Christmas

Christmas--Christ, the hope of glory. 

We have lots of traditions as a family and we enjoyed them this morning for possibly the last time in our home of 8 years.  The older kids had their Christmas sleepovers with the younger kids.  Of course, no one got much sleep.  We baked our birthday coffee cake for Jesus and sang "Happy Birthday".  We read the Christmas story.  Then the presents.  Each of the kids got 3 presents (just like Jesus).  We have very large homemade stockings to fill due to the 3 gift rule.  ( : 

The presents--well, let me tell you we are electronically set for our trip.  Stan and I got a laptop.  Libby got a netbook.  Evan FINALLY got a cell phone.  Libby and I also got new cell phones so that we could switch to Verizon for wireless internet.  The little kids got their first electronic games.  Nintendo DS handheld games.  All of our gifts were surprisingly small.  We haven't visited Grandparents, yet, but I had them on board with the small items.  My sister in Oregon sent us Starbucks gift cards to be used at a later date on the road. 

We visited with our neighbors this week, as we always do during the holidays.  We told most of them of our plans to put the house on the market in the Spring.  It was bittersweet.  I am so excited for our trip, but also sad to say goodbye to good neighbors and friends.

We are truly blessed.  So thankful..................................

Things Departed

I'm beginning to like the word "stuff".  I know it's not elaborate.  It's a simple word.  In my Webster's dictionary, the definition says  "assorted or worthless objects or materials".  WOW!  Worthless objects or materials.  How did we gather all this stuff that we at one time thought we "needed"?  We are now seeing that it is merely worthless in the big picture.  I'm just sorry that it has taken us so long to come to this realization.

I'm beginning to keep a list of the stuff we are parting with.  I want it as a reminder.  One that will hopefully help us to never go back to collecting worthless objects or materials, again.

STUFF

Woohoo!!  We are getting rid of stuff!  We've been giving away and selling stuff left and right.  The exciting thing is our stuff is blessing others.  "God's provision" as one buyer put it.  Everything we are selling is far below retail and people are excited to have our stuff.  And we are excited to see it go.  It's freedom.  It's $ in our travel account.  Everything we sell gets us closer to the goal.  If anyone reading is in "need" of something, contact us, we may have it for sale or even for free.

Home on Wheels

So, I bet you all are wondering what type of RV we are planning to purchase. Well, this is subject to change, but we think we've found what we are looking for. The kids cannot part with their dogs. (a golden retriever and a golden doodle) So, since there will be 6 humans and 2 dogs on this adventure, we need something with ALOT of space. We went to the local RV dealer just to look and he suggested we check out a toyhauler since we have dogs. I had never heard of such a thing. Toyhauler--what's that? Come to find out, toyhaulers are spacious. They have a garage area in the rear with a 1/2 bath and extra fridge. Imagine that, and extra bathroom in an rv. With a teenage daughter that spends way too much time in the bathroom, this is ideal. In our current travel trailer, everyone is always fighting over the bathroom.

Ideally, we would love to have a driving camper. The freedom to move around, to get a snack, go to the bathroom, pop some popcorn, etc., etc. But, driving campers were designed for couples, without kids, in mind. They do have a few models with bunkbeds, but they just are not ideal for families. And, they are very, very expensive. More than my current house, expensive.


You can view the toyhauler we have chosen by clicking on the link below. I think you'll be surprised by how spacious they are. The model we have chosen is the 3950.


http://www.heartlandrvexpress.com/cyclone/


This rig will require a large pulling vehicle. Stan is thinking mini-semi. I'm thinking scary. I have to drive this thing to get groceries. ( :