8 Dec vs 24 Mar

On Dec 8 they started to pack us out from our home in Norway. Today they moved us into our home in Texas. That is a very long block of time. But we have made it. See if you can tell which pictures are from the pack out and which ones are from the pack in.

Notice the green room in the very corner of this picture. That is Alex's room and she loves it.

Doesn't it all look the same to you!! The dead give away was the green grass, and flowers!!

Tomorrow...

The sun will come out tomorrow bet your bottom dollar that tomorrow the family will be so excited to be able to FINALLY start to move in!!! Tomorrow we do our walk through, have carpets cleaned, appliances delivery, rent house moved out of. Tuesday morning the moving van arrives with everything (or at least we hope everything. It all got transferred from our container into storage and sometimes things get eternally lost in storage, but we are hopeful.) Then Wednesday they come back and help us unwrap and unbox everything.

The cowboy in our family has already decided tonight is his last night in the yuky rent home. He is rolling out his bedroll tomorrow night in the new house. Of course he will have to use his cot because he wouldn't be able to sleep on the floor with his injury. (He is still very sore sometimes and he doesn't have a lot of stamina yet) The rest of us hope to be able to sleep there on Tuesday but definately by Wednesday.

I think our daughter put it perfectly a couple of nights ago she said she was so excited to move in I asked her specifically why. She said she will just be excited for the feeling that comes with being in our own home and being settled. From the mouth of babes!!

This has really be a very stressful, difficult time. I think this has been our hardest move. We have had to adjust to a new country, a new culture, the shock of not being pampered expats anymore, the acutal cost of living back in the states, the major decisions of house buying, car buying, appliance buying, taking care of a son with a serious injury, new schools and everything else.

BUT!!!!
I do have to say that there have been so many blessings. Renewed friendships, the gospel heard in English, our son living with us and renewing our relationship with him, the sunshine, a stronger developed family unity, a brother sister strengthen relationship, a daughter who made the honor roll even with everything crazy around her and soon a home of our own. The blessings are so numerous it is almost impossible to count them all. Today in church I gave a lesson on adversity. As I was preparing the lesson the message that kept being said was that by going through adversity that we become closer to being the person that God needs us to be. That we should be grateful for our adversities.
I just want you to know that I am very very grateful for this block of time in my life and all that it is bringing to me and my little family.

A Fun day or two or three

a few days ago I came across a blogsite through pioneer women's blog. Here is the blogsite http://bakerella.blogspot.com
She made some really cute cupcake pops. So Alex and I decided to give it a go. It was a lot of fun!! Go to her blog spot for the complete recipe, but here are the cute pictures from Alex hard at work!! You start out with a red velvet cake. Some of our pictures are out of sequence!!

She is crumbling the cake and mixing it with frosting.

Now she is shaping it with a cookie cutter after the cake mixture has been in the freezer.

She has already dipped the bottoms and now she is dipping the tops.

This is the top candy mix being melted in a makeshift double boiler.

Cake pops in the freezer helping the chocolate bottoms to set up.

Yummy licking the the chocolate from the fingers.

Putting the sticks into the cake.

The finished product. See I told you these pictures were out of order!! Sorry!!!

After having dipped the tops of the cakes this is the sprinkle stage.

Now the M&M stage. The final finishing touch.

Sticking it in styrofoam to set up.

It has been so fun watching her make them. They really are quick and easy. You just have to have a couple of days for the cooling time or else a freezer that is bigger than a rental home small side by side freezer!! The best part was watching her brother eat these goodies. I lost track of how many he really did eat!!

Here is the site that will take you straight to her cupcake pop page!!
Have fun and enjoy!!
http://bakerella.blogspot.com/2008/04/make-your-cupcakes-pop.html

Today is a very special day...

BECAUSE TODAY IS MY AUNTIE'S BIRTHDAY
Today I want to dedicate my blog to a very special woman. She is my Aunt Adell. It is her birthday today. So HAPPY BIRTHDAY AUNTIE!!

Words that describe her... loving, kind, full of life, good listener, ever helpful, always there when you need her, sees the positiveness of life always, doesn't sweat the small stuff, funny laugh, big heart, gives really sound good advise, fun to be around. These are just a few words that describe her but for me the words that describe her the best are ... she always makes me feel like I am her daughter, and I know how deeply she loves and cares for me. When ever I think of her love for me tears immediately come to my eyes and my heart swells with such love for her.

She and my Uncle have come and spent time with us over the years and it is such a great time to be with them. They are adventuresome and will go anywhere and try anything. They pitch in and love to be a part of your lives and help you in any way they can. They are always there for us through thick and thin. They are always the calming voice and the anchor in the storm of life and the adventures that it brings.

I am grateful to be considered one of her own. She was my Mom's very best friend and now it is such an honor to call her my best friend. I think the thing that stands out in my mind the most about my Aunt is that she is constantly rendering service to everyone rather through a loving email, card, pep talk, prayers, providing a shoulder to cry on, doing dinner for a small group or a big crowd, noticing who needs just a little extra love, a hug, or a smile she is ever mindful and so willing to give.
Everyone who associates with her is blessed by that association. You always walk away a better person just having been with her.
I LOVE YOU AUNTIE AND HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

Long gone...

are the days of simple appliances. What has ever happened to the washer that had three cycles. Whites, colors, and delicates. Or the dryer that had light load, medium load, and heavy load. Now the washers have so many different cycles you could use a different one each day of the week and still not use them all. Now you can put your clothes in the dryer that you only wore for a few hours during the day and the dryer will steam and refresh them. The TV used to be turn it on and either put up rabbit ears or home that the antenna would pick up what channels it could. Now you can't get one like that unless if you go to a pawn shop. Everything is HD (high density)
So thinking that we would pop to a couple of stores and just buy our appliances became a NIGHTMARE and a JUNGLE.

We have always bought top of the line appliances and have never regretted it. But now top of the line doesn't necessarily mean that they are the best thing the company makes. Now top of the line means how many bells and whistles does it have.

So we fought through the appliance jungle of trying to figure out which was the best and which would last the longest. We consulted consumer report but quickly realized that the ones they recommended were last year models and that some of the appliances were already not available.

I did alot of leg work and went to several (as many as this town has (3) different places. Each place was supposed to give me their best prices. They promised me that they had and guess what I came home and looked on the internet and their prices on the internet store was cheaper than what they offered me in the store. The second thing that happened was the bottom dollar price that they offered me last week and they couldn't come any lower on was now $20.00 more for washer and dryer than this week's sale
price. It has been crazy!!!

BUT we persisted and succeeded and even felt good about it all!!

One last thing we had a frig picked out and was almost ready to buy it, but decided at the last minute to measure the hole that it was to go in. YUP you guess it. The frig was toooooooooo big. Well only a 1/4 inch but hey when you are putting something into a hole it had better fit and not be too big.
So we started to look around for the right size and we only found 2 out there that would fit into our hole. Let's hope it lasts for a long time if not the next time we have to buy a frig (if we are still living in this house, town, and country (now what are the chances of that) ) then this size will probably be extinct too!!

So we brought home one thing (they told us to bring it home because they are so popular that we wouldn't be able to probably get it when we wanted it. We actually got the last one on the shelf. It is the Wii that is pictures above. We laughed as we walked out of the store having spent all that money that all we had was one box. BUT the rest will be delivered on the Monday before we move in.

My Boy...

Is back in the saddle!!! We had to move White Guy today so Matt decided to ride him the half mile from one horse place to the other. He said it felt good!! It is hard to believe that just two months ago he couldn't even walk. We are so blessed

Only 12 days and we get the keys to the house. Only 13 more days and the moving company will bring all of out stuff!!

I will give you the appliance report tomorrow.

Any Suggestions...

Today I hit some Estate Sales. That is where a family is selling everything. You can find some good stuff but also a lot of junk. Today I found these 3 chairs. They are a solid maple and in pretty darn good shape. But the question is do I just polish them up a little and try to get rid of some of the scratches, do I totally strip and refinish them or do I paint them a totally different color. Like maybe Red or Black?

These are the few scratches on the lower chair.

On the bar stool chairs you can see that the arms are worn a bit, but other than that there isn't really much wear and tear!!

So you redoers out there (especially Julie and Rebekka) what should I do with theses chairs. Oil them up, strip them, or repaint them another color?

What I miss...

Steve and I have gotten in the routine of taking a walk every evening. This is something that we loved to do in Norway. The first evening we ventured out and there was a street light right at the end of our sidewalk. But then as we looked down the street it was another block before there was another light. Never the less we started out on our walk in the dark. We quickly decided that we definitely were not in Norway. There was no street lights and few sidewalks. But we solved the problem. We carried a flashlight the next evening. Today I decided to walk on my own earlier (about 4:30pm) boy was it hot!!! Rooster and I both came home after 45 minutes of walking we both came home and gulped the water.
SO what have I learned...
1. If walking at night carry a flashlight (but it is nice and cool)
2. Don't walk before 4:30 pm (or if you do wear some shorts)
3. Take a water bottle with you.
WHAT I MISS...
1. The cool weather of Norway
2. The lighted sidewalks
3. The island by our home where Rooster could just run wild as I hiked up and down the little hills.
BUT WHAT I AM GRATEFUL FOR...
The health to just get out and be able to walk for 30-45 minutes each day.
AND THE SUNSHINE no matter what day of the week it is, or no matter the time of day!!!!!

Hard at work...

After going up to the vet, it was determined that White Guy's wedge shoes needed to be pulled off. It was also recommended that regular shoes be put back on. So the son got after it. It was hard work for him, but it was also rewarding watching him be so determined to get it done.
This is shaping a horse shoe(you can't see the shoe because it is on the side.)

Now checking to see if the shoe will fit. The hoof has already been trimmed.

In goes the first nail.

2nd and third nail. Boy this is hard work getting the pictures!! I am just sweating up a storm, oh wait that is the son's sweat I see dripping.

Once the nails are hammered in, twisted off then the wedge is used to get them completely through the hoof.

Now princess does this slipper fit your foot?!?

Now clamping down the nails.

Hammering them just a little bit more.

Now rasping the nails.

Rasping the hoof to get rid of the excess hoof overhang.

White Guy says" Aren't my shoes just lovely, they are the latest style."

One shoe off one shoe on diddle diddle dumpling my white horse. Or something like that. The hardest part is starting on shoe number two because you are already tired, the horse is tired, and it was getting really hot in the barn.