Family Visits

Our first weekend in our new home, Corey's parents came down and over to see us (well, to see Caedmon anyway:)) and the new house. Corey's step-brother lives in town, so when the parents drove into town, they picked up more family and came on over. It was fun to be able to show off our new place.

They stayed overnight at his step-brother's house, came to church in the morning, took us to lunch, and then Sarah (Corey's step-mom) went shopping and came back with presents galore!
It was nice to have family stop in and we look forward to seeing more of Grandma and Grandpa now that we live closer!

The cousins entertaining Caedmon...

or maybe he was entertaining them!:)

Dinner after church - our sister-in-law actually works here

and got to wait on her own family!

We kept her busy!

Especially when she whisked my crying son

away on her hip while she continued to work!:)

The One Safe Place...

There weren't too many child-friendly places for Caedmon to play when we first moved in! We were attempting to set up his crib for the second time and so stuck him in his pack 'n play. He didn't mind at all as he would squat down and pop back up playing peek a boo with us. And this was just silliness! He's a ham!:)

The Move - Bellaire

Here are pics from the Bellaire end of the move.

Caedmon eating breakfast in our hotel room.

We had to have the truck back by 5p.m. and Corey had another game at 5p.m., so it was a mad dash to unload and it mostly just ended up in the garage at first.

Thanks to a couple friends, the truck was emptied in record time -

at least much faster than it took to load the thing!

Now he's got it right!!!:)

I HATE moving!! I hope not to repeat the experience for a long time! Corey says the next time we have to move, we're getting rid of half of our stuff - I say just get rid of his books and we'll be doing good!:)

The Move - Fruitport and the Drive Up

So, I've been packing for months now. When we put our house up for sale, we had to "declutter" the house. It helped me get started on the process of packing! But there's only so much you can do ahead of time when you're still living in a house! So the last few days were crazy! And the day of the move, you think the boxes are never going to end! You wouldn't believe how many boxes I filled up! Well, some of you helped get them for me and some of you loaded the truck, so I guess you CAN believe it!:)

We FINALLY closed on the house up north last week Tuesday. That in and of itself was another mess, but I didn't expect anything less! It was par for the course!

We drove up as a family Monday 'cause Corey had a soccer game to ref. We stayed in a hotel that night, closed Tuesday, drove back down state, loaded up the truck Wednesday, drove back up north, stayed in a hotel that night, unloaded the truck Thursday morning and drove the truck 45 min. away to return it. WHEW!!! And we've been unpacking ever since!

Here are some pictures to highlight the whole event!:)

Multi-tasking!:)

Caedmon liked to be in the middle of it all!

Oops - we're supposed to be packing, not UNpacking!

There they go - the dog and Corey that is.

My car was packed full as well!

The dog's ride. As big as that mutt is,

Corey actually had to lift him into the truck!

Aww, look at the sad face. He did really well with all of the driving!

Thank you sooo very much to all of you who offered a helping hand!!! We greatly appreciate it! Love you!

Up North and Online

It's been about a week since I've been on a computer and I figured, before anyone got too worried, I'd better let you know that I'm still alive and kicking!:)

My residence is now, finally, up north Michigan! We have moved and we are getting settled; emphasis on the GETTING! I wish I could get things done quicker since my son is constantly on the go and into everything, as well as cleaning my dirty floors with his clothing since he's still too lazy to get up on all fours!

This is just a quick update since I really need to go to bed - Caedmon's been up at 2:30 and 3:30am the last two nights and I'm expecting the same tonight.:( Don't know if it's the teeth, the new house or both. Or perhaps he's just smart enough to know that mommy is thinking it's these reasons when it's neither and therefore, he can get away with the middle of the night wakings and feedings! Yes, I confess - I've nursed him twice now before morning 'cause it was the only thing that stopped the tears and put him back to sleep! Tonight though....I may have to be stubborn...more stubborn than he anyway - which could mean listening to him scream and cry for 2 hours! O.k. Having said that, I REALLY need to go to bed!

Hopefully I'll find some time and energy here soon to give a real update with pictures included!

Hello to all my friends and family - sorry that I've lost touch for a few days here. We'll catch up soon! Love ya!

P.S. I'm online in my home! Yes, for all of you who have been wondering, we actually DO get internet way up here!:)

Moving Update

We are still trying to sell our house down state. In the mean time, we're going to rent it out to some friends.
Last week, we spent the week looking at houses and deciding on one. We called our realtor up there Friday morning and told him we were ready to make an offer on a house. We are eligable for another mortgage because Corey works so far away from where he lives. It also helps that we don't have a lot of (monthly) debt.
We set up a time to go sign papers, and shortly after getting off the phone, our realtor calls back and says a house just came up on the MLS that morning that we need to take a look at.
To make a long story short, the house we looked at that morning for the first time is the house we ended up making an offer on. God works in funny ways! It's a forclosure, so a great deal! So similar to our house it's crazy, but a lot newer(built in '94 and remodeling done last year) with a full basement that was in the process of being finished.
There's still a few loose ends, but I'm hoping God will figure those out and we'll be able to get moved up there soon! It's rather difficult to serve a community when you live 2 1/2 hours away!

For Sale

This past Friday, we finally put the sign in the yard and the ad in the paper and on the internet. I've been trying to have faith that the house will sell, believing that God is taking us else where and therefore, he will sell our house; but I realize that this may not be His plan. I guess I didn't have a whole lot of faith after all, because my house was not ready to show and we received ten calls on Sunday, the day it went in the paper! We showed the house twice on Sunday, to the same person. There's definitely interest and one person wants it, but on a land contract while she gets her credit higher. They're requiring immaculate credit these days.

Things are looking up! It's exciting and sad all at the same time.