survive.

I cannot even begin to tell you how tired I am of packing our stuff up in boxes and hauling those boxes out to a big truck.

Last time.

(for a LONG while, hopefully!)

Yay!

Another chapter in our lives closed.

It is exciting to be done with Grad School, but also so hard to say goodbye.

The truck.

Thanks to several wonderful friends/neighbors for hauling all of

our stuff down two flights of stairs and out to the truck.

It was a mad house at our home for a few days....

Saying our last goodbyes to such wonderful friends was tough.

We have LOVED associating with you as friends and neighbors!

You will be missed!

Becky and Avery.

Thatch giving his good bud Charlie a goodbye hug.

Cute little Luca. When we first moved to Westgate he was just a baby!

Charlie and Luca's Mom Kate is one of the funniest girls I know and I will miss her.

She cheered up many of my grey days.

Little Presley, affectionately known at our house as "Pres".

Cutest little girl, I got to teach her Joy School and Thatcher AND Tagg (brother riverly) just love Pres. We didn't get to say goodbye to Ella Bella and Elijah, Thatcher's other Joy School friends, but fast forward 13+ years and picture these kids living at Helaman Halls at BYU?

The moms would LOVE it that is for sure! :)

Thatcher saying goodbye to Dylan.

Thatcher has always looked up to Dylan ever since we first moved in.

Some of the Westgate girls on one last Girls Night Out at Cheesecake Factory.

(missing some of my dear friends, Christine and Mia)

I cannot tell you how much I love these women.

I don't know what I would have done without them as a support group over the last two years.

All of them are amazing, and I will miss just being around them and seeing their beautiful smiling faces on the Westgate playground.

I am a better person because I knew them.

I really have been changed for good.

Todd pulling away in the truck driving our stuff down to Texas.

Don't worry, he is not only driving the biggest truck you can rent, but he is also towing our van.

Love it.

Just in case you wanted to actually watch him drive away, we have this little video.

Goodbye Cambridge/MIT/Westgate.

We have loved you.

You will always be in our hearts and the memories we have with you we will treasure forever.

Oh the Places You'll Go!

Well, he did it!

He is DONE and DONE!

This past weekend Todd graduated from MIT with two degrees...

an MBA and a Masters of Engineering.

I couldn't be more proud of him.

Seeing him in his cap and gown brought out more emotion for me than I had expected!

Graduation was like a cumulation of all the sacrifice for our family, for me, and of course for Todd.

Seeing him walk in the procession with his class beaming from ear to ear got me all choked up!

It brought to my mind all the late nights when I would go to bed and Todd would stay up until the wee hours of the morning doing assignments and projects and eventually his Thesis.

It brought to mind the FOUR moves we have made including all the packing, downsizing, and stress.

It brought to my mind the 6 month internship in Kentucky, and all the great memories we mad there.

It brought to mind living in 600 sq. feet of a storage unit (which I lovingly nick named "The Hostile"), with no dishwasher, washer or dryer, and where two little boys would drive me literally crazy bouncing off the walls during the long New England winter months.

It also brought to mind the playground at Westgate where the boys and I would would spend our days outside during the Summer and Fall with wonderful, wonderful friends.

It brought back the memory of the day we found out that Todd got accepted to the LGO program, we were so excited, and so happy.

It brought to mind all of Todd's hard work, his diligence, and all that he has sacrificed to get here to MIT which was his goal and dream.

and as I saw him except his degrees looking so and handsome in his Cap and Gown for just a moment in my mind I saw this kid...

The boy I once knew, who was also very diligent, has grown up into an amazing man, and has accomplished so much...

I am so grateful and blessed that I have been at his side along for the ride, hopefully being a support to him as he has taken on his challenges.

It has been wonderful, and we will remember this experience for the rest of our lives.

Congratulations to Todd, I am SO proud of you (have I said that enough?)

and I look forward to the rest of our lives witnessing all the very diligent and amazing things you have yet to do!

Todd's "Ocean" the group they divide all the Sloanies into.

Todd and the classmates of his that were nominated for Best Thesis.

Welcome...

...to the world little Abigail Ruth Monson. My brother Jon and sister in law Rebecca have the most darling little girl and we finally have a NIECE! I have already nicknamed her Abby-lou. She is just too precious and I can't wait to snuggle this little doll and spoil her silly!

We love you to pieces already Abby and can't wait to meet you!

Just watch out for your crazy older cousins....

Mark and Kristin get hitched!

We were happy to go to "fabulous Las Vegas" for Mark and Kristin's Wedding!

Four days in Vegas and we never even set foot on the Strip.

It's just not our bag I guess.

But we did get to spend lots of time with Todd's siblings and family, we got to know Kristin and welcomed her to the family, made sure to go to Cafe Rio and In and Out (yum!), took in a session at the Las Vegas temple TOGETHER! (so nice!), spoiled our nephews, and had a great time!

Congrats to Mark and Kristin!