The First Two Weeks

I can't believe we've already been here for two weeks. Two weeks!

It's been a crazy blur, but I want to record some of the highlights while it's still fresh in my mind.

If ya'll are ready for a travel log, sit on down and get comfy. :)

Let's step back to June 23rd. Billy left our home in Texas to drive to West Virginia. He had orientation starting Monday for his craniofacial fellowship. (Learning to repair cleft lips and cleft palates, doing the helmets for little kids, and lots of other head and face stuff.) He needed to sign tons of paperwork, and learn hospital rules and computers so he'd be ready to go the following week.

I stayed home with the kids and proceeded to pack my brains out. (Which I was already doing anyway...)

On Tuesday, June 26th, Billy's mom and sister, Carol and Sarah, came to Houston to help us pack and clean, play with the kids, drive and do whatever. They were our lifesavers.

Late Thursday night, Billy flew back to Texas. 

Friday morning was spent keeping the kids entertained and trying to pack while an inspector, realtor and buyer critiqued and picked apart our home for 2.5 hours. Talk about awkward. It's hard to watch people find fault in the home you have cared for and loved for 6 years.

Then we went and rented the biggest Penske truck you can find and packed it Friday night with the help of some of the greatest guys from our church. (I took a picture at the end, but it's on my camera and I'm not sure where the cable is to get them on the computer...)

Saturday was spent packing the odd stuff into the truck (when it wasn't raining) and cleaning. 

Saturday evening, we got all dressed up and went to the OMFS graduation dinner. The program really goes all out and they didn't disappoint this year either. After a great meal, each graduate was roasted and then given the chance to give a speech. They then received their certificate and a surgeon's chair.

It was the perfect way to celebrate a decade of post-undergrad training.

By golly, I am married to an oral surgeon!

(Pictures are on the camera...)

Sunday morning we got up early and put every last thing into the moving truck, van or garbage. 

Then we hit the road...as it started to rain. It was hard to leave our sweet Texas home. It was so good to us.

We drove all day Sunday, only stopping for gas or food. The kids were remarkable. I had new toys and books and snacks that pulled us through. We finally stopped for sleep at a Motel 6 in Jackson, Tennessee.

Monday we were up and on the road by 7:20am. The kids did really good again this day, but the youngest two were starting to get a little stir crazy those last two hours of the trip. Thanks to our audio CD collection (Francis, Frog and Toad, Shrek, Owl At Home, etc...) and awesome snacks from my friend Brenya (thank you!), we arrived safely (and alive!) at the house around 6pm.

Billy and I quickly went over to the office to pay our deposit and first month's rent, so we could get the keys.

Then he carried me over the threshold. :)

The stairs the kids are so excited about. Me?! Not so much.

We actually have a two-car garage, which is an exception up here, but the door isn't tall enough to allow the van in. Darn.

Part of the upstairs bathroom. Check out that old heater!

The tree in our backyard. At least what's left of it. (Imagine it big and full like those behind it.) When we arrived July 2nd, we had no power in our house. It came back Tuesday afternoon. Then went out Tuesday night. Then came back early Wednesday morning. Then went out Wednesday afternoon. That's when we realized that the power cable that led to the house was partially severed thanks to the tree. We were finally able to get through to the power company Thursday morning to get on a long waiting list for repairs. Saturday evening, some power guys just happened (that's what they said) to be driving by and they saw our cable and fixed it. 

After unloading a truck and unpacking for 6 days in 95-102 degree heat, we did a dance of joy and thanked the power guys over and over. 

That, my friends, was an answer to prayer.

The whole unpacking thing became 100 times easier once we had power restored!

Part of our front room.

Part of the kitchen and dining area. (It's SO NICE to have a functioning kitchen again.)

Throughout that whole first week here, I kept thinking about that week after Hurricane Ike when we didn't have power. That was tricky, but this was harder. Our entire house was packed. My kids were completely unsettled as we were going back and forth from the house and a hotel in a brand new place. (We slept in the house a couple nights, but it was too hot.) And it wasn't unseasonably cool after the storm (like it was after Ike), it was unseasonably hot. :) 

But we survived and we will laugh about it someday. Really soon. :)

In the meantime, we've been trying to get the kids some sort of real summer before school starts, on Jacob's birthday. We signed Em and Jacob up for golf lessons and they are enjoying it. 

Check it out! It's practically a forest behind them!

And we went to see the new Pixar movie, with the kids proudly wearing their HEB Reading Program shirts that arrived in the mail June 30th, our last day in Texas. We're pretty sure NO ONE else in West Virginia has a shirt like these! :)

It has been a crazy couple weeks, but all in all, we have felt very watched over and protected. 

God is good.

*Remind me to tell you about the conversation I heard at the laundromat while our power was out... This lady had never seen a front load washer before. (What the what?!?!)