Our new digs

First, reality. This is the boy's bedroom. The vacuum cleaner box (my Hoover is my new favorite friend! along with Mr. Washer and Mrs. Dryer) which has been appropriated by the preschooler set. And toys, of course. Luckily, they have a walk-in closet, on the door of which we put a child-proof handle so that we can keep the kids from playing the "dump-everything-on-the-floor" game.

Connected to the kitchen and the living room, this is our dining area. Which is carpeted (not my favorite). But it's cozy.

My kitchen! We're still negotiating what will sit where on the counter, and the reality is there's always something dirty, but I love it so far.

Our living room, which currently houses no furniture save our two IKEA chairs. And Josh of course wants to keep it that way. We have a fireplace, which I'm sure we'll never use, and a ceiling fan, which Josh pictures as being the height of luxury (I love that man!). There's also a pass-through window that's above the kitchen sink. Never mind the adorable kiddos and blanket fort, which was the only way we survived Wednesday.

A fabulous desk, which sits in our huge bedroom, that was given to us for free from a ward member.

And the largest closet I have ever seen. It has so many shelves, it's amazing.


Now we just need some friends to come visit! So if you're ever in the Raleigh area and would like to drop by, let me know!

Temples!

We had an amazing trip with Tom (Josh's oldest brother) and his wife Nikki. They live in Hawaii, just celebrated their first anniversary, and have recently announced a pregnancy! They gave Liesl (their youngest sister) a trip for her high school graduation present, and lovingly invited us along.

We drove to Niagara Falls, and then on to Palmyra. We went to church history sites and did a session in the temple while Liesl did baptisms.

We went on to Toronto and the boys were able to baptize Liesl while Nikki and I did initiatories.

Then, upon returning to Michigan, Tom, Nikki, Josh and I went with their brother Seth to the Michigan temple for a session.


On top of that, our second week of living here in North Carolina I went with several sisters in the ward to do a session in the Raleigh temple.

I am sincerely grateful for the blessings of temple worship, and the peace it brings to my life. Never do I feel closer to the Lord than when I am in His holy house, serving.

PICTURES!

You want to know what the kids like about car trips? Pit stops, when they're allowed to play in the front seat while mom and dad stretch their legs.



The first place we stopped on our first kids-free overnight trip. Niagara Falls! It was beautiful, and breathtaking, and a GREAT place for people watching. I even saw a man who was taking pictures of people asleep on the grass in the park.


The National Zoo, which is run by the Smithsonian. It was our first adventure in D.C., and thanks to Audri for coming with us! The reason we were in the area was to visit the Knudsen family, who are just like second parents to Josh. They refer to him as their son, and the kids call Johannes and Celeste Farfar and Farmor, which are Dutch for grandpa and grandma. Josh lived with them before his mission for quite a while, and I now feel that we have three sets of parents to love and help and pray for us. What a blessing!


I'd post a picture of the other place we hit in D.C., but funny enough, cameras aren't allowed. We had a tour of the Pentagon! Celeste works as a civilian for the Air Force, doing what I think is supremely cool stuff. We lucked out, and due to sheer luck were able to take a peek in the Pentagon press room, where they do official press briefings. We also were able to step into the office of the Secretary of the Air Force (holy cow! it was amazing!) who was out for the day and whose secretaries are very nice ladies.

Celeste told all kinds of cool stories and facts about the building (it has more Coke machines than the former two World Trade Center buildings and Empire State Building combined). Her good friend had a brand new luxury car that was impounded for months after the plane crash, because there were tire marks from the landing gear on the roof.

There are dozens of restaurants in the Pentagon, a florist, a dentist, a post office, a very large gym, and just about anything you'd need to run errands, so that employees don't have to leave the building during the day (you can even get manicures and pedicures. no joke.)

Chapel Hill

We had a MARVELOUS vacation. Now we're in Chapel Hill, trying to get settled and find our way around a new town. It's beautiful here, but HOT and our first evening I managed to get 8 or 9 mosquito bites on my legs. Need to start wearing bug spray.

Today we'll be collecting the last boxes that were sent on other families moving trucks, going to the DMV for new licenses, the library for new library cards, and hopefully a thrift store, grocery store, and dollar store. Whew! Busy day.