We are home. The kids and grands are moved into their new home. We are all very TIRED!! We left home early monday morning and arrived in Houston at lunch time. The three girls were home, and the boys were with Mom and Dad in Dallas for the closing on the new house. We loaded the girls into the SUV and headed out for lunch and shopping at Target (the unanimous choice for a fun thing to do!).

The rest of the gang arrived home from Dallas at around seven o'clock. We ate some Popeye's fried chicken, crashed in front of the tv for a little while and then everyone headed off to bed.

The movers arrived bright and early tuesday morning to do the packing. I can't over-emphasize the blessing of having your company pay for your move and including the added luxury of packing. We all got to watch as two men packed an entire household of seven in eight hours. Exhausting! :-)

All that day we were waiting for tropical storm Edouard to hit with a vengeance, but he was kind and only brought rain. How thankful we were for that answered prayer.

Wednesday was moving day and closing on the house in Houston day. The movers began at eight and finally pulled out at five o'clock. We distributed the few things they didn't want packed in the moving van and the five children among the three cars (plus the boat our son was towing with the SUV) and the caravan headed to Dallas.

We arrived at the new house at ten o'clock, put the boat in the garage, toured the house and headed to the hotel. It was nearly one o'clock in the morning before we finally got to bed.

The next morning was moving in day. That went much more quickly, and by early afternoon the moving van was pulling away from the new house. The movers set up the beds and distributed everything into their proper rooms - but the unpacking was left to us.

My husband and I stayed one more day to help with some of that, and then we headed home. It was so hard to say good-by. I wish I could keep them all much closer than a five and a half hour ride away. However, I keep in mind that our family moved from NY to Texas, and my parents felt the same way.

In spite of all the work and time spent driving, we had some wonderful, funny, sad, and memorable moments. Watching my oldest granddaughter say good-by to her dearest friend was heart-breaking. Seeing her delight in the new house and her lovely new bedroom (with private bath) was good. Realizing in a fresh new way that it really doesn't matter all that much about the house - it is the warmth and love of their family that make it a home. I am so thankful for the blessing of our family. God has been so very gracious to us. We are indeed blessed beyond measure.

Our other son and daughter-in-law are closing on their new house in the next couple of weeks. I'll save that post for another day.




The new house.


The view from the backyard.



This pretty well sums it up.


Blessings,