Change of Plans

Hi everyone. No photos for you today....I haven't actually taken any in the past few days...shocking I know! I am actually writing just to update you on some things that are happening around here.

We found out last week that we will be staying in California for another 2 years or so. John's firm laid off about 115 attorneys 2 weeks ago due to the struggling economy. Luckily, John is in a small niche group at the firm and is one of the more senior attorneys there. His bosses love him so there is no danger of him losing his job. In fact, they need him since he seems to know how to do most of the things he does and has to train others below him. He met with the bosses last week and they told John that he was light years ahead of anyone in his class and that he is on track to make partner when his time comes. In order to go this route, they suggested John stay in Palo Alto for another 2 years so he can continue to grow and learn from his bosses. Plus, all the action is in Palo Alto right now and in this economy, it might be hard for John to get the work he needs if he is on an "island" all on his own in Seattle. So, these are all great reasons for staying here and not at all bad. We are just happy that John is doing so well and has such a great job. Things could have been a lot worse.

I must admit that I was disappointed with the decision because let's face it, my bags were packed and I was already living up there :). But, my home is where my family is and we are happy here in California, for a little while longer at least. As long as John, I and the kids are together we are great. I still long to be near our families and have the kids near their grandparents, uncles and aunts, but 2 years is not that long in retrospect and then we will all be in one place again.

To help with the transition of not being near our loved ones, we have decided to get a skype account and have been video calling with our families which has been so nice. They can see the kids and the kids can see everyone else. Connor loves to say every one's name in the family, so it is nice for him to see them on the video screen talking to him.

The upside to all this, is that John talked to his bosses about spending a month up at our house in Sandy Point this summer. So we are going to be spending the month of August up there and then of course we will be up there for the month of December. I think with these little trips to look forward to, it will make the change in our plans even easier.

Well, that is it! I just wanted to let everyone know how things are going here. I hope you all have a great week.

Love,
Kim