Adventure awaits!

When I tell anyone that I have started a blog, the next question is, 'What's it about?"

I was not prepared the first time someone asked me this question and immediately regretted not having an elevator answer ready. "Me," I sheepishly replied and instantly recognizing how egocentric I must sound. "And my family,"I quickly added. I began trying to describe to her in a few simple words why I suddenly felt compelled to start writing. For starters I knew that this was a year that needed to be recorded. There have been a few especially significant years in our lives that stand out, and early on I could see that 2025 was already shaping up to be one of them.

1999 - the year I graduated from college, we got married and grieved the loss of my mother to pancreatic cancer and got my first professional job...in that order and all within the span of 4 months.

2004-2012 - We became parents and had four kids and it goes without saying how HUGE and HAPPY those events and years were for us! Rafa's father passed away unexpectedly in 2004, just four months after R was born but we are grateful he was able to meet his first grandson. My brother Mike died in 2012 from lung cancer. He was just 36 years-old and the kids still bring up their beloved Uncle Mike on a regular basis because there is so much that reminds us of him.

2006 - The twins were born and the course of our lives was forever changed. We unexpectedly joined the club for parents of extra chromosome-having cool kids with Down syndrome. Membership in this exclusive club changed everything.

2016 - the year we moved from Houston to Austin after a tragic event at school impacted our lives in a huge way. Moving ended up being the best decision for us. The weather, hills, creeks, lakes, rivers and parks made for lots of outdoor adventures. I love that our boys grew up swimming and fishing in Barton Creek, hanging out at Barton Springs with their friends, riding bikes on trails and hiking in the hills. R became excellent at using his heavy duty magnet to find all kinds of treasures in creeks. M is part of a middle school biker gang of boys who ride all over the place, even far away places where they're not supposed to, like downtown Austin. It was a smooth transition and good for the six of us. We also added two more dogs to the familia which somehow makes us feel complete.

This year, 2025 - The twins are graduating from high school. T is going away to college, something that will likely be devastating for W since they have never been apart. Very soon we will be selling our house that we have loved for the last 9 years, moving out of state and begin making our lives in Colorado. Hopefully this is our last move. A new climate with a higher elevation awaits us which will take some getting used to. We still need to find a new home, new schools for M and W and set up services for our two guys with disabilities. We will need to learn how to navigate a new city, find new doctors and learn how to drive in snow and ice conditions with chains on the tires. Oh, and R is turning 21 which means he will have access to dispensaries and that could end up being an issue.

While all this is happening, there is also the uncertainty (and chaos) that this new Trump administration has brought and what it could mean for our family. So far, none of it has been good and we are only a month in.

For all these reasons, and the little voice in my head that sounds an awful lot like my mother's, I feel compelled to document it all. Hopefully someday we will look back in awe of ourselves, and not dismay, at everything we took on this year and how it all turns out for each of us.

“We must let go of the life we have planned,

so as to accept the one that is waiting for us.”

— Joseph Campbell

M.S.