Picture of the week

Love that Quinn is going outside after school and he has his dogs with him while exploring our yard. He growing so fast....

A year goes by

It's been a year today that I found out my Dad was nearing the end of his journey here on earth. Our house in Littleton just went up for sale and it was a super exciting time for the Henry family. Then I get the phone call. My Dad is in the hospital and the doctor says that he has only days left. I'm so grateful that he was lucid the first day in hospice. Family and friends showed up in droves to wish my Dad well and to show him love and support. It was heart wrenching to see my Dad. But here's the deal--no one gets out of life alive. I'm a realist. And the best a person can do is show love and support to those you love. Show them you care. That's all you can do. I spent the week with my Dad in hospice, along with so many friends and family. He was never alone. He left this world in pure love. It was a tough week. Quinn was with me through it all, which in hindsight was something I wished would have been different. But with no support he had to be with me. Mike's work days are far too long for him to support school drop/pick up so he had to come. But his sensitive little soul was so affected. He still talks about it. I'm sad that he'll never know his Grandpa. But it is what it is. Not a day goes by that I don't think of my Dad and I sure wish we still had our phone calls on Sundays. My Dad was never judgmental to me and I could always count on him to have pride in me. Now he certainly had his opinions, but he loved me even though he may not have agreed with a path or a decision. So here's to my Dad. Missing him every day....

Oh what the future will hold!

Mike and I have decided to embrace NGA's requirement to move and are planning on moving to St Louis in 2016--if they approve my extension request. It not, we'll be moving in the fall of 2015. I do hope for a summer move, so that Quinn can finish his third and most important year of Montessori and we can be ready for the move (and will have been in our new Parker home for 2 years). I'm excited. I've been needing something new and different for awhile. I'm tired of going to the ADF every day. I've been doing it for 11 years. I'm ready for Quinn to bond with family--Mike's mom, Aunt and Uncle, and cousins are in Kansas City, MO, which is less than 4 hours away. Quinn has little concept of family and I am so looking forward to him being able to play with cousins! and have a loving relationship with his Aunt and Uncle. And go to Grandma's house! This move is very exciting for our little family. Mike will transition to being a SAHD and he is sure looking forward to that--so am I. To have peace of mind that Quinn is going to be taken to school and picked up every day, rather than put on a bus is great. And we are looking at land--5 acres of rural so that we can have our RV with us, not in storage, and have chickens, goats, and anything else we want. So this will be our last year in the West. I love Colorado but I have thoroughly enjoyed all the adventures of living in other parts of the world, and now I have a family to share adventures with--so bring it on!