Ahhh....Settled In!

A week ago tonight we couldn't sleep, we were so excited that our goods were finally on their way here! I got a call late that night from my mom that she and dad were headed south and were going to be going right past us in the early morning.  As Mark and I were having coffee on the porch, they arrived for a very short visit, that was a complete surprise to the kids.  It was so cute to see their little faces as the realized who was driving up.  They got to see the house empty and see the moving truck pull up to the curb. The movers came promptly at 7:30 and it was pretty much non-stop until about 4pm.  There were boxes and paper packing everywhere!  In the end only one thing was missing...the bed frame for our bed.  We thought the hardware for Julia's bunk bed was missing, but it was found Saturday afternoon.  Unpacking is much better than packing!  It was almost like Christmas. We have a new dining room table that we bought before we moved to Houlton that wouldn't fit in that house, so has never been used.  It fits perfectly here and it's so pretty!!!  Now we need to find chairs to go with it...  A great excuse to go shopping!!

Saturday morning, Mark and I hung up pictures on the walls and got rid of most all of the boxes upstairs.  While Sunday for me was continuing to settle the upstairs, Mark turned his attention downstairs.  There is a full basement that is play room/sewing room/storage.  He got all the boxes unpacked!  I was so amazed when I went down in the evening on Sunday to see his progress!  Amazing!!  We had our first overnight guest arrive Sunday evening, Tim and Amy Witmer along with their kids, Malachi (3) and Logan (1.5).  It was so much fun to see familiar faces and have them here, the girls were so excited to see their little buddies and there was so much laughter around here.  I'm thinking that Dutch Blitz with just the four of us will always be boring compared to the games played around our table with the Witmers. 

Tuesday was the first official day of a no-box upstairs!!  Our bedroom is all put together, clothes in closets and not in suitcases, and bathroom stuff in it's place.  I also had a bag order to fill and get in the mail with my little uniform bag business.  It was busy and profitable and one of those days where we looked at each other that night and knew serious progress had been made. 

Wednesday we hit the pool in the afternoon.  It was a beautiful day.  Not like today.  Today was so hot and humid.  The heat index was up at 105. One of those days where you walk outside and are instantly sweating.  Guess what we planned to do today?  Gettysburg!!!  It was a hot day on the battlefield, but so much fun!  Mark and I watched the movie Gettysburg last night, my first time seeing it, which made a great night before our trip over there.  We started the day with a Park Ranger Tour of Little Round Top, one of those places that a person is so proud to be from Maine, and finished the day at the visitors' center enjoying the air conditioning.  We ran into a ranger dressed in the part of a Union soldier.  The weather today was very similar to the weather of July 1,2 & 3, 1863, and we were able to see what the soldiers wore, the layers of uniform, which made me want to melt just thinking about wearing it.  It was one of those perspective moments, where the details of my day are diminished in the thought of what these men endured.  They were so brave and fought so valiantly for what they believed.  I'm thankful for these men, the Yanks as well as the Rebs, they made our country what it is today, and for that I am forever grateful. 

Here's a few pictures of our new digs...

Dad & Mom Whiteman and the girlies

Finally!!!

Dining Room

Hope's Room

Julia's Room

Living Room

Living room

Kitchen

Witmer's visit! 

Our Room, finally unpacked!  (Notice the bed on the floor with the lack of a bed frame? 
Hey...at least it's our bed and not an air mattress!!)

Today at the 20th Maine monument on Little Round Top