The Past Year = A Whirl Wind

I can't believe what has happened this past year, or even two years. August of 2010 David and I had just decided that he would go to graduate school for his masters in fine arts and then we learned we were pregnant leading us to believe our lives would change; however it is very difficult to image how much your life will change.

We decided to go into this completely open minded and faithful, knowing the lord would lead us where he wanted us to be, and he waited until after we had Emmett in April 2011, to let us know that Arizona State University would be the best place for David, almost as far from our parents as we could get while staying in the same country, with of course a brand new baby. But we believed that this would be a great adventure and we were both excited and anxious.

Taking time off to introduce Emmett to friends and family across the U.S. on our way to Arizona we enjoyed seeing our so many things, relaxing, preparing for the change in culture and work and play. Arriving in Arizona in August, 110 degrees most days, was a rude awakening however David's new professors, my new coworkers and Emmett's daycare staff all welcomed us with open arms and made us feel at home right from the start.

Over the past nine months life continues to change as we progress in our work here and Emmett changes everyday, now walking and evening climbing, we are so blessed to have a new place for all of us to explore. We will admit that we miss our families and friends daily but having our own space to form our own family unit has also been such a blessing.

As Emmett's first birthday approached I was a bit nervous to celebrate this huge event with new friends, mostly nervous that no one would show up to drink and be merry with us as we acknowledged that all of us (David, Emmett and myself) made it through the first year without any major scares. But as the party began I realized that we were forming a family far from our blood family and it made me so happy to share this time with them.






We still are loving when family and friends from home come to visit and when we get a chance to catch up in person. We hope that over the next couple years while we are here we can share this amazing place with everyone who can make it out here. And we want to thank you all for always being supportive, thinking and praying for us, sending us wonderful messages, emails, letters, and gifts. It is hard to be so far away but we are doing it with pizzazz, or at least I believe so.