Finally a post (from Hawaii)!

Almost one year later and I am finally making a post to this blog! Needless to say, our lives are busy and it takes a trip to Hawaii to find the time to catch up! I'm going to do my best to go back and add some posts with pictures from this past year. It has been a life-changing year for us (for a few reasons), but we are doing well and enjoying every moment we have together as a family.

Gage is growing up so fast and keeping us on our toes. He is such a fun-loving, caring, smart and charismatic little boy. I can't believe he will be three years old in August! He is looking forward to his third birthday because he thinks he will have so many more privileges, like chewing gum or having a Dr. Pepper. He asks, "When I'm three, I can have gum?" or "I can have Dr. Pepper when I'm three, right Mommy?" He finished his first year of "school" in May. It was a rocky start in August with a few weeks of tears as I dropped him off, but he finally adjusted and absolutely loved his bible school. I am amazed at how much he learned throughout the year and couldn't have asked for better teachers. I think they loved Gage just as much as he loved them! Gage is ready to go back to school, but I'm afraid he is going to be sad when he doesn't have Ms. Amy, Courtney, and Jessica for teachers! I am so thankful for Gage and have cherished all of the special memories and commentary that he brings! He makes my heart skip a beat with joy every day!

Eric continues to be the best husband and Daddy in this world! I really am a lucky gal and thank the Lord for him every day. I enjoy watching him interact with Gage. They love each other so much and their mannerisms are so alike it is scary! This past year, Eric was promoted to Defensive Coordinator for the Frisco Liberty Redhawks. They had a GREAT season and went three rounds deep into the playoffs. It was such an exciting season! Our parents even got involved this year to cheer the Redhawks on along with many more fans. Although football season for a Coaches family is very exhausting, we look forward to it each year! We are hoping that the Redhawks can excel even further this year...it's right around the corner! Eric has a couple more weeks off for the summer and then it's back to the field house!

I am keeping very busy with work and motherhood! I left my previous employer of 4 years in February as Senior Wellness Coordinator for a new opportunity as Account Director for Viverae, Inc., a health management company based out of Dallas. It is the best career decision I have made and I know that I have found my career "home." It has been such a breath of fresh air and is so nice to work for a company that truly practices what they preach and VALUE their employees. We are a group of professionals that work very hard, but we also have a lot of fun! I love that it is required of us to work out in our fitness center three days a week and to participate in 2-minute fitness drills throughout the day. This is just one of the many things that we do to take care of each other and our health. The sacrifice of working from home with my last employer and now driving into Dallas (1 hour commute) with Viverae has been WELL worth it. Eric and I are hoping that we can move to Dallas in the very near future so that I can be closer to work. We found a great neighborhood that will put us exactly halfway to each of our work locations. Now we have to mentally prepare to put our house on the market and we aren't quite ready for that yet!

We try to spend as much time as we can with our family and friends and have had some really great times over this past year. Unfortunately, we have experienced some challenges with Eric's parents who are in the middle of a divorce right now. They have been married for 38 years. It has been a really hard time for all of us. Eric's mom is living with us now so that has ALSO been quite an adjustment! We are taking it day by day and know that God wouldn't put anything before us that we can't overcome. Keep Eric and his family in your prayers as they go through this trying time.

I'll work on some previous posts in the next couple of weeks so check back on a complete update. For now, I will leave you with this spectacular view from our vacation beach house! Aloha!