Settling In

We have now been in our new home in Rochester for two whole weeks! Many thanks to my mom, who came and stayed with us to help with packing and moving from the old house to new, and Andy's parents, who housed us in the interim when our belongings were loaded on moving trucks but we hadn't closed on the house yet. I am sure we wouldn't have managed it all without them, and Simon certainly would not have had as smooth a transition as he has had.

the Gubbins family on move-in day, in front of our new home

We are quite happy with the house, and have managed to settle at least the main living areas enough that we can go most of the day pretending there aren't dozens of boxes yet to be unpacked! Part of the fun of unpacking is figuring out how to arrange a new space, and for Simon that meant that he was finally able to receive some very generous gifts from Grandma Marilyn--a set of two chairs, couch, and table, and a fun puzzle bookshelf. They are currently residing in the basement family room, giving Simon a lovely seating area for someday entertaining little friends--currently used for watching Winnie the Pooh videos from the library, which he loves.

Simon, in one of his new chairs from Grandma

Some of you may remember that for a long time we wanted a garden at the old place, but never really had the time to plant one. Upon moving in here, we discovered that we inherited one, or at least a partial one! We have lots of tomatoes--full size and grape tomatoes. Simon LOVES to go out and pick tomatoes. He asks to do it at least once a day, often more. Anyone need any fresh tomatoes?

Simon is geting very good at picking the red (not green) tomatoes, and at taking off the stem before putting them in his dish...he calls them "tay-toes!"

Along with the move, we've experienced several other changes as well. This past Sunday, Andy was ordained, so you may all officially call him "Reverend"! We had a lovely ordination service, with many friends and family participating, which made it quite a memorable and meaningful event.

Pastor Gubbins and his proud parents

Last but certainly not least, this past week marked the beginning of fall semester. This meant full-time work starting up for Jess, who is teaching two different classes at the U this fall, taking one class online, and working on coding data for her dissertation...in theory, at least ;-). When push comes to shove I think we all know which of those will get put on the back burner (again). Also, Simon began his first week of child care this Tuesday. He attends a family child care here in Rochester, and is going full time while Mom and Dad work. It has been quite the change for all of us this past week--Tuesday was a rather difficult day for Jess, in particular!--but Simon has been handling it beautifully. He loves his daycare provider and is excited to see her and the other kids each morning. At night when we say prayers before bed, he has been requesting that we add her to our "thank you for..." list!

Simon has been busy crafting at daycare--a school bus coloring sheet from the first day of school, evidence of his first contact with glue as they talked about yarn during "Y" week, and a special gift with his handprint

That's about it for our update. We are busy, with boxes to unpack, a new house to organize and try to keep clean, plus lots of work for our jobs. But we are glad to be here--it is nice to know that we are here to stay awhile, in particular; no moving next year, no waiting for the next assignment. We are settling in to stay.