Let's Talk About Life and Change

So much has happened since March... The wait was killer! We knew our lives would hit hyperdrive once we heard back from the matching process and now here we are in May. To give a brief summary of events, we matched for residency in Phoenix on March 25th, packed up house the next couple days... drove for three days out west from our home in Chicago (Dad towing the Camry and drving the Budget truck, while Sydney wrestled the children in the car and battled severe water retention from being 8 months pregnant and driving 12 hour days). 

After arriving in Arizona, we stayed with our dear friend, Jane while we went hunting for a house and a doctor to deliver this baby in May. After nothing short of a miracle, we found a house a few days later to throw our boxes into, squared things away with a doctor in downtown Phoenix and then drove up to Utah to visit family and do a short rotation with Thomas's brother Taylor and his podiatry practice. Phew! Got that all out. On our way up to Draper, we stopped in to visit Nana and Papa Montague and enjoy a little Easter retreat/Conference weekend with family. Such a pleasant and welcome change from the crazy, hectic previous weeks.

Let's start at the most recent picture since our last post...Happy Mother's Day! Here we are in Phoenix, AZ in our new house and just a couple weeks out from having our new baby girl join our family. 

Brielle is talking so much each day, adores her big brother and stuffed animal (dog) and thinks she is the boss---she totally is too. She is opinionated, snuggly and quite the fish in the bathtub. After only knowing a baby bathtub since birth, we now have a BIG bathtub for the kids!!!! HOORAY! Bri was terribly nervous/terrified in the beginning, but now is all about bathtime. 

What?!?! We have a pool in our back yard???!! It has been a blast to enjoy the sunshine here in Phoenix. With all the tramatic adjustments that naturally occur from a big move, it is nice to have some perks to cling to. We are feeling spoiled to have a stand alone home with a pool and even a dishwasher AND washing machine/dryer! Definitely moving up in life:) Hudson is quickly learning to swim and is eager to play outside all day.  

We had to get hyped up before getting into the pool. The kids were excited about the idea, but when it came down to it, they were clueless as to what you even do in a pool. Problem quickly solved once they kicked around for a while. Not a difficult thing to fall in love with when it's blazing hot outside.

The kids have been the ultimate troopers as Mom and Dad have been setting up, cleaning and fixing things around the house. Dad has done a million and one projects including: changing the light fixtures throughout the house, fixing the plumbing in both bathtubs and bathroom sinks, fixing fans, getting the kitchen disposal to work, fixing broken drawers, changing the hardware, running a water line from the sink to the refrigerator (now we have water and ice!), building window screens, painting closets, wiring an automatic garage door...you name it, he's figured it out and done an amazing job with it. What a handy man!

The big day has come! The kids have their own BIG bathtub! This may seem so silly that we are so pumped about such a commodity, but after bathing these two growing kids in a baby whale bathtub for the past year and a half...well, things needed to change and we are so grateful they have!

Easter was a blast and Nana and Papa Montague's house. Cousins Luke and Ezra came down to spend the weekend and the kids had a hayday with their Easter candy after the hunt. Thanks for spoiling them Nana:)

We hit the sand dunes and let the kids go crazy. They were quite a sight with white sunscreen caked to their skin and then after rolling in the red sand...This picture looks like a mini-Thomas to me. This kid likes a good drink, just like his Dad. He is in hog heaven.

After arriving in Phoenix and while looking for housing, we were so grateful to have Jane and her hospitality. The kids came to love Jane and felt right at home there. We are forever grateful to all the good people that have gotten us this far! We are thrilled to be finished with Podiatry school and excited to enter this new phase of residency. What a sweet time to share together with our little family. 

One of our stops along the way out west was in Dalhart, Texas with Thomas's brother Dennis and his family. We love that family! They are some of the coolest people you will meet and we were so happy to spend a little more time with their family. It's not every day you go through the small town of Dalhart, so we felt pretty happy to have had the opportunity to make some sweet memories with the cousins along our journey.

Here we go! Budget truck packed and ready to drive the miles across the country. Mom cried closing the house door for the last time and driving away from that sweet chapter in our lives. Hudson was so worried about me as I was sobbing..."Mom are you going to be okay?" It was such a thoughtful inquiry, but it just made me cry harder because he hadn't a clue what was really happening. Those were some of the best memories made and our best friends, the Tranters came to bid us farewell. It made it hard to drive away, but we couldn't be more thankful for all the sweet times we will cherish from our experience in Chicago.

Our cute little Tranter/Wright kids hanging out for one last goodbye.

The beginning of our long journey and Mom is prayerful that the kids cooperate and buckle in for a long ride...Love these kids for being so flexible and tolerating the long hours in the car. It's not fun for anyone, but all in all they did great!

This is the view I had for 1,775 miles...Those Budget trucks don't have the manliest of engines so it was a slow 1,775... We did it though! We made the trek and were so grateful for no disasters along the way.

The week we packed up, it was Grandma Wright's birthay and the kids were so excited to put on their party hats and give a big cheese for Grandma:) I was dying at how hilarious they were during the whole thing. Kids make everything funnier.

The two best buddies. 

Spring is in the air, but it's still freezing in Chicago! We wore some early Easter clothes for our last Sunday at church in our beloved Buffalo Grove 2nd Ward and it was a bitter/sweet reality. Excited to move forward with this journey, but extremely sad to leave many friends that we have loved and learned so much from.

Just reading while Mom packs up the house. The kids were so good to just take each day and make the most of their changing surroundings. It was difficult to explain what was actually taking place, but they quickly learned that their little world was changing, but were happy and confident that life would be happy in our next home. Thanks for giving Mom hope!