Where to begin, where to begin…

(View this video last. It hosed my machine every time I clicked on it.)
Noah
Let’s start with Noah. This week was his 6th birthday. Well, that just sounds weird. It would have been his 6th birthday, or I can say it was 6 years since his birth. But since the girls really think of Noah as 6, I guess it is his 6th birthday. Me? I am not exactly sure how I think of him. Is he 6? Is he the infant I knew? Is he just a perfect holy being? Whew – I try not to get caught up in all that because I just don’t think my human mind was meant to comprehend heaven. But for the girls, he is 6 and we celebrated. We did our traditional balloons. I like that now they like to write and draw pictures on the balloons. (We figured out one year that a balloon cannot take a piece of paper all the way to heaven.) We then decorated cupcakes and enjoyed the evening watching his video and scrolling through pictures of him in the hospital. I began to retell the story of where we were and why he looked that way more than I have in the past. It makes my heart so happy that my girls know who he is and help me keep his memory alive.

Church
We have such an awesome small group at church. We meet each week at our home and try to have some meaningful uplifting time while the 12-14 children play “quietly” upstairs. I have been blessed by many of the families in this group. This week on a moments notice we collected items to be taken to victims of the recent tornadoes in Alabama. I loved to see my car packed with shoes, food, toys, baby items etc. I am thankful for the generous friends that surround me.

Texas
Which brings me to this. Come on, I had to make sure you read the whole post. This is not one of those that you can just scan upon will. This is our home for the last 3.5 years. This is the sign that made it a reality that we are moving back to Texas. Ethan has been unemployed since December and was offered a job in Austin. Someone responded to your resume? “Yea.” Someone wants to hire you? “Yes.” We have to move to Texas? “We can do that.” We will be right in the middle of all our family instead of the east coast people, 14 hours away from birthday, holiday get-togethers. We are excited to be closer to family, but my heart will miss so much in Tennessee. I LOVE this place. LOVE. I have awesome friends who have been through the tough stuff with me. I have amazing neighbors who will do anything I ask. I can let my 7yr old walk down the street alone, I mean, that itself is hard to let go. The weather, the beauty and friendliness of this place is priceless. My prayer is that the Lord will graciously bless us in Austin with even half of what we have been blessed with here.