The Moore Four in South Carolina!

First let me just say how wonderfully blessed our little family is...this year has been quite a ride!  A year that we will look back on as one of those pivotal years that really changed our lives.  Needless to say we had MORE than enough things to be thankful for this Thanksgiving! 

Tyler moved to South Carolina at the end of September to start his new job.  Sonoco, the company Tyler works for, has welcomed Tyler with open arms.  I have my "old" Tyler back.  He smiles, laughs, jokes and even his looks have changed.  He's happy and that makes the rest of us happy!  However...I will add that the two months he was away was torture.  I'm glad that time is over and we all survived :)

Thanksgiving was awesome this year.  We spent time with all of our immediate family.  Thursday we had lunch at Tyler's Uncle Bob and Aunt Jill's home.  They have such a wonderful space to gather in.  It was nice to be with Tyler's family.  It's amazing how fast that family is growing.  We are thankful to have them all!

Friday I spent ALL day with my Mom and sisters!  Tyler, Lucy and Will went to Tyler's Dad's house.  I felt torn but couldn't pass up the opportunity to spend some one on one time with my sisters and Mom.  I made my first ever pecan pie...it was BEAUTIFUL!  I was pretty proud of myself and didn't mind sharing it with anyone who walked through the door. :)  We cooked and laughed and talked and laughed some more... It was the greatest day! 

We finally made it to South Carolina Saturday night.  It was so nice to sleep in my own bed again!  I think Lucy and Will would agree with me on that...after they settled down from checking things out they both went to sleep in their beds and slept until mid-morning on Sunday.  We spent all day Sunday organizing, going through boxes and doing laundry.  It was nice to just spend time together just the four of us.  Lucy and Will love their new rooms and although we have a little less storage and a MUCH smaller bedroom I like our new space too!  Everything new takes some getting used to. 

Monday and today were interesting.  I'm nervous about not having a job.  I love being with Lucy and Will but I just feel like I should always be doing something.  In three short days our house is completely unpacked and organized.  I have MOST of the pictures up on the walls.  (my brother-in-law Steve would be shaking his head at me...he thinks I clutter up my walls too much...I just think he's still jealous of my taste in home decor signs ;) AND I have all of the Christmas decorations up.  It sure feels cozy in here. 

Today was a bit more trying than yesterday.  Our morning started off early...and I thought someone was trying to break in.  To my relief it was just Tyler tying to beat his way into our closet.  We have a rather large closet but it is packed from wall to wall.  Our door was stuck and we tried EVERYTHING to get in.  FINALLY, I said if we could get the door open enough at the top to get Lucy in maybe she could push the drawer shut to the Rubbermaid box that was jamming up the door.  After finally getting Lucy to wake up enough we wiggled our three year old little monkey through the opening.  She hopped right down and shut the door...bing, bang, boom the door opened.  Tyler kissed her, called her his little hero and promised her an ice cream treat in the near future.  :)  Whew...what a morning and all before 6:00 a.m.! 

Today was also the first day Lucy, Will and I ventured out by ourselves.  We went to two doctor's offices and requested applications to become new patients.  Then we headed to Target in Spartanburg.  I got a new rug and was SO proud of myself for getting it propped up on the cart and to the register without losing track of my 2 and 3 year old.  When we got outside it was raining...lovely. :)  No big deal...I got my babies and my new rug loaded up and headed back to Boiling Springs...or so I THOUGHT!  After a few wrong turns and about five minutes of driving I thought things started to look familiar.  I almost started to breath a sigh of relief until I saw the Target sign again!  I swear I have no idea how I ended up in the same spot that I started in.  I'm sure some day when I know this area better I will look back and laugh at myself. So you would think that any sane person would probably go home a call it a day.  Not US!  We decided to go to the bank so I could sign the card for our checking account...THEN to WAL-MART!!!  Oh what fun!  All three of us were tired...but we needed some grocery's so we got through it.  Needless to say it wasn't hard to get Will OR Lucy to lay down to rest! 

This evening we relaxed, ate pizza, watched some cartoons and enjoyed the glow of our Christmas tree.  We did treat Lucy and Will to ice cream at Darie Dream just down the road.  Tyler's boss, Steve. and his daughter Rhylee joined us!  We had a great time and the ice cream was delicious (although it didn't TOUCH F-Town DQ...oh how I miss it already!)

One final thought for the evening...this afternoon while at the bank I began to get very impatient with Will.  I sometimes forget that he is just two and a very curious, outgoing child (AND I had carted him all over God's green Earth!).  He began to wonder around the office touching everything that was within his reach.  Kim, the woman helping me at the bank, realized the fact that I was getting upset with him.  She was a very patient and kind woman.  She took the time to get both Lucy and Will a piece of paper and a pen...then asked them to draw a picture for her. They both were beyond thrilled at the opportunity to share their talent as artist's with Kim.  With the sudden "break" that came with not having to chase Will around I began to visually scan Kim's office, noticing right away beautiful pictures of a red headed young girl.  Commenting to Kim rather nonchalantly..."what a beautiful daughter you have! That is your daughter correct?"  She turned and looked at the pictures and responded that it was indeed her only child, a daughter.  With our short personal exchange over I went back to watching Will draw on the stark white paper thankful in that moment for the activity that was keeping him entertained.  I noticed that Kim didn't return to her typing and she turned toward me..."you just moved to the area didn't you?"  I told her we had...she turned back and looked at her beautiful daughter as she explained to me that she was murdered four years ago right here in Boiling Springs.  It knocked the breath out of me and I struggled to focus.  She continued to tell me that she had been a senior in high school... she was with a group of friends at one of their homes..this particular friend often played a "game" by pulling out his father's gun and firing blank rounds at others as a "joke."  This time the gun was loaded.  Killed Kims's only child instantly.  In that moment God spoke to me...I asked for forgiveness for being so impatient with Will.  The woman spoke so matter of factly about the death of her child but I could see the hurt behind her words.  My heart broke for her and it was yet another moment in my life where I know I was being taught a very valuable lesson. 

Things the Moore's are thankful for in 2011:  Lucy's healing, our WHOLE family, Tyler's new job and amazing Boss Steve, selling our house, finding a safe place to live in our new community, Angie McKnight and her family, SO many supportive friends including our very generous church family in Flora and last but certainly not least each other....we are a very blessed family!

ok...I have a TON of pictures but I can't find my USB cable...apparently I'm not as organized as I had thought about ten minutes ago.  At least I'll have a goal tomorrow!  :)  Sooo...pictures to follow!