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Week 1

It is hard to believe that it's been a week since we made the big move to Colorado. After considering various options for moving, we had a POD delivered to our house on July 8th. That gave us a week to pack. We paid for a month storage as we would be at our camper for a month and wouldn't have a place for our junk right away. We threw out quite a few pieces of furniture that came as well used hand-me-downs from Aaron's family or the thrift store so we were able to get all of our stuff in one POD, but the POD was definitely packed full.  After some incredible and selfless help from family and friends with loading and cleaning, we left Carrollton, TX at 4:13 a.m. on Friday, July 15, 2016 and arrived at my parents house in Colorado Springs, CO a little before 6p.m.,  very road weary and glad to be done with the drive. We pulled a U-haul trailer with our clothing, some food and camping items we'd need when we transitioned out to the camper on our property.



 We stayed Friday night and Saturday at my parents house. Aaron's family was down from Alaska to hold a memorial service for one of his cousins that died in a car crash several months ago, so Aaron and Maddy went to the ranch to see all of them and go to the service. Aaron's dad had recently gotten a pet pig and Maddy got to hold it. As you can see, this was pretty exciting for her.
Kelsay and I stayed in the Springs and we unloaded the U-haul, packed what we needed for the camper in my parents' van, did laundry, and took care of pets. Houdini was pretty whiny so we had to move him in and out of his crate all day to deal with his neurotic behavior.
Sunday, we went to church with my parents and then had lunch at their house with their small group. After that, we got our stuff together and headed out to the camper to set up and unpack.
The grass at the camper was taller than Kelsay. Not unexpected. We brought my Dad's weed eater out so the guys got busy cutting down the grass around the camper while the girls unloaded. It was amazing how fast set up went this year. We already pretty much had everything in place from last year so we basically had to clean, put away food and set up beds and find a place for clothes and toiletries. We are pretty packed in but it is fine. We get to live outside a lot so it works out for now.
My mom brought all the leftovers from their house so we had a good dinner that night. Breakfast the next morning was a little rough because we hadn't been grocery shopping. We went in to Woodland Park that afternoon and bought groceries and made a Sonic stop. Apparently our Sonic is terrible which is heartbreaking but probably good so we don't visit it too often. They got orders wrong and didn't mix up the blasts that the girls and Aaron ordered. The girls didn't care, but Aaron was disappointed.


















On Tuesday we left to take the animals to Grand Junction so that we could have an easier time finding a place to rent. Aaron's aunt, uncle and cousin are going to take care of them for us while we are in transition. That is a huge help to us. It will allow us more options to look at in a rental market that is already very, very tight. We got off about an hour later that we wanted because we couldn't find the cat. Aaron finally got the idea of getting the hose and spraying it under the camper. The cat came out then and we got on our way.  We stayed Tuesday night and Wednesday in Grand Junction. We did laundry and watched movies and they had a giant coloring puzzle for the girls. So it was all relaxing and enjoyable. We got to go to breakfast with friends and had yummy Mexican food with the family for dinner.
On Thursday we headed home. We stopped in Montrose and saw Kim and went to lunch with her and Eric, Amanda, boys, and Tracy. That was fun but we got behind because. that morning, Aaron's aunt's work called and said she had never showed up to work. At first they said her car was in the parking lot, which really scared us. Then they called back and said her car wasn't there. So Aaron and his cousin decided to go drive the route to work to see if they could find her. Thankfully, just as they pulled up she pulled up to work. She had a meeting that morning but her phone died and she hadn't told the family about the meeting and the people at work somehow didn't know about it. So it all worked out but gave us a scare and got us behind schedule. So we found ourselves, heading back over the mountain later than we wanted. We had a great drive though. It was a weird feeling to think we were going home.


 The rest of the week just consisted of exploring the property and the kids seeing how dirty they could get. They decided to play in a mud puddle that formed in the foundation dig for the house. They were so filthy. I had to hose them off outside with the icy well water. They cried because it was so cold. Then took them inside for a camp shower. Also not super warm. By the time that experience was over, both of them had sworn off playing in the mud puddle.
My parents and Amber came and spent the night Friday. That was a lot of fun. I had a close call lighting the camp stove to make eggs for breakfast. Guess I turned the propane too high before I lit the burner and I had kind of a flash over from the blow out. I felt intense heat on my face and hand. Then, when I looked in the mirror later, I saw that I had actually singed my hair on the side nearest the stove burner. I comb some of it out and then I washed my hair tonight since we are going to church tomorrow. I hope that got rid of the rest of the singed look. I could still smell burned hair smell when I got out of the shower.
 Pics of the girls still asleep around 8:30 this morning. They have been playing hard. They finally crashed and slept in.

It's been a great first week. This week's adventure will be finding somewhere to live while our house gets built. The rental market is super expensive and super tight. Prayers for wisdom and the right timing on a plae are much appreciated!

Comments

Anonymous said…
Wow! What an adventure for you guys! Looks like the kids are enjoying it to the utmost. Congrats on getting out there. Excited to see what adventures await!
brittany
bee said…
Was a wild furious fun filled first week. Love seeing the girls getting to play in the BIG outdoors. Lots of adventures ahead for you and looking forward to reading and hearing all about them.

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