The Moving Chronicles

I am writing from a hotel room while the boys watch a show and Eli naps. Mike is already at the house (we dropped him off at 8:00) with the movers. So far our move has been good as far as moves go, I guess. We woke up yesterday after a long Sunday in which we went to church and then promptly broke the Sabbath so we could finish getting ready for the packers to come early the next day. Some time in the morning yesterday after the packers were doing their business, I found Isaac rocking in his room singing that he needed his blanket. He didn't know where it was. I thought, "How could I possibly have spaced that? How could I have let his blanket get misplaced?" Isaac NEEDS his blanket. I asked the packers if they had seen a blue blanket and they had not. I took Isaac in his room and told him to say a prayer that Heavenly Father would help him find his blanket. It was a sweet prayer and Isaac tried not to cry but asked Heavenly Father in his shaky voice to help him find his favorite blankie. In a few minutes it was found by one of the packers. There were a few other prayers answered yesterday as well during the day.

The day was busy and stressful and I'm sure the lack of sleep contributed to my emotional state but I found myself close to tears a few times. Then at 4:00 PM when the packers and movers left and we were finally driving to the hotel, I felt so sad. My kids were all crying in the van, tired, confused. I called my mom and cried for a minute. My mom understands what it means to move but I think moves for her were more stressful than this current move. My friend had called a minute before and asked when we wanted to come to dinner--we have been blessed with some fabulous meals from a few really good friends this past week. I told my mom, "We are going to dinner at a friend's house in an hour. I really love her." And then I cried some more. I really love this particular friend. I hope she knows that.

Tempers are elevated and tension is felt. There have been a few occasions where I had to bite my tongue before I said something rude to Mike. What would be the point? My only reason for saying something rude to him would just to be rude and for him to know that I'm frustrated. I am sure there have been more than a few occasions where Mike has wanted to say something rude to me. I feel very lucky to have Mike as my husband. He does not say things just for the sake of hurting me or just because he is upset. Even so, the tension is there and while the words aren't being said, we both feel it.

Isaac doesn't understand what is going on. We talk about Jake and how we are going to Ohio to live near Jake. Will said, "Can we come back to our house after we visit Jake?" He understands now that it is not just a visit. Isaac doesn't understand. He keeps asking if we can go home. Last night he cried and said he wanted his bed and didn't understand that his bed is disassembled and that he wouldn't have his bed back for almost a month.

Diamond is very confused right now. He acted like a dog on speed last night when we went to check on him after dinner. He acted like he hadn't just seen us a few hours earlier. But even Diamond seems to understand that things aren't quite normal.

When Eli wakes up we are going back to the house to clean. The house will most likely be mostly loaded if not completely loaded by then. It is strange and sad. We have loved our house.

Of course it will be a fun new adventure. We will make new friends, find a new house, get new callings, and be closer to family. But right now, we are feeling sad and lonely for our friends already and impatient for our familiar things to surround us again (and they aren't even all loaded yet!).

Well, the baby just woke up and so we need to go and clean. It is going to be in the 80's today so hopefully the boys will play in the backyard a lot while we clean. And then we have promised to take them swimming in the hotel pool. We really need to make this move exciting and fun for them and they are really excited about swimming. So, I'll write some more later and continue with The Moving Chronicles....