An Unexpected Trip

Just a few weeks ago, we found out that we needed to make a special trip to Washington DC in order prepare for our move to Sydney...

After a busy week of packing out of our home, we headed East to take care of some last minute details.

 
While over in the DC area, we were able to get together with my husband's Uncle David and Aunt Brenda. We had a fabulous time laughing and catching up since we last saw each other.  The children enjoyed getting reacquainted and we cherished the opportunity to spend this sweet time with them.

During the week we have been busy with appointments in the mornings, but have had the opportunity to wander about the area and take in some of the historic sites and museums.

 

 

It has been a whirlwind of a time and we are now looking forward to heading down to visit our family in California for a nice rest.   Then off to our new home in Sydney!

Happy Birthday Thomas!

We celebrated Thomas' Birthday today! 

He has just turned 8 years old.  

He spent a fun filled day with his Grandparents and

enjoyed a wonderful cake decorated with lots of

John Deere green! His favorite color.

He had a wonderful time...

in spite of our overseas move happening over his big day. 

I think he felt pretty special none-the-less.

Happy Birthday Thomas! 

WE love you.

Moving Day!

Today we finished packing up our overseas shipment.  Our items were packed up in boxes and then packed into wooden crates... which are then to be packed into a sea container... which will travel for approximately 75 days by boat to Sydney!  


This weekend we, will work to clean the house and prepare for another week of packing up the rest of our storage items... what an adventure!

I have moved a bunch in my life... this move has been rather interesting and in some ways more demanding of us to let go of stuff... things that we like... Australia has a lot of restrictions on the importation of goods... so we have had to sift through and weed out restricted items...



We have purged over half of our books... put many in storage... and STILL the movers comment on the fact that we had a lot of books!  I guess a home school family values the written word...  Perhaps we should consider a Kindle for the next move?  It would save us literally hundreds of pounds.

 

Of all the moves we have had... this seems to be the most planned for and by far the most complicated.  It has also been one of the most prayed over...  Things are running smoothly and we are so thankful that our Heavenly Father is walking side by side with us through it all. 

Happy 4th of July!

The past few weeks have been a blur preparing for our move to Australia... saying good bye to friends and neighbors... sorting through and packing our things.  Selling off our cars and many pieces of furniture... finding a home for our Oscar kitty....We slowly are simplifying and letting go.  There is lots still to do.  The moving truck arrives this week to pack and load the things we will carry with us to Australia... all will be loaded into a shipping container which will travel on a 75 day journey over the Pacific Ocean.

As we were packing up a few toys, Thomas shared some new found wisdom...packing up his beloved Legos he announced,  "Mommy, I thought this was going to be hard.  But it's really not.  It's kind of fun!"  It is an adventure of grand proportions for our family... to leave the comfort of our life here behind and prepare to set up a new "home" in a foreign land.
 
There are a lot of details still to unfold, but one thing is for sure, our Heavenly Father will guide and direct all the details and we need only trust in his sole provision for us.  This is where we will rest today.  In His sovereignty.