One Week To Go!

Exactly one week from now we will be beginning our long journey East! We've finally concluded our family farewell tour, which was fantastic and all that we hoped it would be, and are back in Dallas tying up the last loose ends we need to before leaving the country. It's a strange feeling of seeming like this day of departure would never actually arrive and yet also feeling like it is something we've been preparing for for a really long time!

Our last week here is being spent with friends and family, some of whom are coming in town from places as far away as Montana. Our goodbyes thus far have been hard, but sweet, and we're all trying to soak up everything (like favorite restaurants and last-minute shopping) and time with loved ones before heading out. The kids are doing great, relatively speaking, and are super excited that their carry-on bags, which have been packed for over a month!, will finally actually get to be used on the flight to Asia. Karis and I even had Chinese food at the mall this week in preparation for our journey!

Attached are some pics from our time in Colorado. Hudson and Eli were convinced that the antelope we were looking for in the car should have been called "canteloupe", and thus referred to them as such the whole time in the car. We had lots of singing and a few tears in the car (which is to be expected on a 17 hour car trip with four kids ages 5 and under, right?!) But talk about being so worth the drive! Just give us a mountain view and some rocks and sticks to throw and our Joseph family can easily be entertained for 2 weeks!

Farewell Tour

Ooops! I guess the last 6, 7, no, 8 months have kind of gotten away from me! The Joseph family has been busy as ever--and we've added a new member! Noah was born on June 3, and has been such a delightful addition to our family of (now) 6. Karis, Eli, and Hudson could not be more pleased with their baby brother!

In addition to adding another little one, we're in the final stages of our preparation for our big move to East Asia. We have the tickets and visas in hand--so it looks like it's official! We ship out on September 3 for China, where Kevin and I will both be starting language school right after we arrive (and get some furniture into our apartment, that is!). Kevin has already made a trip to Tianjin to find housing for us, and the rest of us can't wait to see it! Karis and Eli are particularly excited about the prospect of having bunk beds to sleep on!

We've just finished up a week on the beach in Florida with Kevin's parents, which was, of course, an absolute blast. But so hard to start the goodbye process! We are now in Crested Butte, Colorado and about to move across the state to Breckenridge where we will spend part of the week with Ashley's extended family.

Our rental house is all packed up, the shipping company has our few belongings that we didn't sell, and our remaining belongings are waiting to be packed in suitcases for the long haul East. Our main "task" now is saying goodbye to precious friends and family as we get ready for the journey that lies ahead!

Will plan on updating some more as we progress in the adventure!