Well, it has been a whopping 4 days since we moved in & we are loving our new house & new spaces to explore!! We haven't had much connection to the outside world since we packed it all up & began the move, so I thought I would take some time tonight as we are resting up for another week & sign back on tonight. 135 e-mails later, here I am updating our blog... (just in case anyone out there really reads it!! :)
So about our move & new house!!!
Wow, what can I say!! I knew we couldn't do it all ourselves & so I put out the message that we were having a moving party & that I would feed any & all that came to help us! We live in such an awesome area!!! We have the best family, friends, & ward in the world!! You should have seen the faces of our neighbors as they watched the fleets go back & forth all Wed. evening!! They were all amazed to see the crowds turn out to help us move!! When the night was done we counted between 60-65 people (not including our own family of 6) that came & unselfishly served, as they moved many, many, many loads!!! (They did such a good job of stripping our house down... that we ended up with the doorbell, sprinkler keys, house keys here at this house, so I am sure I will find more as I sort through the boxes!! But absolutely awesome!) The family who bought our house was amazed when they came to walk through & get the keys while I was cleaning the carpets as to how big the house really was (now that all our stuff was gone!!) they were so tickled to have a house of their own & have our beautiful yard (as they hadn't ever seen before cause it was covered in snow the last time they had visited!)
We also had so many who couldn't come to physically help us move, but took our 2 little ones so they would be out of the traffic, many who brought us meals so we would have healthy food to eat, many helped me clean our house as we were moving so I didn't have to spread myself so thin, Many offered trailers, dollies, boxes, supplies, etc. We are so grateful & overwhelmed at the support & love we have felt!!
One neighbor on the block referred to our moving crew as the "Mormon Battalion" which I thought was funny as I didn't realize he knew what religion we belonged to. We also had many non-member friends from Dave's work show up to help too (we don't know how they found out), but, are grateful for them too - as they are a huge help & support to us also!
I was talking to Dave the night before the move after he, his dad, & brother had spent several hours sweating in the heat, moving all the beds & our food storage room, to get it out of the way before our moving party came the next night... he told me "I am writing a letter to President Monson"....O.k. & why?... (I was a little confused as what that had to do with our move,) he then went to tell me - that any member of the church who moves - should have to include it in the appraisal & leave the food storage behind for the next family & just start over when you move - this is to much work, especially if you really do have a year supply. (I don't claim to have a full year supply... but as I was boxing everything & we lived off of it for the 30 days before the move to help use it up... I realized that there is more than a couple months worth!! So I am proud of our efforts... but yeah, made the packing & move long & hard!!) So, ugh? What do you do?
Anyway, through our move - I realize & am so sorry that I haven't been more supportive & helpful when family & friends have moved over the past several years. I realize that being in one place for 8 years - I have forgotten what a hassle & pain it all is.
Here are some things I had forgotten & got to learn again/experience in our move & will journal them here so that I wont' forget:
- You forget how tired & physically exhausting it all is! (Dave & I were joking on Thursday night about how tired & sore our muscles were & he said "Yeah, I can't wait to go back to work tomorrow - I will actually get to rest!!" I appreciate all he did for us & for how patient he was with me & all our stuff!!
- How nice it is at the end of the day to sit down & have a hot meal without all the work! Especially when everything is in boxes & you can't find half of anything to make a decent meal when you are exhausted. (Especially the brownies & little things that you forget about, but taste so good when you are tired & don't have energy to prepare them!)
- How helpful it was to have the kids run over to play at other peoples homes for 2-3 hours so they were not in the mess of things & I could work non-stop for a bit without interruptions & they could have a break from the craziness too!
- How dehydrated your body becomes - no matter how much you drink, your skin gets chapped, I have splits & cracks in my skin/fingers, your muscles ache, etc.
We are so blessed & so grateful to all our family & friends who came to help us!! THANK-YOU, THANK-YOU, THANK-YOU!!! We are so grateful & love each of you!!
Well, I finally realized by Friday that I had worn my body down to totally exhaustion & decided to un-clutter our main spaces on Sat. & deal with it a little each day from here on out! I wanted to set up the kids rooms so they would feel some type of normalcy & safety being in a new place. They are all doing well & enjoying running around chasing each other, playing hide & seek & of course climbing up on the loft in Madi's room to play!
Brady has been so excited! He & Garrett are sharing a room & he is now sleeping through the night & goes to bed so quickly!! What a blessing! But it has been funny at how excited he is about his new house. He invited his Nursery teacher over to come see his new room... so she arrived today to bring him a plate of cookies to share with his family & to come see his new room! You should have seen how proud this little 3 year old was taking his teacher's hand & leading her around the house. (She is a good friend of mine, who we met back in our Laramie/college days, & she was here with her kids helping too during the move.) We are thank-ful for his little spirit & his never ending love in our family! He brings us much joy & laughter!
Madison is so funny cause today at Stake conference she was telling people about her room & how it has a loft that is stuck on the wall & it doesn't come off!! This is will be tricky part of the house as we have had many visitors climb the ladder without us knowing they were in there & we hadn't had the ladder attached!! She loves to climb up there & play with her babies & has many times disappeared & when we found her has played like she was asleep up there so she didn't have to come down. Madison has been a huge helper to me during the day! She continues to entertain Brady, but became my big helper when I toss a box out in the hall, I call her, & she comes running to haul the box out to the back yard to clear the hall ways. She has been very helpful with many little tasks too & has had such an amazing & helpful attitude!! We sure are grateful & love her to pieces!
Tyler... he is doing his best! He chose to have his own room & so, we are working on organizing it & keeping it very simple so he can function. Thursday night he realized (& so did we) that his door had a lock on it. After he had gotten in some trouble for leaving the house for several hours on his bike without a helmet, no coat (during a storm), not getting his homework done, etc... he chose to lock himself in his room & not come out for quite a while. That was a long evening! Well, each day is a new day & we are trying new & different things. I knew Friday I wanted to get his room as organized & clutter free as possible to help him feel more comfortable here & hoped it would help to calm him... in doing so, I knew for safety sake & our sake we had to swap out the lock on the door. Well, I did (now Dave can lock himself in the laundry room if he needs some alone time ~ smiling) & then I came home after a meeting today (Sunday) to find his door taken apart & there was a sign in the door demanding to have his lock back....Well to say the least, it was another long day... his door will remain that way & now we can peek at him through the hole in the door!! (He doesn't find it very funny... but oh, the things we get to experience as parents!) We sure love him & continue to try hard each day to show him that & provide a environment that will help him learn & grow to be a wonderful young man!!
Garrett oh he is loving all the new spaces we have too!! I often find him disappearing & then a few minutes later hear the pool balls hitting each other in the basement! He is just itching to have all his friends over to hang out & tonight was visiting with me about how he could invite his quorum (I think there is a whole 3 of them) over to get to know them better!! He is a big help & did so much during our move too & we are grateful to him! I am grateful he is so big now (even though it makes me sad to see my babies almost pass me up!) His strength & muscles have come in handy as Dave has been out running to the dump & such, He has been a lifesaver in moving & carrying boxes around for me since I messed up my back/hip this past week. He has also been so helpful in assisting Brady as he adjusts to the change of moving to a new room & not being with Madison anymore. We were joking at dinner tonight how we now we have a "big" whinny & "little" whinny - as Brady seems to be copying & following much of what Garrett does!! We are grateful for his example & his willingness to help our family. I have also noticed how hard he is trying to help Tyler & create peace in our home too & it makes a HUGE difference!! Thank-you Garrett for all you have done this past week!! We love you too!
Poor Dave!! He is my hero!! He knows I go into a panic attack at the site of the truck going to the "dump" or having to get rid of things! This is a huge trial in my life & I am trying so hard to deal with it! I am so grateful for his patience as I have been trying to jump that hurdle & do better! Bless his heart for all that he has done & for the many sore & tired muscles he has had. I had to laugh the other day when we had finally got a moment to try to sort out our own room & I went to help him set up the bed... it is an old bed. (It was my parents originally)... It wouldn't go back together & he always told me he would never move it after he set it up the first time & then he did move it just for me! I think it sat in the same spot for 6-7 years at our previous house cause it was so big & solid.... well, we tried & tried & nothing was working - so I had to leave the house after a while that day & we had both had it, so I said... you do what you need to. Well, I came home & the bed was gone! Oh, well - thank-goodness our couches are comfortable in the meantime... we are just glad to be all in one place & have the move over!! I appreciate all he does for our family & for all that he provides for us!! I Love you So much!
As for myself - I am tired of seeing cardboard of any kind, but I am excited!! We have so many fun spaces to use & it will all come with time!! I love hearing the kids chase each other around & giggle, hide under the stairs & grab each others feet as they walk down them, look over the balcony & see them all watching a movie together, then kneeling together in prayer at the end of the day... my heart is full & I am so grateful!
One day at a time & one box at a time, it will be a fun new adventure for our family. I am grateful for all of our many blessings & to have the gospel in my life!
Have a great week everyone! (Wow, I just realized - it is already MAY!!!)
1 comment:
Glad that you got moved and glad that you had so much help! It takes awhile but if you only move once every 8 years and only a street away.....life isn't that bad! Hopefully, we will be able to come see you soon.
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