A much needed update

Our whole world has changed since our last post.  Life has run away with us.  My head starts to spin just thinking about what has happened in the last three months.  Here is a list of just a few things:

-Around the first week of November we received orders to Fort Leavenworth, KS with a fly out date of 4 December.  As soon as we got orders, we were able to schedule our household goods to be packed and shipped off.

-Nov. 14th and 15th our movers were packing most of our things.  We have pretty much been living out of suitcases ever since.

-Nov. 21 we shipped one car off

-We hosted Thanksgiving at our house (even though we had temporary government furniture and not many dishes) with three other families.

-Hans and I got the flu on Thanksgiving night and ended up getting everyone who came to our house sick too.  No, it was not food poisoning. :)  It was such a bad night that it is worth mentioning.

-The last week of Nov was a blur.  We were cleaning the apartment and our other vehicle.  In order to ship your car, it has to be completely spotless in order for it to pass customs.  When I say spotless, it has to pretty much look brand new right off the lot. 

Nov. 30th we shipped off our second car and had our final out appointment from our apartment.  Thankfully we passed both inspections.  Then, off to the hotel we went.

That last weekend of Nov./first of Dec. was very sad because we had to say goodbye to some amazing people.  We were so grateful for the help we received from people watching our kids so we could clean, to giving us a ride where we needed to be. 

Dec. 4th we flew to Baltimore and rented a car to drive up to Hans' parents house in Philadelphia.  We spent a few days with them and were able o have an early Christmas with them.

Dec. 9th we drove back down to Baltimore to catch a flight to Kansas.  We stayed at one of my best friends houses who also lives in KC area.  She was kind enough to offer her home to us. 

Dec. 10th we went house hunting while my friend watched the kids.  We found a house on the first day and put an offer down the next.  It was accepted and we started the process of getting an inspector out and such.

Dec. 11-12th we got cell phones since our German ones didn't work in the states.  We ran errands and spent time with our friends.

Dec. 13th we drove (with our rental car from KS) to Colorado Springs to stay with my sister for a few days.

Dec. 15th we headed out to Utah for the Christmas season. 

Between the 15th to the 1st of Jan., we were in Utah visiting family and friends and had a great time.  However, there was some stress involved.  The kids were sick and things weren't going well with the inspection of the house we wanted to buy.  We ended up paying for specialist to come out and inspect the EIFS on the outside of the house.  After much thought and prayer, we decided to back out of the deal.  However, this all took quite awhile to get all the inspections and things done.  So by they time we found out all this, it was already Jan. 4th.

Jan. 1st we drove back to Colorado Springs to spend more time with my sister's family. 

Jan. 6th, we finally arrived back in Kansas City.

Jan. 7th, we went house hunting all day with the kids and our realtor.  We saw five homes and we loved two of them.  We narrowed them down and have decided to put an offer on one in the morning.  This house had a cute little dog and my kids keep saying the want the house with the dog.  I think they think he comes with the house. :)  We keep telling them if we get the house, the dog won't be there.  Hopefully they will understand. :)  Another interesting little fact is that this house is right next door to the one we backed out of.  Kind of funny huh?  Let's hope the neighbors don't discover who we are and if they do, let's hope they find a buyer for their home soon. :)

So, what does this mean you ask?  We will be living in a small hotel room for at least another month until we can close on this home.  Please pray for my sanity and my kids lives...

here are a few pics of our trip taken from our Surface tablet.  the kids slept some of the way making it more enjoyable. 

we visited Boulder and Denver - sitting on a swinging bench on Arapahoe avenue outside the naropa university campus. 

A melting creek running down the mountain in Boulder.

I'm looking at it this way...it gives us more time together as a family.  We have missed having daddy around after his last job was so busy, so this is a good chance to spend more time with him.  We are very excited to be in Kansas City.  It looks like a great city with lots to offer.  New experiences are always good.  I will miss Germany so much and the wonderful friends we made there, but they will always be my friends, no matter where I go.  And, we will get to make new ones here.  So, here's to an exciting and new year!!!  Wish us luck!