Family Christmas

Since we travel for Christmas, our tradition has been to celebrate Christmas as a family on the Saturday before we leave. It was wonderful to be in the new house this year. And the kids are at such great ages for us to enjoy Christmas with them. Christmas is a time that I stop and savor "this time" and the ages my kids are at right now.

I included this picture because I wonder if this stairway will look more complete by next Christmas...


Stuffing the kids' stockings in such a precious time for me. It just makes me happy.





We had a fire going, so the boys were hot. In this picture they are trying to decide which present to open next.


Lauren, my little half-back in a dress. This little dress-up outfit on her stocky little body was about as cute as it gets. Annie helped Lauren enjoy her new shopping cart. Annie ran around the house placing little things out for Lauren to put into her cart.

Moving day

So, yes, this is two months after the fact, but its Christmas and I have some down time so I'm catching up on posts. And this one is worth recording, I think. We had asked quite a few friends to help us move on October 30. Five minutes before 10am, two guys showed up. By 10:15, our lawn looked like the picture below. My mother-in-law described the process as a train that couldn't be stopped. The crew that assembled and the work that they did was amazing, exciting and humbling. Most of the people worked to move the 95% of the house that I had already packed. A few of the women stayed at the old house to pack the things that I hadn't packed yet. When they finished packing, they started cleaning. We had done very little in the garage. A few of the men tackled it. By 2:30, the house and the garage were virtually empty and they were totally clean. My father-in-law, who has helped his 3 children move many times, said this was the first time that he was able to help one of his kids move without actually moving anything (he spent the whole day, much of the week in fact, tiling the bathtub). At the end of the day, even though we weren't actually in our new house, we were so happy and satisfied with the day. And incredibly grateful for the friends God has given us in this place.

The whole yard was filled with trucks, trailers, people and our stuff!


When the furniture doesn't want to go down the steps, the furniture can go out the window.


In preparation for moving day, I made about 8 pounds of meatballs for subs. The food barely fed the crew of people we had. I quickly noticed that even though we had over 30 people in our house, it never seemed crowded. That makes me so happy and eager for entertaining in the years ahead.

Kitchen evolution

Kitchen on moving day


Thanksgiving Day - temporary island, temporary sink, fridge, range. No cabinets. No shelves in the pantry. No dishwasher.


Day after Thanksgiving - Jack cleaned windows on his birthday! We now have a small counter top on either side of the sink and a dishwasher. Pantry shelves coming soon. And hopefully kitchen cabinets!

Fireplace evolution

This picture is shocking even to me - it was taken on October 26 - 4 days before we were supposed to move in.


November 21 - two days before we actually moved in.


December 18 - all moved in. Many fires under our belts. Fireplace tools as Jack's Christmas gift. Next up (when????) a mantle and hearth.

Winter chores

Not only are we enjoying the new fireplace, but we are (by "we" I mean mostly Jack and I) are enjoying the work of the fireplace. Stacking firewood is good work. We had a beautiful Saturday a few weeks ago, so I sent the kids out to stack the wood. Is there a better way for kids to spend a Saturday afternoon? The kids may not agree with me, but I was a happy gal that day. Now what else can I get them to do....?

Home

After 3 1/2 anxious weeks, we are finally in our home. This post is a bit late - we got in the house on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving. The story of those November weeks is long and sort of unpleasant, although we had a great time living next to and then with our friends. I'll just say that to be in our home for Thanksgiving (which was by no means a guarantee....) was wonderful. The 48-hours between getting in the house and sitting down to a Thanksgiving dinner were crazy! Unpacking the kitchen (but where to put everything? There aren't any kitchen cabinets!), cleaning floors and bathrooms, finding sheets and towels and setting up bedrooms for the four guests we had for the holiday, grocery shopping, etc. But, on Thanksgiving day we sat in our living room, next to our fire, with our family. So so good. We broke in the house well. In our first five days of living here we celebrated Thanksgiving, Jack's 38th (!) birthday and decorated our Christmas tree. And our guests rooms were occupied, which is exactly how we like them! I'll post pictures later. I just wanted to give the update. We're home!

2 weeks later and still waiting

We've spent the last two weeks at the guest house of a family in town. It was a lovely place to stay - if we couldn't be in our own house. One of the many blessings was that I was away from the chaos of the new house. I didn't have to be around all of the work that plumbers, painters and electricians were still doing. Also, I was forced to rest after all of the work of moving and before all of the work that is still to come in unpacking and organizing the new house. The guest house was also next door to our good friends, which was not only a wonderful treat for the kids but also a blessing to me. Since Jack continues to work late at the house, I enjoyed spending my dinners and my evenings with friends. Our time in the guest house needed to end today so we have worked and prayed toward the goal of getting into the new house today. No dice. There's still not enough done to satisfy the town building inspectors. I was bitterly disappointed and emotionally drained. The patience I think I've been able to maintain over these past two weeks gave out. After spending all day cleaning the guest house, I couldn't imagine moving into another place and doing that all over again. Our friends with whom we have been sharing meals have graciously invited us to stay in their house. We're overwhelmed with gratitude. I'm desperately hoping and praying that we will finally be able to move in by the middle of next week. Now that I have internet service (we didn't have it at the guest house), I'll keep you all posted! I'll also try to send some more pictures.