The news that we would be moving back came a bit quickly although our general sentiment about wanting to be closer to family and friends has been growing over the last couple years.
Before we left Uganda, I was sort of expressing that I thought it would be hard on the kids as Uganda has been their only home. The woman I was talking to said that when they left Thailand after many years, the "shock" of the move was greatly mitigated because they had moved back to the same area as family and the value/reality of being near family was intuitively a good thing even for younger children.
Anyway, I would say that we are finding that to be true. Though the kids do miss Uganda and have had some bumps (anxiety, sadness, some bad dreams), they are largely seeming secure and settled much quicker than I was expecting.
Some photo highlights below. Not shown are some great visits with friends this summer (Mehls, Anna, Jen and Joel, Ellie and her family, Gwyn--Lisa and Eddie, Christine) and visits with some friends on the horizon.
A huge reason we wanted to be back: FAMILY!
We had lovely summer visits with my siblings and their kids (our newest adorable nephew came to PA this summer)
Some joys of being back in the homeland:
1. Awesome museums
2. Baseball games
3. Time with Grandma (and Grandpa but I don't have a photo!)
4. The "big city"-- Girls were going up and down the escalator near Macys. Most shopping/arcade/glittery wonder is still pretty exciting esp for the girls.
Before we left Uganda, I was sort of expressing that I thought it would be hard on the kids as Uganda has been their only home. The woman I was talking to said that when they left Thailand after many years, the "shock" of the move was greatly mitigated because they had moved back to the same area as family and the value/reality of being near family was intuitively a good thing even for younger children.
Anyway, I would say that we are finding that to be true. Though the kids do miss Uganda and have had some bumps (anxiety, sadness, some bad dreams), they are largely seeming secure and settled much quicker than I was expecting.
Some photo highlights below. Not shown are some great visits with friends this summer (Mehls, Anna, Jen and Joel, Ellie and her family, Gwyn--Lisa and Eddie, Christine) and visits with some friends on the horizon.
A huge reason we wanted to be back: FAMILY!
We had lovely summer visits with my siblings and their kids (our newest adorable nephew came to PA this summer)
Some joys of being back in the homeland:
1. Awesome museums
2. Baseball games
3. Time with Grandma (and Grandpa but I don't have a photo!)
4. The "big city"-- Girls were going up and down the escalator near Macys. Most shopping/arcade/glittery wonder is still pretty exciting esp for the girls.
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