Life in the Camper

This is mostly a picture log of our time the last couple weeks. We are now in Virginia at Grandma's,

Thank you for checking in and for lifting us up during this exciting time of transition.

Before we moved into the camper, a sweet friend let us stay at her home for five nights. We had so much fun and were even close enough to walk a couple time to our favorite restaurant (Fred's). :)  Thanks so much Allison!!

Then we moved into the camper - 16 nights in the camper... truly not as bad as I imagined.

Dare I say we enjoyed most of it?

It was a very nice camper.  

Some asked if we had much privacy... well, here are some pics.  :)

This is from kids beds to our bedroom (on other side of TV).

Someone else asked if there were doors to our bedroom - haha. Yes, there were.  Sliding doors that didn't lock. :)  

Our master suite :)

We had a mini chef cooking our daily dose of mac n cheese and yes, he is using the dirty laundry as a stool - let's call it...resourceful. :)

Totally forgot to take pics of the bathroom.  We were thankful for a shower with a tub so our two littles could bathe; however, it was the smallest tub I've seen.  Ian could just fit in it sitting down.  But, it served its purpose!  

Just a few steps away was a lovely scene. :)  If it weren't for the intense heat the last couple weeks and the inordinate number of mosquitos we would've been there more often.  The moments we had out there, we really enjoyed though. :)  The beauty and peacefulness here did cause a few emotions.  This fair skinned KY gal never thought she'd miss Florida, but I really, really will.  

The kids became Prince and Princesses of the Beach!  A fun playground on the beach. :)

Admittedly, Meisi climbing up this thing caused my helicopter mom heart to race a little.  She is such a strong little girl.  Amazing to look back at her beginning and see how far she has come.  Our God is an Awesome God!

Since the mosquitos were vacationing at our campsite we decided to go on some field trips to playgrounds. :)   This one is in Largo.

This is at Common Ground in Lakeland - the kids favorite park. :)

Time in the camper can be fun too - the girls built a fort in their bedroom. :)

The least favorite for the kids was school time.  Not sure how my fave homeschool speakers, Heidi St. John and Todd Wilson, live in their RVs while homeschooling.  Maybe if I were more of a routine person it would work, but living in absence of any routine did make it tough. 

So, when Brian was free we enjoyed our science museum (MOSI),

his silliness, :)

and Eating out.  We are so thankful for the special time we have had the past couple weeks with new and old friends.  Sharing meals and stories. We are so thankful for each of you.

A sad moment but beautiful memory was our final bike ride (just before we sold our bikes).
Memories I hope to cherish for some time.

 We also walked out onto a pier off Bayshore.  Isn't the sunset lovely?

Too precious not to capture. :)

Kids loved the camper so much, Aili decided she wanted to celebrate her birthday IN the camper. 

Since there were 4 bunks she wanted to fill them and invited a few of her sweet friends over to celebrate with her. 

It rained all day, but the Lord was gracious and gave us a beautiful eve to be out of the camper.  

It was a birthday Aili will not forget. :)  Thankful for special friends in her life.  I can't believe my precious baby girl is about to turn 10 - double digits - 10. Where does time go?  I love her to the moon and back, and am thankful God gave us to each other. :)  

We celebrated Ian's birthday early too.   He is not a fan of sand so he wanted to get away from the camper.  I truly am not a fan of Chuck E Cheese, but he got to choose. :)  We brought our cake and ordered their pizza - they had lots of fun.  Unlike smiley girls, it is tough to get pics of boys smiling, and even harder to get boys together at CEC, but here are a few. :)  Thanks to friends who came at the last minute to celebrate another wonderful year of our little man. :

Brian had his last day of work and we moved out of "Racoon Creek" which I lovingly renamed "Mosquito Landing." :)  Meisi left with 25 bites on her little body that she got just going from van to camper - may be why she doesn't look nearly as happy.

Stopping at Ikea for a little while and then at our favorite restaurant along the way to Virginia (Grandson's outside of Fayetteville, NC) cheered her up though. :)

Thanks for following along.   I feel like I'm constantly saying this BUT we really are truly thankful for your encouragement, love and prayers along the journey. :)

Moving...Our 'Nomadic Adventure' has begun

Over the last month it seems like all we've done is pack, repack, give away, sell or throw away most of our belongings...

When I look at our pictures I can see we have stopped for some fun.  Thankful for friends who encourage us to stop and do that during this time. :)

We became a superhero family and saw Marvel Live (thanks to a sweet friend for getting us super cheap tickets). :)  We even met the mom to the guy who played Tony Stark - that is like nearly meeting a star, right?

 The things we do for free food!  Cow appreciation Day at our fave - CFA. :)  Honestly, it was a great way to keep the kids busy for hours in the morning making costumes while I packed then free food and getting them tired in the afternoon for more packing - why wouldn't I go?? :)

We even did a pool day in our subdivision.  The last with our own access cards. :(  It was a fun day, with good friends that we really needed. :)

We ordered a seriously big pizza that day!  Have you ever seen anything like it?  And the balance my amazing hubby has to carry it! ;) 

I know it looks like we have done little work, but amidst all that fun were many sleepless nights.

Moving is tiring EXHAUSTING.  We've done it 10 times and it hasn't ever gotten easier.

This one has been the hardest yet.

Usually when the movers come, they box up everything and we somewhat go through things when we get to the next destination. 

Not so this time.

Going through most all of our things then getting rid of them.  

It has been freeing, 

exhausting really, but for the most part very freeing.

Less, really is more.  :)

Ok...so I did cry over the Christmas decorations and all our framed baby pictures and scrapbooks and.. 

Most ask how are the kids handling all this?
We have been amazed with our kids.  

We thought they'd really struggle with getting rid of their things, but they did great picking just a few items each.
There have been some emotional days over leaving and expressing fears of the unknown, but they are excited too.
We spend much time talking about how they are feeling, trying to address questions they have, then asking our Father to give us guidance through it all.  Our Dad really is amazing.   Always gives us what we need when we need it.  Usually there is stretching of emotional and physical boundaries as well as unforeseen trials involved but He is right there with us.  

In the midst of trying to pack up our house, we also had VBS.  I am so thankful for my partner this week.  :)  Blessing after blessing she continues to pour out on me. :)

I have to brag a little on these kids.  From K through 5th grade they were attentive and interested.  My heart leaps a little to share that our 60 kids who came brought nearly $800 in offering for New Hope Foundation in China.  They were so touched by the Show Hope Video "What If."  You can view it here.  Those who know our adoption story and followed our journey know that New Hope will always be incredibly special for us.  It is there that our precious daughter was cared for and I mean that in every aspect of the words.  She may not remember them but we will make sure she always knows how critical they were in her story.

To catch up on our big adventure as we are calling it - Monday we gave keys to the renters, that eve we were truly blessed by an amazing hotel room gifted to us by our big family. :)   Tuesday we started the two day journey to Hampton, VA to drop off our remaining belongings and visit Brian's mom.

Some funny things that happened in our completely sleep deprived adventure...

Monday we were giving keys over to renters.  

2 hours before they were coming we finally get home from running errands after a terrible storm.. 

It had been garbage day and well, since moving out that day we had TONS of garbage.  As we drove  around the corner to our house I notice that Meisi's crib mattress with its pretty pink sheet was floating, yes FLOATING down our street.  Next I see more of our garbage floating....  I couldn't pull into our driveway due to the garbage can laying down, so I pulled over so Aili, Ian and I could frantically run around in the rain gathering our very wet garbage.  Truly, I wasn't laughing while this was taking place but we could all laugh about it a few hours later.  

When a few hours later came and the family who will be taking care of the home was there we heard a cabinet open then water coming out of the fridge.  Mind you, we thought we were completely moved out of the house.  Well, low and behold, when we walked into the kitchen, Meisi was filling her cup with water.  Brian opened the cabinet to find it hadn't been packed nor had the pantry...or the shower curtain...or who knows what else.  I finally told her whatever she found to just throw away. I do hope there wasn't anything else they were surprised to find!!

Ok...last funny story.. We rented a budget truck to move our remaining items to Virginia.  It was about half the cost of uhaul which we've always used beforehand.  On way here Brian and Aili said they got rained on.  I said, "Yes, so did we."  Brian and Aili said, "Yes, but we literally got rained on."  The rain was coming through the poorly sealed truck onto them!  Thankfully it was a warm day and still worth the $300 saved (at least in my opinion)! :)

My fave new song from VBS said, "I wanna be your hands and feet, I wanna live differently.."  Our friends, brother and sisters in our Big Family lived that out the past few weeks - for us.  Taking things they didn't want just to help get it out of our house, taking things to the dumpster for us, to consignment shops for us, taking groceries, toys, books, furniture to help us, bringing us and cooking us meals, being a handyman fixing things around the house, babysitting our kids so we could pack...the wet garbage I told you about - our property manager put it into his SUV and drove it to the dump for us...

And perfectly timed, a sweet friend gave us the gift that helped me keep my eyes open during all that driving...

Thank you.

Wrapping your arms around us so we could get things done and then letting us have an amazing night of rest in our kids fave hotel...

Our cup overflows.

About a month ago we were doing our history lesson from Story of the World and it was about nomads.  Aili said, "That sounds like how we will be living."  We laughed but knew she was onto something, except for the part the book mentioned about growing our own food...

In the next three months we will be sleeping in 25 different places in 5 different states. We are calling it our 'nomadic adventure'. :)  We are excited but know it will be exhausting.  We appreciate your thoughts and intercession for us.  I do think our little Meisi has had the most difficult time in understanding all this.  She wept Monday night.  When she finally calmed down I asked her what was wrong and she said she was sad and when I asked why she said, "The house."  :(  We hugged and talked about how we'd all be together and were going on a big adventure.  She has seemed much better since being at grandma's although transition is just around the corner.  We head back to Florida on Tuesday where we will stay in a sweet friend's house while they are on vacation.  Then to a camper for a couple weeks then to a hotel type setting for a few days then back to VA.... We desire to be loving, joyful, peaceful, patient, kind, good, faithful, gentle and self controlled during all these changes.  Yet, know that our enemy will have ample opportunity to tempt us to do otherwise.  We are so thankful for your love, encouragement and intercession during this exiting and exhausting time.

One more pic... just love these photos our friend did for us. :)  Boy do I love these munchkins... some days they drive me nuts but I love them with all that is in me.  How amazing to think my Father's love for me is even greater,...

Journeying With Us

Hello,

Happy 4th of July!!!

Yes, I am blogging again! :)  As we embark on this journey we knew we wanted to share it so you can come alongside us.   We are hoping this will be one way we can keep you updated.

Here is a quick update on things we have talked with you about previously. Our hearts rejoice with the provision of a 3 year lease of our home in Florida with a lovely like-minded family who move in July 22. (Ok...the latter part of that causes a bit of stress trying to get rid of things and packing up, but YAY for being at this stage)!  Another HUGE praise - we have secured housing for the remainder of our time here in Florida.  It does involve a bit of moving about but will certainly provide many new adventures for us.  In the next 4 months we will be traveling to 12 towns/cities in 5 states.  We are very much looking forward to visiting with some of you during that time. :)

If you followed my previous blog you know I LOVE pictures.  Perfect timing to have just gotten the disc from pics taken by a very sweet, talented friend of ours (The pic at the top of the blog is one she took last year).

We are so grateful for your thoughts and love. Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU for journeying with us.  :)