Surprise! Christopher accepted the new position and the Traveling Shenks got ready for an exciting adventure in moving to Vermont!

(Which I recognize you already know because it was a year ago, but just go with me on this one.)

Once the decision was made, we had to start getting the house ready to be listed for sale. As I’ve mentioned before, we bought quite the fixer-upper and spent four years slowly turning it into a house we loved. I will do a post on the before-and-after of our home soon, but February was mostly prepping for the big upcoming move.

We were lucky enough to enjoy a little time with our friends, Bronze & Symoni, and their daughter, Mirai, who used to be our neighbors in Utah. They had a long layover at the Orlando airport and I happily picked them up for a few hours of lunch and fun at a park close to the airport. It wasn’t long enough, but it was great to catch up.

These two have been friends since birth and I loved seeing them together again. 🙂

Throwing the football around on a gorgeous afternoon.

Mr. Bronze gets some bubbles going for Ellie to chase.

Always have a great time with this girl. Miss you, my friend!

Knowing we would soon be leaving the state and our village of friends and family, we tried to spend as much time with our people as we could. 

Leo cuddles up with one of his favorite people (and mine), Reese

Unka Dave works on his reading skills with Ellie.

Kim surprised me with a night out at Hamilton which was as good as the hype,  and an amazing gift from an even better friend. 💕

Jess and I got our paint on (and our wine, don’t judge). More fun than my mediocre paint skills would suggest.

At the end of the month comes one of my favorite days of the year… the celebration of James! 2019 marked a decade of this beautiful boy (see this post) and we celebrated with go-karts and a Shenk family dinner. 

Just look at this adorable ten-year-old face!

Go-karting with Dad is always at the top of his list.

Super excited to get the thing he wanted most–Nintendo Switch. Thanks, GrandPoppa!

One very proud Momma and her birthday boy.

Ellie got dressed up in honor of her bubby’s birthday.

I will celebrate these two forever.

James went with pizza for his birthday dinner and the Shenk clan obliged.

Blowing out the candles on his birthday cake ice cream with peanut butter (don’t ask, he’s 10).