In the Land of Boxes

After weeks of not having enough information to plan ANYTHING, before we knew it, the movers were scheduled and we were well on our way to our new home. Thankfully, Cam remained in WA to facilitate all the moving activities while I spent my last two weeks at work.

Cam said that it was amazing to watch the packers work. On Monday and 1/2 of Tuesday, they managed to get all of our stuff in boxes and we got to spend Tuesday night living in the Land of Boxes. I was all ready to start building forts with all our boxes, but unfortunately, we had to clean up the house instead. On Wednesday, the movers loaded the huge moving truck in just under 2 hours (which included all the individual trips back and forth with a small van from our apartment to the truck parked up the street since the truck wouldn't fit down the driveway)!

While all this was going on at home, I was hard at work winding down my final days at PSNS. There was a lovely lunch out with practically the whole office and cake celebration on Wednesday for me, during which I received a very nice signed copy of a sub traversing the Puget Sound and my "Fully Qualified RCPE" certificate (finally!). It made Thursday all that more difficult to say good-bye. I made a lot of really good friends at the Shipyard and I hope that we'll be able to maintain our friendships through all the fun, new technology (email, Myspace, Facebook, etc.)

Tonight we're headed out on the first leg of our trip. We're spending the night with my parents in West Richland and hope to have time to see our friends' new house (which just happens to be right around the corner from my parents' house!) Tomorrow, we'll hit the road, bound for our first overnight stop at Salt Lake City. Please keep us in your prayers as we drive the 1700+ miles to El Paso.

More boxes! All the stuff on the bed is what's going with us in the truck!

Cam looking thrilled to be unhooking the washer and dryer

We have a Moving Date!

We finally know the WHEN and WHERE we will be moving on our first Army move! Cam's first duty station will be Ft. Bliss, located in El Paso, TX and our official move date is scheduled for April 30th. The relief of finally knowing the last part of the puzzle was soon replaced by the stress brought on by the thought of all the organizing, packing, and cleaning that must go on in the next two weeks! Good thing Cam's staying in Port Orchard until we move so that things will get done during the day while Kristy's at work. While we are very sad to be leaving the state that has been our home all our lives, but we are looking forward to the challenges of living in the desert.

Since we knew our last days in the Puget Sound were approaching, Cam and I decided to catch one last Mariners game. And boy did we pick a good one! Not only did we get to see the 400th homerun with the M's by the returned Ken Griffey, we even saw the very rare Ichiro grand slam. What a night!

Aren't we cute in our matching shirts?!

Easter Fun

We celebrated the Easter weekend with a quick trip down to see Cam's family in Vancouver. Saturday was spent with Cam's mom, stepdad and aunt in Hillsboro where we dined on a delish rib dinner and oreo cheesecake! (Yum! Thanks, Mom!) On Easter Sunday, we spent a little one-on-one time with our niece and nephew: having an Easter egg hunt and playing with Army men and foosball, before nearly the whole Smith clan arrived for a big Easter dinner! Thanks, Angie for everything! You went well above sister-in-law duty for us!

Setting up Army men for an epic battle

All dressed up in their "Proud Army Niece/Nephew" shirts

On a slightly unrelated note, I had posted previously that I was working on Christmas present quilts for the kids. Here they are all bundled up in them! I'm so glad that they liked them! :)

Alyssa and her very GIRLY quilt

Andrew and his car-inspired quilt

Home Sweet Home

Just wanted to post a quick note to let you know that Cam survived Jump school and earned his Jump Wings! He finally made it home in one piece EARLY Saturday morning after his flight was delayed an hour in Atlanta. He didn’t arrive in Seattle until 1AM, but I’m just glad to have him home!

Our weekend together was a busy one. Saturday we kept the economy up and running with all of our shopping. Sunday we were able to see some family and friends, including meeting the new daughter of our good friends, Jen and Jake, and a quick trip up to see Cam's sister and her family! We are looking forward to seeing lots more family in the very near future!

Cam will be spending the next two weeks working as a recruiter through the office in Port Orchard. Thankfully, it shouldn't be too strenuous of an assignment, so he'll have plenty of time to get all of our "Move to TX" issues ironed out and maybe even a few "Honey-Do" list items done!

Cam and his 5-yr-old niece