WE MADE IT!

We made it to our new home.....Peoria, Illinois! We arrived late Sunday night -- tired, but excited! The truck with all of our stuff showed up at our new house Monday morning around 7:30am. Everything was off the truck and in to the house by that evening. Unfortunately the unpacking isn't going quite as quickly!

Maleah and Cameron both did good on the airplane. Maleah was extremely tired, but waited until about 1/2 hour before we landed to fall asleep......and then was very cranky! Once she got some food and had some time to run around in the Denver airport she was happy again and had fun on the next flight.

All of the "good-bye's" were really hard. We said good-bye to Mike, Megan and Alex at Stacy & Mike's house and then Stacy drove the kids and I out to the airport. Dad and Bonnie met us out there to help out. My good friend Lora, who works at the airport, was able to get Stacy, Dad and Bonnie passes out to the gate with us. It was nice to have their help and to just have them there!

OUR LAST FEW DAYS IN WASHINGTON

Cameron, Maleah and I spent a few extra days in Washington after Jeff & Rena and the packers headed to Illinois. I was thankful to be able to spend some more time with my family and friends before we made the big move!

Megan and Maleah were best buds hanging out together!

Both Megan and Stacy got their hair fixed by Maleah while she was playing beauty salon. They were good sports putting up with the brushing until Maleah would finally decide that "it looked beautiful"........then it was on to the next person!

Even Mike got some quality time with Maleah!

Cameron and Alex spent the weekend playing Star Wars. It was either Star Wars Lego's, light saber or.....

.....Star Wars Lego's on the X-Box!

On Saturday my long-time friends, The Ayers, came to visit. The kids played outside in the dirt pile giving us adults some time to chat......

Mike, Stacy, Craig and Lisa.

Me and Lisa!

On Wednesday night (our first night without a home) Cameron, Maleah and I stayed with our friends Leif, Jill, Campbelle and Christian. We've had many great play dates with them and this one was the same..........except the good-bye was a lot harder!!

CAMERON'S LAST DAYS OF PRESCHOOL

Cameron spent the last 3 years at Our Savior Lutheran Preschool and is now ready to move on to Kindergarten! He got a very special book and certificate from his teacher's on the last day of class.

Cameron with his teachers Miss Chris and Miss Connie.

On the very last day of school the class took a field trip to the Issaquah Salmon Hatchery (F.I.S.H.). It was a fun end to a fun school year!

Cameron and his friend Toby.

Even Maleah got to participate......

Good coloring, Maleah!

THE PACKERS ARE GONE

I really can't believe it, but everything that we own......including both of our cars.....fit into the truck. Everything went smoothly and the packers even finished a day early. The truck drove away from our house (our old house) yesterday afternoon at about 4pm.


The truck should arrive at our new house sometime on Monday.....a day early also!

MORE GOODBYE'S

It's been an exciting, but very emotional week.....

Jeff & Rena flew out of Seatac at 6:05am Wednesday morning. We got Rena up at 4am, put her shoes and coat on her and carried her out to the Taxi.....and she never woke up. She did great on the airplane and is having a great time with daddy at the hotel in Peoria.

Tuesdsay was a day full of goodbyes.......

Rena and her good friend (and neighbor and classmate) Allison.

Rena's goodbye sign at the preschool.

My friend Sherri (Allison's mom) and I.

The McCullough's came over Monday night to say goodbye to Jeff and Rena. We ended up out to dinner with the four of them and dad and Bonnie -- it was a fun last family get-together.

Monday afternoon we met up with The Brenne's, The Hardwick's and The Slater's (they left before the picture) for a last lunch at McDonald's.

Cameron & his friend Max. They went to preschool together last year and have stayed friends this year with us meeting at parks, out for lunches and a little bit of playing together while we pick-up their sisters from preschool. They got to see each other (with their new cars) on Tuesday when we picked Rena up from school.

Last Sunday we met up with Isabella (and her mom) at a park while Max and Cameron were at another friends birthday party.

THE PACKERS ARE HERE

The packers arrived this morning right on time and are already hard at work packing our things. The kids thought the big truck was pretty cool -- Cameron thinks we should get one of our own!

THE PACKERS ARE COMING

Tomorrow is a big day for us -- the packers arrive! They will spend the next 5 days packing up our house and loading everything onto the truck. With "the end" coming near we've been spending A LOT of our time with our family and friends.

In addition to the wonderful party that Stacy and Mike threw for us, we've had many occasions in the past couple of weeks to "hang-out" with friends and family. Just last night Jeff's dad and Gail came to visit for a night. The kids love it when Grandma and Grandpa Keyes come for a visit. They look forward to lots of games & puzzles with Grandma and lots of wrestling/jumping on Grandpa.....

We've also spent some time with my dad (who just arrived into town 3 days ago) and Bonnie.....

My good friend Laurel made a trip down from Vancouver, BC last week to see us. Unfortunately she only got to bring one (Adam) of her two boys with her, but we were glad that they were here for one last visit before we leave.....

AND, we got to spend a great evening with ours friends The Brenne's, The Slater's and The Hardwick's last weekend. It was a fun evening for all of us......

CAMERON'S SPECIAL DAY AT SCHOOL

Cameron got to celebrate his birthday at school today since it will be Summer break when he turns 6. We took a couple of his favorite foods for snack - pizza and cupcakes - and I spent the day with him in class. It was a fun celebration.....and now Cameron is ready to really turn 6!

SOLD

The house is SOLD! It has actually been sold for awhile, but it now feels official with a sign out front. We luckily only had the house on the market for 4 days before we had two offers. We accepted the second offer and are now getting things in order and ready to move. The packers will be here in just over 1 week -- they'll spend about 5 days packing and loading and then we will be headed to Peoria, Illinois!!

OUR GOING AWAY PARTY

Yesterday Stacy & Mike threw a going-away party for us. It was a fun day filled with lots of family & friends and lots of food. (Thank you Stacy & Mike for everything that you did -- you truly made it a great day for us!)




Thanks to everyone that "dropped-in" and everyone that had to make a bit of a drive to see us. We were so glad to get to see everyone before we make our big move. Don't be mistaken, though -- you're not completely rid of us -- we will be back visiting! :)