We have moved!

We ended up living at Maple Street for almost 9 months. Our temporary accommodations were cozy and comfortable, but we were eager to receive our household goods and establish a greater sense of normalcy in a more “permanent” home. Most of you know that our situation remains uncertain, so we were fortunate to find a wonderful home in Lake Oswego that we are renting for now. The United van pulled up to our new house on June 15^th. I started to feel quite overwhelmed when the movers started bringing all the furniture and boxes into the house. It was chaos. I was so grateful that I had help!

Tobitha, Aislyn and Benjamin arrived the night before on the 14^th. They came all the way from Orlando, Florida for the express purpose of getting us settled in the new house! Now that's a true-blue friend. Those of you that have the pleasure of knowing Tobitha, know that she doesn't mess around. Anything she starts, she finishes. She doesn't get emotionally attached to “stuff”, and she does not get easily side-tracked. She was exactly who we needed to help us get the job done. You would have been amazed to see all that we accomplished by the time she and the kids left on Saturday. Within two-weeks time, we were basically settled. You will have to trust me on how impressive that is based on the enormity of the task we faced.

I am so incredibly thankful for the time I got to spend with my sweet Tobitha. I had been longing to see her face to face for some time. As it is with so many that I love, the distance can be so hard. We worked diligently during the days and tried to find some time for relaxing in the evenings. I regret that we didn't show her and the kids any of Portland (we stayed very focused), but I enjoyed every minute with them nonetheless. Samuel and Sarah Grace had oodles of fun with their “cousins”, Aislyn and Benjamin. Despite hanging around the house for most of the week, they never lacked for things to do and enjoyed simply just being together.

One of my new and dear Portland friends, Lorri, spent moving day with us as well. She busily helped us unpack the kitchen, among other things, while her four children just naturally blended into the mix with the other kids. The kids were all great and got along famously. It was a beautiful day and they were able to all play outside for the most part. I had to chuckle later when one of our new neighbors commented on how we were the talk of the street with all those children running around. I'm sure they were thinking their quiet street would never be the same! :)

A lot more has happened since then, so I will follow this blog post with another one shortly. I am currently on a plane headed from Charlotte to San Francisco, so I actually have some time to write!

LYMYWY,

Kara