Colorado

It's a good thing Sunday is a day of rest because boy -- we are all exhausted! Between traveling, unpacking, keeping up with the boys, and painting, we've had early mornings, late nights, and long days. The really busy part hasn't even started yet; the movers come with our belongings tomorrow morning.

Let me back up a bit.

Since my last post our little family has traveled into unknown territory! Up until Wednesday we were in vacation mode, doing familiar things in familiar places with familiar people. Even though my brain knew we were in the process of moving, reality didn't hit until recently.

Like when we drove over the Colorado border.

There have been other reality checks, too, and a couple of emotional breakdowns, but for now there are happy things to occupy my brain.

We arrived in Colorado Springs on Wednesday evening. Wednesday was a long day in the car (I'm still not used to how frequently we have to stop and long each stop has to take), but at least the Colorado portion of I-170 was beautiful. The ski resort towns were especially gorgeous.

The Harvey family welcomed us again, and we were so grateful to crash with them for two nights. On Thursday morning our family toured our new house for the last time before closing. We had to delay closing a bit so we could get our down payment cashiers check, and after getting a little lost in the driving rain (yes, rain!!), we made it to our signing appointment. Everything went well there, although we were surprised that our home's former owner was present at closing. He told us so much about the house and neighborhood. That part was great. We got keys and a garage door opener right then and there...it was all so surreal!

Kym and I later took all of our seven kids to the library, where we signed up for the summer reading program and I got a library card. Garry went to work for a bit to take care of security stuff and produce a monthly report. We had a lazy afternoon and evening.

On Friday morning at 10:00 we got the call we'd been waiting for -- the house was ours and we could take possession! I was so happy at that moment. I didn't realize until we got here how much I needed my own space. It felt so good to finally be in the house and start to make it our own.

After unloading cars (wow...we packed so much in them!), Aunt Heidi got to work on painting downstairs. We decided to paint trim, doors, and ceilings in addition to the walls, and since everything was wood (well, not the ceilings), it needed to be primed. Amazingly, Heidi finished all the priming Friday night. We also decided to spray paint the brass fixtures to match the more modern ones upstairs. We are taking advantage of our time in the house without furniture!!

It was my job to entertain the kids Friday, so we explored some of the walking paths and two nearby parks. That was great. We also found a grocery store and stocked up on foods we can bake in the oven -- our only heating apparatus -- with no preparation, since we don't have pots and pans. I figure that's cheaper and maybe a little more healthy than eating out.

Saturday brought more painting, as well as more family. The boys and I picked up my mom and sister, Holly, from the Springs airport. We are thrilled to have them here for a week. Gavin, especially, will thrive on the attention. We are definitely missing our baby gear, but a teenage aunt and a Granny will probably do the trick! Holly has been great at entertaining. We sent her to the park and to the movies with the big boys.

Then, after the boys all went to sleep, the real fun started...we all stayed up until 2:00 painting downstairs. We won't be done before the movers come, but we have made amazing progress! We might get up early on Monday to finish a few more areas, but then the focus will shift to unpacking for most of us.

Today brings another adventure: attending our new ward. A ward member knocked on our door Friday to introduce herself, so apparently our church records transferred and the ward is expecting us. We've already met several friendly neighbors and even borrowed a few things from them! It won't be long before we are happily situated.

That said, I'm really starting to miss my Oregon family! Thanks for all the emails, phone calls, and blog updates. Love to you all!