Son L goes to college!

Two days after returning home from our fabulous Washington vacation, we began preparing two of our kiddos to go away to college.  Son L is now a freshman at the same school where daughter G is a senior!  (comforting for mama to know big sister can keep an eye on the newbie younger brother!) 

We made a trip to Costco to stock up on snacks for their dorm rooms.  I bought all kinds of boxes of snacks, Costco size, so the two of them could split everything.

Of course I was still in a boot from my fall on the mountain hike while in WA, so I got to use one of their lovely motorized carts!

And with the boot on I could not drive, so we loaded everything into the trunk of daughter G's car.

Once home, we began two staging areas in the house, one for daughter G and one for son L.

Also needing to be done in our few days between vacation and moving to college, was the purchase of a laptop for son L!  This had been his 18th birthday gift in May, but we just hadn't gotten around to actually purchasing it since he was gone most of the summer for work.

Finally, move in day arrived!  We all were there except for son G, who had to work.  Son L was really geeked about his Star Wars comforter, and I have heard since then that it was a hit with the other guys on his floor, too!

On the one hand, by now I am used to leaving a child at college, but on the other hand, I don't think a mother can ever get used to it.  Knowing that some other place will be their home for 9 months, and they will largely have to look out for themselves, makes me inwardly question everything I ever taught them....did I do enough?  Is he prepared?  Does he know how to be discerning about people and choose the right friends?  Will he remember all the studying tips I've shown him, the note taking, and the admonition to visit his professors soon and often during their office hours?  Will he remember to go to the dining commons to eat before they close?  Will he wash his underwear?!?!  Most importantly, will he lean on God in all things, especially when the going gets tough?  Will *I* leave him in God's care instead of worrying?

Finally it was time to actually leave him on campus and drive away.  After the ribbon cutting ceremony we all said our goodbyes.

How we love this boy of ours!

Our third born is now a high school graduate!!

Milestones!!

Since I last blogged, this beautiful young woman turned 21,

this handsome young man turned 19,

this handsome young man turned 18 AND graduated from high school!, and

last but not least we remodeled our family room from this:

to this: 

just in time to host son L's grad party!  Whew!!

Busy spring with lots of wonderful milestones.  My heart is full.

Six Weeks.....

until this young man is a high school graduate!

Christmas Eve 2017

If you have been a long time reader, these pictures will look familiar.  They are just the 2017 version. :)  We started our family Christmas celebration at the Christmas Eve service at church.  I always love the Christmas Eve service!  We end it every time just with candlelight, while singing Silent Night.  So special.

At home we ate our traditional Chinese food for dinner, and then had our own worship service, with sons G, A, and C helping to read the Christmas story this year from my grandfather's Bible.
     

After prayer, we began opening our gifts to one another.  Daughter H was able to join us for the evening, and we had fun being all together!  She gave my husband this Keurig for Christmas!

Little Man is obsessed with this show.  We watch it with him....it's a little edgy (scary)....but we are all enjoying the very good acting by child actors, and can talk about each episode after we watch.

So happy that two of my boys still want legos!

Son L received these cool water speakers (behind him on the bookcase).  They light up and water spouts up with the beat.  We had fun trying out different songs to see how they would affect the water.

These are daughter G's feet.  She has long wanted Chaco sandals, and this was her year to get them!

We faked son G out with this gift....it was so fun!  He had wanted the battlefront 2 game (Star Wars, for those of you who may not know), but we packed it with a heavy book in a bigger box so that he wouldn't guess what it was by the weight and shape.  He opened it from the bottom and saw the book first, and was kindof confused....it was a book on eschatology!  Haha!  The rest of the evening, while all the gifts continued being opened, he loaded it on the xbox so he could play some before bed.  He LOVES this game.

Daughter G gave hubby and I light sabers, so we could have a light saber battle for date night!

Kyle Ren's tie fighter.

Daughter H got to open her stocking that night as well, since she wouldn't be with us the next morning.

Merry Christmas everyone!

New Jobs!

Our two oldest boys got jobs just before Christmas at Five Guys Burgers and Fries.  Yes, the same restaurant, and they sometimes work the same shift!  So thankful that our college boy in particular (on the left) has steady income now.

Wordless Wednesday