We're Here!

After a week and a half at my mom's house, MANY TEARFUL goodbyes, a trip to the beach, a birthday party, working our church's booth at our neighborhood street fair, an outing to the Mattel toy store, and a 2 hour plane ride.....we arrived at Denver International Airport to be greeted by my sweet husband!

We arrived on Tuesday and its been a whirlwind every since.

John did some pretty INCREDIBLE work on the house while he was here. Driving up to OUR home was wild. Getting used to everything has been great. The boxes and unpacking seem unending. My mom says if I get them all unpacked by Thanksgiving I should be ecstatic. :)

The kids are adjusting rather well. They have had a rough month. From having everything they own boxed up, to sleeping here, there and everywhere to flying on an airplane to just being in a new place, they have done remarkably well. All 3 of them have slept through the night both nights we've been here and have taken great naps during the day. Thank you Lord! (And thank you to my friends who have been praying for their sleep.)

We love it here. It is beautiful, quiet, calm and spacious. (Well...that's how it looks at least when the kids are asleep!)

We're happy. I'm happy. My mom is here with us until Saturday which is amazing. When we ever unpack the camera do-dad I will download pictures from the last 2 weeks and post some.

Just wanted to let everyone know we got here safely and are doing very well.

Love to you all.

Packed

I couldn't bring myself to take a picture of our moving truck. Way too real. :)

But it came, it got filled (oh did it get filled!) and it is in route to Denver.

We had a tremendous amount of help from friends, family and neighbors to load up the truck on Saturday. (Paul Tschetter...get ready for some work on the receiving end!!! If you have any friends...it would benefit you to convince them to join you!)

John's last Sunday at church was yesterday. Man, was that hard! I really hate this part.

John and I had a tender time around the Campbell's fire pit last night. Andrew assured us that they were all in a good place and not to worry about them at all. Mark told us they would continue to serve in God's Kingdom and continue the legacy we began on Chestnut St. Shelly wished we had had more time around the firepit together to deepen our relationships. (Hey Shelly--I'm counting on a HUGE firepit in heaven and I'd love to sit next to you forever!!!)

Our sweet neighbors went above and beyond the call of duty (once again) to help us during this stressful and crazy time. (Mark the ultimate packer, Maria the "forelady" and Shelly the don't-worry-we'll-take-care-of-it ringleader.)

We are so blessed (meaning "how truly happy") because of all of you. We cannot imagine our lives without the impact of our family, friends, church and neighbors. We have learned invaluable lessons from you. Thank you.

So that's where we're at.

WILD.

Bittersweet

I totally freaked out tonight when I realized it was the last night the kids would sleep in this house.
I started crying when i was putting kenna's jammies on. It hit me like a ton of bricks. (and i didn't even give them a bath tonight!!!)

Its weird to think we are leaving this home of so many memories. first roll overs, first crawls, first steps, first words...coming home from the hospital, christmases, backyard birthday parties.

i was crying and mckenna was being SO comforting. just rubbing my leg or my arm and just looking into my eyes with such compassion and strength...in a weird way. brooklyn just kep saying, "sad. mommy. daaady." i think she thought i was sad that John was at work. :) anyway, finally mckenna asked what was wrong. i said i was sad that we are leaving this house. and she looked at me with a big smile and said, "but you will be happy at our new house in colorado." and i had to smile and agree. :)

transitions are so hard for me. i cry as they approach and weep through the whole thing. and usually as soon as i'm on the other side i rarely look back.

this period of transition has been so hard. i was telling one friend that buying a house and moving has been the most permanent committment i've made since marrying John. (i realize its not REALLY permanent, but you know what i mean.)

its affecting so many people and i hate that we are making everyone so sad. but on the other hand, i know we are follwing God's leading. and i truly am excited about this next chapter of our lives. (imagine everyone having a place to sleep and 1 room to actually keep toys in!!!)

our neighbor, Maria, really affirmed us when she told us she was happy we were leaving. (what?!) she said that we needed to go in order to reach more people for Christ. that we had done what we needed to do on Chestnut Ave and that we needed to take Jesus to our next street.

what God has done on this street is crazy wild. and i know He's not done with us. He's going to stretch us and mold us and continue to draw us closer to Him. and I want that wether its in CA or CO.

so admist the mess of boxes and trash and sorted piles...I'm crying tears of grief as I put this part of my life behind me and I'm crying tears of joy as I release our future into our Father's hands.

Home Sweet Home

Tuesday we went through our final (and first) walk through of our new home. Wow.

We actually drove out there on Monday. A nice 16 1/2 hour drive in the Jeep Wrangler. Complete with hot sun, pellting winds, bumpy roads and oh yeah, no air conditioning. :) Most of the drive really was nice...especially once we drove though the Rocky Mountains. John and I agreed it was the most beautiful scenery we have ever encountered on a drive!

We spent the night with our realtor again...she's so great.

And Tuesday morning we met the project manager to give us the grand tour. Somewhat unbelievable. It still seems like a really great house that we are going to visit for the summer. Hard to fathom that it is ours.

it was beautiful. Wonderful. It was fun picturing the kids running up and down the stairs or sleeping in their rooms. We got to meet some of the neighbors across the street who were delightful. Moved there a year ago from California. :)

We spent several hours in the house just walking around, dreaming, laughing and thanking God.

We experienced some crazy Colorado weather before we left. A lovely hail storm that left about 3-4 inches of hail on the ground. There was incredible lighting and the LOUDEST thunder either of us had ever heard. Crazy.

We flew home Tuesday night grateful for air travel and our families that took care of our kids while we were gone.