Adjusting

When we moved into this new home, I was thrilled because I knew we had very few projects that needed to be accomplished immediately. I hadn't taken into consideration that the previous owners only had one child and that the house really wasn't set up for 10 people, without some adjustments. 

When we discovered we adults couldn't actually open our own cabinets because of the quality of the existing child safety locks, Matt began his first project. 

Not without "help".

Kylie and Matt sent us some essentials. I cried. Some people just get me.

Our first visitors were Matt's parents. We hung out, explored Imlay City, and tested out the local Big Boy. 

The movers broke a good many things while packing and transporting to our new home. A few of the most inconvenient busted things were three bookshelves. We have SO MANY BOOKS, so this caused a huge amount of disarray and confusion as we were unpacking boxes (and boxes and boxes) of books. Matt remedied the situation as soon as possible, and spent the better part of a weekend shopping for and building new bookcases. 

Homeschooling is much easier with organized books!

 

Advent arrived as quickly as it always does. We had a marvelous time opening up our bins and decorating a new space!

 It is safe to say that Esther and Daniel struggled with Matt being apart from us for so long. They still haven't fully recovered or even adjusted to having two parents again. Their behaviors have been less than stellar. Every night before bed, the concerns about getting coal from Santa were getting more serious.

November 2018

So much has happened since I've last visited this site. About a week after my last post, we attempted to close on our house in Michigan. My parents watched the children in Syracuse and Matt and I made the drive through Canada so I could meet our new home. It was not to be. Our walkthrough of the house was amazing. I was so proud of Matt for picking out such a perfect little home for our family. 

We went to closing, met the previous owners, started signing papers, and quickly realized something was VERY,VERY wrong. The money we had wired for closing the previous week had never been received. In fact, the wire instructions that we followed were fake. We were victims of wire fraud. $68,027.11 vanished, in the blink of an eye. We ran from our failed closing to the bank...and then to the police station...only to drive back to Syracuse in the middle of the night, homeless and robbed of our hard-earned savings. 

The next week was a blur, since we were packing up our SOLD home in Syracuse. The movers came, boxed up our belongings and put them on a truck destined for a storage facility in Michigan. My heart broke over a dozen times that week. The children were confused. Matt and I were on the phone almost 12 hours a day with banks, real-estate agents, police, relocation, work, concerned family and friends, news reporters, etc. It was a whirlwind, trying to say goodbye to our neighbors and friends in Syracuse and make sure we hadn't neglected to remember something. 

My parents graciously offered their home to us. My dear friend Whitney started a GoFundMe for our family. People brought over food. People donated money. People prayed for us day and night. In one week, we received over $22,000, from friends and strangers. Our real estate agent worked hard to reschedule a closing, with us now having enough of a downpayment to make the house a reality. It was such a blessing that the sellers were willing to wait for us.

We left my parents in grateful anticipation.

The week of Thanksgiving, we moved in. The final bed was assembled by the moving company the night before Thanksgiving. We were together again. All Nine. Under one roof. We have never felt so blessed or loved.