It's FINALLY HERE!!!

Moving day has arrived. Am I prepared? No. is it here anyway? Yes. We signed our papers today, the new home owners signed their papers today, and as soon as the Canby house records, the Salem House will be not far behind! And then... we'll make the move.

The travel Trailer is all packed (I could PROBABLY fit pillows in, but not much more!), and the garage is mostly empty. I still don't have any of the boxes from the house packed, but that's for later. I have to find the packing tape before I do any of that, and I'm afraid I accidentally donated it to DI sometime. Oh well. If that's the least of my worries, I'm doing well.

The phone will be turned off tomorrow when I return the Internet modem, and we'll be on our way to a more settled life! I think maybe I'll unpack the scrapbooking stuff first... TOTALLY JUST KIDDING! Although if I did that, at least they'd get unpacked!

It's sad to realize that I have boxes that I haven't unpacked for 5 years... Andrew would (as would most people) say, "just throw those ones out!" But you see, I can't. I have to sort through them and decide what is really important. And once I get the first box open, I'll probably realize that NONE of it is really that important, and when am I going to have time to put together a scrapbook of my college years anyway? Oh well... the burn barrels may get some food this winter from the boxes...

TTFN!

The Countdown Begins...

Actually, we've been counting down for a while. Finally, though, we're in our final week (two more days) of living in Canby. We do have mixed emotions, but Andrew pointed out to me last night (as I was blubbering about something else) that the only difference in our friendships here is that we won't see them at church on Sunday. We can still call and maintain those friendships. So... all that over with, the moving begins! I have started loading boxes (the ones that never got unpacked) into our little travel trailer, and we'll start the move down to Salem on Thursday night!

We may not have phone service for about a week (hopefully it won't be longer than that) or at least until we get the Internet back up and running. Other that that, the phone number won't change, and I'll send out "we've moved" cards with our new address as soon as I'm settled! (Don't expect them before Halloween... :))

Field Trip #1

Now... this is my idea of a great day learning! Savannah, Margaret, and I checked out a pass to the Portland Children's Museum from the library the other day, and spent nearly the entire day at the museum. It was such a fun day, that Savannah has asked me if we can go again. And, since admission is free (checked out the pass from our local library), we're going again!

If asked, Savannah will admit that her favorite parts were playing with the flubber (a substance made from liquid starch and glue - not at all like the movie), and the water. I've promised her that the next time we go, we'll spend more time playing with the water.

Our first stop was the picture frame just inside the door...

I had a hard time getting Margaret to move to something else. Either she wanted to have her picture taken, or she was really trying to find a way to get over the top of the little wall...

Then it was on to play dress up. Savannah loves to perform, so getting her to find an outfit wasn't hard. It was a little hard for her to take her turn - there were a lot of other little children there who were taking longer turns at the microphone. However, Savannah handled herself admirably, and waited patiently, even helping some of the other kids so that she could take a turn. Margaret wanted to get dressed up, but then kept tripping over her outfit. She wasn't sad to take it off.

Playing in the clay was more Savannah's style. We made different shapes and other sorts of fun things - Savannah has a great imagination, but if someone is making something cool, she's also very likely to mimic them.

Then on to an area that Margaret could play in, and I let Savannah play alone for a little bit - always keeping an eye on her - she had a great time playing that she was a patient in a medical clinic; building something in the woodshop, and playing with the trucks and cars in the dig pit; Margaret found the slide and didn't want to leave.

Alas, it was time. We had signed up for a special class (the flubber class...), and we needed to get over to our orientation for that. I came home with some great ideas for things to play in; things like "Oooh-Blech" (equal parts cornstarch and water), Flubber (equal parts liquid starch and white glue), Clean Mash (ivory soap, liquid something that I can't remember, and toilet paper), and clean clay - crayola brand. Margaret didn't much like anything in that little corner - probably because it was way beyond her nap time, but like a little trooper, she continued to hang out and eventually tried all the things that Savannah was well into.

Our final stop was the water works. I know how popular this is with the kids, and decided to wait until we were ready to go home. Margaret didn't want to play - until she figured out that there was water involved. That changed EVERYTHING. She brought the little apron that they wear, stood still while I put it on her, and charged off to the water. Savannah was already building bridges and floating boats. It was a very fun day, and we're looking forward to a return trip. Next time, we'll see if there's another mini class that we can take that will be as entertaining as flubber!

Photos from Golden Spike...AT LAST!

Finally - the photos from Golden Spike National Historic Park. We had such a great time that day - even though it was wicked hot outside. I can't imagine how the people who built this railroad survided working conditions - the amazing thing is that they probably didn't complain half as much as people today would! (Either that, or they just didn't record all their complaints...)

At any rate - the last picture is of the entire family... sorry it's so far away and we look like little specks. At least you can see that we're all there. I'm the crazy one wearing the long pants, and regretting it; but as I tell Savannah - you make your own choices, no one makes them for you! Besides - the truck has great air conditioning, and I was cold in it. No complaints here! - Linda

This Old House...

Is going to be ours. We plan on closing on this house October 25th, and moving in that weekend. Plans for Saturday include attending two Halloween Parties, there is a church Super Saturday going on that day, and practice for the Primary Program. The good news is, all of our stuff has been in boxes for the past two months, we won't miss them if they're in boxes for another few days...

We will freely admit that we have driven past the house at least twice since finding out that our offer was accepted; and telling each other on a regular basis (before we go to bed, as soon as we wake up, when we get home from errands... you name it) how excited we are to be moving into this house. It truly is perfect for our needs.

We are looking forward to making this Dream House on the Hill our own. Last night we drove past it to see if we could see it from the freeway... coming from the south, you can! However, it is far enough off of the freeway that we still feel like we're out in the country. (How can you not with all those Christmas trees around you?)

This is what I get...

For telling everyone that we've moved! We're moving again! We sold our cute little purple house, and now we've been looking for another house to live in. If all goes well, we'll be living in a new house by the end of the month.

This is the house that Andrew and I have selected... or maybe this house selected us... we're not quite sure. We just know that we LOVE the house. This house was built in 1922, has 4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, and sits on 2.22 acres. The basement is unfinished, but the rest of the house has been beautifully maintained. Granted, with a house this old, there are some things that need updating, but for the most part, this is the house that we feel like we can live in for a much longer time than just one year!

The view from here is incredible... there are Christmas trees on two sides (the left and the back), and there is a vineyard on the right side of the house. The property has grapes, cherry trees, apple trees, and at least one pear tree. It also has a swing set (which we are planning on asking them to leave - since it is connected to the trees in the back yard) and a hot tub.

So... hopefully no one wrote our old address in their address books using pen! We'll send out "we've moved" cards as soon as we've moved... again. We'd appreciate any prayers on our behalf! We close on the Canby house on the 24th of this month - and hope to close on the new house on the 25th. It's going to be a busy month.