November 3, 2014

Idaho

Wow!  I can't believe it's been six weeks since we arrived in Idaho!  I've been wanting to update but our computer is in our bedroom, and there is usually one or two kids asleep at all times!  I decided to power through it, and as I type Asher is asleep in the Pack N Play and Cambria is watching Jake and the Neverland Pirates on the iPad behind me on the bed.

So far....Idaho is exactly as I thought it would be.  Beautiful, great weather, many things to do...but lacking my favorite people to do them with.  The struggle is between enjoying where I live but missing the very people who make where I live a place called home.  

To summarize the first six weeks, just so I can remember:

The night before we left California, our friends and family came to help us move.  Our house was filled with loud, screaming children having the time of their lives and making lasting memories, and adults who were holding back tears (some not so efficiently) as we saw them making memories for the last time in a long time.  These friends....gah.  Not only did they stuff our car and our Uhaul so full, making sure every last picture frame and bowl and jar of sauerkraut fit, but they came over the following day and cleaned everything while we were on the road, and have even cut our grass while our house is in escrow.  I know all too well that friends like these are to be cherished and held tightly in our hearts, no matter where we are.

This was our going-away/early birthday party for our boys.

Look at all these kids.  What a difference five years makes!

Grandpa was holding them tight.

My mom made the long trip with us with 3 kids, 3 adults, 2 cats, and 2 dogs.  (Our third cat was killed by a coyote shortly before moving day and found by our poor sweet neighbor who cleaned it all up so we wouldn't have to see her like that).  The trip took a very long time with all the kids, animals, and the Uhaul, but it was thankfully uneventful.

Pit stop!  (And we did NOT eat at that McDonald's!)

Birthday boy showing off his belly.


We arrived in Idaho on Asher's first birthday. Mike's sister, Auntie Mary, had balloons and cupcakes for a small party.  Mike's sister and her family have graciously allowed my large family to stay with them as we get settled and figure out where we will live.  Our living situation is working out so well.  It's making me rethink the need for a large house...just kidding!

We are staying in a 12x11 room with Mike and I on the full bed, Pax and Bri on the floor with blankets, and Asher in the Pack N Play.  We have a cubby bookshelf doubling as a dresser and a small tv stand doubling as computer desk. This room is directly off the laundry room, which they have allowed us to use too!  We have another bookshelf out there for bathroom stuff and school books, and a rod to hang clothes across one wall.  They even gave us one whole cupboard in the kitchen!  It has been an organizational challenge, and I have to daily put everything away and re-organize so our small areas stay livable.  But, it's been totally doable!  I just can't express my gratefulness enough.  I know that taking on a family of five with three small, loud children is a grand task and to be gracious throughout is truly divine.

This barn is my favorite.  Be prepared for it to be in all my pictures.


The first week after we arrived my mom was here, so we didn't get much organizing done, but rather drove around and explored a few tourist places.  I dare say my mom wasn't too impressed with our town, as she is not much for farming.  I think her favorite areas were in the city and along the Boise River, where the hustle and bustle is similar to So Cal. It is nice knowing those places are only a short drive away.

It was sad when my mom left.  Not knowing for sure when I would see her or anyone else was daunting.  I held it together when she left but woke up sad and overwhelmed the following day.



Since that time, I have had many such times.  Times when the pain of not having my family and friends close by is overwhelming and I can't hold back the tears.  I am SO grateful for the family here taking us in as their own.  It gives me hope that the pain won't always be so deep.

Busy day here.  Tutus are always appropriate, especially with Brother's Fireman rainboots.

A few weeks after we arrived there was a small party with some of my brother-in-law's family so we could spend some time with them.  They are the nicest, sweetest people.  But me?  I sent this text to my BFF:
                     "Jeremy's family is here and they are all so sweet and nice.
                      Everyone is having a great time and I'm sitting in the laundry
                      room in the dark crying and texting you."

It was so bittersweet, seeing these new awesome people that are in our lives, but knowing the old awesome people were not there.  It's so daunting, the thought of starting over.  Getting friendships to the point where you can be real, where you know what the other is thinking, where you have inside jokes....that takes time and effort.  Coming to a new place, it can seem like forever before that's a possibility, especially when the friendships here are already established.

I feel like I'm learning a hard lesson about the value of relationships.  You can live in the most beautiful place that is everything you want it to be, but life is best enjoyed within the context of community.  



The reason this guy is in fewer pictures is because he's usually on the photographer's back.

I look back to a time about 10 years ago when I had no community and no deep friendships, and it didn't bother me.  I have learned so much since then about living life with others and what joy it can bring.  It's scary, because it can also bring heartache and pain.  But the joy?  Oh, it's worth the risk.


It's easy to cling to what we know and not allow change to happen to us.  Change can also bring heartache and pain.  Trust me, I know.  But it's possible, even probable, that it could be the very best thing.  As I wrote about before, Jesus makes me brave.  And if He's the One initiating the change, we can trust the joy will come after the mourning.

1 comment:

  1. Missing You! Loving You! So happy/sad to see how big those kiddos have gotten even in just a few weeks. xoxo

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