The Move, conclusion

Our last walk to the coffee shop down the street from our old house

What goes up must come down; our stairway was too narrow for the boxspring

Living room, dining room... empty! What a feeling!

 After all of the chaos, I awoke the first morning in our new house ready to sit around and do nothing for the rest of my life. But the kids were still out of town and I had limited time to get anything done so I had my mom come over and help me with some unpacking while her friend Deb came to paint our walls. Oh. My. Word. What a Godsend! Paul and I both strongly dislike painting, but we also strongly disliked almost every color of paint that the previous owners had chosen for our walls... so Deb offered to paint whatever we wanted painted! All we had to do was buy the paint! Below are before-and-after shots of the girls' bedroom, but she also painted the boys room, our room, and the upstairs hallway. She's like a fairy godmother!

Thursday I spent decompressing with two good friends while Deb painted away upstairs. I had a hard time not working while someone else was working in my house, but I forced myself to sit and drink a cup of coffee to restore some physical, mental, and emotional balance.

Then Friday came, and we drove back to North Dakota to pick up the kids and to watch Paul and Ryan run their second half-marathon, this time with Patrick joining them! The kids got to run a 'mini-marathon' the night before, and they got t-shirts and medals for their efforts. Then we were able to watch the race from a beautiful park where the kids could run and play until they saw the runners start to pass. They then lined themselves up for high-fives and cheered for everyone they saw.

We did some exploring of Mandan the rest of the day, and then said goodbye to the Norrells, Grandma, and Patrick on Sunday. The kids were finally coming home! We pulled into our house early in the evening, and we were greeted by more grandparents! They had come and set up the kids bedrooms after the painting was all done. Thanks Mom and Dad!

The kids were super excited to see the whole house, and they settled in right away. They explored every nook and cranny and then claimed their beds and made themselves at home. Audrey got a beautiful new big-girl bed, and she demonstrated how to climb in and out of it as long as someone would watch her. The boys are no longer sharing a twin bed... and it's about time. Max takes up three-fourths of the bed himself! Bedtime was quick and easy for the first time in months!

We started school the next morning and life picked right up where it left off, in our new home. And boy do we feel at home.