Life is going by fast and furious.
Its been the best of times and the worst of times. and that is really the truth.
It is overwhelming to try to go back to right before we left for our FLorida trip/reunion and write all the details since then. That trip started a crazy time in our lives.
We had a WONDERFUL week of perfection on Hollywood Beach, FL (details and more pics later)
and then,
Ryan was in NH for one more week, which we spent gong through our garage and the outside of our house to get rid of anything we didn't want to take across the country. He left on Sunday and the following week was full of more dejunking, sports every night, the Albistons made us dinner half of the week (She is a saint) and homework, etc. I would try to talk to Ryan every night since he was going out looking at homes with our realtor. I went to bed exhausted every night and I know he did too. Luckily around that time Clara started to really start sleeping pretty well most nights. tender mercy # 1002 for the last 2 months. Ryan came home midnight on Friday (he RAN home from the airport--7 miles away). We did some more work around the house, he spoke in church with Aubrie, we had one last Memorial weekend beach trip with some families in our ward up to York Beach in Maine. WE literally raced to get Ryan to the airport on the way back from ME. He left and was gone another two weeks. My mom came the last week and she just jumped in with helping me get things sorted for the things we needed for the car, for the summer and to be packed. WE had everything all ready for the movers bright and early Monday morning.
Except they didn't come.
I finally got ahold of someone and it was a LONG frustrating day only to find out that they wouldn't be coming until Wednesday night. WE went to the park and rode bikes and ate Puritan chicken tenders for FHE that night to just relax because we had been so mad/stressed all day. The next day we did some pre-trip shopping. Wed, mom left and the movers came and started packing. We had some good friends that stopped by throughout the day to say goodbye which is always hard to do. Ryan got in Thursday morning (he had the movers pay to change his flight a day earlier since all the shenanigans had happened and I was by myself again). There was a funeral for our ward so no one could watch the kids either. It was a long, full day that was really hard and stressful, because the movers didn't understand that there was a limit to what Ryan's company would pay for and RYan had to stay right on top of them about what and how they were packing. I was so glad he was there. Robbie had a baseball game that night, by the time we all got there the movers called to say they were done and needed someone to go back to the house in order to sign off on the move. Ryan was coaching so I drove back with Blake, Clara and Aubrie and found a few left items, and our landlord was there with his girlfriend already moving their things in. I started running around holding Clara trying to clean as fast as I could. Ryan was calling and calling to pick them up but I didn't have my phone and so someone brought them to the house from the baseball field. We still had a lot to do, but everyone was so exhausted and so we headed over to the Earnshaws and tucked the kids in since they still had school. We finally went to bed late and the next morning we decided to just pick the kids up from school and get on the road instead of dragging out another day. May or may not have been the best decision. I let Ryan sleep all morning since he would be driving and I did some laundry, took the car in for rotation and oil change and went to the grocery store.
We loaded the car, picked the kids up from school and had a VERY fond and sweet farewell from their teachers and the principal/asst principal and office staff. It was so nice. The kids all had tender send offs from their classroom. I just couldn't seem to stop crying. We went to our house, walked around to say goodbye to all the rooms and think of fun memories there and take some pics/video. We had started the Book of Mormon together as a family in Jan 2013 and we had one chapter left to finish it. Ryan remembered while we were there so we finished the last chapter of the BOM together sitting on the hardwood floor in the living room and said a prayer together. It was a special moment I won't forget for a long time. Ryan and I both felt very emotional and grateful for the things we experienced as a family in that home--including Blake and Clara joining our family.
We loaded up, drove to the Spencers to say goodbye. They gifted each of the kids something special and Kim gave me a willow tree "special friend" statue. Sweet friend that I am missing so much already.
and then we were off....
TO BE CONTINUED
