We're ba-ack!

So far behind, but thinking about that makes me tired, so I will just plunge in again and hope to get caught up along the way!

Big events in little bullets:

•  We successfully moved back across the world!  After the whirlwind of packing and selling and donating, we finally culled all our possessions down to 4 cubic meters to be shipped across the ocean and 16 suitcases to be brought with us on the plane, the fate of which I chronicled in my last post.  Some of those suitcases have made their way to my in-law's storage unit, while the container shipment is scheduled to arrive in NY this week--fingers crossed!
• We enrolled the boys in the elementary school down the street.  Of all the things involved in moving, I was looking forward to this one with the most trepidation but the boys' entrance into and continued success in school has been pretty seamless so far.  The teachers have been welcoming and responsive, the boys have found a few friends to connect with, and everyone has been enjoying their time.  In fact, even though I can hardly believe it, there are only two more weeks of school left!  Craziness!

  

  Have lunch at school with your second grader!

  

  Beach party day at Kindergarten!

  

  Grandma and mommy came to school to help make
  puppets for a class puppet show.

• We jumped into the job search in earnest, with the husband flying off to on-site interviews around the country.  So far, we have had some success with those interviews, including a few offers, but nothing has been decided yet while we wait for the licensing process and salary negotiations to work themselves out.  Which means, as of now, we don't know where we will be in the fall, but we do know we will be somewhere, which is fabulous.  I'm trying to be very zen about the whole process and not focus on the time ticking by and the multiple unknowns that still confront us (housing, schools, cars, climate)...and being only marginally successful with all that!  But really, things have been going very well for the husband, and we would be happy to work and any number of places, so now we just have to iron out all the details and make one of them happen. 
• We have spent more time with family than ever before, living with one set of grandparents, visiting the other, and seeing all sorts of cousins along the way.  The boys get to see at least one set of cousins every week (and they are loving that), and they were also able to meet both of their newest cousins born in December.  We were even able to take a trip to southern Utah with my parents during spring break, which was lots of fun.  So that part of coming back to the States has been a bonus.
  
  

  

  With Grandest at Needles in Canyonlands National Park.

  

  New cousin E with J.

  

  Post Mother's Day breakfast with Grandeur and Grandest.

  

  Dying Easter eggs with Aunt M...

  

  and Uncle J.

  

  Old photos of Daddy with Grandma.

• We've seen more different kinds of weather in a few weeks than we have seen in years: there's been snow, hail, buckets of rain, even a frighteningly terrible "wind event," and temperatures fluctuating wildly from freezing to shorts' weather--it's been very exciting for my Doha transplants!

  

  We were able to resurrect our old cold weather hats!

• We took a quick fact-finding trip to California (for a possible job), just the husband and I, the first time EVER we have traveled alone without the kids.  It was lots of fun (except for the small bout of food poisoning I had on our second day!)--we got to see my brother and his wife and kids as well as our friends who left Doha last year, ate out at a vegan restaurant, a farm-to-table bar, and several food trucks (we think the food poisoning came from the kale at the vegan place, sadly), and we even took an impromptu tour of my alma mater, Pomona College, the first time I have been back since I graduated.  It has been spiffed up since I was last there, but it still smells the same (love those eucalyptus trees!).  And the children thrived while staying with their grandparents!  Huzzahs all around. 

  

  Outdoor installation at LACMA.

  

  Brunch in the Village at Claremont.

  

  My favorite spot on Pomona Campus.

• The husband ran his first half marathon!  We went to see him at mile two and would have seen him cross the finish line, but he ran faster than he has ever run with his friend as a pacer, so we missed the big finish.  He ended up finishing third in his age division, so we were very proud.