November 2017

November was a bit of a blur. For the most part, we were planning for three different (big) upcoming trips, one after the other. I'll admit is was a bit stressful. In addition, we pulled Adele and Ceci out of school and all that entailed, arranged for Tennie to stay in school but take online courses, prepped to homeschool, were released from our callings as Stake YW President and High Priest Group Leader, got ready for Christmas (although it would be a simple Christmas, thankfully), got our car fixed from Tennie's accident, went to an all-day self-defense class (super cool, but I couldn't remember it all), found a temporary home for our cat, had dinner with several friends, and Geoff and I went to a YGL conference in San Fransisco for a few days (that wasn't one of the trips we were planning for!) It was a busy month. All good things.

Friends: Anastasia, Elijah, Gabe and Lance.

Enjoying our cat, Mila, before saying goodbye...

Adele got her driver's permit (actually in December, but I'll include it here). Woot woot!

Last May Geoff's work was finishing at the church and we realized we had only a short time with our girls before they were all off into their own lives. How could we take advantage of it? We decided to travel for a year. For months Geoff was trying to secure work to pay for such a trip, we researched and scouted places to go, we decluttered the house in case we returned and a move was imminent, and tried to convince Tennie that missing her senior year wouldn't be so bad. But the months passed and it wasn't all coming together as smoothly as we wanted. As a matter of fact, we came up against continual obstacles! Finally out of exasperation, sometime in October, Geoff booked a ticket to Paris around Thanksgiving. A week later we decided to tag on a trip to Israel. A week later we added a few days in Bruges. It was a little on the fly and coming SOON! We already had two weeks in McCall for Christmas planned, and a three-month trip to Cambodia in the New Year. Things are still falling through here and there, but we're moving forward, open to all possibilities and opportunities.

I have created a new blog that will be public. If you would like to follow along on our bumpy and exciting ride, the new blog is Oh My Awesomeness.