Almost Settled!

We are finally hooked up to the internet in our new home at 1408 W. Clark St. It was a busy week and a half - not to mention the busy 2 months before the move!

On Monday the 7th we loaded up a big truck (yes, Ryan did manage to fit all the furniture and boxes into the truck) and drove to Champaign. Laurie Olson and I brought Stephen and he did very well, needing to stop and eat only a few times and really being very good in his carseat.

We did a whirlwind job of unpacking the kitchen and bathroom and some of the other rooms as we had only a day before heading to Canada. Then we hopped in the car with Grandma Susan and drove to Port Huron, Michigan, for the first night. Stephen did well in the car that day, and it wasn't until the next day that he really started expressing his disappointment with spending so much time in his carseat!

We got to Grandview Island on Kahshe Lake at about 8 on Thursday evening. Grandma and Grandpa Leatherman (or shall I say, Great Grandpa and Great Grandma) were eagerly awaiting our arrival. Over the next few days, we enjoyed time on the lake and even some relaxing moments! Stephen was introduced with pride to Great Grandpa and Great Grandma's friends at their Sunday morning service.

Our ride back to Illinois was a bit more enjoyable for the baby since we decided to just stop more when he was upset, not wanting to traumatize him too much. Getting back into the U.S. only took 3 hours .

And another activity that took 3 hours was getting our drivers licenses here in town! Thank goodness that once we finally got to the front of the line, the workers were understanding of the crying baby and let Ryan and me alternate taking care of him while in the midst of taking the written test, vision test, and getting pictures taken. (Written test in Illinois is much easier than the test in Iowa!) We still haven't gotten the passport taken care of since our picture of Stephen was rejected. We took some more and hope they are acceptable!

Yesterday Grandma Susan left to go back up to Canada for a few days before returning to Des Moines! We miss having her around, but realize that we really do need to be able to manage life just the 3 of us ... speaking of help and other people around, Aunt Heidi has been here for the past few nights for dinner, and Aunt Emily will be joining us for the weekend. We are excited to get the rest of the unpacking done. As I type this, Ryan is taking empty boxes up to the attic.

Tomorrow, Ryan has his entrance exams so he has been studying. He's also been practicing some of the music he'll be working on this fall.

It hasn't sunk in to me yet that we've moved. We've met some of our neighbors and they seem very nice. I'm going to meet another mom tomorrow while Ryan is testing.