It was just much easier this way...

Good-Bye Sunshine School!

Last week was Anna Lee's last week of school. She has had the greatest year at Sunshine School! It is amazing to compare the first day of school and last day of school pictures and see how much she has grown and changed!

Last day: First day:

Anna Lee LOVES her teacher, Mrs. Carrie. She has been so good for Anna Lee...loving her, challenging her, disciplining her, and giving her "sugars" every possible moment.

On Monday, the kids had their end-of-the year program. It was so cute! The classes were each dressed as athletes. Anna Lee's group was basketball players...with the armbands and headbands to go along with it. It was a very different look for Anna Lee compared to the normal princess gowns she is wearing.

I came to take a quick picture of Anna Lee before the program started. This was the smile she gave me. We have been working on smiling for the camera lately. Can you tell??

Anna Lee and her "team"

Anna Lee had practiced her songs at home...a LOT and knew them by heart. She sang her little heart out during the program , but was mostly excited about the people who came to watch her. She waved her princess wave every moment she wasn't singing.

More waving...

Nathan giving her a high-five on the way out

GranDee and Pops drove in from Waco for the program. So sweet of them!

Anna Lee loves Kasey and Nathan!

Somehow we missed getting a picture of our sweet Claire, who came to watch Anna Lee too!
Looks like J.D. is ready to enroll!

Showing off her "Super Star of the Month" wall of pictures

Anna Lee with her best bud Ryan.

Thank you Sunshine School for a WONDERFUL year! We have been so blessed to be a part of that great school and will miss it so much next year!

Privacy is for the Birds

This was set up this morning by Anna Lee while I was in the shower. She sat in this chair with her legs crossed and said, "I'm just going to sit here and watch you. Let's talk." Nothing like having a little audience while you have two minutes alone in the shower. :)

Moving to A-Town

Our family has big news! We are moving to Abilene! We are so excited about this new opportunity and are looking forward to the great things God has in store for our family!

A while back, Jim and I decided that we wanted something different. Jim's job has been wonderful and he has enjoyed practicing corporate law for the past 5 years. He has learned so much and enjoyed working with his team; but we needed a change. He has worked incredibly long hours, including many late nights and most weekend days, and we were missing the joys of being together as a family. It hit us a little harder once J.D. was born.

So we decided to look for something new. At the time, we weren't sure what we were looking for...we thought maybe an in-house attorney position, etc.

After some unexpected conversations with Abilene Christian University (and a lot of discussion and prayer), Jim accepted a position there at ACU with the business department. He will be a professor and the director of their Entrepreneur/Philanthropy Program. He will teach, develop curriculum, fundraise, network, etc. He is so excited about his new position. I think it is such a perfect fit for him and he is going to do great things for the university and the students there.

We listed our house for sale by owner for a few weeks and then decided to list it with a realtor. It sold in 7 days with our realtor. Crazy! We bought a house in Abilene in Lytle Shores that we loved. It will be such a great fit for our family.

So our house is now being slowly packed up (it is a lot harder this time with kids added into the mix!) We are set to close on our house here June 3rd and close on our house in Abilene on June 7th. We are going to be super sad to leave all of our sweet friends here in Dallas, but are looking forward to re-connecting with old friends and making new ones in Abilene.

We are looking forward to great things in the future: with our family, with our marriage, with our kids, with new friends, with ACU, and with so much more. We are praying that God will bless the decision we have made to move to Abilene. His hand has been in the decision from the beginning, so we know He has wonderful things in store for us!