My Thoughts on our Move

We have been in our Lethbridge house now for 3 months. When people ask how I like it, these are some of the things I say.
1-"We are really happy to be close to work again." If people want more details than that statement alone, I might say more, like--It's really nice to have James take the boys to school on his way to work, to be able to pick them up from Choir practice and take them disc golfing. He is enjoying coming home from work without a commute, and being here with the kids while I'm teaching. I start the dinner, then he (as he puts it) comes home and "hits the home run" or makes the finishing touches. Sometimes more than that. Often he goes for a run while it's still light after work with the twins in the beautiful coulees by our house. If I need him, I know he is near by and that brings a sense of peace. Also if we have an emergency, like we did a couple of weeks ago, he is fairly accessible. Owen smashed his face into a post during recess and got a massive bloody nose, which wouldn't stop for a long time. It got all over his coat and clothes. The nurse called me to come take him home, but I had no car! Luckily James was able to get him.
2-"We like the options living in a city gives us." James and I are both city folk as far as our hobbies and interests go. I rehearse with the Lethbridge Symphony one night a week (and more if there is a concert coming up), and I am also involved with a chamber group that meets often. When James is able to get away and play disc golf, it is a 5 minute drive instead of 45 minutes. The boys are getting more into it as well. Yesterday our whole family played a few holes, before playing at the really fun, new playground at the same park. The other day while James was helping a family move, he got a phone call from our neighbor wondering if he and Owen wanted to go to a hockey game that night with him and his son. They went and had a great time. Because we live in the city, we are able to do more things like that without a lot of planning in advance. I am really enjoying taking the boys swimming a lot and going a lot myself. Swimming is a big part of my life, and it is so much easier to do living 5 minutes from the pool rather than 45.
3-"We are still able to see a lot of the people from Raymond that we love so much." All my violin students are now making the commute to see me, bless them. I also drive into Raymond once a week to attend a parenting class so I get to see a lot of women that are my friends and enjoy that sociality. I love the Parent Link Center in Raymond and feel like that has been one of the biggest sources of information and help for us in raising our kids, so I feel really blessed to be able to continue visiting there. We are also close enough that we can still have play dates without too much hassle, attend some birthday parties, and meet friends at the pool or elsewhere for visits. The hardship is that the kids are further from their friends, so there has to be more planning and preparation on the parents' part for get-togethers. But the upside is, they are making friends with our neighbors here, so there are still close friends as well.
4-"We live in a beautiful place!" Our house is right beside a path that leads through neighborhoods (away from busy roads, for the most part) throughout the whole West side of Lethbridge. I feel like exploration possibilities are endless, and I can't wait for some good solid weather to do that. The coulees and the river bottoms are full of pathways and fun picnic grounds. The other side of the river has parks and campgrounds and information centers as well as a museum and an old fort. Our side has a wetlands area that will be fun for bird-watching and hiking. In a sense, I feel like I've got my mountains back. Also there is a beautiful train track that provides a lot of interest for the kids. If we go the other way on our path, it leads to the disc golf park, which has a new fun playground and picnic areas, lots of fun biking paths, and a beautiful lake. Tommy is excited about learning to ride a bike and I think it will be pretty easy for him on these paved, fairly flat paths. So although we miss our large yard--we don't miss the work though--there are other options very near. In a word, we feel blessed. And like we're living in a dream.
5-"We like our ward and neighborhood." The church is true everywhere, and there are lots of wonderful people here in our Heritage ward. We also really like the neighborhood--it feels safe and it is fairly quiet...in a good way. Our neighbors on either side of us have kids our boys' ages and are interested in making friends.
The boys in general have made the adjustment really well. Every now and then they will mention something or someone in Raymond that they miss. Tommy is probably the one who has said he wishes we still lived in our Raymond house the most. Owen said that it seems like we never lived there. It is amazing how quickly one can adjust to a new home and area. I think a huge part of it is that we were already familiar with Lethbridge. The boys like school and have friends there, and that is a very big blessing to us. Also, we are excited about all the missionary work that is available to us here. There are lots of opportunities to teach our boys about things like language, choices, etc that they hadn't really faced in Raymond. All in all, we are all growing here in many ways and feel blessed.