The Trek Across Country

So here we are, day 2 of our road trip and quite a bit has happened in the past few days. It was very difficult leaving our beloved Santa Barbara, even our tiny apartment. Here are a few of my favorite moments:

1) Matt's goodbye party. We had eighteen 10-year olds running around a park squirting colored water at each other!!! Matt told me it was the best birthday party ever! His friends took turns sharing their favorite stories about him and everyone had a great time!

2) Pulling up our Penske truck to the apartment and watching the boys eyes widen. We then said it was time to pack the truck. Ethan ran upstairs, grabbed his "Ribbit,"(stuffed animal he sleeps with) and put it in the truck. He then began to find whatever random objects he could carry and threw them in. (Plunger, paper towels, toy cars, etc.)

3) When the last of the cleaning and packing was done, we sat on the floor in amazement at the time we had spent there. We said a little prayer and then said goodbye to the house. Ethan matter-of-factly said, "Bye, house!" Then he raced to the big truck ready to go!

4) Going to a Dodger game with my family even though we baked in the sun! The boys had fun and got to run the bases when the game was done.

5) Loading the moving truck- or should I say, barely squeezing everything into the moving truck. Didn't think we could do it and almost everything made it in!

6) The boys spending their last night in CA with their cousins. They played and laughed- I just wish they didn't have to be so far away from them. I remember when our cousins moved away to Portland, we knew we wouldn't see them that often and to this day, we rarely see them.

6) Starting our drive across country, in day one we made it through CA, NV, AZ and into UT. Ethan had never been to a hotel before. He ran around the room opening every drawer and cabinet say, "It's so cool!" Nothing like a swim in the pool to cool you off after 100 degree weather. We are trying to teach Ethan how to swim, its now my summer goal!

7) Day 2 of our trip, we drove Utah, from bottom to top. You could tell we were not in CA anymore from the billboards along the highway. There was one with The Incredible's on it that said, "Your family can do incredible things too!" Then there was the gas station we stopped at that sold buffalo jerky. But the highlight was watching a 10 year old boy drive up to the gas station on his ATV, make a purchase and then drive off towards home. 10 year olds just don't do that in CA! I think Matt was a bit envious. ; )

8)We are currently in Eden, Utah at our friends 7 bedroom house. We are surrounded by mountains nestled in the trees along a golf course. We had a random thunderstorm and now can watch the sunset over the mountains. We get to enjoy this retreat for two days then onto see Yellowstone! Can't wait to see what the trip holds next.

Whirlwind

Okay, so the last few weeks have been a blur and I am sorry I haven't posted sooner. Let's see what has happened? Ethan fell and got 5 stitches- that was an ordeal! He was such a trooper, but when it was all done I was a wreck! Amazing how something so small would help me realized how fragile life is. I am sure it doesn't help that I watched the season finale of Home Makeover that night too. Thankfully my husband is able to put up with his emotional wife. ;-)

We also had our last visits with our extended families. We are so blessed to have lived by them for so long, I think we took them for granted. But the parties were fantastic and we were thoroughly blessed! Thank you Huizenga/Hamill/Van Houtens and Lopez/Kiss/Butler clan! I will try and post some photos as soon as I can find he camera cable. I am sure its in a box somewhere.

We had a yard sale a few weeks ago, where we tried to sell everything we could. Wow, the whole yard sale crowd is an interesting bunch. You have the people buying for grandchildren, the student housing crowd that you just want to give things to because you know they are struggling and we were there too. Then... you get the haggler's who you just don't want to give them anything because they are greedy and very reminiscent of vultures! To them we just said no! But we did well and got rid of most everything!

Ooohhh!!! I totally forgot to mention that we officially own our first house!!! Can't believe I forgot that news! We found out last week that everything was approved and now we just sign the papers when we get to Ohio! Will post photos too!

I have finished working, Steve is done and this final week in Cali, we are just boxing, packing and enjoying!

Moving anxiety

It's 2am and here I am starting our family blog. Yes, I took a nap today and now I can't sleep so I figured I should be productive. I have been meaning to do this for a while and have been putting it off... well avoiding it really. Blogs to me are like journal's and I have a terrible history with journal's. But alas, I feel this strong urging to document the amazing things God is doing in our lives as we prepare and embark on this new adventure. So please excuse the typo's, run on sentences and layout kinks. I am knew at this and it will take some time to adjust to this format.

So it's May 16th and exactly one month from today we should be arriving at our new home in New Albany, Ohio. The excitement, the nervousness and anticipation is starting to get to us. This move is so significant! After 10 years of schooling between us, we finally get to start the life we always thought we'd have. You know, the two kids, dog, house and careers. We have become so used to just getting by, struggling and juggling schedules, living quarter by quarter and spending some serious time on our knees humbly praying for God's strength. We aren't sure what to do now. (Of course we are still praying and doing a whole lot of thanking! It feels so strange to not be in that place that we don't feel worthy.

Add that to the anxiety we are all feeling. We are wondering, what will life be like for us? New house, jobs, friends, church... not to mention not having our family support nearby. What if Steve hates his job? What if Matt doesn't like his new school? What if we can't find another CCNAZ? sigh...Lord help us and give us strength.

To add to our emotions, is a deep sadness for the relationships that we leave behind. Today was our going away party with our church body...it makes me tear up just thinking about it. They have invested so much in us and us in them that it just makes it so hard to leave. Ethan was dedicated and Matt was baptized there, the friendships we have... sigh... it just makes leaving so hard. They are such an amazing group of individuals, they have been our support system and blessed us in more ways than we could possibly express. We love you CCNAZ!