moved.

We did it.  And we might never move again ;)  It is a lot of work!!! 

Our new place is so great.  I can hardly believe it's ours :)  Such a tremendous blessing, such lavish gift to our family. 

Honestly, for the evening of day three, we are in great shape.  One end of the porch is stacked with boxes of books (which we might not unpack for a few weeks ...) but other than that the house is unpacked.  Matt and I have worked so hard this past week, so very hard.  But it feels good to be feeling settled.

On the other hand, the to-do list is still long.  There is a lot of infrastructure work to be done in a move like this - hooking up the washer and getting the gas line turned on and installing air conditioning units and .... Curtains need hemming and lamps need light bulbs and the food stash is getting a bit low and shelves need hanging and ....   

In chronological order and from my phone, here are some pictures of the move - 

Pre-chaos Thursday morning .... I left early, dropped the kids off with friends (praises) and drove to the new apartment.  My helper met me there and we went to work unpacking the kitchen boxes (they arrived Wednesday via a friend's van).  By the time the first truck showed up we were in great shape. 

The girls new beds already in place in their new bedroom - Matt MADE these beds... not from a kit folks, he designed it, ordered his wood, bought his bolts, and built these beds.  Two different friends shared their camaraderie and expertise and, well, the beds are so amazing.  Deserve a blog post of their own, and I'll write it too. 

While ayi and I unpacked the kitchen and admired the beds (still smelling of fresh lumber and only 48 hours old!) Matt and some friends and five workers loaded and unloaded trucks in the rain.  Blah. 

While the skies drizzled the house started to fill.

 

With friends at both ends (old house and new) work went quickly.  By late afternoon we were focusing on 

1) getting the kids rooms as close to ready as possible and 

2) Luke and John Paul - proofing the premises.  

[In the short time at our old house on moving day morning Luke shook pepper onto Isaac's bed and pulled a bedside table onto himself (both toddler and furniture were fine).  John Paul is curious and fast and smart.  A tricky combination with power tools and exacto knives and all the other stray dangers that crop up when moving.] 

Matt left to pick up the kids post-dinner and I worked like crazy prepping for their arrival. 

Totally worth it!  They were running through the house shouting and yelling and singing and jumping and "look at this...." and "what is that......" and "here's my .....".  I especially wanted John Paul to understand as much as possible and we'd talked about the move for weeks.  Such a delight to work so hard to make it look like HOME for him and watch him glow with excitement.  He's taken the move in stride. 

[just like their old room, only three times larger]

A treat to watch them enjoy this kitchen counter - originally a wall which we knocked out and turned into a long peninsula style counter top with bar stools. 

It's looking so much more put together even just a few days later.  The whole place feels so huge after living so long in such tight quarters.  Boy are we glad for a little more floor space and breathing room. 

We have so very much, oh Jesus, make us good stewards.