Saying Goodbye to Boston

After four years in Boston (3 years on the North Shore at the seminary and 1 year in a tiny little apartment just outside of downtown), we packed up our things and headed back to Virginia.  It was such a bittersweet move for us - we were excited to be moving closer to our families, but we were leaving friends behind that had become like family to us.  We were also heading into the unknown, as Curt didn't have another job lined up at the time, but we were trusting God to provide a full-time job for him.

Here are a few pictures from our last weeks in Boston...

 Gabrielle and Arielle - some of Caroline's (and our) favorite friends from our church

My view walking from my school to the church office (a weekly trek) 

Our tiny (and lovely!) apartment 

Caroline loves sweet Stephanie! 

Our wonderful friend Lauren (LoLo) and Caroline's nanny  

Our last visit to Crane Beach 

Caroline getting a helping hand from sweet Penny girl (our pastor's daughter)

Memorial Day Weekend

Hi!  I'm playing a bit of catch-up here.  We came home to Virginia for Memorial Day weekend to celebrate a friend's wedding and visit with family.  To say we had a great time would be an understatement.  This post is very picture-heavy, so I'll let the pictures do the talking...

Baby's first plane ride!

Cousin photo shoot...fail.

Nana and her grandbabies

Blaine and Dorathy's wedding! 

Baby's first wedding 

Sweet friends 

Wedding fun with Papa T

And finishing the weekend off with fun at the river!

 "Ben, how does the water feel?"  "Good!  It feels just like ice cream!"

 The two girlies

Curt's Graduation!

About a month ago, Curt graduated from seminary!  We have spent the last three years at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary while he has worked so hard to earn his Master of Divinity degree.  His family and family friends were able to come up for the big day and we had an awesome time celebrating all weekend.  We also got to celebrate Tom's 60th b-day, Susan's b-day, and Mother's Day. We are so thankful to so many of you who have supported us over the past three years and we are excited for what God has for us in these next steps.

Sooo what's next for us?  Curt has accepted a one-year pastoral internship position at our church, Citylife Presbyterian.  We are moving to the big city and I'm in the process of interviewing at some schools in the city (prayers appreciated!).  We LOVE visitors, so please let us know if you are ever in the Boston area!

Here are some pictures from our fun weekend (warning!  this post is extremely picture-heavy:)

 Taking a tour of campus

Caroline loves her Mimi 

Skyping with Grace and Andrew 

 

The three Carolines! 

Caroline and Caroline 

 Tom's 60th B-day celebration

 The whole gang at the Gloucester House

 All dressed up for Daddy's graduation

 Curt and his bud, Chris

Chris, Kirk, Curt, and Dr. Lints 

Curt, President Hollinger, and Chris 

Caleb and Happiness...our sweet Nigerian friends we met our first year here 

Celebratory lobster dinner!

Caroline's first trip to Virginia

In February, Curt had a week off from classes so we decided to hop in the car and make the 12-hour drive down to Virginia to see our families.  Caroline loves the car and is a miracle baby, so she pretty much slept the entire time.  I think she cried one time for about 10 minutes and that was because she had a dirty diaper.  Like I said, miracle baby.

In the chaos of packing the 10 tons of crap you need for a baby, we forgot to pack our nice camera...so I apologize for all the cell phone pics.

 Snoozing!

On the way down we stopped for a night in New Jersey and got to stay with some of our favorite people, Mary and Doug Schnorr!  They are the most hospitable, welcoming, and generous couple and we LOVE staying with them.  Caroline was on her best behavior...until bedtime ;)  Thanks again, Mary and Doug!  We love you!

We went to Yorktown first.  Caroline got to meet her Grandpa Tom for the very first time, as well as her Great-grandma Lana and Great-grandpa Papa.

 Hanging out with Mimi and Grandpa T!

 She also got to meet her Aunt Caroline (her namesake) and cousin Theo for the first time.

 After Yorktown, we made our way to Richmond.  Caroline met her Richmond cousins, Ben and Mary Ellen, for the first time.

Ben was such a sweet big cousin and covered her up with her burp cloth  :) 

 Meeting her future boyfriends, Charlie and Jake.

Meeting the big big guy...Blaine!

 Hanging out with her cousins!

A concert, arranged by Ben. 

Mary Ellen's sweet birthday outfit...courtesy of her amazing Aunt Catherine and Uncle Curt ;)

Any time someone was holding Caroline, Mary Ellen did not want to miss out on the action.  She immediately crawled up into that person's lap and insisted that he/she hold her too.  Maybe somebody misses being the baby??

Caroline and Mary Ellen with Pop Pop

On our way back to MA, we stopped for a night in New Jersey again and this time Caroline got to meet her Aunt Susan.  Thanks again for having us for the night!

 Last, but not least, the fun didn't end when we got home.  Our dear friend Hanna came to visit for a few days.  She is one of our best friends from college and it was so great to have her up here to meet Caroline.  It also didn't hurt that she was super helpful and did our dishes every day!  What a friend!