Packing ... packing ... and MORE packing!

The last few weeks have been a roller coaster ride of fun times with family and friends and LOTS of packing.

1st - we packed for our time in Europe and China - figuring out what was essential (I use this term lightly since it seems to keep changing) for us to take for the next seven months.

2nd - we packed up ALL the rest of the stuff we had accumulated from our four months in the same airbnb - moving it all back to the basement of our house.  (Thanks to the Websters for being so accommodating with all of our visits to the house over the holidays!)

3rd - we packed our six large suitcases, five small suitcases, four backpacks and whatever else we felt like we couldn't live without into our minivan along with seven people!  It was a VERY tight fit!  It was a little like trying to fit everything into a very large hard shell suitcase.  Lots of Tetris-like finagling, pushing, squishing, laughing, swearing and door slamming.  We all fit ... not so comfortably.  On the bright side, I think we got a great workout in before our trip!

Packed to the extreme and leaving Utah

4th - we unpacked our stuff in the pouring rain at Rick's cousin's home in Tucson/Sahuarita.  These are the kind of cousins everyone should have.  When we asked if they would be willing to let us stay with them for part of our time in Tucson, they didn't hesitate and even gave us the code to their garage so we could make ourselves at home for a couple nights while they were traveling during the holidays. If that wasn't enough to qualify them for sainthood they even let all of my kids sleep in their kids' beds instead of just throwing them on the floor like I suggested.  I suppose stealing their yogurt when we left wasn't a very charitable way of saying "thank you."  We just wanted them to know how much we appreciated their hospitality and food ... or maybe we didn't read the flavor on the package and thought it was ours.

5th - after a few days of playing games, learning to make ebelskivers, and lots of playing with cousins we packed up again to move to the land of bunk beds (AKA - grandpa & grandma's apartment in Tucson).  Grandpa & Grandma West have been serving as missionaries in the Arizona Tucson Mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints since January, 2017.  Their time here is almost over and we have been blessed to be able to visit them two Christmas holidays in a row.  Because missionaries entering or leaving the mission come to stay in their home (AKA - the land of bunkbeds) once a month, they are lucky to have an extra bedroom and loft with not one ... two ... three ... or four bunkbeds ... but FIVE of them!  Perfect for hosting family that might be visiting ... or missionaries that just need a bed to sleep in for the night.  This year, Rick's brother, Adam, and his family came to visit, which is why we chose to stay a few nights with Rick's cousin.  Five bunkbeds might seem like a lot but a two-bedroom (plus loft) apartment is still a bit of a tight squeeze when you have ten children and six adults. So we stayed with Rick's cousin and came to visit each day.  We loved seeing their family, especially the wee one, Victoria, that we had only seen in photos.  And, of course, our kids LOVED playing with their cousins.  In the end, although sad to see them go, we were excited for our turn in the land of bunk beds.

6th - Unfortunately, our turn didn't last long and we were booted out in favor of transferring missionaries who needed a place to stay.  Although we tried to convince Grandpa and Grandma that tossing us in the street wasn't a good example of Christian charity they insisted the missionaries wouldn't appreciate sleeping on the street either.  So, we found some other local friends willing to take in poor wandering souls - giving us a home and feeding us.  We packed up our stuff again and moved down to Vail (the one in Arizona, not Colorado) for a couple nights.  Really, we have some awesome friends and family!  They take us in, they feed us and let us use their wi-fi.  They even let us use their bathrooms!  I mean, they really had no idea what kind of people they might be letting into their home.  We could put the toilet paper rolls on with the toilet paper going under rather than over the roll!  Luckily, at least one member of our family knows that the ONLY way to put on the toilet paper roll is to have the sheets going over the top of the roll and she (me) is willing to fix it if someone does it wrong.

7th - missionary transfers only take a couple nights so we quickly found ourselves taking our rightful place in the land of bunk beds again.  But not until we'd played a mean game of monopoly with the Pratt kids in Vail.  There is still some contention over who actually won this game but after several hours we thought it best to end the game by any means necessary.  The Pratt's also gave us the low down on German food, the Rhine Valley and gelato.  Definitely true friends and our kind of people!

8th - Today was our last day of packing before leaving the country tomorrow.  As I mentioned before, our definition of what is "essential" has changed quite a bit after moving our stuff all over Pima county.  Each packing was a painful process of culling more and more stuff from our suitcases.  We are still going to look like a bunch of pack rats with our six large suitcases, five small suitcases and four backpacks but, hopefully we won't burst any zippers or have to pay any over weight charges at the airport! We've loved seeing Grandpa and Grandma and our friends and are feeling excitement and trepidation as we approach our next move.  I can't believe that we leave the country tomorrow!

I feel as if we have been packing and moving for months ... oh, wait, we have!  I did say in my first post that I was going to share the good, the bad and the ugly in this blog.  Packing has definitely been the worst part of this sabbatical so far. We moved a lot in the first 13 years of our marriage (13 moves in 13 years) so you would think that moving seven people in suitcases would be a piece of cake.  But when you're moving multiple times in a month it can be rather trying.  Partly because each time we moved we rearranged things and got rid of stuff so we could fit better in the luggage we had.  Partly because moving it just hard.

Since we should at least leave this post on a positive note, I will share some photos of the fun times we've had since we left Utah:

Visiting with Steph's family in Mesa on our way to Tucson

Biosphere 2

Biosphere 2

Watching movies at Grandpa & Grandma's 

(AKA the adults need some quiet time)

If looks could kill! @ the Arizona History Museum in Tucson

Is there room for some more?

Dress up at the Arizona History Museum

"Making dinner" at the Arizona History Museum

Dressing up at the Arizona History Museum

You can even ride a horse at the Arizona History Museum!

When you're bored you can rearrange the stuffed animals 

and play "Where's Pup Pup?" in the gift shop

This photo was taken not long before the little child 

on the left took a fall/leap/jump/whatever you want 

to call it into the water

Sonoran hot dogs - bacon makes everything better, right?

At the playground (AKA peace and quiet for moms and grandma)  

A GREAT BIG thank you to the dads for taking the kids!

Playing with the easy bake oven

Just chillin'

Titan Missile Museum

Giddy up, cowgirl!

New Years Eve and homemade pizza

Pup pup always looking for a photo op

Stylin' in our Sunday clothes (notice Pup Pup in the photo too)

I think we have an artist in the family ...

Our last Arizona sunset

Pup pup learning to fly

Can't leave without his passport