And, we stayed.

We are enjoying a blue and gold stretch of sunny fall days.  The colors always astonish me.  And while it is such a beautiful show, it's also the finale -- the end of sun and warmth and a prelude to the cold and dark months to come. 

Yet, despite the melancholy of this season, I must say that having all of us home and under one roof again has been such a delight.  Oh! And now I remember that I have left out a lot about the coming and goings of the past year . . . and must catch you up!

I see that when I last wrote about present day, it was July 2021 and we had just camped at Mt. Rainer with friends. That same month, we made a big decision and Byron took a new job that offered interesting scientific and professional opportunities at Absci, Inc..  The new job part was fabulous, but the challenge was that it was located in Vancouver, Washington -- a couple hours south of Seattle.  At that time, Wyatt was about to start 5th grade at our local school and grandpa was still living downstairs, so we made the decision to get Byron an apartment in Vancouver and then he would commute home on the weekends, with the plan to move the family down there in time for school this fall and the start of 6th grade.

As you know, in December 2021 we moved grandpa to Portland, Oregon, to an assisted living community and he passed away the end of April.  Also in April, we found and purchased a house in Camas, Washington.  The new place in Camas needed some work, so we found a local contractor who is helping us remodel it. We also found a very nice Montessori school where we enrolled Wyatt for 6th grade.  And our plan was to rent out our Seattle home after we moved. 

And then, fast forward . . . in July (this year), we made the decision not to move.  I won't go into all the details but Byron moved home in August and enjoyed a couple months of not working before landing a different job -- in the Seattle area this time -- that he is quite excited about.  Byron joined Lundbeck, a Danish biotech focused on mental health and neurological diseases and disorders.  It's a great fit for him -- well, for all of us actually.  

While it's been a year of ups and downs, sadness, excitement, new adventures, travel -- and, yes, packing and then unpacking -- we have learned a lot about what matters.  We have also practiced listening to our hearts to figure out what we need most. We have practiced looking for joy in all the change and finding bright spots even in the stressful times.  

We have also learned that we are extremely glad to still be home in Seattle.