we have arrived

We are here. We got here about 3 in the morning. Mom was a saint and was up to meet us. I still haven't seen Dad or Richard since I slept til about 9:30 this morning. Doesn't sound like much, except it's like 11:30am Kentucky time. It was a very very long drive. The first night, we drove through a severe thunderstorm and got separated. There was lightning everywhere, a downpour that had me with hazard lights on and going 45 mph, and wind fighting for control of the car, and the NWS telling people to seek shelter on the radio. And I had no idea where John was. I was tense and scared, Emily was praying in the backseat for all of us. John called on the cell to see where I was, told me to sit tight til he found out where the rest stop was that he was at. So I drove for a bit and then saw a rest stop myself and pulled over to wait for him. While we are sitting there the girls look across the parking lot and exclaim, "There's Daddy's truck!!" I whipped around and exclaimed, "What?!" and then looked back to the building and there was John walking out the door. I couldn't believe it, but felt supremely comforted that Someone was looking out for us on our journey across the country. Other than that, it was pretty uneventful. Almost too uneventful since we had to stop several times to catnap so we didn't fall asleep at the wheel. We are glad to be here. John's glad to be done driving the truck. Calvin's ecstatic to be out of his carseat. The girls are excited to be able to run around and go swimming this afternoon in the pool that their uncles have bought for them. It is good to be with family again.
It was very hard to say goodbye to my house and my friends. I will miss many things about Kentucky, and have learned a lot from all the people I knew there. I wish I could go through individually and thank them, but that would take too long. Thanks to all of you for teaching me about the kind of person I want to be.
I also have to put a very sincere thank you out to Jaimee, Hillary, Nancy, Lisa, the Bylunds, the Dickens, the Whites, the missionaries, and our great neighbors Carlos, Oty and Abril for their help with packing and cleaning and helping us get it all done. Thank you thank you thank you thank you. God be with you all and we love you.

by the way...

So today we get a call from our realtor (who we've been bugging a lot lately to try and figure out what's going on and when we can close on the house), and he says, "Guess what? We have a closing date! It's tomorrow." WHAT?! Okay, we've been packing and getting ready and already planned on loading a truck tomorrow anyway, but geez, it's a darn good thing!!! So tonight and tomorrow are going to be fairly crazy. We are excited to move on to the next phase, it just seems that we can't do anything without it being (or us making it) the most stressful it can possibly be. I am guessing we will be on the road Friday morning--Thursday afternoon if we are not exhausted, but what are the odds of that? So... if anyone's bored tonight or tomorrow morning, you can come over and help me pack up my kitchen!

homecoming.. and going

John is home!! Hallelujah!! It is such a relief to have someone else who is responsible for these three little crazies! I can't imagine being a single parent. I don't know how they do it.

We are doing well, all together again. Our home feels right again, and it is easier to face the world and the future with my husband back by my side. Though his time away was good, both times.. the first to make a lot of contacts, and the second time to reap some of the interview benefits of those contacts. He flew out with one interview on the agenda, and came back with three under his belt. So we feel blessed. Maybe one of these will work out. We will see.

We should be getting a new roof next week. And we may be closing on the house by the end of the week. I don't really know, it depends on how fast we can get everything together. I feel a little bit like the boy who cried wolf... we've said we are moving so many times and it hasn't happened yet, and now that it might, no one will believe us--myself included!!

It has been hot and muggy here, with thunderstorms and cicadas going crazy... it's like we're getting a full blast of everything that makes Kentucky what it is. The kids had fun in the wading pool in the backyard one day... Calvin got his first taste of swimming. I thought about taking the kids to a city pool, but wasn't sure how to handle three little kids in the water by myself! I decided to wait til their dad was back. Anyway, here's a picture from that, and another of the girls playing with their water bottles. Why do we bother with expensive water toys? I don't think I ever will...

Also a video of Calvin walking behind a toy car, and one of him standing. This is when he first started and didn't really believe he could do it. Now he's gotten a lot more daring and has been experimenting with it himself. It's so cute, because when he gets up he gets so excited and starts clapping for himself, and nearly falls down again! He's growing up WAY too fast. He'll be 10 months at the end of this month, and may be walking soon after. He's also figured out how to climb on top of things (mostly boxes) and is exploring the new vistas this affords..

With Father's Day tomorrow, I have to say that I am so grateful to have John home. I have realized how much John does for our little family, and how important he is to these kids. When we went to pick him up at the airport, we walked across the street toward him and Em saw him about halfway across, and took off running and jumped in his arms. Kimmie immediately started telling him all about everything that happened while he was gone, and even Calvin got excited and squealing and wiggly in my arms. Then Thursday I was walking down to get the mail, and as I came back I saw John sitting on the front lawn with Calvin in his lap while he was "fencing" with Em and Kimmie with twigs from the lawn. I could hear the giggles and squeals from two houses away, and I had to smile. John is a wonderful dad and I love him dearly. Hooray for Dads!!

ps.. thanks to Ashlee K for the lead to the blog designs!

butterflies

I read a book that used the phrase "a riot of butterflies" or something like that, and that's about what my stomach feels like today. John is going in for an interview today, and I am nervous and praying and trying not to think about it at the same time. I just want him to finish it feeling like he did his best, regardless of whether we get the job or not.
Our roof might get started this weekend, maybe next week, so things are slowly moving with that...
I am going to miss our home, but I am looking forward to being able to breathe through my nose and to losing the box (or roll) of tissue that is constantly attached to my person. I hate allergies!!
That's about it. Just wanted to put in a little update.