Adventure Album, November 2013

Moving to Las Vegas

I.  Leaving Western Colorado

Somewhat symbolic of the lifestyle we're leaving, we ran across this scene on the way to Mass last Sunday morning.

The Children Gather to Help With the Move

There's Paul with Gabe.  He and Nicole
and Grandbaby, Gavin, stopped by
on their way back through Colorado
after attending a friend's wedding. 

Our beautiful daughter-in-law, Nicole (and baby-still-
cooking, Evelyn Elizabeth -- due in March), we got to
see for only a couple of days, but Dominic,was home
 to help us through most of the move.

Kevvy made a cameo appearance,
bringing Uncle Steve over so he
could drive back to Denver in a
big U-Haul.  Kev planned to come
back to help with the move,
but ended up getting a job
opportunity later in the week that
we urged him not to pass on. We had
plenty of help so didn't really need
him -- but still missed his face!

 Paul  was here just long enough to be an invaluable help to my brother,
 commonly known as "Uncle Steve"
as he moved his stuff from storage in our barns!

 We Interrupt This Move For Some Silliness

More Fun and Games:

Got to See Gavin!

"This is the strategy, Gavs...  You can get away with more than I can, so..."

Gavin always wins.

 Back To That Moving Thing We're Doing

That wrought iron lawn furniture Dan, Sr. wanted me to throw away twenty years ago.
Still have it, Grandpa.  And it is a bugger to pack in the moving truck,....

"We'll move away from Colorado when pigs fly..."

 We Interrupt This Moving Thing for Anna's Birthday!

Sweet, funny Anna Germaine turned 11 years old, November 12th!

She wanted a cheesecake -- and, needless to say, we were way too busy to
bake one right in the middle of the move...  So, we got a cheesecake at Walmart --
and turned it into a winter wonderland scene, with bridges, trees, and figures from
the Christmas department.  Mini marshmallows stood in for snow.  As part of her
birthday gift, she gets to keep the cake decorations to start her own Christmas
Village scene. She kinda liked that!

Got this cuuute dress and a pair of leggins to go with.
Also, a big colorer, she got new crayons and coloring
books, as requested.

Back To Moving...

 "Home is where the dining room table is."

We all agreed about that.  The family table. We love it, but...

Ugh.  It's huge  And heavy!  And it's always a trick to move it.

Much discussion and strategizing accompanies this maneuver.

To wit:

Check out Michelle!  There she is!  Don't know how it is
I didn't get more pictures of you, Shelly!  Love your face!

Are you absorbing this, Shell?  If BroPhi doesnt know how to
do this thing right, nobody does....

 Mission Accomplished!

Home is now a  Budget Moving Truck

Are ya tired, Brother Philip?
All this thinking will wear a guy out.

We Interrupt this Move....

Eating with no table.

No trouble.

Btw:  Way to much pizza was eaten in this move...

We ran down the road to Delta and picked up the always-popular (and I'm not kidding!) Papa Murphy's Gourmet Vegge pizza... Vegge, because it was Friday, but, no kidding, we'd eat this pizza any day of the week, it's so good. Seriously, if you haven't tasted it, you're missing out!  Unless you're William -- who doesn't like artichokes, or spinach, or  mushrooms, or pretty much anything else on this pizza..  Good grief, you crazy child!

So, "Fine!" we said, "Fine, William!  You'll just have to have tuna fish!  That's all we've got."

To which he replied, "OK!" 
He likes tuna sandwiches!

Playing Games

Dinner over, pizza gone; time for some entertainment.
Every electronic device, game board, toy, and deck of cards had been packed, but that didn't stop
these guys.  From amidst the debris someone produced a bazillion poker chips and a drinking glass, and before we knew it, a competition materialized.

Here's a snippet of the pastime they came up with.  See how it's played?



(Funny thing.  After they finished, ready to do some more moving, one of the children picked up the glass and the bottom fell right out of it! The constant "plinking" was just too much, I guess!)

II. Fast Forward To Now

In Vegas 

Here's how we did this thing: We made two trips from Colorado to Las Vegas over one week, each time filling a twenty-four foot rental truck to the ceiling.  We made the last trip, carrying our most vital stuff -- and all of us in two cars and the truck -- on Sunday, the 17th of November. Paul and Family had come and gone home to San Clemente by then, Uncle Steve had gotten his truckload back over the mountains to Denver, and Michelle had headed back over to Denver, as well (after an adventure getting stuck in a snowstorm on top of a mountain -- a whole 'nother story!), but Brother Philip (Jon) and Dominic (Bless them!) were still with us, making the drive to Nevada and helping us with the unloading.  

By Tuesday, the 19th, Dominic had flown back to the seminary in Idaho, but we still had Brother Philip until Saturday, the 23rd (yesterday).  We sure miss Dominic now, and Br. Philip, too.  Nothing like having them home for a time to make us miss them all the more when they're gone again!  While he was here, though, Brother P. offered to cook the first real meal in the new house (on Tuesday, the 19th).  He made us enchiladas, and they were some kinda good!  Pictured below, we're all set up for that first meal with all the most important things in place: the little statue of Our Blessed Mother "looking on", books in the bookcase, dining room table where it belongs, roses from my honey on the table, and...

William smiling in anticipation of some real food!  Home is where the table is.  And where we are together, sitting around it...

Here's a view of the dining room and "billiards room" from the landing on the stairs:

And,  have I mentioned that we love, love, love this new kitchen?
Cathy, one of our chefs, practically lives in here.

And we'll all be pool sharks before it's all over.

And, so, yeah....  Wow. 

 We live in Las Vegas, Nevada now.  

L-R: Cathy, Dominic, William, Theresa, Gabe, Br. Philip, Anna

The whole thing, concept to implementation, has been quite the adventure, an experience unlike any other for our family. But, it's all good! We're having a lot of fun and everyone is adjusting well.  We love the amazing park nearby! (Post on that coming eventually!)  And everyone has been enjoying the new house -- the pool table, especially, and the nice kitchen which opens onto a cozy family room.  It's been chilly, windy and rainy most of this week, though, and the heater is broken on our hot tub (imagine me saying such a thing!), so we haven't had a chance to  try out the backyard pool yet...  But nobody feels like we're suffering at all here in Las Vegas!

Our house is in a suburb that feels pretty much like any other suburb, and if it weren't for the fact that our chapel is near downtown, the infamous Las Vegas "strip" would be invisible to us. If you deleted the Space Needle in the distance and overlooked all the Xeriscaping and the dry treeless mountains around the city, you'd almost think we were in Denver.  Honestly, it's more an adjustment for our family not living in the country than it is an adjustment living in a suburb of "sin city."  So far we've had more trouble understanding how city trash collection works than dealing with any "evil vibrations" coming from over yonder.  We'll see how that goes as time goes on, though.  I'll let you know.

Many thanks to all our helpers! In heaven -- special thanks to: St Christopher, St. Raphael, St. Jude, St. Philip Neri, and all our particular patrons!  And on earth --our heartfelt gratitude for all the prayers sent up for our benefit -- from everyone; you know who you are! We know your prayers were instrumental in the safe smooth transition.  You can count on our prayers for you in return!

*Coming soon:  

Stupidest Things To Forget About When Moving -- From Someone Who Knows Firsthand

** Please forgive the poor organization and formatting -- and not particularly good pictures -- in this post?  So much to catch up on!  So little time to fine tune it!