Our journey began the last week of December when a moving truck arrived:
No, we did not have enough stuff to fill that entire truck. In fact, it wasn't a quarter full when they were done loading ALL of our stuff. John's new company provided movers for us, so they came in and packed everything for us! Which is nice, considering I broke my foot the week before.
The next part of our journey was the most difficult part....saying "See ya later!" to many friends and family that we will miss terribly. This was a tough thing for all 5 of us. We know that you are never guaranteed another day and living so far away there is a chance we might never see some people again. Thankfully, we know as believers, that we will one day be in heaven together for eternity. We pray that each of our friends and family members know not only how much we love them, but how much Jesus loves them. We pray that each of them will come to know HIM so that our temporary separation here on earth is just that...temporary and that we can spend eternity together in heaven!
The next part of our journey was the part the kids were the MOST excited about.....THE PLANE RIDE!!! I was awakened that morning with shouts of "It's plane day! It's plane day!" The kids did a great job taking care of their own luggage through the airport since Daddy had to help Mommy in the wheelchair!
When our plane arrived at the gate, I'm pretty sure my kids were excited enough they could have flown to Texas without the plane.
Mommy and Kathryn
Kimberly made a new friend on the plane....a five year old that talks almost as much as her. Boy were they good companions for each other....and thankfully this was the 30 min flight ;)
Jeremiah is VERY excited to be on a plane.
And here he is being silly!
Kathryn took this picture. She said she had told all of her friends that she would take a picture out of the plane window and she said "I NEVER break a promise, please let me use your camera to take the picture!"
Jeremiah informed me on the 2nd flight that he knew what to do in case of an emergency and he would take care of me!
Once we arrived in Texas (and waited FOREVER for our luggage) we had to get a rental car (again compliments of John's new company). We told them we needed something big enough for 3 booster seats....and so this is what we got....
Yes, this is a Mercedes SUV with 3 rows. It was a nice ride, but I'll admit my favorite part of the vehicle is the seat warmer! Even when I wasn't cold I would turn it on because it helped my back not hurt! I hope my next car has seat warmers!
So we've been in Texas for 3 days now, and you're probably wondering what we've been up too. We have done a lot of driving around just to get a feel for the area. We met with a real estate agent yesterday to look at rental houses, but haven't found the right one yet. We will be meeting with him again tomorrow, hopefully to find THE house! So, stay tuned for more details on that....For now here are just a few pictures of what we've done.....
We have noticed that the stop lights are sideways. I wonder if they're sideways in more places than they are up and down? Maybe this is normal and NC is weird?
We went to find the Round Rock donuts we have heard so much about. My first thought was "WOW Everything IS bigger in Texas!!!" The kids and I didn't really care for them, we prefer dunkin donuts. John said they were good, but he still prefers Krispy Kreme. We have seen DD around, but not KK, so John might be out of luck.
I can finally say I have been to IKEA and it was quite the experience!! The kids LOVED being able to play while we shopped. The restaurant food was good and CHEAP! And we happened to be there on a day when kids ate for free, so that made it even cheaper. I could definitely furnish my whole house from here and be happy! But, if nothing else I know where I can take the kids and let them play for an hour for free while I go to the restaurant and have a cup of coffee in peace. Don't judge us if we go to IKEA for date night, it's free babysitting ;).
Last night our cars arrived. This was a surreal moment for me. It made it real. It's impossible to think we're just on vacation now because we're back in our car. But, I was so happy to see them arrive. I'd much rather be in my Kia minivan than that Mercedes SUV.
Today is New Years and we've had a low key day. We went to the mall to walk (well I was pushed in a wheel chair) around a bit, just to get out. Since then we've been hanging out watching movies, playing legos and napping. Tomorrow morning at 9, we will meet with the real estate agent again to look at some more houses. Hopefully we find the perfect house so that I can get the girls registered for school!
Have a great day and y'all come back now!
