Today marks 8 years of marriage for me and Lester. Eight years. How is that possible? Sometimes when I look at him, I still feel like a frizzy haired, braces wearing pre teen, staring into the eyes of a part-down-the-middle and slicked down, fitted out pre teen boy. 14 years together, 8 years of those married, 2 degrees, 3 kids, 4 different homes, and countless hours of work, laughter and tears (both happy and sad). A whole lot of LIFE. Its not perfect or glamorous-but it is exactly what I dreamed of when we were kids. And I'm living that. I am living my dreams with him.

Ironically, today we are not together celebrating. We are in different states getting our ducks in a row for even more life. After years of working towards this goal, Lester is currently in Boise, ID starting his second day of medical school. While he gets things set up there, I am here w the kiddos tying up all our lose ends. exciting. nerve wracking. New. Fast. Terrifying. Above all, bittersweet, which doesn't even begin to encompass what I'm feeling at this time. But I will say this. I miss him and I'm proud of him.

Home isn't here anymore-home is Lester. And even though I will miss it here more then I can say, I am ready to go home to him.

I love you Lester-happy anniversary. Thank you for the life we've lived together so far, and the life we're building together now. Thanks for choosing me-and I'd choose you a million times over, again and again. We'll be home soon.

Like I said in the previous post, prior to the family reunion we had tons of family coming in to make a trip of it. My sisters, their kids and families, and my cousin Natalie were ones that stayed with us in the house, which meant we had 20 people staying here [10 of them being 5 and under] in the house. While it took a lot of flexibility on everyones part, it was a lot of fun.

I loved seeing this new generation of sisters and cousins having princess fashion shows, and winning lightsaber battles in the backyard. I loved seeing the personalities of the baby boys as they learned boundaries and tested the limits, like with learning to walk or how much sand they could get away with eating-it was adorable. I loved seeing my parents be grandparents, with things like home made smores in the living room, painting in the back or sitting on Grandpa. I loved being able to see cousins I haven't seen for years, and getting to know their spouses and kids a little bit better, and start new relationships. And of course, I loved loved loved the time I got to spend with my sisters and cousins-especially Natalie who doesn't come up half as often as she should. [Pretty sure that needs to change, wouldn't you say? haha].








Since then, life hasn't slowed down-we have been busy working on Lester's application, dog/house sitting and hanging out at the splash pad and with friends in Mountain View, hitting up the farmers market, visiting apple headquarters, seeing our friends the Morco's and meeting their little one, seeing Luke and Lester off on Trek, and a million other little things. As fun as things have been, I think we are all looking forward to a little more routine and normalcy here. As always, life is good and we are happy!