So, I don't have a single picture from February that I can find. I know I took pictures of Ashton playing basketball, but at this point, I don't know where they are. Yay, I found them, but my photography skills are bad - they are soooo blurry! Here are my two decent shots.
In finding the basketball pictures, I found Ashton's birthday pictures. I'm glad I found them, it makes me remember so many things that I need to write on the blog, so I remember for longer!
So, Ashton loves steak. For his birthday dinner, Mike grilled the family steak. That boy was in heaven. Ashton is quite the picky eater, so, it is great when we have a meal that he likes.
He got some good presents, some books (Diary of a Wimpy Kid), the game Pirate Plank, and a Lego Helicoptor. He seemed genuinely happy about his gifts (it's hard to buy for a 9 year old boy). But Ashton is pretty easy to please.
Ashton got to have a birthday party for his 9th birthday. We ended up just doing a party at the house one night. It turned out okay, but boy, it's hard to find games cool enough for 9 year old boys. They made pirate hooks, we did a pirate mad lib, we played pirate charades, and picked up pretzels with a pirate hook. Remember when I said Ashton was picky, well, he doesn't like cake. So, for his birthday, I made him an ice cream cake, now that's a cake he'll eat. And of course we opened presents.
In late January, I got offered a job at Dixie State College. It took Mike and I nearly two weeks to decide if I was going to take the job. It was a really tough decision. I had a counter offer from UVU and everything. In the end, I decided to take the job. It was an awesome job for my career, but more importantly it offered some great benefits for the family. Some things that helped us make the decision were as follows. I was going to lose all flexibility in my job. When I had Ashton I was able to work from home 10 hours per week. As time went on, I was losing that option. I was currently at 3 hours at home a week, and was told by June, I would lose all ability to work from home. Also, I was getting tired of my job. When I stepped back and looked at it, I wasn't happy with my job. Our babysitter was going to have another baby in May, and that could really change our babysitter situation. Mike and I were getting tired of Mike working every weekend, it was really hard to do stuff as a family. As we reviewed it, if I took the job, Mike could work part-time or not at all, and we would be making about the same amount of money. That allowed us to do a lot more as a family, and allowed the kids to have a parent at home instead of a babysitter.
So, that was it, the decision was made. Mike and I both gave notice at work. I committed to start my job at Dixie 6 weeks later (March 16). We had to get the house ready and on the market to sell, and pack, and finish our jobs. It was a really hard and busy 6 weeks. And really, we made the decision once, and chickened out and took two more days to finally make the decision. In all honesty, I think it took several months for Mike to believe he had committed to St. George. We never thought we would live in St. George.
We made a trip to St. George in Feb. to do some house hunting, to check out the condo, and the prep for the whole move (find the school for the kids, etc.).
I loved how Ethan became mobile. He is so cute. He planted his hands on the ground and then dragged himself forward. He could sure get around.
This poor boy sure puts up with alot! I don't think he loves being held by Elina, but she likes to help by holding him.
3 comments:
It's so fun to see pictures of the kids growing up! And steak for birthday dinner...sweet! My kids always just asked for boxed mac and cheese, blegh.
I think it has been a great decision for your family, can't wait to see the new place.
What a huge choice. You did it well! I miss you desperately, but I am so happy for you and your family!
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