Wow, I guess blogging isn’t my cup of tea. I haven’t written
an update since November 2011.
So – Legal status update…
The boys officially became Van Roo’s on 12/13/11 – Our
Official Family Day! So many friends and family came to the courthouse to show
their support, as we all officially became a legal family. We then all went to
lunch and we let the boys play hooky from school; which surprising they were
upset they got to skip school. I’m going to count my blessings there!
Our beautiful family picture that our amazing and talented friend Anya took!
12/25/11 – Our first family Christmas, the boys were
spoiled; I don’t think they ever saw so many things stuffed under a tree. They
also were very concerned that Rich and I didn’t have any gifts to open. We
explained that they were our gift.
The rest of 2011/12 school year was great. Both boys passed
on to the next grade – Josh to 3rd and Nathan to the 6th
grade – Middle School!
March of 2012 Lori had to go to Oakland for a Mary Kay
function, which also was the same weekend as Nathan’s 11th birthday.
So we decided to let the kids play hooky from school on Friday. Rich and
Grandpa took the boys camping to the coast while Lori went to Oakland. They had
a blast and our new truck was filled with sand from the beach!
In June Lori’s daughter Rebecca Lynn and family were in San
Diego for a family vacation. So we pulled the boys out a few days early from
the end of the school year and went down to San Diego so the boys could meet
their sister and other extended family. The boys were excited, they never had
been out of the Sacramento area in their whole life. It was like we were visiting
another country or planet!
On our drive down we drove through Hollywood, had lunch at
Hard Rock Café on Hollywood BLVD. Nathan and Joshua were so excited, there are
people that are on Hollywood BLVD dressed as movie characters. There was Wonder
Woman, Pooh Bear, Star Wars and many others. Both boys were jumping out of
their skin when we saw the “Hollywood” sign. Nathan got a good shot of it from
the car while we were stuck in traffic!
We spent the next few days hanging out my family, the boys
went swimming at the beach for the 1st time ever! Then on our last
day we spent it at the San Diego Zoo! The boys had a blast with their sister,
and looking forward to seeing her again.
Prior to going to San Diego, Rich and Lori had been talking
about Rich’s career future and the direction Toyota was going in. After job-hunting
for a year in the Sacramento area, with no luck, we decided to open the search
up to outside of California. We looked at the top ten Toyota dealers in the US
to see where they were located and they were in Texas, Arizona and Indiana.
Rich applied with a Toyota dealer in Texas as well as the factory in Indiana;
also he applied for a local non-Toyota forklift dealer in Austin, TX. The
factory was interested in Rich but the owner of the dealer he worked at had to
give his blessing for Rich to even interview. Rich met with the owner of the
dealer in Austin, TX for an interview in San Diego. It went great and the owner
told Rich that the job is his if he wants it.
So after talking the job offer over and researching where to
live and schools in the Austin area, we accepted the job offer and moved to
Round Rock, TX – just north of Austin.
We love the area; Round Rock is a town that reminds me a lot
like Roseville or Rocklin. We have a lot of convinces again, not like near our
house where the closest store was Walgreens.
I am extremely happy with the public school systems here in
Texas. Nathan has PE daily, Josh 3 times a week. Josh has art and music each
week too. These were programs that have either been reduced or removed from the
school systems in CA.
As for the boys, they are adjusting well. We do miss our
family and friends greatly.
Joshua is doing extremely well in school, all A’s and B’s
and even has a girlfriend. He seems to love school.
Nathan is having middle school transition issues. Not use to
having multiple teachers and having to be responsible for his own school work
with out teachers reminding him. We did try home schooling him right after
Thanksgiving through Christmas break, but it didn’t work out. He took advantage
of the situation and goofed off when unsupervised. And he’s doing the same
things again since going back to school. I would like him to show some
responsibility and maturity because there is an electronic/tech charter school
that he could attend. We feel that it would be a great fit for him, but he
needs to show us that he can pull up his grades and keep them up before we
start the application process.
The last 2 weeks have been crazy. It all started with a
migraine for me, Nathan coming home from school early with the flu, Josh
getting the flu, then me! 4 doctors appointments for the boys, 1 for me and 3
ER and me trips for Josh. We are all well, and the flu is out of our home.
We have found a new church in our neighborhood. It reminds
us a lot of Bayside Plumas Lake! They have a wonderful children’s program and
youth ministry.
Well that’s what has been going on in the Van Roo home. I
will try to write more and not have it take 1+ year for an update!
