State Forest

About 15 minutes from the house there is a huge state forest! We went to check it out Christmas day and loved it so much we went back again the next! It didn't hurt that it was 50 degrees both days.

There will be a picture overload (you're welcome, Ma!- And Nanny, I will put them up on facebook for you too) in this post. It is two days worth of pictures. The second day we took Eli as well! It was fun. What isn't photographed is the 2-3mile hike we did after playing at the lake. While in the woods, we saw a deer and then later two deer bounding away. Without Eli, I am not sure we even would have noticed them they were so well hidden. The hike trail is 10.5 miles one way- so it is a good sized hike!

 Surprisingly, Eli LOVED the slide!! He went down it probably 15-20 times. Which of course the kids thought was hilarious (ok, we did too)

 On the drive out of the forest, we saw 6 deer!

Christmas Tree

We weren't going to do anything for Christmas since we moved just the week before, but while grabbing a few things at Walmart, we changed our minds :)

This year, the Parrs have a felt tree puttied to the wall. It's something, albeit a bit strange.

 The final. It even has a little tree skirt! And we picked out two new board games together to open and play Christmas day.

House pictures

Here are the house pictures. Sorry they are so crummy!

The kitchen. It's a bigger than the pictures make it look. 

 Look at that cute little counter! I think it was made for my sewing machine. :) (The last pair of pajamas is hanging on the back of that chair :) )

 Calvin- Ryley wanted me to let you know she LOVES the pouch you made her. It houses her little pets :)

 Living room. Also bigger than the pictures make it look. It is really spacious with a huge window! Lots of natural light- yay! Also, Eli felt like photobombing all the pictures. Sorry about that.

 This bathroom has a ridiculous amount of cabinet and counter space. I don't know what to do with it all- other than make sure it doesn't collect clutter!

 Cheeks having a tea party :)

 The boys room is small. There is a closet directly next to the white bed in the corner you see. They will be on mattresses until we buy. The bed frames are too big for the room!

 See look! Dunks coffee is here too. :)

 

Will be back soon!

The Drive

Lots of catching up to do! We finally have internet in the house, so I will probably do a few blog posts over the next day or so to catch up.

The drive went really well! We left around 5am Sunday morning and made it to Ohio by 5pm or so. Nobody got car sick, and Eli did incredibly well as well!! I mean, it was a little squishy, but Eli spent most of his time either curled up on the floor at Roman's feet or staring out the windshield. The only snafu we hit on day one was accidentally locking the keys in the running car at a pit stop. After about an hour of us and another random dude trying to get it open with a coat hanger, a car lock guy showed up. Thank goodness he only charged us $20! We learned those guys often charge $50-$60!

We spent the night with some friends of mine, and then hit the road again at around 4:30. We had no issues that day, other than some rain, and made it in to Kirksville by 3pm (4pm for everyone else).

I had about 30 minutes to meet the landlords, get in to the house, and figure everything out before a TON of people from the church showed up and helped unpack! the whole truck was unloaded and my kitchen was unpacked by 5pm. It was crazy. I'm talking 20-30 people showed up, and mainly people we had never met!

Other than that, the drive and getting in is a pretty boring story. Next up will be some crummy pictures of the house for you all, update on the job, and kid pictures. Which I know is why you are all reading this anyway.

Oh, and just so you all know, yes- my sewing machine is back out. :) Since Wednesday I have made us all Christmas pajama pants, a dress and a skirt for Ryley, a grocery bag holder, and have a few other projects in the works :)

Busy days

We are officially homeless! We signed on all the papers last night and are no longer home owners which is bitter sweet. It was also very anti-climactic. We have been waiting for signing on those papers for a month. As buyers almost four years ago, the paper signing took hours! It seems that selling a house takes a lot less paper work. We signed maybe 5 papers, joked around and chatted with the buyers and realtors, and left. We were in and out in less than 30 minutes. Which was great, but it felt like something as momentous as selling a house and moving half across a country should take a little longer than that.

The Lord also provided more in the little things. We had some expenses of moving come up that we had not planned for, and three different things during the signing ended up with kickbacks and unexpected amounts of money that will cover every single one of them almost to the dollar! I will never understand why we revert back to worry and fear when we are serving the Lord.

Last night we said our first hard goodbye. It is certainly making it far more real. The ride home was hard. All I wanted to do was go back for one more hug. But you just can't, because it will never be enough one last hug. I knew moving from ALL of our family (both his and mine) was going to be rough, but you can never prepare yourself well enough for something like this.

Tonight we are having tea with my Nanny, and that goodbye is going to be equally difficult. This week is filled with goodbyes that I don't want to make. We have been blessed with such amazing family that loves us. And what a blessing it is that they don't hold us back, but instead encourage us to follow the Lord.

The truck is packed!

Saturday, despite some yummy rain and weather, we got our moving truck fully packed! Thanks to my Dad and Mr. Matt's planning, we were able to fit my entire home and basement into just 9 feet of truck! The number may not seem exciting to you, but every foot we didn't use of our quoted 13' was an extra $100 they took off. So with great help and good planning, we saved $400 Saturday.

We didn't have a ton of people come, but the people who did?

They were such a HUGE blessings. My friend Amelia came early and did whatever was needed. Sometimes that was packing, sometimes that was lugging things to the truck, sometimes it was watching the kids, and sometimes it was doing my bidding. She was just such a blessing, and we were so thrilled to have her.

Our friends Steve and Chelcee came a little later since they had another person to help move (I guess rainy Saturdays are a popular day :) )- but once they got there they were on the ball and happy to help with whatever that meant- unfortunately for them, it meant doing all my cleaning!

Then the last person was a friend of ours Sean. He may not know it, but he has just been such a picture of the true church for my husband and I. He brings us such excitement thinking about moving down to OUR church down in MO by watching his desire for more of Christ and his willingness to help brothers and sisters in Christ he barely knows.  We have only met him three times- but it doesn't matter. There is such a bond in Christ that far surpasses years of friendship. He volunteered himself and drove an hour and a half to help us pack. And by the time he made it we were almost done...so we put him to work doing what every young 20's guy wants to do...clean! We stole his truck and brought donation things down to the Salvation Army, and then he came back and scrubbed the grossest of my house. Under the trash barrel, the kitchen walls and baseboards, etc. He took my commanding without a grumble or complaint, and really was just a joy. So Sean, if you read this- I want you to know  how much you mean  to Chris and I- keep in touch, ok??

We are now at my In-laws for a week who are graciously hosting us until our moving truck makes it to our new home.

We sign papers Tuesday afternoon!! This chapter in our lives is very quickly coming to an end, and although we are going to miss everyone dreadfully, I have to admit that we are just bursting with excitement to get down to a church that already feels more like home than I have ever felt.

Count Down!

Hey Family! This is where you will be able to keep up with pictures, stories, and every day life. 

We have just 3 more days until we pack up the moving truck, 6 more days until we close on the house, and just 11 more days until we pack up and head to our new home state of Missouri!

Moving from our home state of Massachusetts and going to Missouri isn't going to be easy. We are leaving all our family and friends. We are leaving everything we have ever known. But we know it is going to be so very worth it. Why, you ask? Because the Lord is calling us there to be a part of a church called Lake Road Chapel. It is quite a long story, but hey- the people reading this already know :) We already feel at home there, and I have never been!I have received emails from members introducing themselves, the Pastor and his wife have SO helpful. I have emailed her countless times with questions. In fact, she is the one who found our rental house and did all the hard work for us! Chris has stayed with many people while down there for his two visits, and when he talks about them with love, I fall in love with them just as much. It just feels like...home.

Chris is currently down in Missouri. He is getting some pictures of the house we are moving to and putting a deposit down on the rental. He will also be having a job interview with the company he hopes to work for while we live down there. So it is just me, the kids, and the dogs attempting to find the house.

I could take a picture of what our life looks like right now, but I am pretty sure you do not want to see that! *I* don't want to see it. Random stuff on every surface. Things that are getting packed. Things that had it's pair already packed but didn't make the box. Things we are donating. Things we are throwing away. Things that I didn't even know we owned! A dog that is confused about all of life, and three kids that want to keep ALL the things with a mom that wants to keep NO things.

Chris is currently down in Missouri. He is getting some pictures of the house we are moving to and putting a deposit down on the rental. He will also be having a job interview with the company he hopes to work for while we live down there. So it is just me, the kids, and the dogs attempting to find the house.

Anyway, that is all for now. Will be back soon! Who knows, maybe with some pictures :)

OH! And for anyone wondering and who knows me? No the sewing room is not packed yet...I still have more sewing to do!!