Adjusting Well

Well, it has been all of two weeks since we have moved and we all seem to be adjusting fairly well. It took a little bit to get used to driving our kids to school - they always walked on their own to and from school before, but it is a bit too far here. Brendan does walk as long as it isn't too cold or dark, so that helps. Brendan was given the opportunity to join the basketball team the first day he was in school, and has already participated in his first tournament. His team won 3 of their 4 games! I have been to parent teacher interviews for my girls already. After all of 8 days of being in their classes, all the girls' teachers were very positive and kind. Every single teacher said the same thing about all three girls -- that they were all adjusting very well and it seemed as though they had been there since day one. Matt is really enjoying his job too. He really loves not having such a long commute and is really enjoying the people he is working with. I have to admit that we are all adjusting well and it feels like we have been here much longer than 2 weeks. Our ward is very welcoming and it seems like a nice ward. I think that is the only thing that still makes me feel like the move is still a little fresh. I know it will take more than 2 weeks to get to know everybody there, so I am trying to learn at least two new names every week. The kids are missing their friends of course, and they ask to write them letters and emails and to call them fairly often, but I am glad that they had such good friends there. I am sure they will make good friends here too. All in all, we feel very blessed to have this move work out so smoothly. It really does confirm that this was the right decision for our family.

Settling In

What an amazingly busy week! Moving is such a big job and it really wasn't a whole lot of fun, especially doing most of the packing without Matt around. I must admit, though, that this move went so smoothly. We had so many good friends and neighbors come to help load our moving truck last week. We had our whole house and garage empty in about 45min. It took a little longer to pack the truck, and there was a few moments that I was worried we wouldn't fit everything in, but it was amazing how my mom and Matt juggled, and fit everything into the truck. I am so very grateful for my mom and dad. They drove Matt up to Edmonton, helped load the truck, and stayed to help unload the truck in Lethbridge as well. We had a bit of a caravan going down south. Matt took Grace and Brendan in the big moving truck, Mom and Dad took Anna and Rebecca with them, and that left me with Sarah and Gideon in our van. We had some awesome friends that took all our kids (except Brendan - he was a big help with the move) for the entire morning so they were out of the way, and then made lunch for us for the drive down as well. It was so hard to say goodbye to our neighbors and our close friends and family in Edmonton. We are really going to miss everybody! We had some people from our new ward that came to help unload the truck and we had the entire truck unloaded in about 45 min. It is so much more fun unpacking than packing that is for sure. Since we were moving to a house that was about 600 sq feet larger than our last one, we have more than enough space for everything too! Here are a few pictures of our new home! I still haven't put up too many pictures, and I have no furniture in the front room or our family room, but we are doing pretty good for only moving in 5 days ago!

Everything is covered with snow now, and we are soooo grateful that we were able to move in before the bad weather hit!

My kitchen - they painted the cabinets black, which is not really my style. I am really excited that my mom and dad are so handy though and we are going to renovate our kitchen next summer!


Brand new dishwasher - - I love it!!


I think this might be my most favorite room in the house. We were so cramped into our tiny little eating area in our other place, that we are really enjoying all the elbow room here! The kids are totally enthralled with the fireplace. I had to laugh at the comment: "Now Santa can come down our real chimney instead of knocking on the door!"

Anna and Rebecca's room

Sarah and Grace's room. We just got them a set of bunk beds and that will free up some space in here soon.

Master bedroom - I love the flooring in all the bedrooms. It is really beautiful!

Ensuite!!! Need I say more!!!


Main bathroom - - I hope to get a new shower curtain soon. I have had this one for over 10 years and it is definitely time to change things up!!

Brendan and Gideon's room

This is the closet in Brendan's room. He LOVES this space and thinks this is the best room he has ever had!

Downstairs bathroom

Family room downstairs

"Toy Area" downstairs. I love all the space the kids have to play!

Laundry

Food storage

General Storage area. There are still a few boxes to go through, but these are generally just storage stuff anyway.

I am so happy and relieved at how smoothly this move has gone. It was a lot of work, but we are really happy with our new home and feel that this is going to be a positive change for our family.

Better Late Than Never....

I have to admit, that I really dislike Halloween. It is definitely nowhere near the top of my most favorite "holidays". It has become so commercialized and my kids become very demanding and whiny about what they want to wear for a costume that I am ready to just cancel the whole thing. I of course don't, because I know what that feels like. Growing up, my siblings and I were not allowed to go trick or treating. We still dressed up for our school parties, but my dad would not let us go door to door as he felt this was begging and that was something he never wanted his kids to do. As an adult, I can see where he was coming from, but as a child, it felt really unfair. Of course, having to stay at home and hand out candy to all my friends was not the funnest job either. So, every year I have to convince myself that I am helping build memories for my kids and try to help them have a good time. This year as Halloween fell on a Sunday we had a "Trunk or Treat" at the church that we attended. It was really nice to have my kids feel like they participated in Halloween and it only took 45min. I don't know that I will ever like Halloween very much, but unfortunately I really love all their candy!! I've got to get something out of it, right??

This picture isn't great, but I have Anna and Rebecca as 2 little witches, Sarah as Mickey Mouse in pink boots, Grace wearing my poodle skirt from high school, Gideon as a doctor and Brendan as a whoopee cushion. Glad we are done for one more year!!

Happy Anniversary!!

Matt and I were married 9 years ago today. It was a day just like today - sunshine and just a slight breeze. It was a beautiful day and we really enjoyed being outside to take pictures on our November day. We have never really done anything too crazy for our anniversaries. We would get each other a small gift and usually go out for a nice dinner, but that was about the extent of things. I have to admit that this year, knowing that we would be apart, I did not plan anything. I didn't even buy him a gift -- just one more thing to pack, right? So I was totally not expecting what Matt did for me today.

It started at 7:30am with a knock on the door. A good friend handed me a box and said Happy Anniversary and went on his way. The box had a note on the top from Matt saying that this was his "Box of Love" for me. He even said I could use the box to pack with then I was done with it!! Inside were a bunch of funny little things, including a fake, plastic, bloody Halloween arm - - it was supposed to be an extra hand for me with the kids!! I laughed and the kids thought it was awesome, and I was pretty impressed that Matt had arranged to have this delivered to me since he has not been home for 2 weeks. I felt a little guilty that Matt had taken the time to plan this and I had done nothing! So I got on the internet and ordered him a cute little "Edible Arrangement" and had that delivered to his work. I really wanted him to know that I was thinking of him as well. Little did I know that this was only the beginning of the most amazing anniversary I have ever had!

I had another knock on the door at 10am. This time it was a CD that he had made for me with a whole bunch of songs that we both love. I love it and it really means a lot to me.

Noon brought another friend with a poster that Matt had made. He had drawn a picture of himself with his arms open as wide as the poster board would allow, and said, "My love for you is bigger than this!"

4pm - Knock, knock, knock! I receive a 3-pack of DVD's for the "Love Comes Softly" Series

Then at 5pm, another friend brings over a HUGE candy letter. It made me laugh out loud!

Here is what it said:

Dear "Sweetart"

This letter may be a "Shocker", but it is no "Mirage". I "Stride" to be your "Lifesaver" by protecting you from the "Aero"s and "(licorice)Whips" and "Allsorts" of "Big Turks (Jerks)". I "Wunder(bar)" if you think I "Excel" at being a "FunDip" or a "(Mr.)Big""Nerd(s)". I hope to "Skor" a "Bounty" of "(Eat)More" kisses (big red lips sucker) when I see you soon.

Love your "Extra""Big Hunk"

I kept calling during the day and saying thank you for the "special deliveries" and each time Matt never said anything else about it. So after the candy letter I figured he was done. I was so totally blown away at all the work he had done to make my day special. Then, another knock on the door came at 8pm. A good friend had a card in his hands and said that he had to come and translate the card for me. Matt had written a message for me in Spanish and had our friend read it to me in Spanish and then translate it for me. I was a little embarrassed for our friend as he was reading how Matt feels for me, but it was beautiful.

I was just putting my baby to bed when the phone rang and another friend said she was outside my door with yet another package for me. It was the second set of the "Love Comes Softly" DVD's. How lucky can one girl get anyway!!

It has been the most memorable anniversary I have ever had and I didn't even have my husband here with me. Matt is an amazing husband and father and I count myself lucky to be married to him for eternity. He is definitely not perfect, but then neither am I. The last nine years have been amazing and I am looking forward to many many many more!

Bored and Lonely

I cannot believe I am actually admitting to this, but I am really bored! And of course a lot lonely too!!! It's not that I don't have a lot to do, but I don't have anybody to do it with, which of course makes the lonely part of this make sense. We got possession of our new house today and I am kind of bummed that I couldn't be there for this day. I know it really doesn't make any difference when we get the keys, and our moving day will be much more exciting, but it is one more thing that Matt and I have not been able to do together. I think most of this is coming from the fact that our 9th anniversary is coming up on Wednesday, and I think it really sucks that we are so far apart. We will definitely be celebrating this special occasion very soon as we are down to 10 more days and we will finally be able to reunite our family. It really hasn't been that long of a separation in the grand scheme of things, but 2 1/2 months is long enough for me! I know with all the last minute stuff that needs to happen in the next 10 days will go by in a blur, but it will be a good blur knowing that it will all be over soon. Moving is not my most favorite thing to do, but it does feel good to get rid of a lot of "stuff" that we really don't need. The bittersweet side of this is that I have to leave my good friends and awesome family here. There will definitely be an adjustment for all of us. I hope my kids can adjust well to their new schools and that we can settle in quickly. Ready or not, here we come!