Yet Another Vilski Update

We are getting settled in! Coen calls our house here “home”, which is a good sign.

The weather has been pretty wonderful, with the exception of nightly storms or the nightly appearance (and oftentimes disappearance) of said storms.

Some highlights of our almost two weeks here are Coen’s seven stitches and adopting a dog….And, after looking through my photos, Coen’s second birthday adventures, and our fifth wedding anniversary.

Coen’s first professional haircut….and his foot.

Another view of the haircut (and our family room)

The dark gray storm cloud over the neighbor’s house

The contrast between storm and sunny

At least we can see some blue sky!

Coen’s battle wounds (his hockey scars as his father calls them)

Another view of his stitches. The cut was in the shape of the middle of a peace symbol.

On Coen’s birthday, he and I went to WOW, which is a children’s museum that is very close. It had WONDERFUL things to do, like this pulley machine. Older kids could pull themselves up, but I did it for Coen.

There he is at the top!

Fun with a light pen and board in the “shadow and lights” room.

Coen mostly wanted to watch the toy/model train. The buttons around the case stopped and started the train.

Playing with some magnetic trains. It was the hardest to share and take turns at this table (for everyone, it seemed.)

Coen up on the pirate ship yelling “See you!” while looking through the telescope

This was the coolest bubble maker ever! There was a pulley/lever on the inside that you lifted while a huge bubble went around the person in the ring. Coen popped his before I could get a photo of it.

Coen and Daddy on his birthday!!

Coen blowing out his ice cream sandwich cake candles

Opening a bookshelf from us

Shaking Mater and watching him drive (until it got stuck idling…)

Coen and Justin playing soccer with Coen’s new ball and net. Justin was merciless, even though it was Coen’s birthday and he’s only two.

Justin and Buster hanging out cooking lunch!

Coen reading his book about a dog named Fergus

Buster relaxing

Coen taking Buster’s temperature

The three of us hanging out

We made it!

God really likes to let us know that He is in control of everything…

In the end, Vonni and Don (Justin’s aunt and uncle) were the ones who rode with us to Longmont. Our plan was to meet up in Omaha, Nebraska and go from there, with Don driving their car, Justin driving the moving truck, and Vonni and me riding in the Honda with Coen so he could be entertained somewhat.

Well, the evening before we were to get our truck (scheduled for 8 AM in New Ulm), I received a phone call from UHaul saying they would probably have a truck for us the following day. Great. They said they may have one in the afternoon, but by evening almost for sure. Most of our moving helpers were available in the morning, so this was not pleasant news. Especially not while driving back from Wisconsin exhausted from staying up too late having fun with family, and especially not on my birthday. I was so annoyed, Justin let me buy Starbucks. : )

In the end, they called us the morning of pack-up the moving truck day and said we could drive an hour to another town to pick up a truck, so Justin and Bud went and got it. By the end of the day, we had successfully scrambled to finish loading the truck to avoid a storm with rain, thunder and lightning, and 70 mile per hour winds. Phew. We even got to take shelter in the Wolf’s basement for a while.

It was very bittersweet to say ‘goodbye’ to so many good friends, but comforting to know that they are in our eternal family.

We spent the night at Bud and Maria’s house and left after a delicious Bud-cooked breakfast. We hope to see them soon while they are in the “area” (Kansas).

The morning of moving, Justin said that his eyes hurt and they were very red. He took some Visine and it seemed to help. When we were halfway through Iowa, he was certain it was pink eye. So, while in Omaha meeting up Joel, Justin’s best friend from high school, we also stopped at a walk-in clinic. Praise the Lord Vonni and Don were there. Don took the moving truck and kept going to our next stop (North Platte, NE for the night in our hotel room), Vonni drove their car, and Justin and I rode together with Coen. Coen also had a mild case of pink eye. They’re both still taking their drops but doing much better.

The following day wasn’t quite as eventful, minus meeting new friends/congregation members, seeing our new house, and being amazed by everything that God has granted us! It is still very surreal that we are sitting in our basement, gardening in our garden, and playing in our yard. Minus the front yard….it’s a cactus garden, which Justin found out after stepping in it.)

More to come later! I’ll post some photos. We are working on meeting all our neighbors right now, and the ones we have met are VERY nice and have given good advice and tips about living here.

Oh, and we are adjusted to the altitude change now. It was slightly uncomfortable for a while.

I also found out Justin is terrified of snakes, even garter snakes. He thinks they will bite him in the neck until he dies.

A Little Video

 

Here’s a short video of us cruising down the main street (actually 17th) in Longmont. Enjoy!