Moving Day!

Our new neighborhood has lots of trees...and some are changing!  What a beautiful day!  Sunny and cool...fall is in the air!  Papers were signed, money changed hands, and keys handed over! 

We had some time to kill because the family who lived in our new place had some more things to get out.  Mari and I went grocery shopping, then headed over to begin cleaning.  Ted and crew were rolling through Chicago smoothly!

Caden was so excited to help!  He cleaned the floors...a helpful method of pacing as he waits for his cousin!

My little side-kick!  She was all prepared to work...kerchief and everything!

This kiddos cleaned both bathrooms...and did a great job!!!

I was given the job of putting the table together.  Ted sent me with tools...and we got it up as soon as everything was unloaded from the van...for safety measures!  The chandelier in the diningroom was low enough to hurt...every time I ran into it!  Call me a slow learner...or inattentive unpacker!

My sissy and helper friend!

The kitchen was all put together!  Thanks, girls!!!

"They're here!!!"  And we were ready for them...everything cleaned and cleared out of the way!

Wow!  What a day!  So many thoughts, plans, and emotions...for everyone.

"Ready or not...here it all comes!"  We had a wonderful crew of helpers at the house and then to the storage place.  We enjoyed a pizza supper and fellowship...and then...everyone left to get ready for Sunday.

We took showers, put the kids to bed, and sat in a daze.

Let's back up to the beginning!



Friday was the final day of packing!  All the odds and ends made it into boxes.  Ted went to work at 5:30am for his last half day.  I started my day right after he left.  After a run to the Post Office to change our address and another trip to Salvation Army, I had another surprise visit from a very helpful friend!




Ted loaded the van like a puzzle.  The rest of us stuck odds and ends in to fill up the empty spaces.  Everything we needed to clean and get started unpacking fit in the van.



God has brought many unexpected blessings...and on Friday...a friend who saw that a trip to the Golden Arches with the kiddos would help Dad and Mom have a few minutes.  It was one of the times that Mom had a mini-meltdown.

The kiddos were so helpful through this whole process...often the entertainment to break through a stressful moment.

As a family, we stood in a circle in the diningroom and prayed for the last time in our little white house with the blue shutters.  Dad, Ashlynn, and Teddy had an afternoon with friends and family to pack the house up.  Alisa and I left the driveway at 1:00pm central time. 

A bittersweet time.

Dramimine knocked Alisa out before O'hare!  She woke up and kept me company...singing with me, giggling, and chattering.  The time went quickly and we hit Chicago a half hour before the peak rush hour!  Thank you, Lord!

The excitement kept building with every mile!

A picture came through as drove through Indiana.

Our overnight hostess!  I had appointments to sign papers and hand over money at 8:00am to insure that we could move into our new home at 3:00pm.

As we neared our destination, this picture came through...the truck all packed with more than enough room!  A big thank you to all of our family and friends who helped out!

What a day!

It started out with a circle of errands, and a "here's your sign" moment when someone asked me if I was moving.  I said, "Yes." but didn't stop to think about it till I was loading all of the boxes in the van.

On roll thirteen and counting!  I seriously underestimated the amount of tape we would use!

Bought a treat for Ted's co-workers...couldn't bake...because everything is packed up!

The "Goodbyes!" started tonight...the reality of the last two weeks is starting to set in.  We are thankful for the friends and family that God has put around us...and we are thankful for technology to keep up with everyone.

What a blessing it was to have supper brought in to us!  Better still...loved ones to share their time with us!

Some sweet memories from friends...a picture album of special times over the last nine years. 

My, how the kiddos have grown!

A special reminder from my coffee loving buddy...and a start to the decor in the new kitchen!

It is hard to watch and participate in the "Goodbyes"!  So often we never fully appreciate what we have till change takes place.  We are thankful for the memories made over the last twelve years at our little white house with the blue shutters.  I am so tired and still pushing ahead...emotions seem distant right now.  The excitement and expectancy of what is coming and what needs to be done is at the forefront of all my thoughts.   I know as things settle down and unpacking begins or as I start driving east tomorrow...I will be reminded of the blessings...sometime the tears are going to flow.

So many things going on at once...

and I catch myself with sudden bursts of emotions...when walking through Walmart, grating the cheese tonight, answering a text, hugging my parents, looking at the calendar, taping a box, drinking my coffee...
Things are coming together...and when I say that...I mean...in cardboard boxes, labeled, and taped up.  Our house has a faint aroma of cardboard box with a hint of infused fermented fruit or veggie juice...lovely smell!  Dad and Mom brought a housewarming gift...a new candle!  I am waiting to use it...partly because I can't remember what box I put it in...bedroom or bathroom???  I threw away my tattered slippers today, and pulled out my new pair to add to my "important stuff box".  And there was the candle!!!  My Mom-by-marriage bought me a new pair to wear in our new home.  They are so soft and pretty!  I am looking forward to making our new home comfortable...in my new slippers...smelling my new candle...waiting for my family to finish their day at school and work!  We are all excited...and almost ready to go!  There are lots of odds and ends to be thrown in boxes tomorrow.  I have lists upon lists...and tonight...I am NOT going to use my phone as a flashlight to write more things down at 11:30pm...because I don't want to call anyone else by accident!  Oi!

Changes in the house, yard, and air!

Only the finest end tables for that all important morning cup of coffee!  Mom had worked so hard and packed up the kitchen.  What a big job to go through everything! 

Waiting for breakfast around the fire this morning.  Dad and Teddy worked outside all day in the nasty heat.  The guys finished up the work needed to be done out there!

Mom and I laughed as we attempted to make breakfast this morning...one bowl, no ladle, 3 paper plates, no serving dishes...what a mess I made!  We had packed too many useful items...at least we had the syrup! 

"It's a funny memory!"

We've had many visitors stop by...one of today's guests was very unique!  So many helpers and encouragers to make this transition...and we are so grateful!

The winds of change are blowing in thunderstorms tonight with the promise of cooler weather...just in time for loading the truck and moving day! 

A Labor Day gathering after laboring all day

Grampy and Grammy came down Monday to help us pack.  We have accomplished much!  I am so thankful for their help and understanding of those moments that creep up on you making your throat constrict and heart beat faster.

It dawned on me sitting on the patio...this type of gathering won't happen for awhile now.  Thank you, Papa and Grandma, for a yummy supper!  Where's Ashlynn?  Oh...she is in helping Grandma.

I continue to be amazed at the energy the kids have! 

They have been such great helpers, and then enjoy every spare moment they have to spend with their friends.

A picture to remind me that "I was there!" 

The dads and their boys...checking out the mini-bike!

It was sheer torture for Teddy to watch his uncle and Daddy take a spin!

"But I don't have my jeans on or my helmet...so I have to wait."

And don't forget the narrow passage down the driveway filled with cars! 

It all checks out!  Ready to load it up for the trip to MI...to share with his cousin!

"Till we meet again..."

An array of yummy food for fellowship time after church tonight.

Thank you to all the dear ladies who took time to make so many good things to eat!

A picture for our new home.  What wonderful truths to be reminded of daily!

Enjoying the fellowship and food!  We don't have to say "Goodbye", we will just say "See you later!"

We sang the song "Surely Goodness and Mercy" tonight and the words took on a deeper, personal meaning to me...almost like I hadn't truly understood...till now.

A pilgrim was I and a-wand’ring,
In the cold night of sin I did roam.
When Jesus, the kind Shepherd, found me,
And now I am on my way home.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
All the days, all the days of my life.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
All the days, all the days of my life.

He restoreth my soul when I’m weary;
He giveth me strength day by day.
He leads me beside the still waters;
He guards me each step of the way.

When I walk through the dark, lonesome valley,
My Savior will walk with me there;
And safely His great hand will lead me
To the mansions He’s gone to prepare.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
All the days, all the days of my life.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
All the days, all the days of my life.And I shall dwell in the House of the Lord forever;
And I'll feast at the table spread for me.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
All the days, all the days of my life.

We know that God has been leading and continues to lead us.  He has been good...on the good day and in the bad.  We see God's grace and mercy in our lives, and know it will follow us!  What a blessing this song was to me tonight!

And on the seventh day...

this family rested!

A peek at how we pack

We start out by eating a yummy treat with a coffee drinking friend...who is a glutton for punishment!  She came two different times and helped me tremendously!  We ate whatever we could find in the freezer for lunch one day and grilled chicken the next.  Gotta empty that freezer!

Our eyes get bleary from the dust and the enormity of the job.

We are using lots of contractor bags...to pitch stuff!

We pause for supper with friends...because all work and no play prevents your brain from working clearly!  I know these things!  (Today, I cooked the hamburgers in the microwave instead of defrosting them. sigh.)

Hey, Mom, recognize this beauty of a tote?  All clean and organized for the new bathrooms!

Wonderful people have helped us get boxes! 

When all I do is walk in circles...I sit down and make lists to work off of!  Dad and Mom, there is still enough for you to help us with when you get here!!!  Don't worry...I slowed down today!

Ted can do two things at one...well, three, if you count pacing!  Burning up piles of wood, schoolbooks, mail...all in preparation for tonight's hot dog/hamburger roast.  The phones are kept busy with people calling to see the house, buy the for sale items, and get info on all the happenings of our life. 

We put all the irons in the fire...for supper!  Hamburgers done on the pie irons...YUMMO!  Ted was laughing as we stood around later roasting marshmellows with the kids and their friends..."our hill-billy recreational fire...that's some high class entertaining right there!"