Indiana

Well, my dear friends I have returned! We arrived in Indiana Sunday, closed on the house on Monday and promptly moved in. Chris called TMO (travel management office) and quickly discovered that A.) our households goods are in route, B.) they will be here by the 25th of February (at the latest, we were assured) and C.) his car (which was shipped one week after the household goods) arrived in St. Louis on February 1st and is ready for pick-up. He'll probably fly down sometime next week. Now if I will only have patience! We are looking for new mattresses for the boys later today so that they don't have to sleep on the floor any longer. The next course of action will be to find a bedframe for Ian and then assemble the bunkbed for Sean and Evan.

List of things to be done in the next 3 weeks before the furniture arrives.
1. Determine paint color of kitchen.
2. Determine paint color of dining room.
3. Determine paint color of living room.
4. Determine paint color... Do you see a pattern here?
5. Make curtains for boys' bedrooms.
6. Start cooking dinner again... (I think that is the #1 priority)
7. Gradually replenish "pantry" with healthy, wholesome ingredients.
8. Start painting.
9. Install new light in kitchen and laundry hall.
10. Make mental list of what all will be included in HUGE/GIGANTIC yard/garage sale. (we are seriously cutting down the furniture/decorations/clutter)
11. Plan out and make quilt for Ian (or break-down and buy the one he really likes using reward points from paid off credit card)
12. Crochet more wash cloths.
13. Buy new phone with answering machine as ours died... Thank the Lord for cell phones right now!
14. Make ravioli to store in the freezer.
15. Start planning a 16th birthday celebration!

I am including some pictures of our drive plus the view out the dining room doors! It is truly glorious! I love watching the sheep, cows, and llamas! The boys think it is pretty funny but I can hardly wait to meet the neighbors. OH, I didn't tell you all... Talk about an answer to prayer! The farm behind us is ORGANIC! They actually have signs posted saying it is a chemical free zone! How awesome is that!! NO nitrates or nitrites in the water, no chemical smells or overspray in the backyard. Their field borders our small acreage on two sides so it was a very pleasant surprise! Like I said a true blessing from the Lord!

Views from the first three days of our trip...
One of the many singing bridges we crossed!

A sunspire... there was a matching one to the left but I never could get them both in the same frame)

A wild buffalo herd on the shoulder of the road.

Isn't the buffalo calf so cute and fuzzy? Look at those tiny horn buds! By the way it was about -25 below when we came upon them. All we had to do was roll down the window to snap pictures. It was so incredible as they just kept about their business!

More pictures to come at a later date...