Graduating

As if life hasn't already been full of coming changes and new chapters, Will graduated high school. He also turned 18 on the same day. All I can say is, it's a good thing I've had a lot to keep my mind occupied and busy because if I stewed on this for too long I'd be in crisis mode. 

But this is what we do as parents and this is one of many goals we want for our kids. So the list of my parenting bucket list continues to see items checked off: 

• turn 18
• graduate high school
• drive
• grow in grace
• girlfriend who loves Jesus
• prom
• gets a job

The Luther Prep experience has been one heck of a ride. What a gift God has allowed us to provide for our son! Will's class made an all time record of Prep's 150 years - there are 40 young men that have planned to attend Martin Luther College in the fall for the pastoral ministry track!

With our current shortage of pastors to congregations in need, what a blessing this is! These guys still have 8 more years of study ahead of them to get there but we are grateful for their desire to serve the Kingdom in this way. 

My parents and Wayne's mom were able to attend the graduation. Jeff, Steph, and Sophie were also there to represent the Halldo clan.

Receiving his diploma

With Grandma Fran

Will and Auntie Steph have a special bond;)

Cousins

Will with Oma and Opa

Will and Jessica

The guys

Love these two!!

Uncle Jeff and Auntie Steph

Will and Eric - his roommate for next year

We went in on a party in town with a couple families. We headed over to the Irish pub following the service and outdoor pictures and spent the afternoon eating and visiting with friends and family and friends that are like family ... 

Janine and I have been friends since our own Prep days almost 30 (gasp!) years ago. Our boys graduated together and it was so fun to share the party. 

Senior Year - MLPS 

Good friends pick up where you left off! 

We spent our last night in Watertown for probably a few years before we're back for Z. 

Meanwhile .... this happened.

Oh, yeah. Remember the whole moving thing?

We left for Wisconsin on Monday. The house went live on Wednesday. This meant that before leaving on our trip the house had to be show ready.

I already like to have a fairly clean house to come home to from vacations so the concept is not new to me. But show ready?!! Like all my bathrooms have to be clean at the same time? It was a little stressful.

While we were gone we were getting email notifications of anywhere from 2-4 showings a day and were very thankful we weren't home only to be routinely displaced. There was even one day that there were two inspections done. Offers were being held until we got back home. So the following Tuesday we sat down with the realtor to look at what we got - and we got 9 offers!!!

It was amazing and the offer we accepted went above and beyond what we had even dared to pray for. With the sale of our home it means another puzzle piece in place for our move. 

With the time we have left here Wayne and I are both working until the end of June. I'm so sad to leave such a wonderful and supportive cliental. But it gives us both a chance to do what we love to do, work hard and (we pray) end well. I'm a purging maniac and after we get through this weekend's graduation open house (oh yeah, did I mention that?), furniture and large items we're not taking with us will be hopefully walking out the door. 

This month will be full of last various dr's appointments, field trips, a violin recital, spelling bee, and homeschool track meet. We're working on our Ottawa bucket list which strangely enough has quite a few restaurants on it. We have tickets to see our first football game here! 

Montreal smoked meat poutine

We've started our "last time" moments which is weird. And we also just finished watching the first season of King of the Hill for some reconnaissance work in preparation of our move;)

We may not be graduating from here the same way Will graduated from high school. There are similar feelings though attached to the changes coming and the uncertainty of the future, but the excitement that comes with that. 

"For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers,  neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

Romans 8:38,39

 

Moving On

I know I have been remiss in keeping this updated as my mother so lovingly pointed out;) I'm going to try not to get too wordy and stick to highlights and post the good pictures to keep Oma happy. 

In my defence, I've been a little busy.

After the announcement of Palm Sunday, we dove right into Holy Week and Easter. There wasn't a lot of time to lolly gag. 

There was a Christian Seder Supper that was wedged in there and didn't get any pictures taken of apparently. We also didn't get an Easter family picture taken. But I got the kids and they're the cutest anyway. 

Will went back to school Easter Monday. Fran returned to Calgary on Wednesday after Easter. 

The following week was pastors' conference in Toronto. Zanna and I had already planned on going and staying with the Henrichs in  Markham. We made plans to meet up with the Gumms at the Toronto Zoo. 

We pretty much had the place to ourselves seeing as it was a random Tuesday in April and it was stinking cold. That meant there was plenty of photo ops since we didn't have to share the space with scads of kids. 

I love these gals! They are some of my fellow pastor's wives who are such blessings in my life! We may do the pastor's wife gig in different ways but we are connected in faith, in our desire to serve in our vocations, and the uniqueness of life in the ministry. They are my cheerleaders and comrades and I thank God for them! 

The next week Wayne and I left for a week in Texas. This was a reality check. 

We're not in Ontario anymore

First of all, we left Zanna home mainly due to some activities she was committed to that made it hard to miss. The day Wayne accepted the call I tearfully called my longtime homeschool friend, Christine, and told her what just happened. And then I asked her to prayerfully consider taking my child into her home for the week. She immediately accepted without hesitation. I never worried about Zanna while we were away because I was so confident she was in good hands. Thank God for good friends!! 

Meanwhile Wayne and I were off on our next adventure and headed to the Lone Star State. We spent the first evening at Brent and Chantal's in nearby DFW area and enjoyed seeing their kids and visiting their home for the first time. 

The next day was off to East Texas known as the Piney Woods area where Wayne accepted the call to. We spent the week meeting some of the members of our new congregation, house hunting, and getting to know the area better. We stayed at Camp Shiloh in a nice, cozy cabin. 

First impressions: 

to begin with, there was no snow. So that was a good place to start. After a brutally long winter this was a welcome reprieve. However I've lived in Texas before to know that by the time we move down there it'll be hottern' hades (that's hotter than hell in Texas speak). 

it was beautiful - it felt familiar yet uniquely Texan. Lots of trees, lakes and sunshine thrown in with fields of Texas bluebonnets and longhorns. Sigh .... 

the people are friendly - all of them. Coming from the rudest place I've ever lived (I love you, Ottawa, but you are mean - with the exception of some of the nicest people here I know) this was a joyful welcome! Wayne got all excited because an employee in Walmart actually helped him and then blessed his day. Welcome to Texas. 

I don't think I can imagine that our week in Texas could have gone any better. We met some very nice church members who had us over to their homes a number of times. We got to know fresh faces and make WELS connections. We had the privilege of worshiping with the group that will be our new family down there. We communed over the Lord's Supper and then shared a meal afterwards to fill our bellies. There was (unsweetened) iced tea involved that reminded us this was a southern meal. 

Two men from the church gave us a personal car ride around what will be our mission field. We got stories both personal and of the area. They were very gracious with their time.

Our realtor, Ralph, was all Texan through and through and knew that area like the back of his hand. We figured it must be a pretty safe area to be in if he leaves his keys in the ignition. We learned some back roads as he maneuvered our way from house to house. We got stories, were taken to some local restaurants, and generally given the lay of the land and then some! We found a house that we walked into and said, "Well shoot, this is home. What do we gotta do to make this happen?" And then they accepted our offer a few days later. 

We ended our last night in the area with new friends around a table of Texas BBQ and a game of hand of foot. 

We got home and hit the ground running which is how it usually goes after a trip. Zanna had her end of season synchronized swimming show. All of their hard work from the year payed off in their final routine! 

She also had a workshop at the area science museum where they did experiments on electrical circuits. 

Then there was the yearly Lutheran Girl Pioneer Mother's Day tea. The girls had been busy preparing for a puppet show complete with homemade puppets and stage decorations! Zanna was also awarded some charms she had been working towards. We are so grateful to have had this program and have been blessed by the special ladies that run it. It wasn't at our own church but the church downtown. They always accepted us with open arms! 

We had our final WINKLE here - which is what we call it when we get together with the area WELS pastors and their families. The Gumm family came up from New York and stayed the night before with us so they could join the group the next day. 

For Mother's Day Wayne and Zanna took me out to one of our favourite special restaurants that's on our bucket list to hit one more time before we leave - the restaurant at Le Cordon Bleu cooking school. It's amazing.

My beef stew never looks like this

Finally, we celebrated our last day of homeschool with a trip to the local fro-yo shop. It's all about the food:)

Next up: I'll make a separate post about our recent Wisconsin trip which includes Will's graduation.