We made the decision to not renew our lease on May 15th. During the time we were looking for another place to rent, my aunt offered for us to live in my grandmother's house "if" we wanted to move back to Louisiana. We spent many hours in discussion, prayer, and fasting to make the best possible decision for our family. It was not any easy decision to leave the comforts we had grown a custom to the past 3 years...a wonderful ward/stake (our church family), equally wonderful friends (always willing to offer help whenever it was needed), schools (the kids loved their schools, even though we were going to be changing schools this year they were starting to look forward to the new experience), and last but not certainly not least the life we had built there (our family relationship had grown closer over the past few years, we only had each other to rely on and it helped bring us all closer together).
We have been back in Louisiana for just over a month and have kept very busy. We had to pack up my grandmother's things before we could start unpacking ours. But, we are slowly getting settled. The summer is quickly coming to an end, the boys start school in 2 weeks...so there is still so much to do. We enrolled them in the elementary school I went to from Kindergarten to 8th grade. That helps to put my mind at ease as I know they are in good hands.
Peyton is enjoying being able to go outside, ride his bike, play basketball with some boys down the street, toss the football around, and not have to worry about traffic...since we live on a dead end street. He has been an amazing help the past few months, everything from helping to load up the moving truck to keeping the littles entertained while Mom packed and packed and packed some more and then unpacked.
Jonah just had a birthday...the big 8 years old!!! He wanted a ninja cake again this year, so of course I complied! He will be baptized this Saturday. We are so proud of the decision he has made to be baptized. He has such a sweet spirit.
Addison asks to go visit her friends everyday. Breaks my heart because she doesn't understand that her friends are 500 miles away. She still loves to help mommy all the time! She loves playing the Wii and watching Disney and Nick Jr shows. She got to play in the rain one of our first days back and then played in the mud....she LOVED it!!
LJ is growing by leaps and bounds. I cannot believe he will be 11 months old in just 7 days....where has he past year gone??? My baby is growing up much too fast. He is cruising on the furniture now and had finally decided to crawl on his knees (he has been "army" crawling on his belly). He is such a happy baby and loves being with his brothers and sister.
Lawrence is happy about being in Saints country again! He and Peyton are at the training camp practice this morning. He is looking forward to the beginning of football season.
I am adjusting. Never thought I would need to adjust to being back at "home". Ha! Lawrence and I have already given talks at church. Although, I must admit it is much easier to give a talk to a congregation of 40 people as opposed to 100+.
As much as we miss our ward (church family) in Texas (they were our family away from home and always ready to lend a helping hand!), the amazing friends we met, and the life we built the past 3 years...we are definitely enjoying some of the perks of living back in Louisiana...
Like this yummy sno-ball!!!
