On the road again!

Boy, have we done a lot of traveling in the past year!  May 2014, Kate and I traveled with Kenneth is California.  September 2014, the kids and I took a quick trip to Aurora, Colorado to get my passport (yes!!  a 6 1/2 hour trip one way trip just to get my passport!)  Luckily, I have family in the area and was able to see and stay with them.  Then, in the end of September, I joined Kenneth in Germany and Austria.  What a wonderful trip that was!  Then, in December, we traveled to Utah to visit my mom and Kenneth's two siblings who live there.  And in March, we went out to Utah again for Kenneth's brother's wedding.  Whew!!!
We said goodbye to Kansas on a Friday afternoon (Our 11th anniversary!) and drove 3 hours to Kansas City, Missouri.  We checked into the hotel and then Kenneth went to the temple.

Kansas City, Missouri temple

On Kenneth's way out of the temple

The next morning, I went to the temple and then we took off for Cincinnati.

All four napping at once!  Nice break for mom and dad!

We stayed with Kenneth's cousin, Phil and his family.  It is always fun to see them.  The girls were so glad to be with their cousin, Tessa, that they were up before 6 am - after going to be at 10 pm!  They ate cereal together out on the back deck (with blankets wrapped around them because it was still chilly) and also painted their nails.  They had so much fun!

The girls all slept together- until we checked on them and moved Arianna onto another bed since she was falling off onto the floor!

Emma, Tessa, and Arianna

Kenneth and Phil

Sunday after sacrament meeting, we got back on the road.  On the way we stopped at Kirtland, Ohio.  We have really enjoyed stopping there the last couple of years as we made the trip to NY.  We couldn't pass it up this time since it will no longer be on our route.

In the visitors' center

Looking at the creek

It is so beautiful here!

The lumber mill

The Ashery (the only standing ashery in all of North America)

Arianna and Kate checking out the ovens

My little ladies going to check out another building

Grant looking at the map/model of the Kirtland area

Kate was glad to have some time out of the van on this 10-hour-long-car-trip day!

After that break we continued on to my brother's home outside of Syracuse, NY.  Memorial Day we went with them to their ward Memorial Day Picnic.  It just so happens that they live in the same ward we lived in when we lived there, so we got to see our old friends.  I am glad my brother got that day off so he could be with us.

Swinging at the picnic

Daddy and Kate

 The next day we went on an outing to Chittenango Falls State Park.  Jenni's kids had school off, but the rest of the cousins still had school this day.  We were glad to have Diane and Heather with us even though their kids couldn't be there, too.  I love that place!  We went last year also, but this year Kenneth and Grant were with us, too.

Kate was a Daddy's girl for most of this outing.  She wouldn't even let me push her on the swing- ONLY DADDY!

Grant and Isaac had fun digging in the dirt.

Chit-chatting while the kids played

The girls on the slide

Our little band of hikers

Gorgeous!  I love New York!

This little lady screamed most of the way down the gorge.  She did NOT want help, but it was not safe to let her do it all on her own.

Daddy with his Daddy's girl

Arianna loves the water

I think these two were happy to be together!

My handsome little guy

Adventurous Emma

Caleb

I really enjoyed being here as a family!

We had some raindrops on the way up, but it wasn't too bad.  

The Larchar bunch minus Lydia, who wasn't up for a picture.  Thanks for taking it, Heather!  (Diane had already gone home at this point) By the way, Grant is happy in this picture and acting goofy, not sad!

Kate liked going up the other side better; no one kept trying to hold her hand.  She is an independent little thing!

Climbing on the rocks

View from the top

Kenneth went to the farm after that outing and the kids and I went back to my brother's home and stayed until Thursday. I always have fun hanging out with my sister-in-law, Heather, and the kids had fun playing with their cousins.  They also have cats and a dog, which the kids love!

Nutella baby!  Heather, my sister-in-law made pancakes a couple of mornings which we all really enjoyed!

Playing at a park with the cousins

We said goodbye to them and spent half a day with Diane and her kids before driving the final stretch to the farm.

Painting nails again!  This time with Lily.

Hotel Living: A Blessing and a Curse

After our beds were packed up, we stayed in a hotel down in Wichita.  Wichita is a half an hour away, but because there are Marriott hotels there and not in our neck of the woods, we like to stay there to rack up the Marriott rewards points.  We feel very blessed that Kenneth's company gives us time in temporary housing for the move- also providing a stipend each day for food. 
Because of the timing of the sale of our house, we decided to use 2 weeks of our temporary housing in Kansas, rather than just drive directly to Georgia and stay in hotels here.  Every year at the end of May, we make the trek to New York to be on Kenneth's parents' farm for First Cutting (of the hay).  It is a 21 hour drive to the farm from Kansas, 14 hours from Kansas to Georgia and also 14 hours from Georgia to New York.  If we moved directly out to Georgia and then made the trip up to New York and back, it would have been 7 more hours of driving than if we just stuck around in Kansas.  Seven hours with 4 young children can seem like a really long time!
The hotel stays were definitely much easier this time around than when I had children so small I could never leave them alone.  I remember when we moved from New York to Maryland I had a 3 year old and a one year old and I could never leave them alone in the hotel room; not to switch the laundry, not to get some filtered water from the exercise room, not to get something quickly at the front desk.  It was very tricky, and not much fun all the time.  This time around, Emma was old enough and responsible enough (and I don't have an infant) for me to leave them alone in the room for a few minutes while I run those short errands.  So much nicer! 
Does eating out every night sound like fun to you?  Well, I must admit on the outset of this sort of adventure, getting to choose wherever you'd like to go out to eat each night is a lot of fun!  (Especially for people like us who very rarely go out to eat!)  But, as much fun as it is, the kids don't always act as you'd like them to act at restaurants when you are going out every night.  Not to mention, going out to eat can take up to 2 hours or longer.  So, as you can see, staying in hotels with a food stipend can be a blessing and a curse!  I also get pretty tired of the breakfast food in the hotels, although it's not too bad. 
Since we were still in session in our schooling during the 2 weeks in the hotel, and I also knew that I wouldn't be able to keep our full normal school schedule with our lives in such uproar, we took quite a number of field trips.  The girls were very good about getting right up in the morning and getting right to work on their spelling, math, writing and reading. Consequently, we had some time in the mornings to go on outings and still get Kate her afternoon nap.
The kids also watched a lot more TV than they usually do, simply because we were cooped up in a hotel and they couldn't go play outside in the backyard.  The kids also missed having the piano to play and the chickens to spend time with. 

Watching TV in the hotel

Here are some pictures of our various adventures during our time in the hotel:

Fun tire swings at a Wichita park.  This park also had a lake at which the kids had fun playing.

 These next few are at the Hutchinson Zoo:

The Dino Dig

The big kids got a little frustrated with Kate covering up what they had already uncovered!

They had lots of fun and uncovered a lot!



Kate chasing the geese and goslings

They followed them all the way to the pond.

Arianna touching the fish

 These next few are Riverside Park in downtown Wichita.  The playground was amazing and they even had a small area with native Kansas animals.  We had a lot of fun here!  I did feel the need to be extra vigilant in keeping track of each child because of some interesting characters I saw walking around the big park. 

Kate playing on the structure

They had so much fun on this structure!

By the pond at this park Emma found a tiny baby turtle-too bad it was dead.

These next few are from a Saturday outing to the Exploration Place in downtown Wichita:

It's always fun to have Dad with us!  In the background is the famous Wichita statue, the Keeper of the Plains

Playing at the water table with the Keeper of the Plains in the background

Daddy and Kate with the Keeper of the Plains

Building with blocks at the Exploration Place

Arianna and Emma trying their hand at the building

Grant in the airplane in the flight display

Kansas in Miniature Display

Riding the horses

Arianna and Kate in the tornado experience.  Kate couldn't handle it the first time she tried, but then ended up liking it!

Our last visit to the Ellsworths'.  Boy, we'll miss them!!!

The day after we were at the Ellsworths', they came down to eat with us at Chick-Fil-A.  We hung out there for over 3 hours!  It was hard to say goodbye. 

 Visit to the Great Plains Nature Center:

Hello wolf and bear!

Riding the turkey statues

On the nature walk.  The kids had so much fun looking at all the animals.  They saw geese, fish, turtles, a turkey and other birds.

 To curb the cabin fever, we searched out a great park.  It so happened that it was right near the Humane Society, so we also made a visit there.  The kids had so much fun seeing the animals.

Fun park!

Kansas Heritage mosaic wall right next to the playground.  It was very beautiful!

Someone was bringing kittens into donate to the Humane Society and the kids got to say hello before they went in. 

After a little over 2 weeks in the hotels, we took off for New York.  That post is next!

Packing up and Moving out

Boy, am I thankful I don't have to pack myself.  There is just no way!!  We have way too much stuff.  The movers told us we have over double the amount of boxes than the average family!  A lot of that is due to all our food storage, but a lot is also due to our incredible amount of stuff!  I get stressed out about it every time we move.  But, we always seem to settle it into our new home in such a way that at least other people don't notice how much junk we have even if I do!  I would seriously get rid of half of everything we own if it were up to me, but Kenneth likes to keep most everything and I really want to keep him around, so I don't push it too much (even though he may beg to differ!)
Anyway, the packers and loaders were very efficient  (a few of them had 30+ years of experience!).  Things moved along quite nicely and Kenneth was around more this time, which was nice.  In the past, it has just been me at home with the packers and movers.
Let me tell you, it was quite a job getting stuff for 6 people for almost 2 months set aside before the packers came.  I also was possibly unwise to hold Emma's Birthday party on the Saturday before the Monday the packers came.  It was just too much!  In fact, I told Kenneth that Saturday night that I didn't think I could keep on moving all the time like we do.  It's just too much for me!!!!  That Sunday in church we sang the hymn, "I'll go where you want me to go, Dear Lord".  The line, "Over mountain, or plain or sea"  I realized we've just about done that- we've been all over the place.  And each time we've moved, we've felt guided by the Lord.  I know we were supposed to be in each place in which we've lived- to meet the people we've met and experienced what we've experienced.  I felt while singing that song that if I am supposed to keep doing this, I will keep doing this.  I've always gotten through it in the past and I will continue to get through it- as hard as it is!

Here are some pictures of the 3-day process:



The packers are here!  Loads of boxes ready to be filled line the front porch.

Little Grant is climbing into the packers' truck.  (Daddy took this picture- I wouldn't have let him!)

Boys will be boys!

I didn't take too much time to rest, but I did need to put my feet up for a few minutes during the packing day.

It took a day and a half to pack all the stuff and then, on the third day, a new crew came with the actual truck that would hold our stuff and they disassembled tables and beds, wrapped couches, and started loading. 

Here's the moving truck out in front of our house.  It's a big one!

 

The first thing on the truck was the chicken coop!

Things are clearing out!  Couches all wrapped up and ready for the truck.

We ended up filling the entire thing!  

We had the biggest pile of garbage and recycling.  It was almost embarrassing.

Here is what the truck looked like with everything packed in and around the chicken coop.  They were master packers!  The coop is on the bottom with that cloth draped over it.  They packed all kinds of garage and yard stuff in the run part of the coop.

Kate was so tired this day, she laid right down on the movers' pile of packing blankets to rest.

Marissa, the girls' piano teacher and our former neighbor, came to visit during the load.  We will miss her!

We finally got her down for her nap in the only quiet out of the way place with no more boxes: our master closet.  She slept great!

Our empty dining room.  This is where all our stuff that was going with us in our van lived- and where the kids played during the loading day.  

That Thursday we came back to the house after sleeping in the hotel Wednesday night and did the thorough cleaning.  It was a little frustrating trying to clean with all the kids around making more messes, but it all worked out. 
Goodbye home!  We'll miss you!