We are officially and legally here!

This summer has been anything but easy for us, but a huge sense of relief rushed over me once we got through customs!

Yes there is still more paperwork to deal with to be residents (something called a TIE which gives you local residence and you can get things like bus passes and library cards), but it’s all going to be manageable.

Chris woke up earlier than me and he got a rental car and groceries. The boys are sleeping, but a neighbor already offered Will a backpack for his first day tomorrow (it has to be a matching school uniform one). We will go say hello to the neighbors today once the kids wake up.

I want to take a moment though to soak in gratitude for the present. And before I share some of the nightmare stories from the past two months (rabies!) I want to share the good stuff:

We were blessed with extra long visits with our parents/grandparents. We got extra hugs, we got long boardwalk and beach hours, pool time and we were encouraged to keep our heads up.

We were so lucky to reconnect with family and Virginia best friends we hadn’t seen in too long. I had the best dinner out with my mom, aunts and cousins (3 sisters and 3 daughters 💝).

We were welcomed back into our Colorado homeschool community, and the boys soccer and swim teams.

I began this summer feeling ashamed that our plans had failed, and discouraged and hopeless about the visa process. I’m so very thankful to each person who encouraged us along the way. Your sideline conversations, hugs, phone calls and texts, book and show recommendations, taking me to lunch, including me on walks, having us for dinner, sharing your own stories of frustrating times was so impactful to keeping me going.

For now, I’m going to sip a coffee and listen to some birds out back and take things one day at a time.