Burgin Gathering

After flying back to Atlanta from Iowa, we had to quickly make our way back to Norfolk for a Burgin family gathering. The whole family came to visit us in Norfolk, see our new house, Stephen's office, and celebrate Stephen's graduation. The first part of the family consisting of: Grandma and Grandpa, Uncle Andrew, Aunt Patty, Uncle Luke, and cousins Anna Kate and Caroline, all arrived on Thursday, August 16th. Aunt Sarah, Uncle Dustin, and cousins Wesley and Cooper got here on Friday. So, our need to be quick with unpacking just the week before was because we were going to have a house full of guests (and then some) as soon as we got back from our trips to Gainesville and Iowa. I know I said it in an earlier post, but I don't know how we would have done it without the help of my mom and Andrew. We had a fun time showing them around Norfolk, including the really awesome huge 3 story mall that's downtown, Virginia Beach (we only put our toes in the water), and of course Old Dominion's campus. It really is a very pretty campus, especially right now. The campus is covered in crape myrtles that are all in bloom. It was also special to take everyone to show Stephen's office (with his name on the door!)

The main lawn of ODU looking toward the student union

Dr. Burgin, at his desk

It really is his office!

It was fun to show the family around our new town. We're excited for everyone to come back and visit again. One of the hardest things for us was saying goodbye to Andrew. Leah is especially going to miss her Uncle Andrew. They developed a special bond this year.  We have loved getting to live with him this past year. He has become so much a part of our daily lives, it's going to be hard to not have him near. We'll just have to go see him and make sure he visits us here!

So, we have had the last week with just our family, officially starting the time of adjusting to our new home. Stephen had his first week of real work: going to lots of meetings, getting his syllabus together, and spending time preparing for his first class on Tuesday. I spent my first week as a stay-at-home mom: going shopping (and feeling strange that I wasn't buying school supplies), doing laundry, and even met up with some new friends we met for a play date at the park. I also got Leah registered for school, so she is set up and ready to start on September 4th. We have meet the teacher this Friday and Stephen will be going with me. The teacher specialist who helped me with registration said it would be a good idea for us to make a "facts about Leah" sheet for her teacher to get to know her, so I am starting to work on that now. Life is starting to feel normal here in Norfolk, VA, right down to the rainy summer days.