Time for a Break

We worked really hard this week to get the house ready enough for our stuff to arrive in the shipping container. We finished painting the south side of the house. The north side will need to wait for a different time. We also got the carpets shampooed and the bathrooms and kitchens cleaned. The windows are open, so everything should dry nicely while we are away. 

Naomi and I are both wiped out, so a few days by the lake at Aunt Jenny's house should be just perfect. Luckily my teaching classes were canceled as well, so it really feels like a vacation. Stopped by the woodworking store in Appleton on the way down. Nice to see it in person. The guys who work there are great! They had a sale, so I picked up a few things. 

Yesterday was my grandma's 87th birthday. Most of the family was able to gather and celebrate. It was a lot of fun! Special that we can finally come to such events. Great to see everyone again! 

The girls finished up their rooms with Grandma and Grandpa's help!

Aunt Jenny found a monarch butterfly caterpillar that should emerge today.

Big apple tree fell down in my parent's orchard. The deer and turkeys had a field day.

They had fun while Naomi and I were hard at work! Glad we were able to get so much done without the twins.

Painting with Auntie Claire

We had a great time with Auntie Claire this week. She camped out with Amelie in the blackberry patch, and then with Abigail in our new backyard in Marquette. She helped the girls with the paint designs for their rooms, and did some painting with them. No surprise, the designs and colors are very different!

Naomi and I made some progress with painting the ceilings and our livingroom. Our goal is to get the south side of the house done and the carpets cleaned this week. We also were looking into where to get a Volvo serviced, and the garage we talked to said they could do most stuff, but not everything. On our way out, I saw a lady leaving who had the exact same vehicle we are looking for. She said finding someone to fix it can be tricky, but she thinks its worth the hassle to have such a great car. What are the chances??

We also made some progress with our drivers licenses. Passed the written test and got temporary permits. Now we need to schedule the road test. Naomi opened up a bank account as well. Good to make some progress with this stuff. 

Yesterday we said goodbye to Auntie Claire. Her flight was delayed, so we spent some extra time at the airport before visiting the ski jump and a nice river. Then we went to the Home Depot (sure wish MQT had one) and I picked out a couple tools. Got a great deal on a drill and an impact driver. Decided to go with Makita. 

Giant puffball mushroom we found near the end of our new driveway.

Goodbye!

Last hairdo from Auntie Claire.

Piers Gorge on the Menominee River.

The big ski jump in Iron Mountain.

Last dinner with Auntie Claire.

Had a nice lunch by the lake before starting on the painting.

Fresh off the Boat

Hard to believe that a week ago we were still in Europe! So much has happened since then. We were able to close on our new house early as our money showed up sooner than expected. That is such a big relief! The tight time schedule is now off, and we can just tackle one thing at a time. Overwhelmed with how many things there are, but we have time, so it will be managable.

Claire and Matt were here along with my parents to meet us at the airport. Both our flights were delayed, so it was a 24 hour day, but everything made it through. So happy we didn't have to deal with any lost luggage. We picked up a cold, so its been annoying trying to shake that while getting everything done. 

Found a better deal than expected in regards to internet and new phones, so we will try to get that set up in the next week or two. The seller of our house left some things behind, and we will take some of Claire's old stuff, so after we clean things out and put in a new living room floor, we should be able to settle into our new place. Also spent 11k on the new woodshop. Unfortunate timing as we were so busy with other things, but they were on sale, so we made it work. Getting the credit card up to speed was a bit of a challenge, and it will take two trips with the truck, but in a few weeks everything should be all set.

Final Goodbyes

Once again, quite the week. Monday and Tuesday the movers finished their work. The shipping container came earlier than expected, so we didn't do the planned final check. They forgot some things. We will try to bring some of it in our luggage on the plane, but it's a pain. Otherwise it all went very smoothly and they were great guys! I had my goodbye dinner with some colleages from work on Tuesday. They got me a really nice gift.

On Wednesday the girls had their goodbye party at school, and after school. At school, they got to play lots of fun games. After school, they brought a few friends back to the Bosrand, and even got to play outside a bit even though there was a big storm that day. It was a really special day for them. 

On Thursday we sold our house. The notary was a funny guy. He had a whole comedy routine prepared. So happy we found such a great lady to buy our house! We hope she will be as happy there as we have been. 

Friday was the last day of school for me and the girls. My goodbye speech got a bit messed up as the principal said most of the stuff that my colleage had prepared to say, so I felt bad for my colleage who had worked so hard to prepare and was feeling nervous about it. He made some jokes and everyone laughed, but he was pretty upset afterwards. The speeches went on for way too long, so I left early because we had to send the money from our house sale to the US to pay for the next one. Tight timeline. 

Yesterday Naomi's oldest friend Annemiek and her boyfriend came to say goodbye along with Naomi's dad and Edith. We had pancakes for lunch here at the Bosrand and then went to the castle for the last time for dinner. The girls did not like their food. They are totally done with all the unhealty food and all the goodbyes. It's time to pack up and get on that plane!

The girls had a goodbye party!

We sold our car.

Somehow most of our stuff fit in the shipping container.

We enjoyed our last bottle from France to celebrate our house sale.

Packing Up

It has been another crazy week. Hard to remember what happened. Lots of prepping for the movers. We weren't quite ready for them, but managed to stay one step ahead as they packed stuff up. Interesting group of guys. All older. One is about to celebrate his 50th wedding anniversary! I guess they can't find younger people to do the job. 

The girls have been doing pretty well. They had an afternoon with Heleen while the movers were here, and then we had our first night at the Bosrand. Nobody slept well. The mosquitoes didn't help! Yesterday Amélie had a meltdown, but she recovered well and had a good night of sleep. 

Yesterday we had a special dinner at Sultani in Zupthen with Jan and Heleen. It was a lot of fun. Heleen brought us a bunch of presents, including some pillows she made for the girls. They were impressed with the food. We will miss having such a place nearby! 

Fun at Heleen's.

Our goodbye house bonfire. 

Naomi's cousin Jeroen helped us bring stuff to the dump. 

A special goodbye dinner.