MOVING DAY!!!

Well, we did it! Yesterday we moved everything out of this house! (well, with the exception of some of my clothes, packed bags to take with us, this computer, and cleaning supplies!) But we did it! Thankfully, my prayers were answered and we got a rain free day to move our stuff and there were even a few sun breaks! It was a beautiful day. I couldn't have done it alone! Thank you Mom and Zeno for your amazing help and for getting the Uhaul for us! Jeff, you don't know how much your and Tim's help blessed me. I am grateful to you and Joanne for letting us store so much at your place and for your help in getting it to your place. And finally, Dave, thank you so much for driving all the way from Molalla to come help out your sister in law! It was truly a blessing having you there to help as well and to help unload all the stuff at my mom's.

Daily I am amazed at His faithfulness and goodness to the boys and I while Dominic is gone. We have had so much help and support and everything has gone pretty smoothly. I feel so blessed and am so thankful for the Lord's goodness! He is AWESOME!!!

As I drove away from our home, I must confess I did shed a few tears! This home has been such a blessing to us and even more than that, this neighborhood is irreplaceable! More than the house itself, which is beautiful and we've poured a lot of hard work into it, I am going to miss our neighbors the most. They have truly become life long friends. I am glad to say that when I shut the door one last time to this house, I have so many wonderful memories that I get to take with me and will hold close in my heart. There have been so many good times here that I treasure.

So for now, goodbye house! Goodbye neighbors! Thank you for all of the great times and the memories!

The boys at class!

Tuesday and Thursday nights we take a break from moving, packing, cleaning, etc. and the boys go to their Martial Arts class. They seem to really like it and enjoy the break from all of the chaos. Julian wants to be a part of it so bad, but he is too young. He likes to stand on the side of the mat and do the moves and yell with everyone else (something he has perfected quite well :) )

The boys are getting excercise and learning a lot through this class. I am glad that we were able to sign them up for a couple of months!

A successful garage sale!

We are moving steadily along. I had a great weekend and despite the very cold weather we managed to have a very good garage sale. I sold most all of our big items, a ton of small items, and everything else got taken away! I had so much help. It was truly wonderful and God continues to show me His faithfulness. On Friday, Kaaren and my neighbor Lauren came and helped all day during the garage sale. That allowed me to go through the house and grab more things that I thought I could get rid of. The boys stayed the night at Grandma's house so I was able to get A LOT done! Then, on Saturday, Lauren came and literally stayed all day. I cannot even begin to tell you the blessing it was to me. I got so much done in the house, the rooms cleared out, packing, organizing, etc. 8 months pregnant, and she took on the cold to help a friend out! Lauren, I am forever grateful for your help!!! Cheri and Kyra also came to help Saturday morning and that was such a blessing as well. Cheri, thank you for the coffee!!! It made my day. Then, another neighbor came and took everything that was left over in the garage. Literally everything. She works with an orphanage in the Ukraine and is always doing fundraising and stuff for them. She also sends a huge container of goods to the orphanage. So, she blessed me so much because it saved me a trip to Goodwill on my own with all of that stuff, and we were able to be a blessing to her by giving her all of the left overs. All I had to do was help load some of it in the car for her. Wow!!! He is so faithful to us!!!

Now, the house is pretty empty and we are staying at my mom's house. It feels much more like home than our empty, echoey house. We are so much closer to leaving. I can hardly believe it. My boys have been incredible troopers through the process. It is so hard on them to see everything changing and wondering where papa is, but they are doing ok. We miss papa so much. Julian runs around the house at night saying, "Where's my Papa, I want to see my Papa." It is so sweet, but also puts an ache in all of our hearts! We miss you and love you more than you know papa!!!