Life in Austin, 2017

Before the kids started school, we went out and explored Austin a little bit. The weather was a bit overcast and chilly. We checked out our local library branch...

 ...the Austin Zoo (which is a rehab and rescue center). It took me awhile to wrap my head around the fact that it's not as exciting as the Houston, Fort Worth, or Dallas zoos.

 Finding time to hang out with cousins.

 Unpacking and finding places to fit all of our stuff...including in this teeny tiny pantry!

 Once the older kids were in school, Ian and I went out and explored the Asian supermarkets. Found some things that my mom loved in Fort Worth.

 And some good pho.

 Still unpacking...and still sitting on the fridge.

 Over Thanksgiving break, we took a trip to San Antonio. We used our Season's Pass to visit Six Flags one day.

 And saw the Alamo another day.

 And we checked out the Riverwalk.

 And then bought Season Passes to SeaWorld on another day.

Moving to Austin

I just went through my Google Photos to find some photos during the time that we were moving... and I can't BELIEVE how much had happened! There are SO many pictures! I'll try and hit the highlights...


I can't remember the exact timeline anymore... August/September of 2017, we decided we were moving to Austin. We met with a realtor and planned to list our home ASAP. We had a weekend or two to declutter, stage, and take photos. After one weekend of showings, we had a couple of interested buyers, and eventually landed on one. We hired a company to come pack and move us at the end of September.

 The truck getting all loaded up. We decided that we would sell the house as fast as we could, have the moving company store our belongings, and live in limbo for a while so the kids could keep going to school for a little while. For awhile we thought maybe they could continue until Christmas Break...then decided Thanksgiving break might be better... and then I think we moved it up a little more. I can't remember exactly.

The last picture of our kids in front of our home. This was after school pickup from their charter school.

 Ian at his preschool. I think this was a fall festival. Or maybe it was the first day with breakfast?

 During our in-between stage of NRH to Austin, we had to board Toby at our vet. :(

 For the first week or so, we stayed with our friends, the Blasucci's in Fort Worth. Here's a pic of all the stuff we kept with us.

 The kids got along pretty well.

 And then we moved into an AirBnB closer to the kids' charter school.

 It actually made the commute to school SO much shorter and easier! It was a nice neighborhood and was conveniently located to the freeway.

 After texting the owner, they allowed us to bring Toby to stay with us since the floors were all concrete or tile.

 We still found lots of time to hang out with cousins.

 After a couple weeks at the first AirBnB (that ended up having a ghost or something), we moved into another AirBnB that was closer to our old neighborhood. We were able to resume our carpool with our old neighbors. We had already scheduled these two separate AirBnBs...but if there wasn't a ghost in the first one, we probably would have stayed there longer because Toby could be with us.

 We found time to go to Six Flags with our friends, the Petteways.

 And the kids sleeping. When we first arrived at this AirBnB, there were fire ants coming in through the wall and they were all over one of the beds! The owners called pest control and got that taken care of. I'm glad that none of the kids got bitten.

 Finishing up our soccer season. Ahhh... that's probably one reason we stayed in the area longer, too. We were letting Olivia finish up her season with her team, The Regulators.

 During this time, Tim would travel to Austin to work, and checked in on the house that we bought. We changed out the tile floor and painted most of the walls a lighter color.

 Levi's birthday party!

 And the boys sitting on the fridge at our rental.

 Primary Program practice sometime in there.

 Halloween costume party birthday party at a the Jenkin's house.

 And Ian napping in our rental.

 Ian's costume party at school.

 Happy Halloween! Trick-or-Treating with the Blasuccis.

 Olivia's 3rd grade class at ILTexas. Ms. Hollingsworth.

 Elijah's Kindergarten class. Mrs. Morrero.

 One evening we went to watch Mulan, put on by Keller Middle School. Cousin Isaac was in it, as well as one of our kids' favorite babysitters, Carly and Cameron Sorenson.

 November 11, 2017. Our official day leaving Forth Worth/NRH. All packed up!

 Goodbye Friends!

 Here we go!

 In our new home, with lots of unpacking to do.

 After a few days of hanging out in our new home, we decided it'd be good for the kids to start school, and attend for a couple days before heading out for Thanksgiving Break.


Here's Olivia with her new 3rd Grade teacher, Ms. Joisten.

 And Elijah with his new Kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Totten.

The school administration and staff were incredible at welcoming us to school. Each of the kids had a Student Ambassador buddy that stayed with them during the day for awhile to help them learn where things were, and to sit with them at lunch, and play with them at recess.