Wow! 2018 Has been full! Be prepared because I’m really glad I decided to write this long card, because it made me realize what a year we’ve enjoyed… And survived. Andy graduates May 17, 2019 from University of Texas McGovern medical school. It has been a journey, but one I’m glad to have shared with him. Andy went month to month experiencing different fields of medicine. He highly disliked some and really enjoyed others, especially Emergency Medicine and Surgery. We prayed about it and decided that Emergency Medicine would be the best fit four our family. He is excited to begin Emergency Medicine and the reason y’all are getting our card late is because we wanted to announce where we will be headed next June/July. We just found out Wednesday, the 12th, that we were matched with the hospital in Augusta, GA. It only took me 20 years but I’m headed back to my roots! We will be moving from our home of 6 years this coming summer. We will greatly miss the friends that have become family and living closer to Andy’s family. We will also miss our Texas Loves (BBQ, or really any restaurant of any style—food is so good here, and many other Texas treats, especially our HEB grocery store! What will we do without their 20 calorie colas??) In Andy’s “abundant” free time he fulfills his calling in the Bishopric (yay me!). Truthfully he does a phenomenal job at balancing his family/work/school/church life and I am always impressed by this. My dad and grandma before she passed on.My sweet little Grandma died in February. I left the boys with my super generous, superstar mother-in-law and my dad flew Beverly and me to Utah to come participate in the funeral. I was so grateful. I was able to say goodbye to my grandma, see my sweet little nieces and nephews, and say hi to my distant family that I haven’t seen in years. I mean… literally, I hadn’t seen one family in 19 years! It also made me super homesick and made me realize how much I miss all of them and wish I could participate in the big family gatherings. But I am happy. I love living in the mission field and I love Texas. I would consider myself a Texan (don’t tell Andy, then he’ll never let me claim Utah again!). I focus on my kids, but I try to give some time to my talents and calling (in the Young Women’s). I think I’m a pretty interesting person, but right now my kids are what interests me most. Beverly’s BlessingAndy’s Parents at Bev’s blessingThe Nortons were also able to join us for Beverly’s blessing. It’s so nice to have family nearby.We were able to have my parents and Andy’s parents here for Beverly’s baby blessing. It was a short trip for both sets of parents, but we take what we can get. We love their visits. Beverly is full of life. She is as crazy as her brothers and is hard to keep up with. Her favorite “pastime” is emptying cupboards, bags, boxes, bins, whatever. Which means my time is spent following her around to 1) make sure she doesn’t get into anything hazardous and 2) picking up where she left off so her dad, who gets up before the crack of dawn doesn’t trip on it the next morning. She started walking at the beginning of October much to my chagrin. Climbing is her new specialty that she is currently trying to master. Her favorite words are Dada, Daisy, Mama, Mas (for max), Maverick (yes she amazingly says the whole thing!), all done, and “Hey ya!” Pretty much in that order (dog ranks before me, but she’s definitely a daddy’s girl). Though she loves all things pink and girly (getting her toenails done is our favorite bonding time), she is obsessed with wrestling with her brothers. I really had hoped a girl meant I’d have someone to sit on the sidelines with. First day of potty-training. two weeks later things went much more smoothly. Maverick was potty-trained at the end of summer and is exerting his independence in any way he can. It’s exhausting. But he’s so darn cute that he brings a lot of laughter with his crazy. He has an overly active imagination and makes sure we “pew pew” the zombies every time we go upstairs to his room for bed. (I promise we don’t let him watch zombie movies or games… besides minecraft). He is currently sporting a mullet and I just can’t bring myself to cut off his golden locks. Max started Kindergarten this year! I can hardly believe it. I feel like I’m still just a newly graduated from college gal, but my kids remind me otherwise. Max is learning to read and he does very well at math. He is super creative and loves to make things out of paper (airplanes, dinosaurs, and even trashcans). I am completely terrified for his teenage years though because he already has a few girl friends at church and a few at school. He even wrote a love note to one of them. He is truly my sweetheart though. Most of the time he is eager to help me (especially when it means he gets to cook). He loves his younger siblings and I honestly couldn’t ask for a better oldest kid. We had our own little getaway to Galveston (luxury of living an hour away from the beach) with just our little family of five. However, our real traveling is spent on family. Though, I should specify—EXTENDED family, because Andy always seems to have obligations when the kids and I escape (which makes for super fun adventures of traveling solo with three kids). insert crazy face emoji South Carolina with the Jacksons for the fourth, then to their new home in Bullard, Texas. They spent nearly every day swimming in their grandparent’s new pool. My kids can never get enough cousin time. Nearly immediately after we headed to Utah for two weeks to visit my family while Andy went to Fort Hood for an away rotation in Emergency Medicine. My kids and I got to enjoy my parents’ beautiful home and backyard. My kids love veggies, but eating them off the vine was an even more special treat. Max was sure to check for eggs several times a day. Needless to say, they were never bored. We visited Great Grandpa, went boating up at the Gorge with their Papa and Grandma, and had many fun adventures and dinners with their cousins. The moment we got back school began and weekends were spent visiting Andy in Fort Hood. Life is pretty normal now. Andy’s busy with school and I stay busy with the kids. I’m learning to love every moment of life because as my grandma told me, “Life slipped by as if it was a dream.” And I don’t want it to slip by. In my circle of “doctor’s wives” they have an acronym: IGB (it gets better). I have learned that this is the wrong mentality to have. I am enjoying our life now, despite our financial circumstances or Andy’s busy schedule. You never know what may come around the corner, but I do know what I have in front of me. I don’t want to miss enjoying my kids grow up. It happens too fast. I hope y’all had an incredible year and if you’re getting this and actually read to the end, just know I love you! Even if I haven’t kept in close contact with you, you have been on my mind, in my prayers, etc. frequently. Love y’all! The Jacksons