We're here

So we did make it to Grande Cache.  It was a wild last few days in Edmonton with people wanting to get together and Phil working out of town.  I was exhausted.  The only time I could pack was when the kids were sleeping as they need supervision and attention.  So, packing was slow going.  On Friday morning (the day before the move) we got up early, dropped off our car to get the brakes fixed, headed to the other end of town to pick up a rental truck and then the kids and I went to a different part of town to pick up some things at the local Christian bookstore.  Then we made it home.  By that time it was almost lunch.  I still had my kitchen to pack and all the last minute toys and clothes.  We fed the kids, and put them down for naps and frantically started loading the truck and packing the last minute things.  Thank goodness Cristine and Steve showed up at that time or I don't know what I would have done.  We had some more friends join in and the truck got loaded.  Boy did that take a long time and even after all our purging we still had a lot of items.  Around 7pm if seemed like 20 people all showed up at once - some to say farewell, others to help load the truck.  I was giving direction to this person and that person and trying to get everything organized and together.  I also had a 2 year old that needed a bath and an infant that seems to need constant nursing.  People slowly started leaving and by 11pm we were down to 5 extra people who also needed to go.  We said goodbye and Phil and I continued at it until 2am.  We were up in a few hours at around 6 to finish loading the truck and cleaning up behind us.

We were planning to leave Edmonton around 10 but didn't actually get going until 11.  We ended up stopping at one point for Phil to fix the mattress that was strapped to the roof of the van and it took us about 6 hours to get to our final destination.  That's a little longer than anticipated.  We also made a quick stop at the Walmart in Edson so that we could grab some straps to hold the mattress down better then the rope we used.  We were trying to get there quick as my brother was driving the truck and had to be back in Edmonton the next day for some work training.  As long as it took to load that truck it didn't take nearly the same amount of time to unload.  I was feeding and entertaining the kids while Phil, my brother and his girlfriend unloaded the truck, all in about an hour and a half.  We've been here over two weeks and most of the stuff is still in the garage in boxes!  We've basically unpacked our clothes and toys and the necessary kitchen items... other than that, everything is still in boxes!

The first full weekend we were here we got a nice snow storm - about 15 cm.  Good thing by Tuesday it was all gone.  I was just not ready for winter to be here so soon.  Fall is in full swing here as all the leaves are changing colours and everything looks so beautiful.

Life is different here for sure.  In a town of about 5,000 people we have one grocery store, a few little ma and pa eateries, a few churches and a little strip mall, there's not much going on.  There is a rec centre so I'm going to see if I can get Makayla signed up for swimming lessons.  That will give us something to do once a week.  I'm also hoping to get involved with the ladies Bible study group here as well there is a Mom and Tot program starting in Oct that I want to take the kids too.  It should be a lot of fun to start getting involved and meeting people.  We've gone to Grande Prairie twice now for shopping and the drive is a little longer than I would like (it's about 2 hours).

We went to Grande Prairie at the beginning of this week and a little over half way there Makayla got sick and threw up all over herself and the back seat of the car.  So we stopped and got her cleaned up, and headed on up toward GP.  About 10 - 15 minutes later she threw up again.  Now she was sitting in her dirty clothes and we had about 30 minutes or so to go till we got to our destination.  She fell asleep about 10 minutes later and Phil and I were left with the smell of vomit to carry us through!  When we got to GP we quickly made our way to Superstore where I ran in, grabbed her new pants, new shirt, socks and shoes.  We noticed a laundry mat across the street so headed over there to wash the car seat cover and her clothes.  We left the things in the machine, walked over to McDonald's where we ate lunch and Makayla had a chance to play in the play room.  We went back, grabbed the dried cover and then made our way to the mall so that Phil could get a new shirt as Makayla had gotten him down the back!  By this time in the day I was anticipating being on our way back home.  It was 3pm and we'd left that morning at 10!  After the mall we finally made it to Superstore to get our groceries.  We shopped till the kids were ready to drop.  Then we figured that we might as well get supper since no one was going to make it home.  We left GP at 6pm and arrived home at 8.  I put Makayla in the bath, cause she still kinda smelled and then put her to bed.  It was a long and tiring day, but everyone survived!

I have come to learn that things don't always go as planned, bring a change of clothes when going a little farther from home and just relax (don't be an uptight parent!).  I felt like Gilligan from Gilligan's Island.  We only went to GP for a few hours and it turned into a whole day!

So, we've had some adventures in the last few weeks.  I'm sure there is going to be so much more for us to experience over these next weeks, months and years!  I'm also sure there will be many more lessons to learn along the way!