May 2012 Moving Back

After returning from vacation, we had just 2 weeks until we would be moving back to the US, so our lives became a whirlwind of coordinating packing the house, organizing for movers, dinners with friends from school, from work and from the neighborhood.  I've said it so many times already and it still rings true that this was a very sad time for us as we knew we were leaving in a few days and we were starting to say our goodbyes until we were able to visit Vancouver again in the future....

Here are the kids with one of their favorite babysitters Lauren.  We were fortunate to find several great babysitters in the area, which is a requirement for Allison and I so we can make time and get away and make time for us.

I walked around on packing day and took a few pictures of the rooms full of boxes...  The family room...

Office...

Guest Bedroom....

And the big day...  after packing for 2 days straight, it took less than a day to load up the truck....

Allison's car was put in last behind all the boxes.  Owen thought this was so cool how they loaded it on the trailer.

The truck driver was really kind and let Owen pull the levers to re-position the rollback platform.

An empty house is so strange to walk around in, remembering the laughter and good times we had....

And one last picture of the property on the last day.  Of course it was raining.. :)   But we were thankful we got the trailer loaded while it was dry.

The kids loaded up in the rental on the way to the airport... we were headed to Grandma and Grandpa's for a few days until we closed on our new house...

We traveled back on May 5th... my birthday was May 6th... I quit my job at Bosch on the 7th, and we purchased the house on the 8th.  Yeah for life changing events multiple days in a row!   Our new house we were glad to find near Lancaster... on a house hunting trip in March, we looked at 5-6 properties and made an offer on this one mostly because of the neighborhood and the size of the yard.  The houses are not right on top of each other and there was room for the kids to play.  It's on a loop separate from the main road, so there is no thru traffic either.

Back of the house...

Yard in back....

The truck arrived the weekend after we closed, giving us time to install appliances and really deep clean carpeting...  Soon it was full of boxes and we started the long task of unpacking!   

The following week I had to buy a car, and had located a VW CC that I liked at the local dealer.  I picked it up the week after we moved.  Posting now almost a year later, it's been a great car!


First small project in the house was to add some storage and working space in the laundry room. This was the before picture with just wire racks....

I installed cabinets above the washer dryer area and also on the opposite corner of the room over the utility sink. A few weeks later I also installed a counter top over the washer dryer for additional working space.  The room worked out great and I only have to finish the molding above the cabinets...

Memorial Day brought the annual family gathering at Allison's Aunt and Uncle's home in Maytown.  They hold a parade here each year that we love to watch... the weather was in our favor and we had a great day!   Here's the kids with their cousin Madison waiting for the parade to start. 

Molly with Grandma and Grandpa

Molly and Madison...

Owen... back in the land of tractors.

And his other love... Fire Trucks... 

Easter 2012

Easter is the first holiday that we've experienced twice here in Vancouver.  I can't believe how quickly this year has gone.

Annual Community Egg Hunt!

The annual Glenayre egg hunt was on Good Friday at the community center park, and of course we had to go and experience the fun!

They split all the kids into age groups and assign them to areas where chocolate eggs are "hidden" that are sized appropriately for each group...  eg; older kids had a much larger area to search in.

Here's Owen's group getting ready for the kick-off.

And the mad dash!

Owen in action.

Molly coming to show me her bounty!

The princess posing with her peep basket.

Later we met up with their friends Noah and Roman to play on the playground at the community center.

"How many did you get?"

Molly and Owen sliding together on the "twin slide".

The gang on the see-saw.

Molly and Roman.

Easter Morning..

It was really beautiful Easter morning, so we took the kids out for some pictures before we went to church.  These turned out so nice and I'm a proud dad of some very happy and beautiful kids.

This picture makes me laugh out loud. I can hear Owen's laugh and Molly's scrunched up nose is so funny!

Princess Molly....  She loved the pink flowers on the bush in the yard.

A moment of reflection.

I can't believe he's 7 already... and looking more like a little man every day.

Owen took this picture of us... I thought he did a great job

Kids Skiing

I took Owen out skiing again after school early in April.  It was after spring break in Vancouver, so the slopes were pretty empty even though the conditions were decent.  He had a lot of fun and this time we branched off of the beginner run and went down a "real" green trail and rode the chair lift for the first time!   I have some video of him sliding off a "jump", that I'll update this post with later.

Here's the man in action

 

 Soaring!

Our view that morning...

 

Later in the month, we decided to take the kids up for some individual lessons.  The evening we chose unfortunately turned out to be pretty warm and drizzly, so Allison and I didn't ski, but the kids did great with their lessons. It was Molly's first time on skis and she was so excited to do this.  In the end, I think her instructor just may have had even more fun teaching Molly.  She's such a character.


Allison and Molly before the lesson.

 

Molly and Owen...

With their instructors...

Molly after a successful slide!

Molly with her instructor at the end of her lesson.  She practiced her stance, pizza turn... stopping and go-ing!

Molly and I after her lesson!

 

I didn't get any pictures of Owen because he and his instructor went off to a hill nearby to work.  I am so happy that we got him this lesson this season though.  When he and I would go skiing, he did "ok", but still struggled with some technique and confidence.  With the coaching from his instructor, he picked up formal skills that I wasn't able to teach him, and improved so much in just 2 hours, it was amazing.  At the end of his lesson, he and his instructor went down a blue trail!  I was so proud of him!  I can't wait to go again next season!