After almost a year of talking about and preparing for it the Fosters have now officially moved from 10 mins away to way way way too many minutes away in Lehi, Utah! Even though I feel like the Lord did a lot to prepare us for this and that it was a long time coming, it has pretty much been heart breaking to go from seeing Sa, Todd and Addie multiple times a week to seeing them only on FaceTime. Not having dinner with them on Sunday and some weeknights has been a HUGE change for all of us and oh how I miss sitting around the dinner table together! Another big change is that Kellie moved in with us when they moved and now I actually have to cook dinner every night and be responsible for feeding my own children! We’ve surprisingly done a pretty decent job at that one but not having them to hang out on the weekend or come to see Keagans Frozen show has been rough.
The growing pains of this big change just makes me beyond thankful for the years we did have together and all the service they did for our little family all these years! We wouldn’t have made it without them! I wish we didn’t have to be here without them now. But I know the Lord sees a bigger picture then us and that they are going to accomplish great things in Utah! Thankfully we will get to visit them soon! They can move but they can’t get away from us that easy!
Before we left for Austin the Fosters all stayed with us for a couple days. On their last night here we had a tearful goodbye dinner that doubled as Addie’s birthday dinner at Grimaldis with the French’s and Addie’s friends. Then we actually said our goodbyes as they left to drive to Utah straight from Austin. Goodbyes are SO hard but I would say most of the Kikuchi girls tears and especially mine were shed in the weeks leading up to the move. Like when we went over to say goodbye to the house that brought us SO many great memories or the last day Taryn and I helped them pack. And some tears have been shed since they’ve gone which is to be expected, but thank heavens for FaceTime and busy holiday seasons that are distracting!
The huge change of the Fosters moving is like so many other things in my life. This is not at all what I had planned or what I would pick for my life. But it can still be a beautiful and fulfilling life! Change is inevitable so as always we count our blessings and move forward in faith! And we’ve had lots of opportunities to do that at Christmas time!
As soon as we got home from Austin we got the house finally decorated for Christmas. We had too many people in the house to do it before hand, but the 3 of us had fun doing it together! Keagan was once again in charge of the tree as it is her specialty and not my favorite. I loved that Nana and Riley carefully unwrapped all the family ornaments and Keagan just as carefully placed them in the perfect spots! Then once the tree was up our elf Elmer was back! This year we found out he is married and has a baby Eloise who has visited our house a couple of times which we LOVED! He also helped us donate some of our old toys this year! We also loved a really amazing nativity event that the Tomball Stake hosted with hundreds of nativities of all kinds and beautiful performers.
Of course we’ve been trying to follow the daily Light the World prompts and doing our nightly 25 days of Christ scripture story with a matching ornament like we do every year. We helped with the toy drive at Mahaffey and the coat drive for Speedy Scottie’s. And we look forward every year to Sa’s awesome 12 days of Christmas Santa Box gifts that she works so hard on. Plus this year Grandma Debbie did little gifts too for an advent countdown that we have totally loved. Keags and Rys are just so spoiled with love and especially at Christmas!
Unfortunately a few weeks ago I was super sick with the flu AND strep! It was so brutal! So thankfully Kellie took the girls to our annual gingerbread house making at Auntie Andi’s house! I’m SO glad they didn’t have to miss it as we love that every year! Nana also helped when I was so sick for 4 days and Keagan did too even making chicken enchiladas one night while I laid on the ground and read her the recipe! Once I felt better we were back to going to see the Christmas lights again, especially our long standing favorite house on Rose Dawn! One Sunday night we had so much fun when we drove around Prestonwood to see the lights with the Reeves!
Of course we’ve been trying to follow the daily Light the World prompts and doing our nightly 25 days of Christ scripture story with a matching ornament like we do every year. We helped with the toy drive at Mahaffey and the coat drive for Speedy Scottie’s. And we look forward every year to Sa’s awesome 12 days of Christmas Santa Box gifts that she works so hard on. Plus this year Grandma Debbie did little gifts too for an advent countdown that we have totally loved. Keags and Rys are just so spoiled with love and especially at Christmas!
Unfortunately a few weeks ago I was super sick with the flu AND strep! It was so brutal! So thankfully Kellie took the girls to our annual gingerbread house making at Auntie Andi’s house! I’m SO glad they didn’t have to miss it as we love that every year! Nana also helped when I was so sick for 4 days and Keagan did too even making chicken enchiladas one night while I laid on the ground and read her the recipe! Once I felt better we were back to going to see the Christmas lights again, especially our long standing favorite house on Rose Dawn! One Sunday night we had so much fun when we drove around Prestonwood to see the lights with the Reeves!
The girls had their 11 year old well check visits and shots last week. It was our very last appointment with our beloved Dr Reed as she is retiring. The girls cried for their shots and I cried when I thanked Dr Reed for all that she has done to help us for all these years! We love her and will miss her! Keagan is officially 76.4 pounds and 55 inches tall. Riley is officially 51 pounds and 48 inches tall. Dr Reed sure has seen them grow!
Both girls had their holiday concert for the Mahaffey Choir and then Keagan has had several other performances with her Ovation group. Last Saturday they performed in the morning and then again in the afternoon at the Woodlands mall. They sang lots of Christmas songs and Keags totally rocked her solo from her previous role as Jovie in the musical Elf. The mall in December was crazy busy so they had quite an audience and it was just SO much fun for all of us. In between the two shows we went to the Tomball German Christmas market with Mrs Heather and Calli. We had a blast walking around and riding lots of carnival rides. A small group from Ovation also performed at the Kleinwood ward Christmas party this past Friday night. And on Saturday night we had our own ward Christmas party where Keagan was an angel in the nativity, Riley dressed up as a half shepherd/ half angel and she made big steps getting closer to Santa then she ever has before and actually giving him a high five!
At church the girls had their temple preview meeting with all of their 11 year old class! What a cute bunch this group is and I can’t believe they are getting so old! At school we had the annual jingle bell run on Friday and both girls actually got to help warm up all the speedy Scottie’s too! On Monday Keagan got to participate in the balloon races with the balloon car we built together! She won her first heat but her balloon got twisted in the finals and didn’t even go.
And finally what is the Christmas season without parties? I already mentioned some but we also loved the Young Women’s Christmas party cause how could you not love a chocolate fountain, great girls and a white elephant? And then of course the class Christmas parties that are always oh so fun! Even now I’m still trying my very hardest not to think about the fact that this was Keagan and Riley’s very last Christmas party in elementary school! The day of I distracted myself with all the fun goodies everyone was bringing us at work!
I know that seems like a ridiculous amount of stuff to cram into one blog post and one family’s couple of weeks but honestly there is so much more! Like Keagans Ovation white elephant party where she got nail stickers that she is obsessed with and that Riley is obsessed with the little stamp set Sa gave her in the Santa box and having her socks off so she can play with her toes and interlock them together. Or that the girls both auditioned for the next musical which is Shrek Jr and that they had a fun play date on the early release day of school where they toilet papered the entry way while I fell asleep on the couch. And everyone adjusting to and celebrating that Kellie lives here now and getting all the planning, Amazoning, wrapping, etc done for Christmas.
It’s been a busy couple of weeks but now we have winter break from school/work off (hallelujah) so that just means more fun memories to be made ahead! And after Christmas we will start our official count down to being reunited with the Fosters! Who am I kidding that started the day they left! We are at 3 days until Christmas and 8 days until Utah so we can hardly wait!
Our house definitely doesn’t look this picture perfect but it’s still pretty darn fantastic! I am just so beyond blessed to be doing this life with my Keags and my Rys!
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