Home-Christening: Guests from afar, Friendly faces to warm our winter home.

Nothing breaks in a new house like having your first company.
Given the fact we had only mattresses when we moved in three weeks ago,
out of town visitors were just the push we needed to get some bath towels
and bedding together.

Our beloved friends from Missouri graced us with their presence, their fellowship,
and lots of fun that culminated in a last-evening open house for other precious
friends in the area.

It was a unique experience to be reintroduced to so many familiar faces by hosting
this shindig.  There wasn't any doubt our Missourians were much loved, as I think
the guest count numbered nearly 60 when the evening was out and we sat tuckered on
our new furniture thinking over the nights event.

I decided that if we ever build a hall tree, it's going to need a LOT of branches!
And where do we put 50 pairs of shoes when we have guests?

What a wonderful way to break in our new digs!  Loads of friends - ones we know;
ones we hope to know better - and the privilege of sharing this space with people
we love and enjoy so much.

Thank you for staying with us Friends!  We are so thankful for you each.

Cookies, and Test-driving my new Christmas gift

-A new laptop! (Thanks Love) And I'm thrilled not to be motoring along on a machine that
threatens to eat my photos at any moment, and won't let me do other things it used to be more
accommodating about.
To try it out this slick new contraption, why not another blog post?

After the initial move-in that neccesitated more shopping than my children really appreciate,
and slowed a bit with the arrival of couches, happily we moved on to things more Bugglett-approved.

So now a few pictures from our annual cookie decorating tradition.

Our tradition is honed in to three cookie shapes: Stars to remember the light which heralded Jesus' birth,
Crosses to reflect on the reason He came, and Christmas Trees because... because they are fun to
 decorate :-D

I have learned (though it maybe shouldn't have taken me this long) to give my littlest ones
only ONE cookie to decorate and only a FEW pieces of candy to put on their creation.

Why?  Because it goes like this:

Candy goes on.

A piece gets tasted.

Candy deemed quite wonderful.

Next, candy on the cookies come off for tasting.

Frosting on fingers now.

Fingers must be licked.

Frosting deemed worthy of more tasting. 

Why stop at licking fingers?

Heck.  Why stop at frosting?

And you begin  to see why one is enough :-)

The big ones, they are becoming quite proficient and are able to decorate cookies beautifully,

quickly, without much mess, and can complete the rest of the batch in the times it takes one

of these little hoodlums to "decorate" one!

In the end, everyone got to taste-test some cookies and lick some fingers.
And once again the event was considered a success!

(And I think the maiden voyage of this computer is considered a success as well)

Merry Christmas Eve Friends!

Another Chapter in our Adventures

Too much to recount, so many changes and adjustments, lots of thoughts, ideas, and emotions.

This summer found us pondering the possibility of spending half the year in Colorado so we could all
be closer to AJ's Denver office.  The prospect offered more face-to-face interaction at work and less
travel, as well as the hope of music and swimming lessons for the children amongst other things.

The first three weeks of December finds us actually settling in to a spacious home here in Colorado.
With little more than clothes, school books and a Christmas Tree, we've been eeking
away at making this place comfortable to live in.  Lots of fun, but very surreal and hard
to wrap my mind around still. Mind boggling for each of us I think.

We did not intend to "escape" a North Idaho winter, and miss the marvelous Marvel Hill
our heartstrings are tied securely to.  However we decided to embrace this opportunity
not as a detour, but an adventure!  In relinquishing  6 months of Idaho, we decided to let go
of the cold ones and try to be home again for the Summer and Fall when berries and hunting
abound, and outdoor living is an all-consuming passion.

It's hard to give up the known comfortable for the unknown - no matter how good it appears.

As much as my heart longs for the family homestead; a nest that is never uprooted, I realize that
my desire is a probably a misplaced longing for my real home with Jesus in a perfect Heaven.
Because of that, I want to embrace letting go.
Anywhere I travel in the earth, I can take everything that matters:
my relationships, a heart of worship, zeal for living.  In this case I have my little family gathered
within reach, and the Holy Spirit is with me whatever my geographical location.

So all is well.
Idaho life is still ours, and for now the package includes more... diversity. More interest.
More Complication.
Adventure.

I'm pretty sure it's as good as what we'll make of it!

To help you ease in to our new niche, I'll bombard you with some zillion or so pictures.
I hope you'll keep with us for the ride, and good luck with your own adjustments!

Our Arrival. Colorado - December 1, 2012
No furniture. Not a bit - excluding the 9 mattresses we had pre-ordered
and brought sheets and pillows for.  Breakfast on the kitchen floor.
Who looks concerned to you?

First order of business was to set up shop so my men would have a place to build furniture.
One of the hoped-for perks of living where there is lighted indoor space on a concrete floor with power.

Besides bedding, bath towels, dishes, and food in the pantry, a couple mugs and a french press
were also high on the list.

Power and coffee - work can now commence :-)

So glad we packed the dress-ups and a few things to draw with!

This dress was a surprise I packed at the bottom of the dress-up bin.
Olivia discovered it, and I have to say it's a bit shocking to view this possible shadow of my girl in the future!

We have a 7 acre lot at the end of the development, which spreads into s bit
of untamed land.
The boys were quick to do some exploring which provided satisfactory results.

Elk sheds - 3 lefts. I wonder where the place for shedding the right antler is?
They're ready to go again :-)

The girls got out too.

Our first piece of furniture gets assembled in a trial run.

It will have to be disassembled at some point to finish up a few things, but...
It works.

And Mom is very happy!

Cool design, building a bench into one side.  That man O'mine is brilliant!
Am I the only one who's children perch on (then fall off of) chairs?  No more.
At least... now there's no excuse for the seat getting away. Ha!

There really was no furniture.  We did bring Christmas with us though, and I was thrilled to put
our California tree immediately.  Lots of floor to spread out on in this house.  That's been nice.

Then... we went shopping.
And there were delivered some things to sit on!

And by bits we begin to get comfortable.  Cozy even.
And we find ways to make this place ours. Messes really break things in, don't you think?

Being Christmas season, move-in season, and also battling sickness through these almost three
weeks, we've not yet found our momentum.  Sometimes my I feel I've completely lost my
bearings, but we're finding our groove.  I'm kind of looking forward to the turning of the new year
just to get back into school.  To figure out chores. Meals.  Bedtimes.

In case you were wondering, I did have the pleasure of choosing colors for the walls.  The kitchen
cabinets too.  They were black and now they are a light, bright white that makes my heart happy!

I must confide, I love playing house! I'll certainly make the most of this unusual life.
Thank you so much for the visit.  Thanks for enjoying my gypsy-life with me.

It is a wonder!

Thanking Him for Family in Lands-Afar

We drove to California through Thanksgiving to see and enjoy
our precious family gathered together there.
First stop was Grama and Grampa's home in the country.  It is a bit surreal to see my
brothers and sisters grown into such neat men and women, and now the addition of
spouses and children make a mesmerizing dynamic.  If I didn't have so much to talk
about with them all, I'd be happy to sit and a corner and do nothing but watch.
Pure entertainment!
Both my grandmothers came out so we could give and collect hugs in person.

There was a day spent with Gramsie and Pops which included an afternoon date
for my man and me alone on the town.

And after the short Chico diversion, we hoofed it to Santa Cruz to see AJ's
Grandparents.  An abundance of memories in Lemonade, Raspberry jam,
flowers that bloom year-round, Pool gaming in the basement, and cards and
dominoes late into the night.

 

Last was a too-short visit with my sister Molly and her Nick.  Uncle Nick even ferried
our Christmas tree from the Costco parking lot for us! Why did we get a Christmas tree from
a store in California, you ask? 
That for a later post.

Oh those babies of Molly's!
Kiss kiss KISSES for those round cherubic cheeks!

It was a whirlwind that we're still trying to recover from, but worth the new set of
memories acquired.  Not nearly enough pictures, but we lived fully in the fun.
We love you family o' ours!