We were excited for the Houston Rodeo this year. Activities like this were what we missed while we were in Sarnia. After 5 years in Houston the last time, we had lots of annual traditions that didn't carry over Canada. We went to other carnivals while in Sarnia, but nothing compares to the Houston Rodeo.
Our friend Hailey joined us for the fun. We met Hailey our very first day in our new house and the girls hit if off immediately. They've stuck together ever since and had lots of hangouts and sleepovers. The rodeo was just one more day of fun for these two.
I'm ridiculously behind on blogging for a lot of different reasons, but mostly because life just keeps getting in the way and I don't take my big camera out as often as I used to. Still, after nearly 10 years of blogging this journal, I'm determined not to let this digital memory album lapse. So, in my attempt to catch back up, you get Christmas in July!
The rest of the Christmas holiday was slow paced and laid back. My Mom and Dad came for a visit. Brenna got some fishing in with Pawpaw at our neighborhood's fish camp and she enjoyed the Christmas themed dress-up days at school.
We've taken a vacation every summer since Brenna's been born... except this past summer. Our summer was consumed with the move, temporary living, and building the house. I knew trying to squeeze in a vacation would be a lost cause, so in early May I booked a cruise for our next school break; Christmas. At the time, I didn't know that we'd be spending Thanksgiving in the Smoky Mountains with the other McAlister's or that Jacob would be in Dubai the week before the cruise was scheduled. The end of the year was travel laden to say the least, but given the tough year we'd had with the move, Hurricane Harvey, and losing the cats, this turned out to be a nice break for just the three of us.
We decided not to tell Brenna about the cruise and save it as a Christmas surprise. I love vacation planning, and this was the biggest secret I've ever had to keep from her. There were several moments over those 8 months that I almost let the secret slip or just wanted to give it away anyway. But I stayed strong, and as Christmas approached a small gift wrapped box appeared under the tree. We told Brenna it was the only Christmas gift she would received from us this year, and while she tried to be a good girl and say she was fine with it, I could see her emotions bubbling up. She was crazy curious!
On the last day of school, before the winter break, Jacob took off early and we attended Brenna's class Christmas party. After the party, she came home with us and we sat her down and gave her a choice. Since she was only getting the one present, she could open it now, to enjoy during the winter break, or she could leave it until Christmas morning and do things the traditional way. Just as I expected, she jumped at the chance to open the gift. Her overall reaction was much more subdued than I expected. Once reality set in, she was thrilled about the vacation, but slightly disappointed that I didn't include her in the vacation planning like I usually do.
This was our first Thanksgiving in four years that we actually had as a holiday where both Brenna was out of school and Jacob was off work. With just a few weeks before Thanksgiving, we decided to join Jacob's brother and his family for a holiday trip to The Great Smoky Mountains. Dolly Parton was our host as we stayed at her DreamMore Resort for the week. The resort was beautiful and we enjoyed the cool fall colors and weather.
Shortly after moving into the new house, we were invited to join a soccer team with a new friend we'd met in the neighborhood. Her dad called me that morning and by that afternoon we were registered and at the first practice of the season. We jumped in quickly and didn't fully realize what we'd signed on for. Brenna has played recreational soccer since she was 5 years old, but this was our first experience in a competitive league. It is much more intense and time consuming and the coaches are much more aggressive. We practice for an hour and half, two days weeks with games every Saturday and Sunday scattered all over Houston. We play in-club games on Saturdays at our home fields and we play other soccer clubs throughout Houston in PDF Houston games on Sunday. We eat, sleep, and breath soccer! And the old saying holds true, Practice Makes Perfect. She has improved tremendously through the fall season. Despite the enormous time commitment, she still wants to continue in the spring so it look like we will continue to be busy with more soccer! Here's a few shots from the season.
Halloween was celebrated on several different platforms the last week of October. First we kicked things off at school with a Monster Mash. The kids gathered together in the gym on a Saturday night for games, a photo booth, and a DJ. Next it was Spooktacular Soccer and our soccer club had a fun event for the girls to play games and get candy. Finally, Halloween night we toured our neighborhood in the rain and enjoyed meeting neighbors and seeing friends. This year Brenna was Mal from Disney Descendants. She went all out with makeup and a wig. She looked great and I told her it was my favorite Halloween costume so far.
All around, this year has had some tough adjustments for us. But the toughest by far was loosing both of our dear family pets after 14 years of companionship. Pickles had been struggling over the past year with health issues and we lost him suddenly on September 12th. Unfortunately, just a short three weeks later, Moose began to struggle with his kidney disease and we lost him on October 3rd. It was very difficult for all us and the change its had on our lives has been significant. Despite the sorrow of losing such loving friends, we are so thankful that God blessed our lives with them for all the years that they were with us. We loved them both dearly and miss them so much.
Since our new school was opening for its very first year, there was lots of build-up to the big day. We attended two different meet and greets for The Groves first graduating class prior to the start of school. One mom hosted a party at her house for everyone and then there was a meet-up at the local Bahama Bucks for snow cones and smoothies. It was really great for us since it gave Brenna a chance to meet some new friends and have a few familiar faces on the first day. We attended Meet the Teacher Night and toured the new school, which is awesome. Brenna even submitted a poster for an art project to celebrate the school's inaugural year. After all the excitement, it was a bit of a let down when Harvey came and delayed the start of school by two weeks. We did eventually make it to the first day of school. Brenna loves her teacher and we soaking up every minute of our last year of elementary.
As we approached the end of 2016, we patiently waited for insight into our next assignment. Our work visa was set to expire on March 1st. One of two things would need to happen at the start of 2017. Either we would apply for an extension to our visa in order to stay in the country or we would be reassigned to another job and a move would happen. While I enjoyed my time in Canada very much, I did not anticipate staying for longer than our original three-year visa. Just before the Christmas holidays, the company made a request that we extend our visa, and suddenly I was faced with the possibility of continuing in Canada for another significant amount of time. I was a little disappointed. I had thought that we would be heading back down south. But, I was thankful for the positive aspects. We had a fantastic group of friends in Canada and Brenna enjoyed her time at Sarnia Christian School.
Just after the first of the year, we began working on the paperwork for our visa extension. I settled into the mindset that we were here for another long haul and then something unexpected happened. In early February we found out that Jacob was being transferred to Houston.
The move plan was uncertain. Jacob's effective date was April 1st, which complicated a school move. Most schools in Houston finished in late May, so it didn't seem reasonable to transfer to a new school for only 6 weeks. But our school in Canada continued until the very end of June, which we couldn't wait around that long for. Jacob's schedule also complicated things, as we weren't able to get away for a housing hunting trip until the end of March. Mom and Dad came up and kept Brenna while Jacob and I flew to Houston for a quick house hunting trip. After a few days and some hard decisions we ended up buying a house that wasn't finished and wouldn't be complete until August. That really threw a wrench into our plans.
The biggest issue Brenna had about our move back south was that she would miss having her birthday in Sarnia with her friends. So, despite the craziness of living apart, managing a move, and building a house from another country, we decided to throw party planning into the mix and celebrate her birthday early so that we could enjoy it with her friends.
Like every year, she settled on a theme, we designed an invitation, and the planning began. This year she wanted Neon Glow in Dark. We decorated the upstairs party table, had neon tie-died t-shirts for a party craft, and built a curtain over the basement entrance to block the light for the 100s of neon bracelets and necklaces that were waiting for the kids.
The party was a chaotic success. Things got a little crazy during the craft. There are no pictures of the 15 girls all covered in plastics bags, spritzing tie-die all over the kitchen because it was literally all hands on deck to contain the permanent color. A mom may have been surprised when she found that her blond-haired daughter now had pink highlights. They moved the party into the basement where there was lots of screaming in the dark. It was definitely the loudest party so far. The girls were covered with glow-in-dark jewelry on the their necks, arms, legs, and heads.
Despite the extra stress it placed on the move situation, I'm very glad we had her party in Sarnia before we left. This group of girls have been together since 1st grade and it has been such a great group. Some of these girls have been a permanent fixture at our house since the first week we moved in and they came knocking on the door asking if Brenna could come out and play. We were very blessed in the house and school that God placed us in and these girls were a big reason for that.
EDIT: By the time this post gets published I will be far behind on updates, we will have made yet another move, and life in general will have turned upside down and then right-side up. Due to my inability to post while the things were fresh in my mind and the fact that a lot has happened between then and now, the posts that follow will likely be heavy on pictures and light on words.
In May we took our final class trip to a recreation of a First Nations village (or some would say Native Americans, but that only applies if you live in America. First Nations is the Canadian descriptor), complete with defensive wall fort and longhouses. There was a lot of running through the woods in the rain, but fun was had by all none the less. We heard stories about the First Nations history, how they lived in long houses, and we got to view First Nations crafts and weapons
Each year we celebrate Christian Education Week with a list of fun activities for the kids through the week and wrap things up with Grandfriends Day on Friday. This year the school did a Spring Festival for the community that was themed Celebration of Learning on Wednesday night with a repeat performance on Friday for Grandfriends Day. Brenna loves being a part of the Junior Choir and had been practicing the songs for weeks singing in the shower, at dinner, and during homework sessions.
At the end of April we wrapped up what has been our longest run of basketball ever. It started back in October with the Huron Lakers. After finishing that season we immediately jumped into Upward Basketball, which is a christian-based league sponsored by one of the area churches. Shortly before Upward finished it's season, Brenna was given the opportunity to play for our schools Girls Junior Basketball Team. All together this accounted for seven straight months of weekdays practices and weekend games, sometimes as often as three time a week. I even served as assistant coach for the school team. But, as much as I love to watch our girl play, it was tiresome by the end of April. I didn't get a lot of video or photos from the Upward or SCS Junior Team, but I did manage to get some video of their pregame routines. The kids love the intro as much as the game itself.
Here's a random assortment for the Run Down from our fall and winter! There were school plays, church campouts, a Dancing Under the Stars Gala, arts and crafts, hockey, a long 3-week span that Jacob was away for work, and lots of snow!
