Settling In

We're approaching four months since returning to the U.S., and in many ways, it seems like we've been here much longer than that and much shorter than that, all at the same time.

Our days have been full since our return, both as a family of seven and as first-time homeowners.

We put an offer in on a house while we were in Africa, and it was accepted. We'd spent weeks searching for  a home in Mississippi, where James was transferred to, and finally found the one we were looking for. While we'd never seen it in person ourselves, our realtor sent us more photos from her visit, and a friend came to look at it with the inspector. That, coupled with the virtual tour on the listing, gave us the confidence to move forward.

And...we love it. It's better than we'd imagined and has been such a great place of rest, and life, and togetherness for our family. We closed on it and moved in just two days after landing in the U.S. What timing! We're learning a lot as we learn this new area and this new home, and we're steadily making it our own.

Here's a peek at what it looked like last month. The bushes had been trimmed and the cracked doorbell had been replaced, but otherwise the front looked the same as it did when we moved in. Since this photo was taken, we've taken care of a few more things, the most noticeable of which was replacing the broken vertical blinds in the big window. I'm glad and thankful every time I see that big empty spot isn't there anymore and see the wide, horizontal wood blinds that are in their place.

This house has a wonderful backyard, which we'd been enjoying daily - until the boys' bikes got fixed, and the big boys taught themselves how to ride without training wheels (in about two days!). Now they spend most of their outdoor time racing around the cul-de-sac.

Life is feeling normal now, as we settle into new routines and learn what works best for each of us. There are, of course, plenty of hard at times, but so much more beauty and kindness and grace and growing.

What a story we're living... Thanks be to the Author of it all!

In the photograph below, James and the kids are checking out a box turtle that frequents our backyard after a heavy rain (and subsequent yard flooding, which you'll see in the following photo).

Moving Forward

As of Wednesday morning, we have a court date!

Our April 2nd appointment isn't exactly the February date we'd been expecting, but it is a gift. Now we can put pen to paper and flesh out all the little details that a trip of this magnitude - and the change of duty station following it - requires. Because amidst this life-changing trip, we will be relocating to a yet-to-be-determined new home in southern Mississippi.

We're not sure yet if we'll buy or stay in base housing again, but that decision can be made later, once we know when we'll get there. For now, we'll focus on what's immediately in front of us: enjoying our last six weeks in Hawaii as a family of four, preparing to meet three sweet little boys who our hearts have been longing for, and spending at least a couple of months in their home country, soaking up the people and the culture and all that awaits us there.

For now, we have silverware and bath towels to pack. (Really.)

Figueroa, party of seven, here we come.

"Saying goodbye, saying goodbye to Little Creek."

That's the song that James has been singing (to the tune of "Saying Goodbye to Hollywood") for the past few weeks. Well, tomorrow is the big day. We finished moving out of our apartment this morning and turned in our keys, and left our first family home for good. Bittersweet, I think is how I'd describe it. But tomorrow, our biggest adventure yet begins!

Goodbye, Stuff...

Hello, boxes!

Our apartment was a sea of cardboard on Tuesday and Wednesday as our things made their way into the boxes that the movers brought over. We couldn't believe how fast they worked; on Tuesday, everything besides the furniture was packed by 1pm, and on Wednesday the majority of the furniture and boxes were out by noon!

Here is AJ in Box Land on Wednesday morning: