Bubble Tubbin'

Well, this refers to my earlier post of the middle boys in my tub - there's just not too much more to comment on when it's this cute.

Wanna Write Us A Letter?? Wanna Call Us??

Hey everyone, we've got a new phone number coming tomorrow and a mailbox in front of the house, so email us and let us know if you want our details. We're a bit shy about posting them up here, for obvious reasons, like Settles stalkers or something like that.

Army/11th State/Kin/ER

Remember the earlier post about whether or not we were in our right minds about our schedule we were keeping? Well, we are pretty sure we spread this butter waaaaaay too thin...

We drove to Augusta, Georgia, where Fort Gordon resides, on Thursday to make a retirement dinner that evening. The reunion with our friends was sweet and we had memories about the military community, ceremony and tradition. Our friend, Command Seargent Major Michael Terry, and his wife, Ginny, were honored for all the years they poured into our Army. The old saying, give back a borrowed item in better condition than when you received it, is how Mike and Ginny exited active Army life. Their finger prints will be all over the great stuff that the Army is doing for it's soldiers and families.

So Friday morning we attended the retirement ceremony at "Signal Tower" and then headed for Kurt's brother's place. Well, almost. I discovered that South Carolina was "just over there" and wanted the state line photo for this trip. We took a little detour into North Augusta (yes, it's in SC - the city kinda spills over the state line there) and got the photo after we ate at Zaxby's chicken joint. We counted that to be the 11th state that we visited since the 13th of this month.

That afternoon we met Kurt's parents (who had the boys) at his brother's house in Griffin, GA. They live just south of Atlanta. We had a nice reunion with Kit and Tracy and their family. Emery was ALL OVER the ATV and Asa and Jack were into the trampoline (yikes, for those who know the Carvers). We had a little birthday bbq for Rachel and then headed for home...

...at least we thought...

We were just passing the Atlanta airport when I just got to feeling funny and then my chest got all tight and my hands and feet began to tingle rather fiercely. Kurt pulled over and I got out to walk. I tried to make a fist with my hands and my fingers felt as though they were getting stuck so I kept them in a fist while I kept walking in circles. I thought it was passing when I got back in the car and it started again. Kurt was on the GPS locating a hospital to find one only five minutes away. It was a long five minutes.

After being admitted overnight all the tests came back clear of any cardiac issue. Thank my Lord. They did discover a low potassium level and gave me big horse pills to correct it. I still don't feel quite 100% but just knowing that I am not having a heart attack is keeping my anxiety at bay. I plan on getting hooked up with a local doc to continue some suggested treatment by the Atlanta folks.

So, we're staying particulary quiet here at home. I unpacked one box yesterday and cooked some meals. It felt good to have domestic tasks to accomplish - in my new, beautiful home. I tried to take a bath in my Jacuzzi only to have two visitors who took it over. Asa and Jack were into the bubbles and jets!!

Ah... broadband...

What Anji didn't tell you in the earlier post was that we've finally got broadband (and therefore the office set up) at the house. We've been "suffering" with the rather poor, barely tolerable, data connection through our phone. So hopefully we'll be posting a bit more will definitely be putting more pictures up. If you're interested in viewing our Flickr pictures (for family and friends only), let us know and we'll send you an invite.

I am thankful that we've settled in a bit more. Having Dad and Mom here for a few days has been very nice and, of course, very helpful. They helped us get the last item out of the ABF trailer - the piano - and Mom's introduced us to caramel puffed corn - a Tennessee recipe that's absolutely addicting. We might be willing to share it with you if you beg like a whiny baby. Or not...

While we haven't exactly unpacked everything (which seems like we haven't unpacked anything), we are starting to get the basics down: there are toothbrushes and toilet paper in the bathrooms, dishes and utensils in the kitchen, and did I mention BROADBAND?!

Good night all. We'll catch up with you from Georgia or back here at home when the weekend wraps up.

Certifiably Insane?

Yes, I am questioning Kurt and my mental status as I consider the fact the it is nearly ten o'clock in the evening and we have planned to drive a 6+ hour drive to attend a retirement ceremony/dinner at Fort Gordon, GA. And we just got done driving 2600+ miles to get here only a few days ago?!!?!

In all sincerity though, this person that we are honoring is the top NCO in the Army's Signal Corps. He has been in the army for 34 years which is only a new concept being that 20 used to be the max. Mike Terry is a model soldier of integrity and moral leadership and Kurt and I were blessed to have met him and his wife, Ginny, to benefit from their mentorship while we were stationed at Fort Hood, Texas. We even had the opportunity to meet them at the Honolulu airport one year as we passed through on the way from a family reunion while they were stationed there on Oahu.

So, here's where it gets even more complicated... we will be leaving the Boanerges with Kurt's parents in Cookeville who arrived Monday for a visit in the midst of their five month 50th wedding anniversary U.S. trek. On our way back from the retirement thingy we are going to take a short detour and stop in at Kurt's brother's family home outside Atlanta, GA to stay the night where Jay and Rachel will have driven all the boys (and don't forget Lucy) in their little motorhome earlier that day... is this making sense? And then the next day we will take all the boys (and pooch) home to an unpacked house and try to start up again. And Kurt will go to work on Monday. I can't wrap this noggin around all this...

So, as a status report I have decided to use photos of the garage to assist in showing progress on all this unpacking. It ain't pretty, huh? Pray for us... pray HARD!

Home, sweet (and empty), home!

It's hard to believe we haven't posted here since the 17th! Anji made an attempt, but was foiled by Internet or Blogger problems. We are finally in our house, after closing Friday. On Wednesday afternoon, we drove to Branson, MO after staying with our friends in Ava which is about an our to the north. We stayed at the WorldMark resort there, after fighting traffic through town. We didn't see too much of the town, but what we did see, we weren't too impressed with. It reminded me a bit of an Oregon beach town on a warm summer day: rather congested, with lots to catch the eye, but little of substance. Nonetheless, the WorldMark was quite nice and we rested while a storm blew through the area overnight.
On Thursday after breakfast, we left for Cookeville. When the bible describes Jesus turning his face resolutely towards Jerusalem, I can relate. We drove out of Branson on US-160, which threw so many curves our way that Emery and the other boys became quite green around the gills. Fortunately we stopped for lunch and were able to connect with US-60, then I-55 into Memphis. The humidity in the Memphis area was incredible, having been pushed down by the storm to our north in Kentucky. We ran parallel to the storm as we came across I-40, which runs the entire length of Tennessee from west to east. After 12 hours of driving we arrived in Cookeville at 10:00 PM and settled into the Best Western for the night. Sam was, in particular, exhausted, since he was the only one who had to sit all day.
On Friday at 1:00 PM, we signed papers on the house. At 2:30, the ABF (moving and storage company) driver called and said he was ready to deliver and we literally chased him out to the house. We slept in our new home for the first time on Friday night. The three older boys slept on the floor and Sam in his porta-crib. I've been unloading the trailer with Emery's help (and Asa's to a very limited extent) since Friday and then all day yesterday. Our garage is packed full of unopened boxes! Today will be the last day unloading and Anji is starting to fill the cupboards of the kitchen now.
What a blessing it is to have a home such as this one. We are already rattling around a bit in the big living area and have to be considerate of our now moderate means while slowly populating the rooms with accoutrements appropriate to such a beautiful space. At least with the couch and rug in the living room the echo is diminished. Sam loves yelling and hearing his own voice reverberate.
Thank you all for all of your prayers and thoughts as we traveled across the country. We shamelessly ask for them to continue as we settle in. More to come soon.

Kanzzzzazzzz...

Hi there. Kurt here.

We left Salina, KS heading for our friends' home in Ava, MO yesterday. The drive across Kansas was uneventful. In fact, there were moments in time that I thought I could just let go of the wheel and let the car drive itself. The good part was my gas mileage jumped up significantly since the drive was fairly flat. Missouri was much more interesting to drive through because there are actually trees and hills to break up the scenery a bit. We ate from the Best Western continental breakfast fare for our morning meal and didn't stop except one time for gas and a fast-food lunch. What a blessing it was to sit around the table with our friends eating a home-cooked meal in the evening, then fellowshipping with them until late in the night! Christian friends are like a calm place in the storm of change.

New roadkill: Armadillo.

Our house is definitely closing on Friday this week and we've made plans to leave Ava this afternoon for a short drive down to Branson, MO. We'll be staying in the WorldMark resort there for two nights. It will be another welcome respite on this drive to our new home as we'll be able to rest for a full day, then leave extremely early for Cookeville on Friday morning. We'll have the boys all PJ'ed up and the car packed up for the drive. Anji and I will be rubbing the sleep out of our eyes and guzzling Starbucks, but we'll enjoy the adventure! Lucy, our little pooch, is feeling rather dejected at this point because she's not been allowed inside here at our friends' place. To make matters worse, she'll probably have to stay inside the car at the resort. Poor thing, she's got no clue about what's going on.

Next post from Branson.

Ahhh, Sweeet Rest

We were so tired last night after a bit of a challenging day and night that we all slept rather soundly in our cheap/ancient accommodations! All three of the boys actually slept in the same queen bed - together. It would only be possible with total exhaustion. Poor Emery was relegated to the middle where both little boys pretty quickly acted like magnets and threw their appendages over his body. No one seemed to mind until Jack woke up the next morning complaining that Em was too close to him! Stinker.

Our drive today was so restful in that we finally stopped climbing and the roads straightened out. It seemed whenever I took over the first couple of days is where the road construction would begin/it would rain/it was dark. Today I only took the wheel for the last 100 miles because Kurt was rested and the roads were simple. Nice.

We had some snow in WY and CO, a little bit of wind in KS but it was great. No DVD marathon today. Em got to watch a movie while the little ones were snoozing.

So far we've seen deer (both alive and dead), possums/racoons (all dead), antelope, coyote, buffalo, wild cows and horses. The "wild" is what Em calls them. Apparently, if they are not in a corral or fenced field of some effect, well, they are wild. I kinda wonder where the owners are too and how they find them when it's time for, uh, finding them?! It is VAST out here!!! I'm such a city girl...

Well we are trying to figure out how to upload some photos for you so as soon as my incredibly geeky, er, insanely intelligent husband gets his hands on this we will probably be really bloggin'!!

The Adventure Begins, uh, Began?

This is Anji. We were a little slow in getting our first post because we had a hard time figuring out Best Western's wireless access. So, here I am in a cheap Laramie, WY hotel with great access and attempting to catch up.

We left Saturday morning a little after eight. Emery said that it was "soccer weather" since it was cold and foggy. I just thought it was a typical northwest fall day... and yes, soccer is a part of that season in this family, huh?

We made it to a really smelly place called Jerome in Utah around 10pm that night. I'm serious, it stunk! When we were driving out in the morning we discovered a MASS amount of dairy cows up the road. The wind must have been just right because we couldn't open up the stuffy hotel room because the odor would fill the room! It was kinda funny (and reminiscent of Dee Creek Farm...for those in the know...).

So today, we made it mostly across WY and I am a little embarrassed to admit that we plugged in 10 hours of Tom & Jerry cartoons to "numb" the boys into silence since neither Kurt or myself got any rest to speak of Saturday night. Asa was up half a dozen times and Sam wound up sleeping on my chest and eventually between Kurt and I. And, yes, the DVD Drug did it's job. However, we were able to interact with them at scenic moments since the controls were at our fingertips. They would give us an enthusiastic, "That's cool!!", which I think was just a way to get back to the movie quicker.

We stopped and visited Fort Bridger today. It was interesting. Kurt says that boys love forts so we have to try to see the ones that we come across. All they really wanted was the candy sticks in the gift shop. They got to run FREEEEEEE  for a little while too which Kurt would calculate to determine how soon they would konk... he was wrong. Tom & Jerry proved our heros after that brief romp. They did enjoy the candy sticks though.

That's all from me. I'll let Kurt chime in and comment on my comments now...

Okay, Anji is dead-on except the part about the Best Western wireless - it stunk just like the cows down the road! I've traveled a bit and never, except in Jerome, UT, come across cruddy wireless service like that in a hotel claiming high-speed Internet. The Travelodge, while 100 years old or so, has decent and secure wireless, not to mention that it's located directly between a donut shop and a coffee shop. Huge score for breakfast on Monday!

We're exhausted and a little (okay, a lot) strung out emotionally, given the massive changes underway. We love everyone we just left. We're excited to move into a new house. We wish we didn't have a house payment! But then, who doesn't? Yes, it's all fun picking out houses and countertops and landscaping until that first payment is due, eh? And there's this whole other thing going on in the background about my job change. Oh, you hadn't heard? Yeah, we're not moving just for the fun of it.

So, back to the trip. The Honda Odyssey is most excellent, with a few very minor exceptions which are primarily centered around lack of iPod integration. Shame on Honda, shame, shame! Bad Honda, etc. Why should any 2007 vehicle not have an iPod dock or at least an auxiliary input?! C'mon...somebody out there ought to be coming alongside me in my geeky outrage! Other than that, eh, not too shabby of a car. Drives like it's on rails, even towing our little U-Haul trailer, has (almost) every amenity known to man, minus a bathroom (but more on that later). It's gooooood.

The drive has been beautiful and at some points almost shocking. There are places across Wyoming and Utah where the vista is so expansive your eyes cannot take it all in. As you crest hill after hill you see farther than you ever thought you could while earthbound. It is amazing. And here's the more amazing part: that's the world after the fall. I am simply spellbound by the idea that what we've seen in that past days is only a smidgen of the real thing. Wow. God's got something waiting for the redeemed that's going to blow our socks off!

We are planning a slower pace tomorrow, but will apply the following lessons to our journey and the journeys yet unplanned: 1. Never eat from the buffet at a truckstop (or, if you prefer, never eat at a truckstop), especially with four rather rummy children. 2. Never underestimate the cunning nature of a Dachshund left to her own devices in a car containing a food source, no matter how well hidden. 3. Always check out the hotel room prior to signing the agreement. Perhaps tomorrow I will tell the tales behind these and other lessons gathered in our short time on the road.

Goodnight friends,

Kurt