It amazes me how quickly Amelia is growing and changing. She recognizes so many new things on a daily basis. This morning she was watching the Disney movie Home while we were working on various moving projects. She has seen this movie a handful of times. Suddenly I heard crying. I looked in and sure enough she is watching the movie, tears down her cheeks, whimpering. When I asked her what was wrong she pointed to the movie and said "I sad". She was watching the end scenes when O is trying to return the rock and gets crushed..... but then isn't crushed. I cuddled her and quickly she saw that O was ok. Then the Gorg alien appeared and she grabbed on tight "I scared, want Daddy". So off to the garage we went for a Daddy cuddle. She has been scared by a show before..... Beauty and the Beast for example. But this is the first time a show made her cry. She recognized that what she was watching was a sad scenario. And poor girl is going to be a mush just like her mother. We should buy stock in tissues or stop watching movies.
Amelia has been a champ during all of the upheaval around our house. She wasn't sleeping well, but other than that she is great at going with the flow. There is still so much unknown about our move. Everything we thought we knew for certain in our last blog post isn't certain anymore..... everything except the job and location that is, those are 100%. Hopefully it will all be locked in by tomorrow night. Fingers Crossed.
Monday, September 14, 2015
Friday, September 11, 2015
The Job, The Move, The Chaos
As most of you probably already know, Aaron has a new job with Gemma Power. He is going to be the assistant project manager overseeing the construction of a renewable energy power plant from conception to commissioning. He is very excited about this new job. So what does all this mean for the Card Family......
Aaron starts work in 1 week, down in Glastonbury CT on 9/21.
We found renters for our NH house, so we have to be 100% out (and have the interior painted, the carpets shampooed, the pellet stove serviced, the house spotless, etc) in 2 weeks, by 9/25.
Our POD is being delivered 9/19 so we can pack up our belonging and have them stored until our apartment is ready to be moved into.
The bees are being moved next week to a friends in CT and another CT friend is letting us store the beekeeping equipment in their barn. Moving bee hives this time of year is not easy. They are heavy with honey, and tall. But it has to happen.
Our apartment in CT wont be ready until 10/10 so Aaron will live in a hotel near work 9/21 - 10/9 while Jill and Amelia will stay in NH until 9/25 and then stay with Family in Western, MA until 10/9.
Aaron will be based in Glastonbury CT from 9/21/15 - 1/31/17. After which we will all move to Eastern, MA where the power plant will be constructed. Construction is expected to take 2 years. After which we will move again, but won't know to where exactly for a while.
Life in our house is crazy right now. We are packing, down sizing, preparing the house for renters, making arrangements to move/stay/and live. We are very blessed to have such wonderful friends and family to help us at both ends of our journey. We have loved living in NH but if we have to leave we are glad to go back to CT where we lived when we met and the first few years of our married life. and have so many wonderful friends. Our house is a mess as we try to pack, clean, make piles for donation/keep, paint, etc. Amelia even tells us "MESS". Doesn't help that Amelia loves to make messes and is getting away with a lot during this transitional time (eating chicken nuggets in her parents bed for example). Life is Chaos and Exhausting right now, but we can rest after the move. We are already looking forward to our favorite family tradition Lyman's Orchard in CT for corn maze fun, cider donuts, and apple/peach/pear picking.
Aaron starts work in 1 week, down in Glastonbury CT on 9/21.
We found renters for our NH house, so we have to be 100% out (and have the interior painted, the carpets shampooed, the pellet stove serviced, the house spotless, etc) in 2 weeks, by 9/25.
Our POD is being delivered 9/19 so we can pack up our belonging and have them stored until our apartment is ready to be moved into.
The bees are being moved next week to a friends in CT and another CT friend is letting us store the beekeeping equipment in their barn. Moving bee hives this time of year is not easy. They are heavy with honey, and tall. But it has to happen.
Our apartment in CT wont be ready until 10/10 so Aaron will live in a hotel near work 9/21 - 10/9 while Jill and Amelia will stay in NH until 9/25 and then stay with Family in Western, MA until 10/9.
Aaron will be based in Glastonbury CT from 9/21/15 - 1/31/17. After which we will all move to Eastern, MA where the power plant will be constructed. Construction is expected to take 2 years. After which we will move again, but won't know to where exactly for a while.
Life in our house is crazy right now. We are packing, down sizing, preparing the house for renters, making arrangements to move/stay/and live. We are very blessed to have such wonderful friends and family to help us at both ends of our journey. We have loved living in NH but if we have to leave we are glad to go back to CT where we lived when we met and the first few years of our married life. and have so many wonderful friends. Our house is a mess as we try to pack, clean, make piles for donation/keep, paint, etc. Amelia even tells us "MESS". Doesn't help that Amelia loves to make messes and is getting away with a lot during this transitional time (eating chicken nuggets in her parents bed for example). Life is Chaos and Exhausting right now, but we can rest after the move. We are already looking forward to our favorite family tradition Lyman's Orchard in CT for corn maze fun, cider donuts, and apple/peach/pear picking.
Tuesday, September 8, 2015
Labor Day Weekend Camping
Every Memorial and Labor Day weekend we go camping. It is a cherished tradition and something we look forward to all year long. This Memorial Day weekend was no different.... despite the craziness in our lives at the moment.
Camping for us is usually a pretty smooth experience. I have perfected my camping list making/shopping/meal prepping/and packing processes. Usually I am packed and ready to go a few days before its time to hit the road and all I have to do is clean the house and a little food shopping/prep that can't be done until the last minute. We usually arrive at the campground 3-4 hours before everyone else in our party. We enjoy setting up our tent in the daylight (everyone else arrives after dark usually). We unpack everything and the woods quickly turns into an oasis with luxurious cots, a spacious tent, tidy storage bins, and camp chairs around the fire. For the first time ever, this beautiful scenario was not the case......
We planned to get to camp earlier than ever before.... since Aaron isn't working. We thought we would enjoy hiking the Quechee Gorge as a family, something we have always wanted to do but never have enough time for. But Aaron ended up having an interview that day in Rhode Island. All of a sudden we weren't sure if we would arrive at camp on Friday at all. It was a sad possibility but we aren't in a position to pass up job interviews so a sacrifice had to be made. Aaron having interviews all week also made shopping and food prep difficult for me because he took our only car. I had to do all my shopping on Wednesday which forced me to have to rethink some of our meal plans because fruit salad berried bought on Wednesday most likely would be bad by Saturday. Aaron arrived home on Friday at 5:00. We knew if we wanted to get to camp before it was pitch dark we had to leave by 5:30. I had everything in the driveway waiting to be loaded. It was more stressful than normal, more chaotic. The house was a horrible mess, and I knew we were forgetting things. We were all tired. But we were determined to get to VT. Aaron and Amelia stood in the back of the truck and I handed them up our stuff to be carefully worked tetris style into the bed, back seat, and side boxes of our truck. And then, in a split second we heard boom. I was running around the side of the truck and Aaron jumped down the side. Amelia had somehow fallen head first over the side onto our paved driveway. She is okay but it was terrifying for us. There was a lot of blood and a big egg on her head and her nose and cheek looked like they were swelling and bruising a little. We couldn't comfort her. It was horrible. So Friday night was spent in the Franklin Emergency Room. Luckily it looked much worse than it was. Just some abrasions which are healing at lightning speed.
Saturday morning we hit the road. It was a very long drive. We had a cranky/hurt toddler. A bad navigator, a vomit incident at a rest stop, and a very cranky wife who was frustrated with the bad navigator. But we did finally arrive at Silver Lake State Park (our favorite place to camp) in Vermont at 10:30 AM. We quickly unloaded, set up nothing, and hit the road to meet our friends at Sugarbush Farm. Every year Sugarbush is at the top of our to do list. We love the animals, but mostly we love the homemade cheese, syrup, and old fashioned sodas. Once we were there all the unhappiness was gone and the weekend we had been looking forward to for months finally started, albeit late. Amelia loved seeing the animals. There was a baby cow, goats, and horses. But the only one she would touch was the pony.
Saturday afternoon the men and kids had fun down the like while Kandi and I snuck off to King Arthur Flour. Sadly there are no picture because the wives weren't there. But I'm told it was a fun time and a soaked and dirty Amelia were evidence. We had chili for dinner and S'mores.... or in Amelia's case just the chocolate. And I think kyle set the record for most roasted marshmallows eaten.
Sunday we always attend church in the S Royalton Ward. The church building is on the grounds of the Joseph Smith Birthplace Memorial. We love attending this ward every year. After sacrament meeting we spent some time seeing the monument and touring the remains of the Mack Family home foundations as well as the original parts of Turnpike Road. Its so much fun to be in the thick woods and see an original stone foundation, bridge, or stone wall dating back hundreds of years.
The rest of Sunday was spent at camp relaxing. Some people napped, some read, some went for a walk. I finished the book What Would A Holy Woman Do? by Sister Wendy Nelson, which was a great and simple book that I will being enjoying for the rest of my life. It was a perfect day. We enjoyed tin-foil dinners, s'mores, watermelon, taking Myers Briggs personality tests, playing ball with Amelia, playing in the dirt, and more.
Monday we had breakfast and packed up. It is always sad when camping comes to an end. Amelia especially loved all of the attention. There was always someone to play with her camping themed toys with her, to run around with, to play ball with, etc. She has not enjoyed being home with just Mommy today. We love camping. We love Silver Lake State Park and that area of VT. But we especially love our Victorino's.
Camping for us is usually a pretty smooth experience. I have perfected my camping list making/shopping/meal prepping/and packing processes. Usually I am packed and ready to go a few days before its time to hit the road and all I have to do is clean the house and a little food shopping/prep that can't be done until the last minute. We usually arrive at the campground 3-4 hours before everyone else in our party. We enjoy setting up our tent in the daylight (everyone else arrives after dark usually). We unpack everything and the woods quickly turns into an oasis with luxurious cots, a spacious tent, tidy storage bins, and camp chairs around the fire. For the first time ever, this beautiful scenario was not the case......
We planned to get to camp earlier than ever before.... since Aaron isn't working. We thought we would enjoy hiking the Quechee Gorge as a family, something we have always wanted to do but never have enough time for. But Aaron ended up having an interview that day in Rhode Island. All of a sudden we weren't sure if we would arrive at camp on Friday at all. It was a sad possibility but we aren't in a position to pass up job interviews so a sacrifice had to be made. Aaron having interviews all week also made shopping and food prep difficult for me because he took our only car. I had to do all my shopping on Wednesday which forced me to have to rethink some of our meal plans because fruit salad berried bought on Wednesday most likely would be bad by Saturday. Aaron arrived home on Friday at 5:00. We knew if we wanted to get to camp before it was pitch dark we had to leave by 5:30. I had everything in the driveway waiting to be loaded. It was more stressful than normal, more chaotic. The house was a horrible mess, and I knew we were forgetting things. We were all tired. But we were determined to get to VT. Aaron and Amelia stood in the back of the truck and I handed them up our stuff to be carefully worked tetris style into the bed, back seat, and side boxes of our truck. And then, in a split second we heard boom. I was running around the side of the truck and Aaron jumped down the side. Amelia had somehow fallen head first over the side onto our paved driveway. She is okay but it was terrifying for us. There was a lot of blood and a big egg on her head and her nose and cheek looked like they were swelling and bruising a little. We couldn't comfort her. It was horrible. So Friday night was spent in the Franklin Emergency Room. Luckily it looked much worse than it was. Just some abrasions which are healing at lightning speed.
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| She was such a trooper. After the ER we made a pit stop at McDonald's for a Milkshake and Chicken Nuggets. |
Saturday morning we hit the road. It was a very long drive. We had a cranky/hurt toddler. A bad navigator, a vomit incident at a rest stop, and a very cranky wife who was frustrated with the bad navigator. But we did finally arrive at Silver Lake State Park (our favorite place to camp) in Vermont at 10:30 AM. We quickly unloaded, set up nothing, and hit the road to meet our friends at Sugarbush Farm. Every year Sugarbush is at the top of our to do list. We love the animals, but mostly we love the homemade cheese, syrup, and old fashioned sodas. Once we were there all the unhappiness was gone and the weekend we had been looking forward to for months finally started, albeit late. Amelia loved seeing the animals. There was a baby cow, goats, and horses. But the only one she would touch was the pony.
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| Aaron was like a little kid petty the animals. He wanted to make sure I took his picture. |
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| Goats |
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| Beautiful Horses. They were so people friendly. |
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| Amelia, Kyle, and Travis petting the pony. |
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| The Pony was the only animal she would touch since it let her pet its back instead of its face. |
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| Happy girl to finally be in VT. |
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| She liked the baby cow. Born April 2015. |
Saturday afternoon the men and kids had fun down the like while Kandi and I snuck off to King Arthur Flour. Sadly there are no picture because the wives weren't there. But I'm told it was a fun time and a soaked and dirty Amelia were evidence. We had chili for dinner and S'mores.... or in Amelia's case just the chocolate. And I think kyle set the record for most roasted marshmallows eaten.
Sunday we always attend church in the S Royalton Ward. The church building is on the grounds of the Joseph Smith Birthplace Memorial. We love attending this ward every year. After sacrament meeting we spent some time seeing the monument and touring the remains of the Mack Family home foundations as well as the original parts of Turnpike Road. Its so much fun to be in the thick woods and see an original stone foundation, bridge, or stone wall dating back hundreds of years.
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| It is an impressive monument. Solid granite. The story of how they got there is amazing. |
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| Best looking kids around. (Kyle, Sam, Claudia, Amelia, and Travis) |
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| Our weekend Selfie |
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| Family Selfies are always funny. |
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| Best part of camping is quality time with my bestie. |
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| Amelia loved running the length of this arrow. |
The rest of Sunday was spent at camp relaxing. Some people napped, some read, some went for a walk. I finished the book What Would A Holy Woman Do? by Sister Wendy Nelson, which was a great and simple book that I will being enjoying for the rest of my life. It was a perfect day. We enjoyed tin-foil dinners, s'mores, watermelon, taking Myers Briggs personality tests, playing ball with Amelia, playing in the dirt, and more.
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| Sam and Amelia are precious together. Here they are looking up at the trees and other things. |
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| The traditional end of camping "kids" picture. It took a miracle to get Amelia in this picture and without tears. |
Thursday, September 3, 2015
Life's Happenings
Life has been crazy in the Card household, but all in a good way. Aaron has more interviews than I keep track of, and 2nd interviews, and third...... He literally has interviews everyday, sometimes more than one. We hope to have a job soon.... maybe even his pick of jobs. Amelia is doing well. We have learned that she will not tell you that she needs to use the potty while playing outside, funny girl. She is still deep in princess mode and everything is about princesses, (princess dresses, princess shows, princess stories, etc). Tonight Daddy and Amelia went to the park while I went grocery shopping. She was very upset that she had to wear pants (not a princess dress). I had to tell her princesses wear pants to play on the slide and she finally agreed to wear her bright pink sparkly leggings. We are working hard to finish painting the interior of our house for renters and will start packing soon. But first some much needed camping in VT with our favorite Victorino's for the holiday weekend.
Also...... Very much hoping our next move lets us embrace the "tiny house" style of living.
Thank you for all the prayers. We feel very loved and blessed.
Here are some random pictures from the past few weeks:
Also...... Very much hoping our next move lets us embrace the "tiny house" style of living.
Thank you for all the prayers. We feel very loved and blessed.
Here are some random pictures from the past few weeks:
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| One of her many princess looks. This one is her Frozen nightgown and tiara. |
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| Mommy and Amelia had a few hours to kill while the Sister Missionaries were in their transfer meeting. It was a rainy day so we went to the Mall of New Hampshire. We enjoyed donuts for breakfast and then played in the indoor play area and on riding toys. More pictures below. |
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| Amelia says this is a chocolate milk cow. |
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| Amelia was playing on this, sliding with another little boy. The two of them somehow ended up on top together, but there wasn't enough room and he fell off. Thank goodness for cushioned floors. |
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| Amelia got herself ready to go to the hardware store with Daddy. Princess of Amelia, ruler over paint and tools, lol. |
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| Daddy has been gone alot for interviews, sometimes for many days. So Amelia and Mommy had a girls night. Dinner and Ice Cream at the Soda Shop. She loves Grilled Cheese. |
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