AreYou Kidding Me?!

I've been asked that question many times, lately. With the question comes funny faces. ( :



Why the question? Well, our family is leaving home. Literally! We are selling everything we own and moving into an RV.



Why? Well, why not? We plannned to do this someday when we retire. Why not do it now with the kids? We homeschool. Why not get out there and truly experience things hands on. We had the opportunity while on vacation over the summer to go to a Civil War battlefield. We stood where people lost their lives for freedom. It was amazing, surreal. To know that someone gave their life for another's freedom. To see the site of a mass grave of soldiers that were not even identified. Just quickly buried so the battle could continue. This is how I want our children to experience history.



Hubbie can work on the road. We can school on the road. We can visit places that we've only read about in books. We can get upclose and personal with God's amazing creation. We can touch the lives of others while we are out there. Our oldest already has a list of things that can be put in homeless packets. So, if and when we see people holding signs that they are hungry, we can be the hands of Jesus, and give them something tangible that will help sustain them another day. Serving while travelling is one of our goals. Looking for places that we can plug in and teach the kids the blessing of serving others.



Family unity. Our summer was filled with camping and making memories. We were truly engaged with one another. Then, we come home. Home to sports schedules, work, appointments, etc, etc, etc. It's a daily task just getting through everyone's schedule. Are these activities good things? Most of them, yes. But..............we are all going different directions. We are only eating dinner together a few times a week. We are all exhausted. We are rarely engaged with one another on an intimate level. The simple life..........that's where we are headed and I can't wait!



So, no I'm not kidding you. We really are going to do this!

Preparation

We are busily preparing the house for the market.  Pulling things from every nook and cranny.  Feels like the stuff keeps multiplying.  Hopefully, it will make things easier when it's time to move.  I keep packing things away to be stored.  Trying really hard to evaluate the things I'm storing.  So far we have a couple of totes of school books and a box of "memories" for each of the kids.    It's amazing how much can be accumulated in 19 years of marriage.  Homeschooling definately has added to the accumulation.  I can't believe how many books we own.  I have been taking boxes of books to our weekly co-op, so they are slowly diminishing, but we still have way too many.

Stan has been working on all the little things that need to be repaired to put the house on the market.  Feels like the list is never ending.  I keep telling myself that "slow and steady" wins the race.  We'll get there!  Our goal is to list late Feb./early March.  Trying to get on the market before the tax credit expires.

Also, preparing our hearts for the trip.  Talking to the kids about their concerns.  Talking about how we'll serve on the road.  Dreaming about warm weather and sunshine!  Getting excited!

Christmas letter by Libby

Christmas Night 2009

Merry Christmas!

This has been one of the best Christmas I have ever been a part of. I got everything I wanted and more. This was the last Christmas in a house that is made of bricks and mortar, possibly for a long time. For probably many years to come, we will be spending our Christmas' in a house on wheels. It was a very special day for me, as I love to treasure moments that I spend with my family, since I will be heading off to college, in a little over two years. As we all open our presents, the true meaning of Christmas slips away with the excitement of our new gifts. Yes, they are wonderful and we are blessed to live in a country where we have money that we can spend to bless our loved ones, but through all of the preparations for Christmas we get caught up in all of the holiday chaos and need to be reminded of the true meaning of Christmas.



Some might ask, "what is the true meaning of Christmas? Isn't it about the presents, food, and spending time with our families?" The sad thing is, we are so spoiled by all of the material items we obtain during the holiday season, many forget the true meaning. We don't even stop to think about this very important day in history; the day our precious Savior was born. For the last, at least, ten years of our Christmas mornings, we celebrate the birth of our Savior by singing happy birthday to Jesus and eating cake, or for instance, this year, a blueberry coffee cake = ). We make it a point to celebrate Christ's birth before we are allowed to open our presents because we find ourselves, throughout the day, getting caught up in playing with our new toys and gadgets and totally blowing off the true meaning of Christmas.



Families celebrate Christmas in different ways. For my family, we start the day by celebrating Christ's birth through singing and cake, then we move on to opening our three presents, each one resembles the three presents Jesus was given. After that, we then move on to our oversized stockings. Eventually, my mom and I cook dinner. Before we eat, someone in our family, brings a plate to our elderly neighbor, who is in need of some neighborly love, then we eat our dinner and finish the day by playing with our gifts and spending time with one another. Hmmm....what happens here? We start our day out right by celebrating the true meaning of Christmas but then throughout the day, it becomes more about our material "gods" and we forget to celebrate His birth.



I am SO excited about the presents I got this Christmas. (actually, I am using one right now to write this little Christmas story = ).) But the reason I brought this up is because I was thinking this afternoon, that there are so many kids, or even some adults, who may not have had a gift to open this Christmas. It made me feel so selfish because I got so much this year. I thought I needed a laptop, a new Ipod, cell phone and camera so I could keep in touch with friends, or should I say, to keep in touch with the world. Its not a bad thing to be blessed and I am totally, without a doubt, enjoying my gifts, but I'm also sad for the kids who might not have had a visit from the notorious Santa Claus this year = ). But then I am reminded of these people whom the world would say have so little but actually, in most instances, these people are the ones who are truly blessed. Why do I say this? Because these wonderful souls are not poisoned by what the world would consider blessings, such as: computers, phones, mounds of clothing, more than one pair of shoes, amounts of food that would feed hundreds and lots of other unnecessary items. They may have the love of Jesus in their hearts which exceedingly amounts to way more than what the world thinks we need. Their Christmas's aren't about the toys....There about Jesus!



You see, these people are the ones whom have the advantages to further the kingdom of heaven. We are the ones who are going to have to work harder to serve our King because we have so much that may get in our way. So after this realization, I can happily say, even as a teen, that I am totally excited to be downsizing and moving into a house on wheels. We don't need all of this stuff and I can't wait to leave!


Love,

Libby

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. ( :