so, it happened. AGAIN!
I made Christmas cards and among the life of living with a house of boys... I forgot to mail them out.
so, yes, you are reading our Christmas letter... in January.... but, you know.... that's how I roll. I just go with it, and it just moves me along.
2014.
What a year for us.
It was packed with changes, twists and turns.... a real roller coaster ride.
Early in the year we began thinking about moving back to California. There were many different reasons, but the biggest reason was to be help/ and to have help from family. We love Oregon. We love Oregon so much that our heart aches with this move. But... we did what we felt we needed to do for our family, not what Bryan and I wanted. With all the medical needs that came up for Bjorn we knew that this move was the best decision. So, with toes dragging in the sand... we jumped! It didnt help that a job practically fell in Bryan's lap, and a house near my mom and around the corner from Bry's sister was available for us. Our house sold the first weekend on the market. All this move needed was a red ribbon wrapped around it....
At the end of July, we loaded up a large truck.... shed many tears among friends and neighbors... and drove south. We landed in Oceanside, CA... and our adjustment to the lifestyle, the culture, the differences, and just about everything new began. The biggest thing to get use to was the weather. The lack of seasons has my living in a constant "summer vacation" mode. The Holiday Season hit me like a Mac truck and I was not as willingly prepared as I could have been. But along with the warmer drier weather... comes the beach. As a crow flies, we live 5 miles off the coast... so many days I can load up my boys, drive to the beach, walk the pier, write in the sand, watch the sunset and be back at home before dinner. Not to bad.... Not to bad, at all.
Odin is doing amazing. We have a neighborhood filled with boys his age... and he could play outdoors from sun up to midnight (if we let him!). He is loving middle school. He has really found a great group of friends and we have watched him flourish in the past 5 months. He has taken on reading. He just finished the whole Hunger Games series in two week. When this kid finds something he likes~ he goes all in! Over the holiday break he got to spend a few days in Mammoth perfecting his snowboarding skills with his dad. This year he also started boogie boarding. He is turning into a California kid right before our eyes.
Bjorn has taken the move hard. He is having to grasp concepts that he has never encountered before, from something as simple as how to get into a 2 door car to the idea that friends are friends no matter how far you live from them.... but he has been a trooper. He enjoys his new teachers, and his new school has a wonderful music program that is paid for by the parents. The house we bought had a trampoline in the backyard and he spends much of his free time jumping on it. He has gotten into an extensive ABA therapy that has "buddies" coming into our home 3 times a week. Everyone who meets him thinks he is just the coolest kid on the block.... and I have to agree. He is pretty great!
Bryan has started a new job with Bosch-Rexroth and works out of the house. He is just starting to build relationships with local automation and electronic businesses throughout Southern California. He spends much of his free time working on the many "fix-it" things that we have encountered with the house. New appliances. New carpets. New fencing. Building closet organizers. Painting.... the list goes on, and on, and on, and on. Between my "Honey- Do" list and his "Must-Do" list ~ he keeps himself very busy. He still finds time to play hockey locally once a week. One of the coolest things he got to do this year is "hug" the Stanley Cup. Pretty cool!
I am doing well. I am not teaching piano lessons this season. I wanted to take a year/or two to get Bjorn adjusted and into a routine. It has been a lot of work organizing, unpacking, re-figuring the whole family structure and home. Having a middle schooler is "lots of fun" and figuring out how to navigate this territory has me reading and re-thinking things. I have been getting to know my neighbors and enjoying my walks with Bjorn to/and from school. If you read my blog~ you have seen me hit a few bumps over the past few months. The ups and downs of this past year have been character building as I learn from what is before me. I love seeing my mom often. And I enjoy spending time with my sister-in-law and the family. I was able to unpack my knitting, and I have gotten a few of my gardening tools out. I have been working hard in making this new house a home for us. A place where we can feel the quiet and calm from the crazy world outside. A place where we can rest, refuel and replenish among loved ones. So, my wish for you and your family, as we ring in the new year of 2015, may we take it all in... Breath.... and look forward to what is new before us. Merry Christmas (belated!) and Happy New Year.
from our home to yours.
the Hellum Family.
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