15 days to go!!

We will be on the plane to the USA 2 weeks tomorrow, November 28th. It will be a marathon journey leaving here at 4am and taking around 24 hours in total, but we will be sleeping at our house in Illinois at the end of it!!

We are finishing up here - we are sending a few things with a shipping company so that is all packed up and ready for them to come and collect, although they haven't contacted us yet so it may still all be here on the 28th!! People are coming each day to take away more things that they have bought so the house looks different every time we come home. The children are getting used to living out of suitcases as all our wardrobes and cupboards are gradually disappearing. We have had a flurry of sleep overs and get togethers for the children, and we are slowly but surely working through our list of people we need to make sure we spend time with before we leave. It looks like we will be able to get through our list before we head out so lets hope we can!!

The children are all doing well considering the time of transition we are entering once again. We can definately see that they are more close to tears at times but generally they are doing well so we are glad about that.

Vicky leaves 4 days before we do and she has saved our lives - no kidding!! Abi cannot imagine having had to pack up the house, say goodbyes and get everyone organised if she had been teaching too. We are SO thankful. We will be sad to see her go as she is now part of the family. It has been great having her here and she has fitted into our family life so easily it will leave a huge hole when she is gone. We are trying to persuade her to come and visit soon.

Jems is growing before our eyes. She has started to wave which is very cute and she continues to be a delight. We have added a photo of her first tooth brushing - she now has 8 teeth so we are trying to keep on top of that!!! We are hoping she will have a reprieve as they have come so fast and have been painful so we are hoping she either gets them all over and done with, or slows down to give us a bit of a break!!

Our house is coming together in Illinois. Brad's parents have been busily putting up beds and unwrapping furniture for us which will be great for when we arrive. We are looking forward to seeing our things again and sleeping in our own bed. The children are excited about starting school - they will begin on December 3rd so we hope that will be a smooth transition for everyone. As yet Tate is not in any pre-school program as they are all full but Abi is looking forward to spending some time with him, so if that doesn't materialise she has some ideas up her sleeve. We know he has a place for the next academic year so we aren't worried about it.

We will try to keep in touch as best we can and will update you as soon as we have internet access in Illinois.