Over the next week or whatever, I will post some pics of our lives recently. Today is devoted to our move out West.
This is a pic of the kids their last night in our house. They got to "camp out" on the floor in Liam's room since everything else was pretty much packed. They thought it was fun, but I will say it brought a lump to my throat. I loved our house there and we have many sweet memories in that place. We brought both Libby and Lexi home from the hospital to that house. Many good and happy, as well as sad memories. It made me tear up. It was hard to leave, but made it easier knowing that God had great things in store for us as we were following him.
This truck came with two mover dudes to pack up all our stuff. Can I just say it was SUCH a blessing to not have to worry about driving all our things all the way to Alberta? Our things were loaded onto this truck, taken to a warehouse, then loaded onto a big moving truck with several other shipments. It took them almost 2 weeks to get our stuff to Alberta.
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We were still pretty loaded down in the van. It was full of our clothes for the travel, food so we wouldn't have to eat out all the time, toys, books, school stuff, blankets in case we got stranded somewhere in the snow.... you get the idea. And I was constantly climbing back and forth from the front seat to the empty middle seat to tend to Lexi and the kids. I got my exercise for sure!
Yes, I still made the kids do school while travelling. I shudder to think just how much farther behind we would be if I hadn't done this! Plus, it helped pass the time for the kids and cut down on the whining. Somewhat.
So, you could TOTALLY tell we are from the country when we came upon the big cities. When we would see the big tall buildings the kids would be yelling, "Whoa! Look at that! Look at all the buildings! Wow!" Especially when we went right by Chicago. I did the "touristy" thing and tried to get some shots of the Sears Tower (or whatever it is called now). That's hard to do in a moving vehicle!
We can't really complain, though. We have great travellers and, although there was some whining, they were generally VERY good. Even this little one who HATES her car seat!
Part way through the trip, we stopped at our friends house and stayed a day and two nights there. It was a nice little break from the road and the kids got to have fun with their friends!
So, our last day travelling we went through a small town I think is called Brooks. Anyways, you can sort of see it off in the distance. But you don't have to see it to know that it is there. You see, this is the location of the largest slaughter houses in Canada. Oh. My. Goodness! I almost threw up is smelled SO BAD!!!!! And you could smell it for quite some time. How in the world people can live near and work there is beyond me. It was horrible!
We were in Ponoka a little more than a week when the moving truck finally came. Oh, it was an exciting afternoon, let me tell you! It was like Christmas - the kids were so excited!
And then I had the joy of UN-packing everything I had packed. That's not too fun either. But I like it better than packing.
And, of course, we had to have a Christmas tree since it was just about 2 weeks until Christmas Day. Matt actually surprised us while we were not home and put up the tree and some decorations. What a great Daddy!
Almost two weeks after moving it was Matt's birthday. Some people in the church had us over and I made him a cake - one he requested. It tasted good but did NOT look anything like the picture. Mine never do. Probably because I have no patience for that kind of stuff. The man sitting next to Matt is Carl. He is the head of the search committee and is the guy we were in contact with throughout the whole hiring process. He is a very good man and we are really enjoying getting to know him. (Sorry pic is so blurry!)
So that, in a few pictures, was our trip. It was a good time together as a family, but I know that none of us wants to do that again anytime soon!
Until next time...
