next stop....

When we moved out here we joked it was going to be our two year Southern California vacation. Believe me, I lived like I was on vacation.  Sure I did the obligatory things like took my kids to school and got a job, but mostly we just played...I made a point to go to the beach at least once a month since we've been here.  I said it was going to be a two year vacation, but then you get used to it.  You find your favorite beach, church, neighbors, friends, orange grove, rock climbing gym, thai place, grocery store, hiking path, gymnastics gym, preschool, sledding mountain, master your in-n-out order, and you think this is good, we can stay. 

Then you get the call.  Oh the call.  The, “we have a new job for you, we’ll let you know in two weeks where it is” call.  Two weeks to know you’re probably going to be moving, but not know where.  Two weeks to consider the nine places it could be.  Two weeks to make two lists
1. I’ll live here 2. Please no 

Then you wait.



Two weeks, and a day, later.



The call came this morning.  


We’re moving.  



Denver.



I assume it will shake out like the all the previous moves (this will be #4, if you’ve lost track), Jim apparently only gets new jobs in March/April, so I’ve played this game before. This particular position starts March 1, that’s basically tomorrow.   He’ll head out to snowy Denver while I keep living the dream here, but it’s gonna get a whole lot less dreamy.  Home repairs, home listing and selling, home packing (not me, the movers) and then road tripping with the kids to Denver, then of course run away to Boston for some part of the summer. 

We told the kids this evening, trying to approach it from the most positive angle possible.  Not the we’re leaving the beach behind for snow covered mountains angle.  Not the you're gonna need more than shorts and sandals angle. Rather the, they have big mountains and moose and buffalo and hiking trails and plenty fun to explore, angle.  Then I mentioned it was right next to Kansas which is what won Oliver over.  “Oh, I need to call Joel and Melissa right now and show them the map!” “I’m going to need to tell my friend Robert.”  “I’m going to pick my new bedroom and paint it blue again”  “I want my room pink!” I showed Oliver the map and the different routes we could take on our drive out, “Oh, we’ve got to stop in Las Vegas to play in that pool again!”  That’s. My. Boy. He’s got his priorities straight. 

Six years out!

Six years.  Six!  I can’t believe it.  I remember the day so clearly.  It started so slowly, breakfast at the hotel, driving around town collecting necessary papers, and then back to the hotel for lunch.  All I wanted was to hop in the car and make the three hour drive through the sprawling, fridged, snow covered, Siberian countryside to the orphanage, but Oliver had a schedule to follow and pick up was set to be after his nap time.  Orphanage doesn’t care your mama is coming for you…they’ve got a schedule to uphold!  


No judging improper car seat usage...this is Russia.  I was
just lucky my driver had a car seat.

The signs of a former orphanage life have left him.  Signs of attachment issues from loosing his first family and then the orphanage family, signs of neglect from 17 months of living in an institution, signs of malnourishment, signs of a vitamin D deficiency, and signs of terror when faced with water (over corrected), they have all melted away.  The goal isn’t to forget about adoption, the goal isn’t to ignore your first 20 months and just focus on the 6 years, the goal is to live your awesome life despite the cards you were originally dealt.  



That’s who Oliver is.  He loves his family, he adores his friends, he loves to travel (his current favorite place is the Blue Lagoon in Iceland),  he enjoys learning new things, he works hard at school and is rewarded with good grades, he is an amazing reader, a great artist, and a prefect big brother (it’s a delicate balance between “Lydia let’s go play, and Lydia leave me alone”) and he’s mastered it.  

20 months was a lot of months for him to be in limbo and 20 months was a lot of months for us to miss, but it’s all part of our family story, and we love it.  



Cheers to six years as a family man.