A New Week

A new week has dawned here at the Strawn Household.

I finally put a message on the answering machine for those of you who have been talking to a computer voice for the last 6 weeks :-) It's short and sweet, because it seems to me that pretty much everybody in America knows that, if you get an answering machine, it's because the people of the house are 'unable to come to the phone right now' and to 'please leave a message after the beep and we'll get back to you as soon as possible'. Therefore, I have left that part out.

Eden had her 18 month well baby check this past week. With all her clothes and shoes on, she weighs just 20#, and so we have made the 'big switch' from the rear facing car seat position, to the forward facing position permanately. If I don't let her run around outdoors, she may actually stay her new hefty weight.

Below, I have captured a picture of Eden's funniest quirk yet. If she doesn't have her slippers on, her feet get crumbs and 'stuff' on them and she can't stand it. As soon as she steps on something funny, she sits down and tries to find it on the bottom of her foot. She'll sit there for 5 minutes taking each little bit of dust off her feet. Definately my child.

She is also becoming quite the helper in the bathtub. Al usually gives her a bath after supper and you can hear her laughing and spashing at least a block away. (My mom can hear her all the way in Michigan...at least when we're on the phone). She is quite meticulous about washing her hands and her hair and all parts inbetween.

The weather is supposed to be wonderful this week, so we're going to get out and enjoy it. More pictures next week!

February Fun

We had a busy and productive week at the Strawn house. The weather was nice and sunny, though windy. When I say windy, I don't mean a gentle Michigan breeze or even the wind that blows across south central Nebraska, I mean gale force winds that people think are normal. We drove to Scottsbluff last week on a windy day and came home with 3 new chips in our windshield, just from sand and stone blowing around.

Well, since Jason and Lisa were coming on the weekend, we worked hard at getting the decorations up in the guest room, as well as vacuuming the wall to wall carpet, which takes roughly a week to do and then you have to start over again... Not only did we get that all done, we also got all the pictures hung in our bedroom, as well as hung a shelf over the dining room table.

Eden also discovered that other people have belly buttons too. She will proudly show you where hers is (see photo) and yours, if you have any question. She is also modeling her new slippers, compliments of the Jenkins. They are DARLING and we love them!

When the truck arrived on the trailor Friday, Al managed to mash some more boxes into the wall of the garage, so the truck would fit inside. Naturally, the back of the pick-up is filled with more stuff that we have to figure out what to do with. In time.... Stoddards came back on Saturday afternoon and stayed until Sunday after lunch. Much fun was had by all, but mostly Tyler and Eden were our entertainment. They shared toys for a while, and then became posessive and crabby, so we let them go play in the street. Oh wait, no we didn't.

We had a Runza lunch on Sunday and after they left for home, Al and I watched the race on TV, except for when we dozed off, and did absolutely nothing else. Eden slept nearly 4 hours, it was wondeful!

Quote of the day: "The journey is the reward"

Still here

Well, after a month, we've decided to stay in Bridgeport. Which is a good thing, because the thought of moving will never appeal to me again. I'm still finding broken things amongst our belongings. Such is life I guess.

Al has his office settled, and we just took the last of the goods over to the office today. In an uninsured, non-licensed vehicle, none-the-less. Since the weather was pushing 40 degrees, we worked on clearing out the garage to at least accomodate a vehicle. After Al's office stuff was moved, he took the refrigerator apart to fit through the door and got that downstairs. That freed up alot of space! I put all the holiday boxes in one corner, the camping gear in another, the gardening stuff on one wall and the bikes in another blob. Al's hobby stuff took up an entire half wall from floor to ceiling, and a set of shelves got the last little spot. NOW, as long as we never get another toy or gardening tool, we'll be fine.

Pulled the vehicles in and nearly cried tears of joy!

Since we have our first real company coming this weekend, I have tried to get the guest room presentable, as well as the living room. Eden, of course, has been a little helper and we're down to a total of 3 boxes left in the house. I'm planning a huge celebration in honor of this, so watch for your invitaion.

Eden's Christmas toys finally got unboxed this week, as well, and she has spent much time checking them out. Fully clothed, she weighed in at the doctor yesterday at 19# 14oz. So, for those of you who were afraid she'd grow up too fast...not to worry.

Enjoy!

Thanks, Aunt Meegan, for the barn toy. When she can't get the shape to go in the hole she wants it to, she simply opens the barn door, and shoves it in that way. What can I say, she's full of ingenuity and has patience like I do!

The Move

Well, this is what you all have been waiting for, I know. A picture directory of our move from Wilcox to Bridgeport. Looking over all the pictures, it's hard to capture which ones have the right emotions in them. It was exciting, yet tremendously sad, smooth going, yet equally frustrating, and it was by far the coldest day of the season, which has no emotion because you can't even feel your brain when it's that cold.


Well, here are 48 hours in a nut shell. We began at 0430 with the dreaded hobby room, boxing up whatever was in our path. At 0700 we got a phone call saying the driver was running behind because his truck wasn't working right. (See Joel's cold head, below)

At 0830 when he pulled up, we were still frantic in the hobby room. Eden woke up as he drove in and we watched out the window as he looked for a way to pull up to the house with his 53' truck. Eden went to Lana's house for the day, so we didn't have to worry about her...(Eden OR Lana). By noon, they were about 1/4 done and we went to the church where some of the ladies had fixed lunch for everybody. By 2:00 p.m. we were numb and couldn't feel anything from the waist down. By supper time, our fingers had fallen off and the movers were working with bloody stumps, but working hard, none-the-less. By 7:00, Sarah needed food and an Eden fix, so went to the Jenkins to fill up on both. By 7:30, we realized they were in fact NOT going to be done by 4 or 5 p.m. By 8:00, it had been dark for hours, cold all day, and everybody was tired. That's when they figured out the crate that had been custom built for our dresser mirror was built too small. Plan B was worked out, but the tape was so cold, nothing was sticking. I shut me eyes and went outside for some fresh air ;-)



















By 10:30 p.m., everybody had left and all but a couple things had been packed. We crashed on the Jenkins' couches and got up at 0600 to beat the truck to Bridgeport. Or so we thought. He was there by the time we hit Ogallala, and was already making plans to start moving in when his crew got there. We pushed forward and arrived just in time. The carpet wasn’t dry from the cleaners, so the tape runners weren’t sticking to the steps; so naturally, I waited all day for somebody to trip and fall.

When the movers (not the driver, but the guys who carry the boxes) arrived, 2.5 hours late, we were all in for a surprise when there was only one...and he neither spoke nor read english. The driver got on his phone and called for reinforcements, to which 4 others came, two who spoke some english, and one who was only interested in smoking every 5 minutes. Needless to say, the driver was less than pleased, but stuck with this group. I was already praying over the 1916 piano that had to come up a flight of stairs.

This day was a bit warmer, but snowing. They were determined to get it all done in one day, and they did, with only one 5 minute break. They were hard workers for the most part. However, due to the language barrier, there have been apx 35 boxes in the wrong room to date. (It took 3 days to find the coffee pot for dad in the garage). Next time, I may use shapes instead of naming rooms on the box.

The last thing to be moved in was the refrigerator. Up a flight of stairs and slide into the kitchen, right? Well, not exactly. They had to take the sliding glass door off, and then when that didn’t work, the handles came off the doors, then doors themselves came off the fridge and freezer. They went to slide it into place, and it was 2” too big. So, dark, cold and waiting for them to leave, they had to put it all back together and take the fridge to the garage, where it sits today…

All in all, things went well. Monte brought pizza that first night and we praised God for him and for pizza. People brought us more food the next few nights, so we didn’t go hungry. Slowly, we’re beginning to meet people and get to know names.

As you can see, Eden has taken to her new surroundings just fine. Al was installed last Sunday with a pot luck following. I made my brother's cheese dip and already had to give away the recipe.

Al’s first service was this morning and it went very well. Things are going to be Ok here, everything just takes time.

The last picture is of the bluffs and buttes close to the parsonage. If you come out, we'll take you to see them! They are much bigger close up. We always have plenty of room for friends.