We're going to be Hawkeyes again!

So! It looks like in mid to late June we will be moving back to our beloved Hawkeye state!! (When you look at Hope in her shirt, Iowa is obviously where we belong, right?!?!) :)

A couple years ago when we decided to make the move to Michigan, we certainly did not plan for a turnaround back to Iowa after only 2 years. We really thought we were making this move for good! But, unfortunately, some things happened (both good and bad, some even before we moved!) that we did not anticipate, and couldn't have planned for. In hindsight, we look back and sometimes wonder why we ever even thought moving to MI was a good idea? What was God's purpose in this? How does this fit into God's plan for our lives? We know that it IS all part of God's great plan for us, we are just continually reminded that God's plan and his timing may not be for us to understand right now. But we have faith that God is directing our steps, and we are trying to follow where He leads! Someday maybe we will be able to look back and understand the "why" of our stint in MI, or maybe not. But God is good and faithful wherever we go, and we take comfort in that.

 Because, to be completely honest, our time in MI has been a struggle. And the main struggle (among many), has been Adam's job situation. A lot of unfortunate things have occurred in the last year (give or take), that have made for a very unpleasant work environment. Adam has been let down and been extremely disappointed by his company, where he has faithfully put in 10 years of good work. (I'm trying to be very PC here.... we're willing to share the details if you ask, just not going to spill it all here). So needless to say, it's time for him to move on. And with no possibilities to move up within his company (even if he wanted to), we've been looking for opportunities elsewhere. 

And Adam has a great opportunity in Clinton, IA!  He is excited that this will be a management position, and being able to finally put to use some of what he learned when he got his Business Management degree a few years ago. (More details to come regarding the new job!)

So once Jeremiah finishes up Kindergarten in mid-June, we'll be moving most likely to Clinton but possibly Fulton, IL which is right across the Mississippi River from Clinton. J will have a short summer! :( He gets done here in mid June (since he started after Labor Day) and schools in Iowa usually start up again in mid to late August. No 3 month vacay for him! He really has had a great school experience here in MI (and we are SO thankful for that!)- his preschool year at ZCS with Mrs. D and now this K year with Mrs. Slagh. He has grown so much and learned so many new things! 

Exhibit A- a recent email from his teacher :)

I hope we can find a school there that is a good fit for him, and that he'll be able to make some good buddies (something he has struggled a bit with here). Clinton is about 45 minutes away from the Quad Cities, and J is really excited to be able to go to the John Deere Pavillion in Moline, IL (he learned about that from one of his John Deere DVDs. That will obviously be one of our top priorities once we move!) I think initially the move and starting at a new school will be a bit rough for J- he's a lot like me, in that he's most comfortable in environments where he knows the routines, procedures, expectations, etc.... so that will be a bit of a challenge for him, but I know once he gets settled in he'll do great! Hope will continue to be just fine and will transition well, I'm sure. As long as she has all her people close by (Daddy, Mommy, Brother "Duh-doh," and Molly "Mah-yee"), she's good. :) Biggest change for her will probably be a new library to go to and new church nursery (but if you've seen one, you've seen them all!).

As for me, I'm hoping to continue to stay home with Hope next year. I am still certified to teach in Iowa, and am taking an online class and renewing my Iowa Teaching License this summer. So there is that possibility of getting into subbing or back into teaching full or part time. We shall see!

We're excited about the possibilities and opportunities that lie ahead! It will be nice to be only 3 hours from my parents, 6 hours from Adam's family, 3 hours from Des Moines, and 2.5 hours from Chicago. We are praying that everything with housing, etc will fall into place in the next couple months!

 

Spring Break 2016

I wish I had a bunch of sunny beach pictures from spring break, but alas I do not. We were only able to travel to other cold weather states this week, however it wasn't as crappy and snowy as Michigan was, so we were glad to get out!!

Our original plan was to spend the first part of spring break week at home (Adam planned to work), then head to the Lego Discovery Center in Schaumburg for some fun for J on Thursday, then head to my parents in Wisconsin for the rest of the weekend. 

J had Friday, April 1st off from school, too (heaven forbid spring break be only 1 week!! These MI people take their spring break seriously.... never seen such a thing before). So anyway, we hit the library since J doesn't get to go with us very often since he's in school! And we had the place to ourselves because, well, spring break.

Someone spent a little time on the iPad that day, too.

I love finding his random selfies! 

We got to enjoy a treat at Orange Leaf, thanks to J's good behavior at school. He got a gift certificate for being well-behaved the whole month of March! :)

We found out Sunday morning that Adam's Grandma Wissink passed away late Saturday night. She was one of the kindest, sweetest people I ever met. Unfortunately we did not get back to NW Iowa to see her as often as we would have liked, especially after moving all the way to MI. But I will always remember when Adam called her on the phone to tell her that Hope had been born, AND that we named her Hope Caroline after her! She laughed and sounded so happy! I know she was such a wonderful Grandma to Adam, and I was blessed to also call her Grandma for almost 9 years. We're so happy we named Hope after her, and pray that Hope will grow up to be a sweet, kind, hard-working woman with an unwavering faith in God just like Grandma Wissink. 

I just love this pic from a few years ago when we brought J to see Grandma Wissink.

So, we really wanted to make the trip to NW Iowa to attend the visitation and funeral, and since it was J's spring break week, it was easy to work out. I'm so glad we were all able to go!!

The drive from Holland, MI to Hull, IA is approximately 11 hours (with no stops!). And with a 6 year old and a 17 month old...... Oh. My. Word. I don't even know. We decided to leave Monday late afternoon and drive over to my parents' in Wisconsin (yes, this probably added time to our trip as a whole, but it lessened our long stretch to Hull by like 3 hours, so it was a good move for us with the kids!). We left Brookfield about 8:30 am on Tuesday morning, and the drive to Hull from there is about 7.5 hours (still not for the faint of heart, I tell you! But a bit more manageable than 11!).

We made an epic mistake on this leg of our journey. It was about 11:30 am and we were starting to think about stopping for lunch, just as we were getting to the border between WI and MN. We weren't urgently needing to stop when we passed through La Crosse, so we pressed on, assuming we'd hit a McD's or whatever soon in MN. HA! Here's a tip: if you ever want to travel 90 across MN AND stop to eat, DON'T. Just don't do it. There was NOTHING!!!!! For miles and miles and miles!!!! I had to pull out all the stops (aka suckers) to keep the kids from seriously losing it. Adam and I were both on our phones trying to find ANYWHERE we could find ANY food.

We ended up first at a "tavern." Perfect for J and H to hop up on a barstool and grab a beer for the first time. Also, surprisingly, no high chairs! So we pressed on.

Finally got to St. Charles, MN and ended up at a small diner called Del's Cafe. Never heard of it?!?! I'm shocked!!

It was packed, as you can see from this pic! With greasy food and waitresses who swear and reek of smoke, it's the perfect dining establishment.

But! We finally had food (I think it was food), so we could continue our journey!!

We arrived in Hull right at 5 pm, in time for the visitation for Adam's grandma. Then we grabbed dinner and headed to Adam's parents' house in Orange City to get unpacked and get the kiddos to bed.

Wednesday morning was the funeral, and again I am so glad we were all able to be there. Very sad to say good-bye to Adam's grandma, but also it was a special time with Adam's family and extended family.

Wednesday night most of Adam's family and extended family met for dinner at the Pizza Ranch. It was really nice to be able to sit and chat with cousins, aunts, and uncles that we don't get to see very often!

Someone was excited!!

Just ask anyone who was there, this one was a firecracker that night! Yikes!
 

So Thursday morning we hit the road bright and early to try to get to the Lego Discovery Center at our previously planned 3:00 pm ticket time (no, we did not make it by 3.... but thankfully it didn't matter).

Good-bye (for now), Iowa! We love you!!

She must have been exhausted, because she actually slept pretty decently on this leg of the journey!

About 4:30, we pulled up to the Lego place and surprised Jeremiah. He was so surprised and kept laughing and saying, "Awesome!!!" So that was a success! :)

Both kids had a great time there!

J says his favorite part of the Lego place was "everything!" :)

After a couple hours (it was NOT busy, and that's about all it takes to cover everything), we hit Jersey Mike's for dinner, then hopped in the car for the short 1.5 hour drive to my parents' house in WI.

This girl!

The rest of the weekend we were actually able to relax and stay put for a bit. Adam and Grandpa took J to a Lowe's workshop, and my mom and I got a bit of shopping in.

After church Sunday morning and lunch at Panera, we reluctantly hit the road for MI. Back to reality!

We put a lot of miles on the ol' Durango, and spent A LOT of time together in the car, but it was wonderful. It was a spring break we'll never forget and we're so thankful we were able to make the trip(s). So thankful for kids who travel well, too (for the most part)!!