A Little Home Tour

August 14th after the moving truck drove off and I wiped my good-bye tears we met my Mom in MN.  She and the kids opted for a slumber party in the empty MN house.  Bryan and I headed to the Holiday Inn.

The next morning the moving truck arrived.

The kids were in charge of folding 20 million pieces of packing paper.  That lasted about 10 minutes.

By nights end we were up to our eyeballs in boxes and paper.

Bryan, my mom and I all put in 18 hours on the first day.

On the 5th day we tackled our shopping list and grabbed lunch because we were done!!!

In 4 days between the three of us we worked 150 hours!

  I want to pinch myself that it is done.  Last time we moved I unpacked all the boxes myself and it took three months.

THANK YOU Mom for coming to help!

We decided to rent not knowing how long this adventure will be.

Now for a little tour of our rental home.....

Walking in the front door.

Turn the corner and you head toward the living room.

The entry way

Living room

Dining room

Kitchen

Top of the stairs.

Brylee Ann's pink paradise.

The boys have to share a room.

Master

Upstairs bathroom

My basement dweller.

Basement bathroom.

And that is the little tour.  Not sure how long we will call this home but I am grateful to call it home for now.

Here a Box, There a Box, Everywhere a Box

The packers have been busy packing our estimated 207 boxes and wrapping our furniture in plastic for the past couple of days.

 There better be less than 207 boxes cause this mama has been throwing away garbage bags full of stuff for weeks now.  Our move weight estimate is 1500 pounds less than our last move that was 2.9 years ago.  Progress people progress.

Many friends have stopped over.

They have loved on my kids.  Fed them.  Taken them overnight.

Brought going away presents.

Offered to clean so I can walk away when the last box is put on the truck.

There has been climbing of boxes and eating pizza.

Surprise get togethers.

Extra hugs and time spent together.

And silly slumber parties.

Which makes it all the more difficult to drive away tomorrow.

But before we drive away I will have to stop and say to goodbye to my Christina. 

Oh how I will miss my Christina!  I will have to say she is my only friend who has attempted to ride a tricycle home.

I know these two will visit and I'm excited for that!  I hope many friends who end up in our neck of the woods will stop to say hi.

The more I move the less attached I become to things.  I would like to box up a bunch of friends and stick them on the truck.  Everything else is just stuff.  We can't take any of it with us when our time is up on earth.  

Speaking of moving I do believe in my short 34 years on earth I have moved 13 times.  Which averages to every 2.61 years.  I long to have a place that I call home.  A place where my children call home and they always come back to.  People ask me where I am from and I don't have an answer.  Here and there.  Everywhere. 

But I look around and am reminded that these are only walls....just a house.  

Home is where we lay our heads down at night.  Where we are all together.  

Soon the kids and I will be back under the same roof as Bryan.  Bryan has been on the road for one year now.   In 2 short days we will be back as a family.

Tomorrow the semi will drive away and the fun will begin when they drop off all bazillon boxes and I once again dig my way out of the box jungle.  But this time my mama will be there to help. Yay!

Thank you for loving us Holmen!

See you in Farmington!

Brett's Limo

Brett's Surprise Limo just arrived! Inside sat 3 of his best buddies.

He thought Ben was going to swing by and say good-bye.....

Surprise!

He was still trying to figure it all out when he opened the door.

Wow....what amazing friends.  It is hard to say good-bye.

Hoping that these 4 always stay in touch.

Today I am grateful for this bunch of boys!

They shut the door and headed to Shenanigans!

Thank you Mike for making this one day to remember!

Time to wipe my bittersweet tears and get busy.  The packers come tomorrow at 8 am!

Brett's YouTube Channel

Brett now has his own YouTube Channel.

It is all about Minecraft.

Videos on Mini Games and Adventure Maps.

Brett records his videos with Colin, Ben and Hudson.

He is excited to have his first 5 subscribers.  You know you want to be #6!

He just finished his 7th video.

If you love Minecraft check him out....

iTr00p3r

  

Jakey

Jake's recent questions:

Are spiders flexible?

When did Apollo 11 launch?

How do bananas grow if there are no seeds?

Can you read in your dreams?

What is the temperature in Dutch Harbor, Alaska?

How long did it take to make Mt. Rushmore?

He keeps me thinking.

He is such a spunky, loving boy.

At night he turns on my electric blanket to warm up my bed.

He brings me water while I am exercising.

He told me when he is an orthodontist he is buying me a plasma television and giving me a $200 check for my birthday.

He lets his sister sleep with him.

He tells me he has 2 favorite super heros...Jesus and Batman

He is wonderfully created!

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  Bryan thought he was going to have a boring birthday all by himself.  He just got back to his hotel room when these three kids knocked on his door surprising him with birthday presents wrapped in snowman gift bags.

As tired as he was he put on the swim trunks Brylee packed for him and the birthday boy took his kids swimming at the hotel pool.

Then we took him out to eat at Red Robin.

We spent the next day waiting for Bryan to get off work because he was able to come home for the weekend.

Brett rode with Bryan and I took home goofy J and Brylee.

Happy Birthday to my handsome, hardworking husband!

Toothless Grin

Brylee had a tooth so loose that you wanted to reach in her mouth and grab it.  It dangled there for a couple of weeks.

 Finally it fell out all on it's own while eating breakfast with her most adorable friend. But she refused let any one see she had lost her two front teeth.

On a side note how stinking adorable are these two.  Bells is Brylee's wanna be little sister.  They even dress alike.

She still won't open her mouth so I can see her adorable toothless grin.

I snuck a picture when she wasn't thinking about her missing teeth.  You see when you think you are 16 it is not cool to walk around with missing teeth.

Finally I got the picture during a fun game of hangman.

Love my toothless girl and her amazing smile!