And Then There Were 2
August has been an emotional month for our family.
I’m sure you’ve had some of those.
The month started out with an emotional high as I went to Gen Con 2016!
Having anticipated going for a number of years, I was very excited to finally go. I had a wonderful time!
And while I was in Indianapolis, the rest of the family was spending time having fun in California.
The week after was spent catching our breaths and watching the Olympics.
But we knew the relaxing wouldn’t last forever.
We had big changes coming for our family and we we’re gearing up for the shift.
We had a lot to prepare for and we wanted to spend a lot of time together beforehand.
So many things just went undone.
To-do lists were scrapped. Games weren’t played. Cleaning was minimal. And sleep was optional.
Not only was summer coming to an end, but so was a stage of life.
In times such as these, true priorities will always win out.
And what’s that #1 priority?
Family!
We’ve spent as much time as we could as a family simply hanging out.
No agenda. No plan.
Just being together.
Everything else falls by the wayside.
Our Big Change
For those who follow our posts, you may recall a number of months ago seeing a post about Jaden’s call to serve as a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.
Well, that day has come.
On Wednesday, Jaden headed out on his 2-year mission to serve the people in Singapore and Malaysia!
He’s been looking forward to this day for so long and it’s so exciting that it’s finally here.
He was all smiles as we dropped him off at the Missionary Training Center where he would spend the next couple months learning Mandarin Chinese before making his way to Singapore.
In fact, everyone was all smiles.
There’s not doubt it’s an emotional moment.
But the real emotions have been on the surface for the last few weeks. It takes a lot of energy when you’re building up for something big.
And after it happens, there’s a rush of relief as well as other mixed emotions.
For those unfamiliar with missionary service such as this, it means that for the next 2 years our only contact with Jaden will be through a weekly email and phone calls on Mother’s Day and Christmas.
And, oh how we’re already anxious for that first email next week.
More Changes
But Jaden’s departure wasn’t the only one this week.
We also said goodbye to Trevor as he went back to college.
Sure he’s not too far away and we can talk to him whenever we want. But he’s still away from home.
And that means two empty bedrooms!
So just like that, only half of our children are left at home.
The rush of summer fun has come to a quick and quiet end.
While I’m partly relieved by these now calmer seas at home, I know my thoughts and feelings will really be split in 3 places for the foreseeable future.
Board Game Reviews Coming
With school back in session for Brooke and Caleb, it means no more staying up late every day of the week. Which also means I’ll have more time to do other things — including working on board game reviews.
And we have plenty to do!
Caleb has already filmed 5 reviews that are just waiting to be edited. So those should be the next reviews in line.
We also have many more fun family games ready to be filmed and/or written about.
So keep on watching! There’s plenty more to come!
In the meantime, catch a glimpse of Jaden’s many board game video reviews over the years.
Children’s Games Reviewers
It shouldn’t come as a surprise that as our children have grown, the age range on the games we review has trended older.
Yet, we know there are many people visiting our site to see our reviews of games for children under the age of 10. While we’ve reviewed plenty of games for younger children, we’ve done less of them these past couple years.
However, there continues to be a steady stream of great children’s board games being published every year.
If you’re interested in writing reviews of new children’s games for our site, please let me know.
Go to our About Us page, fill out the form with your information, and we’ll get in touch.
