Team Sanborn

Team Sanborn

Monday, June 30, 2014

Change of Plans

If you have been following our story (notice I don't say blog because it has been sadly neglected), you know we have relocated twice in one year.  While it seemed crazy and whirlwind, it was nothing compared to the last few months.

We went to Utah for Bill's job.  He loved the job.  He loved the company he worked for and he made some great friends there.  I made some sweet friends at MOPS.  We joined a church we loved and got involved in a small group.  We spent a lot of time as a family.  We loved being outside, the winter was awesome and not too cold.  We made a point to leave the house every Saturday all day so we could get to know our new state and do some things we had never done before.  We loved it.  Our family of five really thrived together.  We started taking care of a little guy Benjamin's age to help his mom out.  We took in a roommate to help him transition through his divorce.  The kids started AWANA.  We had lots of visitors from AZ and all over, and enjoyed showing them a little piece of our lives in Utah.

We had a really hard time fitting in socially.  There were no other families like ours near us.  We only met one other multi-racial family.  School was a huge challenge and I even home schooled the kids from November to March.  That was a blessing as well as it helped me understand that our kids were not taking to the move as well as we first thought.  Andrew was having a particularly hard time expressing how hard this was for him.  In February, we had some friends come and visit.  The kids played great with their kids and we got lots of visiting time.  It clicked that while the 5 of us were really bonding, there was a whole other world out there we could not be a part of outside our home.  Bill and I started praying for an opportunity to move again.  Of course moving home would have been our first choice, but anywhere with a little bit more diversity would be great.  We came to AZ for spring break on March 14.  Bill was offered a job in AZ two weeks later.  We made the decision to stay in AZ for good, and not head back to Utah.  Bill went home to tie up some loose ends and I packed up the house while the kids stayed in AZ. 

Bill started his new job on April 17 and loved it!  The company had a great environment and Bill was starting to thrive.  They paid to move us home, so God had truly provided a wonderful way for us to move home!!  On June 5, he was laid off.  We were shocked!  No severance, no benefits.  We were staying with my mom, as the move happened so quickly.  None of this came as a surprise to God!  He placed us in my moms house so we would have less expenses when Bill was laid off.  Even though we are still a little stunned, Bill jumped into the job search right away and has quite a few irons in the fire.  Thank you to all of you who responded so quickly when you found out Bill was looking for a job.

 We have had a lot of change in the last year but we are so thankful to be home and feel so blessed by the road God is leading us down.

Thank you for joining us on our journey!

Sunday, June 1, 2014

Happy Birthday Annabelle!

Well...  Annabelle's Birthday was actually March 10th, the same as our anniversary.  We left right after her birthday for our spring break trip to AZ which turned into a "much longer" vacation.  But details about that will follow!!
Annabelle has done an amazing job throughout the changes we have had this year.  She tried her hardest to make friends at school, even with some awful circumstances.  She tried her hand at acting this year as well.  She has really blossomed while being homeschooled because she can work at her own pace.  We are so proud of her and wanted to make her "Queen for the Day".  Here is how it went!!

This is the last picture of Annabelle as a 7 year old:).  Notice the Christmas jammies, because we lived in Utah, where it is still snowing in March! 

Annabelle's love notes for her birthday

Annabelle reading the card I wrote for her, because of course I was crying and couldn't!

Birthday card made by Andrew

Birthday card made by Benjamin

Birthday card made by Daddy

Birthday breakfast as per her request...  "Celebration Pancakes", bacon and milk in fancy glasses

Celebration pancakes have buttercream icing and sprinkles

Ready for her day as Queen

Starbucks for a drink and a treat.  Her next stop would have been Mani/Pedi but we had the boys with us!

Her pick for dinner was California Pizza Kitchen

Birthday brownie for our sweet girl.


Annabelle- we could not love you more!  We are so proud of how you have handled all if the change in our lives over the past year.  You have become so strong and brave.  You are learning so much about others and the world around you.  You are so quick to try new things, although still very cautious.  You are blossoming into an amazing young lady.  We cannot even put into words what a blessing you are to us.  We are awestruck when we think of the lengths God has gone to make you our daughter.  We love you and cannot wait to see what this year brings.
Love,
Team Sanborn