Dunroamin

A New Start ~ A Work in Progress

February 2, 2008

I originally created this website in an attempt to document our family's relocation from the UK to the US in the summer of 2006, in order to share the big event with our friends and family all over the world.  Unfortunately,  I was suddenly taken quite ill, & never got the chance to fully complete my project, &  I've been really disappointed at the missed opportunity.  As you may have noticed, this site has been left untended for quite a while; this is mostly due to my ongoing battle with poor health, and our family's hard work at settling into our new life here in the States.

Now that we are finally begining to find some peace, I would like to start the website again with a new approach.  I hope to use it as a place to keep in touch with everyone we love and miss so dearly, from so many places all over the world.  Our love and thoughts are with you all, always, no matter the distance, and nothing would give me more joy than to be able to share a part of our daily lives with you in this way.  Through modern technology the world is indeed getting smaller, and I hope this can help to bring us a little close together while we are apart.

I'll be doing updates as & when I can, as my health permits, so there may be lots of changes all at once, followed by brief dry spells.  To be honest, as of right now I'm not even sure exactly what direction I'll be taking from here ... I'm just going to make it up as I go along, and see where it takes us.  It's been so long since we've caught up with so many of the people we love, so there is LOTS to tell and share ... I'll do my very best to tell you what we have been up to for the past few years, including lots of great photos and, hopefully, continuing updates. 

Your encouragement, suggestions, thoughts and feedback are not only welcome but greatly appreciated!  The truth is I have no idea what I'm doing here, only that I have so much in my heart to share, and this wonderful, beautiful family that I'm incredibly proud of, and I'm just dying to show them off!  I'm also missing you all and very keen to hear how everyone is doing, so please do get in touch, no matter how long it has been.  My heath has unfortunately had to take priority and has ruled my life to the exclusion of almost everything else for so long now, and I truly appreciate your kindness in not taking my absence and silence personally.  When times are hard I turn inward, and now that I am trying to heal, I once again am turning to my friends foor the love, support and understanding I need so much.

Love and thanks to you all, and I look forward to sharing so much with you very soon!

Jennifer (((hugs))) 

Friday, July 21, 2006

Taken after Steve's last ever sortie on the Hercules C130J.  We greeted him on the pan (where the aircraft park) with several of his colleagues to welcome him with champagne and congratulations!  More photos can be seen in the Photo Album, all taken by the station photographer and used here with many thanks!

• August 14 & 15, 2006 ~ Britannia International Movers pack our entire household into shipping containers and send our whole lives across the pond ahead of us to America.
• August 16, 2006 ~ Jennifer & the boys travel from London to Rochester, NY while Steve stays behind to complete VISA requirements.
• September 3, 2006 ~ Jennifer has her first neurosurgery for pseudotumor cerebri, to place LP shunt, shortly after arriving in the States.
• September 9, 2006 ~ Jennifer gets keys to new apartment.
• October 3, 2006 ~ Steve finally joins the family in the USA with Greencard
• December 11, 2006 ~ Steve's 38th birthday and 'official' retirement date from the RAF!  We celebrate our first holidays in the States.
• January 2007 ~ Jack & Nathan start American Nursery School
• February 2007 ~ Steve travels to Florida to complete FAA license  conversion tests
• March 2007 ~ Alex & Steve's parents visit from England; Jennifer has 2nd & 3rd neurosurgeries for pseudotumor cerebri (shunt failure)
• April 2007 ~ Jennifer has 4th & 5th neurosurgeries for pseudotumor cerebri (shunt failure)
• end of April 2007 ~ Steve begins new job with his first choice of commercial airline!
• June 2007 ~ Jack graduates from Nursery School, ready for kindergarten in the fall!
• Summer 2007 ~ Jack & Nathan enjoyed swimming lessons, soccer camp, youth 'micro' soccer, T-ball, and of course everything else on offer, from the playground to bikes & bigwheels to Red Wings baseball games ... a new love for Abbotts Frozen Custard!  Meanwhile, we spent the weeks house-hunting as our apartment lease was drawing to a close.
• September 2007 ~ We buy & move into our dream home!  Jack begins kindergarten, Nathan begins his last year of Nursery School, this time solo without his big brother.
• November 2007 ~ Our first houseguests, Steve's parents, come to visit; we host our first family holiday in our new home on Thanksgiving.  Jennifer back into neuro care for spinal taps, elevated pressure & possible shunt failure again.
• December 2007 ~ First Christmas in our New Home!
• January 2008 ~ Jennifer to ER for suspected shunt failure; MRI reveals, additionally, ovarian cyst.  Shunt revision planned.
• January 28, 2008 ~ Jennifer's 6th neurosurgery for pseudotumor cerebri (shunt revision).  Jack gets straight A's on first report card!

~~~ Don't forget to sign our guestbook, please! ~~~