Sunday, September 15, 2019

Settling into Home

We arrived home the evening of the 10th. I have notes for each day of the return trip,  and will blog them as I sort through photos.  It is ALWAYS our practice to walk in from a trip, or camping, and take the laundry directly to the laundry room. We had a MOUNTAIN of laundry this time.  Arielle had considerately done her laundry early so we could have use of the machines out of cycle.

We had a couple of unique dynamics to this homecoming. Stacia's room was stripped bare while we were gone. Until the RV was emptied there was nowhere for her and Krista to really have their "own room." Dad needed to have his space set up in order to really feel like he'd come "home." AND we had to unload the Uhaul trailer and return it. These unique factors directed our choices for the first couple of days home.

Wednesday - Sept 11th (wow - the memories of that day! Life CHANGED for us as a military family - and we continue to live with consequences from those changes).

ANYWAY - Walt and Dad went to Wasilla and checked out Jason and Nicole's (Walt's daughter) old home. They also made a few stops looking for sweatshirts Walt wanted to buy.

We unloaded Dad's U-haul.  We brought in his furniture, his bedroom set, and all the boxes packed from his previous room. We took down the bed we had purchased when he came up for a visit (it will become Krista's bed eventually), and assembled his select number queen size bed. We maneuvered all his bedroom furniture into place (except for a massage chair that needs a bit of fixing before it comes inside), and began unpacking boxes.  At this point his recliners, coffee tables, and a pile of boxes were all in the living room, along with the mattress from the summer bed.


Team work

Thursday - September 12th  - Dad and Walt ventured to Anchorage on a search for sweatshirts. They stopped in Eagle River as well.

The washer and dryer continued running all day.

Michael hung a mirror Mom and Dad received from dear ones in the Philippines, and a few photos in Dad's room. I finished unpacking his things. We'll go through his things in the garage at a leisurely pace.
Massage chair will go under the mirror 
Michael returned the U-haul trailer!!!! Good riddance. ::snort::  Alex, Stacia and I set about getting the living room in order. I simply CANNOT "relax" when the house is in total chaos.  To clear out the living room, we had to take a look at the storage space "under the stairs." CoRielle have moved their things from there.....and many of Krista and Stacia's things are now there....I hoped with a bit of organizing we could fit the furniture from the nook into the space under the stairs (it will eventually go downstairs).  It all fit - even the mattress from the living room....and we were able to place recliners and such in the living room.... Mom's recliner is now in my nook.  We also found a place for Grandma Anne's rocking chair....and kept the other rocker as well.  My Gram's hope chest had served as a coffee table for years. We store blankets in it and they are mighty nice to have handy in the winter. We finally found a spot for it in the dining room - still accessible.

Dad's recliner, table, and lamps are set....as well as
Gannie Annie's rocker

Michael's recliner moved over here and the other rocker is cozy by the stove

Mom's recliner in the nook - no WAY was another recliner fitting in the Living Room 
Stacia's dresser is still in the entryway. I think it will stay there until she and Krista are able to move into CoRielle's room.

The garden IS soul care for me  -  I spent some time taking stock of what needs to be done out there. The chickweed flourished in our absence. LOL
What could be getting into the beets....
Cutest garden pest....evidently she likes beets

Squash of all kinds....these are the volunteer cross of spaghetti and pumpkin.... 

I had pulled ALL the Kale leaves but we have some new ones now. 

It's a race to the 1st frost - but I think we may have some corn! 

Hello, there! Another unexpected surprise. 

We felt really good about our progress by Thursday night. We made the conscious choice to leave Krista's things in the RV basement....and NOT to unpack the green trailer with stuff from our Mom's until CoRielle are able to move into their home.

Friday - September 13th  What a fun day for Walt to begin his trip back down the Alcan. He has been such a blessing to us, and to Dad. We are going to start praying he and Judy come back for a fun visit in a future year. ::hint:: :hint::


Stacia and I are working through a devotional together - 100 Days to Brave, by Annie Downs. We took time out today to head to a local cafe to share our thoughts and hearts. It was good! Very good.

On our way home we stopped and bought APPLES - because they were on sale and we've been waiting all year for them to be on sale. Last year I dried 5 cases and we ran out. I got a total of 6 cases this year.

This.....

...has led to four days of these noisy things working their magic. I had hoped to make applesauce this year, but life is still too busy for me to attempt it....maybe I'll get it done next week???? It's much easier to core/peel the apples and put them on trays than it would be to make applesauce. 

Saturday - September 14th 
Stacia and I played with Benny all day so that Arielle could go to a ladies retreat.

Stacia and I like to cook and bake together. It could be considered self-care around here. We had the perfect opportunity today. A sweet gal from church had an adorable little girl while we were traveling. We made a couple of meals which the family can heat up, and we BAKED...cookies and monkey bread. THEN we experimented and made "reduced sugar" cookies. I used monk fruit - the monk fruit said to add sugar .....which I didn't want to do. I used dates. They weren't totally sugar free, but they were greatly reduced...and Dad and I both do fruit. They were a bit "hefty" but I made a lot of them and they are all gone.  While Stacia and I enjoyed a down day in the kitchen......

Michael, Alex, Dad, and Krista were at demo day at the church!

Sunday - September 16th 
Church!

After church we went out to eat with a couple of other families - and it was fun to be together again.

Josiah and Jamin came over in the afternoon. We hadn't seen them since the trip and it is always fun to have them over and catch up on their week. We grilled for those who weren't stuffed from lunch.

It's been a busy week - but a good week. Dad is home. We are making progress on projects we need to complete before winter, the house is settling into a routine.

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