It seems like we say this every year, but “Wow! What a year!” 2007 seemed fuller than most years with many big changes for our family! After recovering from newborn sleep deprivation and a house full of guests for Christmas, Caden’s 3rd Birthday Party and New Years our year looked something like this:
JANUARY-Recover from December and adjust to life with two kids (and love on baby Owen!)…
FEBRUARY-Travel to Colorado to see Kristin’s family (and meet future sister in law for the first time!) and Ski/Spa in Vail with Brad’s family…Begin post Air Force job search…
MARCH-Uncle Dan and girlfriend Brittney spend Spring Break playing in Florida with us!! Brad is very busy with job hunting, working on finishing his MBA and beginning to get the house ready to put on the market...
APRIL-Kristin and boys head to Las Vegas to hang out with the grandparents for a few weeks while daddy is finishing his MBA, job hunting/interviewing, going on lots of AF trips and working on the house…
MAY-Still in Las Vegas (enjoying golf ball hunting with Pop Pop, lots of spoiling from Omi and visits from Aunt Diane, Uncle Marc, Aunt Jaimee and Ben). Daddy finishes his MBA (YEA!) and joins us for the final week in Las Vegas before we all head to Colorado for Dave’s Graduation from UNC! Dave and girlfriend (soon to be fiance)Hannah return with us to play in FL and shortly after they leave, Caden falls off playground equipment and badly breaks his arm! After spending all day/night at the ER/Hospital we head home, only to return 2 weeks later to put pins in…not fun, but so thankful it wasn’t any worse! Uncle Dan and Brittney quickly (as in, “Can you drive to DIA right now and fly here this afternoon?”) return to FL to help with the second hospital trip and rescue Kristin (while Brad is on trips) by helping with the boys, broken arm, house cleaning, etc. So fun to have them around and such a HUGE Blessing!
JUNE-More job interviewing trips. Lots of fun trips to the Orthopedist to sit in the waiting room all day with 2 kids (while remaining thankful that we are able to see one and Tricare is paying for it!). Attempt to 1)not get cabin fever or melt in the sweltering Florida heat while we are unable to swim (due to broken arm)…2)Decide what job to take (“looks like we’re headed to New York, no New Jersey, no Las Vegas, no New York, no Atlanta...Atlanta!?!). Put house on the market and wait...
JULY-Grandma Umphress comes to visit Florida one last time! Omi and Pop visit one last time (and keep mommy from being too envious of daddy "working" in the Bahamas). Waiting for the house to sell...
AUGUST-Trek to Atlanta to find a place to live. Brad's FINAL Air Force flight! Celebrate Brad's good and full (over 3,000 flying hours!!) AF career with our wonderful squadron!! Brad is done serving in the US Air Force...time to play! (After going back to Atlanta to find a place to live) Family vacation to Disney World to celebrate (not the exotic place we had in mind originally, but VERY kid-friendly, convientient and FUN!!!!). Still waiting for the house to sell...
SEPTEMBER-Tie up all loose ends and say good byes. Find out (the hard way) that Owen is allergic to eggs and learn how to use an epi-pen. Brad heads to Georgia to begin with General Electric. Grandpa Umphress arrives to help Kristin and the boys move. Still waiting...
OCTOBER-Move to Georgia!! LIFE SLOWS DOWN!!!! Enjoy being back in a wonderful Sovereign Grace ministries church! Get to know neighbors! Enjoy our adorable little town and being close to so many great stores! Kristin and Owen fly to Colorado to help give a bridal shower for Hannah! Still waiting...
NOVEMBER-Owen's First Birthday Celebration with Aunt Diane here!! Enjoy a fun weekend in Nashville celebrating Thanksgiving with Brad's cousin and her family! STILL waiting...
DECEMBER-White Christmas in Colorado with Kristin's family! Caden's 4th Birthday celebrations with ALL of the family! Kristin's youngest brother Dave's beautiful wedding! AND, still waiting for the house to sell.
Whew...now you can see why I didn't want to print that all out and send it!! ;) It was a full year! We were blessed with many reasons to celebrate and lots of time with family, considering how spread out we all are. But until we got to Georgia, we were truly in survival mode. I wish I could say that we did a better job of managing the stress and challenges of the year...but we didn't. Little time together, too much on our plates and the lack of a strong spiritual support and accountability network brought out the selfishness in our sinful hearts more times than we care to remember. The good news... that season has passed. God taught us a great deal of life lessons during our time in FL and we are enjoying a time of regrouping, refocusing our priorities and simply being refreshed here in GA. Life is not perfect and peachy (we're still sinful humans relying daily on God's grace and forgiveness AND that darn house is still for sale!) but we are together far more often than we were for the past 8 years. There are still trips and the long commute, but Daddy loves being greeted at the door most evenings by squealing boys! And Kristin is very thankful to have Brad home more than gone for the first time since getting married!
JANUARY-Recover from December and adjust to life with two kids (and love on baby Owen!)…
FEBRUARY-Travel to Colorado to see Kristin’s family (and meet future sister in law for the first time!) and Ski/Spa in Vail with Brad’s family…Begin post Air Force job search…
MARCH-Uncle Dan and girlfriend Brittney spend Spring Break playing in Florida with us!! Brad is very busy with job hunting, working on finishing his MBA and beginning to get the house ready to put on the market...
APRIL-Kristin and boys head to Las Vegas to hang out with the grandparents for a few weeks while daddy is finishing his MBA, job hunting/interviewing, going on lots of AF trips and working on the house…
MAY-Still in Las Vegas (enjoying golf ball hunting with Pop Pop, lots of spoiling from Omi and visits from Aunt Diane, Uncle Marc, Aunt Jaimee and Ben). Daddy finishes his MBA (YEA!) and joins us for the final week in Las Vegas before we all head to Colorado for Dave’s Graduation from UNC! Dave and girlfriend (soon to be fiance)Hannah return with us to play in FL and shortly after they leave, Caden falls off playground equipment and badly breaks his arm! After spending all day/night at the ER/Hospital we head home, only to return 2 weeks later to put pins in…not fun, but so thankful it wasn’t any worse! Uncle Dan and Brittney quickly (as in, “Can you drive to DIA right now and fly here this afternoon?”) return to FL to help with the second hospital trip and rescue Kristin (while Brad is on trips) by helping with the boys, broken arm, house cleaning, etc. So fun to have them around and such a HUGE Blessing!
JUNE-More job interviewing trips. Lots of fun trips to the Orthopedist to sit in the waiting room all day with 2 kids (while remaining thankful that we are able to see one and Tricare is paying for it!). Attempt to 1)not get cabin fever or melt in the sweltering Florida heat while we are unable to swim (due to broken arm)…2)Decide what job to take (“looks like we’re headed to New York, no New Jersey, no Las Vegas, no New York, no Atlanta...Atlanta!?!). Put house on the market and wait...
JULY-Grandma Umphress comes to visit Florida one last time! Omi and Pop visit one last time (and keep mommy from being too envious of daddy "working" in the Bahamas). Waiting for the house to sell...
AUGUST-Trek to Atlanta to find a place to live. Brad's FINAL Air Force flight! Celebrate Brad's good and full (over 3,000 flying hours!!) AF career with our wonderful squadron!! Brad is done serving in the US Air Force...time to play! (After going back to Atlanta to find a place to live) Family vacation to Disney World to celebrate (not the exotic place we had in mind originally, but VERY kid-friendly, convientient and FUN!!!!). Still waiting for the house to sell...
SEPTEMBER-Tie up all loose ends and say good byes. Find out (the hard way) that Owen is allergic to eggs and learn how to use an epi-pen. Brad heads to Georgia to begin with General Electric. Grandpa Umphress arrives to help Kristin and the boys move. Still waiting...
OCTOBER-Move to Georgia!! LIFE SLOWS DOWN!!!! Enjoy being back in a wonderful Sovereign Grace ministries church! Get to know neighbors! Enjoy our adorable little town and being close to so many great stores! Kristin and Owen fly to Colorado to help give a bridal shower for Hannah! Still waiting...
NOVEMBER-Owen's First Birthday Celebration with Aunt Diane here!! Enjoy a fun weekend in Nashville celebrating Thanksgiving with Brad's cousin and her family! STILL waiting...
DECEMBER-White Christmas in Colorado with Kristin's family! Caden's 4th Birthday celebrations with ALL of the family! Kristin's youngest brother Dave's beautiful wedding! AND, still waiting for the house to sell.
Whew...now you can see why I didn't want to print that all out and send it!! ;) It was a full year! We were blessed with many reasons to celebrate and lots of time with family, considering how spread out we all are. But until we got to Georgia, we were truly in survival mode. I wish I could say that we did a better job of managing the stress and challenges of the year...but we didn't. Little time together, too much on our plates and the lack of a strong spiritual support and accountability network brought out the selfishness in our sinful hearts more times than we care to remember. The good news... that season has passed. God taught us a great deal of life lessons during our time in FL and we are enjoying a time of regrouping, refocusing our priorities and simply being refreshed here in GA. Life is not perfect and peachy (we're still sinful humans relying daily on God's grace and forgiveness AND that darn house is still for sale!) but we are together far more often than we were for the past 8 years. There are still trips and the long commute, but Daddy loves being greeted at the door most evenings by squealing boys! And Kristin is very thankful to have Brad home more than gone for the first time since getting married!
Currently, in a nutshell: Brad is enjoying his time at the GE headquarters in Altanta working in the marketing department. He misses flying at times, but not the trips or AF lifestyle. Praying for direction concerning staying here in Atlanta or heading home to Colorado (and for that darn house to sell!!) are towards the top of the list these days. Kristin is enjoying having time once again to make bread and all sorts of other healthy things for her guys to devour! She is enjoying teaching both boys sign language and Caden the preschool basics. The recent addition of a MomCare group (similar to MOPS) has been a huge blessing and encouragment. Caden has taken the move from FL the hardest, talking often of missing his friends. He still loves all sports and is anxious for soccer to start now that tennis lessons are over! Attending Awana Cubbies on Wednesday evenings is the highlight of his week! And finally, Owen...what a sweetheart! It is so fun to see his personality blossoming daily. Like his brother he is very active, talkative and he loves to climb! He has little interest in walking more than a few steps, likely because it is much easier to keep up with his big brother (who he adores) by crawling quickly! He is often found signing banana or milk (his favorites) or asking "please" to be picked up! He is the mama's boy of the two!
Well, that about sums it up for the Summers! If you made it this far, I suppose it means you have at least a small interest in what is going on around here. Feel free to check back in from time to time. This blog is the easiest and most interesting way for us to stay connected these days. We'll let you know our plans for the future as soon as we know them!!
We hope this Valentine's Day finds you celebrating TRUE Love...that God loved us enough to send Jesus to die for us! It is truly something to Celebrate!
With Love,
The Summers
10 comments:
Great update! We really enjoyed your valentines and your picture(s). Thank you for the ways to pray for your child card too! Missing you all...
love,
MJB
Loved the details of your past year -- it was a busy one!! Glad you are enjoying Ga, and we'll be praying that your house sells!
WOW- you have been busy and through the wringer this year! So great to hear from your heart how you are doing and what has happened over the past year in your life. thinking of you and praying for you!
Ruthann :)
Loved the picture collage and reading your blog update. I'm going to TRY and call you this week!
Love,
Court
Y'all are so precious! Thanks for the photo collage! I enjoy looking at you every day cause your on my fridge.
Chris is going to CO tomorrow for a couple of days. Wish I could go with him. :)
Going through a little C and O withdrawl :) Please don't feel pressured for a huge blog entry or anything... maybe just a pic or two!?! I loved hearing them in the background on the phone yesterday!
love,
The Devoted Aunt Jaimee who only asks because she loves her nephews so much!
You guys have had a busy year.
Still trying to figure out a weekend. It has gotten a bit challenging lately but we are TRYING hard to make it out there. It may just be me & the kiddos. I'll email you soon!
This is awesome! It is a great way to keep up with you. It is hard to believe Caden is 4 already and Owen is adorable. Nash turned 5 last Thursday and it is hard to believe how time flies. Thanks for the pictures and the updates. I think of you guys often and will keep you in my prayers.
I don't know why I'm still checking this regularly when I know you said you weren't planning on coming back until your house sells :) I was extra excited to see more SF pics added to the album you shared though!
love,
MJB
Hi guys! Remember me? I just saw this link from Ruthanns page so I thought I'd leave you a comment. Sounds like you all have had a busy year. I live in Nashville so if you are ever in the area I would love to see you. It's been years.....
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