Moving is a journey....a long process!

The moving process has been difficult in many ways, but it's also been "cleansing" as well.  After living 15 years in one house, a beautiful house, it's been a big decision to downsize, but I believe it will be for the best in years to come.  Exciting news is that our old house is "under contract" now and escrow will close on February 11.

On December 28 the movers arrived at our "old house" and worked 8 hours getting just heavy boxes, appliances and furniture moved.  We had some "breath-taking" moments and disappointments that day.  The HUGE bookcase made it by inches into the new house reading room/playroom. Unfortunately, the roll-top desk we've owned for 35 years did NOT make the doorway....it came through the front door, but is too large to fit through the office doorway.  So....it sits in the garage for now:-(

Our cats remained locked up for one entire day in the laundry room...with their food/water/blankets and litter box.  But then it was time to explore the new surroundings....

We had so many wonderful helpers on moving day...we can't thank them enough.  My parents brought out lunch for everyone....It was a big help! That's my Dad carrying stuff in the first

 photo above.

  

Since then, our children have helped ALOT....in fact, we would still be sitting with a family room full of boxes if it weren't for their expertise, efficient unpacking skills, and quick decision-making advice!  Mind you, we still have three bedrooms filled with cardboard boxes, and the garage has LOTS of stuff to go through yet, however, our new home is very livable at this point! (Some of the things I'm unpacking are things I put away in December of 2012 when we were deciding to "stage" our home to sell, and then we had to wait until Fall of 2013 to put our house on the market.)  Lots of surprises to unwrap....Can't wait to having "family photos" on display again!

Jen and Nick have been helping alot too, but for some reason, there are no snapshots of them. Sorry!  Corissa, Mike and the grandkids were big helpers too....the children were very curious about the new house, and wanted to know "where are the toys?" when they came to visit. We made do with a cardboard box and I found tote of play dishes for an impromptu tea party.

Alan put together our laundry room cabinets and helped Vince hang them recently.

Mike and Alan helped us pick out a new TV; Mike provided an antenna while we waited for cable TV technicians for two weeks.  Then Alan and Alissa assisted with hanging the TV on the wall.

 Also, Alissa & Alan spent many hours on a Saturday installing our "knobs and handles" hardware on kitchen and bathroom cupboards! What a team they are!!  Alissa has been helping hang some decorative items also....it's been wonderful to have our family support us through this exhausting process.

Memories from Christmas

We were blessed to enjoy more than one Christmas celebration this year.  It is at the one time every year that we can plan to see most of our family.  Earlier in December, we took Vince's Aunt Annette out to dinner; she is always hosting our family for home-cooked meals throughout the year, so she did let us treat her in December!

On Saturday, December 21, Amy and Chris Silvertooth (Terry & Ken's children) hosted my side of the family.  There were many delicious food dishes for our mexican fiesta potluck, and lots of conversation and fun for the 7 little ones (Terry's 5 out of 6 grandchildren were there plus our 2.) There was even a surprise visitor!

 Little Brock with his new train.

 Garrett and Cailyn ready for dinner!

 Bode ready to eat!

 Ethan excited to enjoy Christmas!

 Look WHO'S here!??!??!!

Aiden showing me his creative skills!

Marybeth showing Brock one of the books we gave him.

On Sunday, December 22, we were invited to Martin & Kim's home for Vince's side of the family's celebration.  It was a "Feast of the 7 fishes", typically consisting of seven different seafood dishes.  This celebration commemorates the wait for the midnight birth of baby Jesus. It was especially nice to see our niece and nephews whom we rarely see throughout the year.

 Beth and Mariana, celebrating her 1st Christmas!

 Landon and Cailyn were very excited to see Mariana!

 Cailyn gave Nick her dolly to hold; he did so very willingly!

 Landon loved Aunt Kim's drum!

 Mariana is ready to crawl....

 Troy with girlfriend Haley

 Bride-to-be Giana with the children

On Christmas Eve, after our breakfast with Alissa to celebrate her birthday, instead of my usual last-minute Christmas wrapping, Vince and I spent our day packing boxes in preparation for our move and we made homemade sauce for lasagne.  A surprise came in the middle of the day when the title company called and sent a notary to our house so we could sign papers for our new home. We attended mass at 6:30. It was also a beautiful celebration of Jesus' birth.

Christmas Day arrived, and after preparing lasagne, we loaded the car and arrived at Alissa and Alan's home with gifts and food around 11:30.  Their home is beautifully decorated for Christmas, and we all enjoyed chicken enchiladas and tortilla soup for lunch. (The lasagne was the main course for our evening meal.)  After lunch, we opened our "stockings"...this year I had to use wine bags with "stocking tags" as I didn't even attempt to find our usual stockings in the Christmas closet this year. Then, Alissa and Alan's friends took their leave, Cailyn and Landon suprisingly took a nap on Alissa & Alan's guest bed and, no suprise, Grandpa napped too on their comfy sofa upstairs while everyone else played games downstairs.  Alan's brother John also spent the day with us as Alan's parents always travel to Alabama on Christmas Day to see Alan's sister and family. My folks arrived at 5:00 to enjoy part of the day with us. After a walk to the nearby park with our grandkids, we enjoyed a nice dinner together.

 Alan and brother John

 Friends Kim and Ward live in Alan & Alissa's neighborhood.

 Aunt Alissa helping Cailyn build nutter-butter "reindeer"

 Gift-opening

 Walk in the park

It's been a very memorable Christmas, for many reasons...but most of all we appreciate the blessing of "family"!  We wish everyone a Happy New Year filled with many more blessings!