part 2 of the journey west..

so we left off when we parted ways and the wall's landed downtown vancouver at a gastly hour and we were at my folks place in kelowna.

from there we will continue... :)

friday, march 16 - moving in day
i got up early to leave by about 630 am and get to burnaby before lunch with lots of time to spare.

6:19am - i'm off! snowed in the night..dont know what to expect in the mountains on the highway.. once again i'll be looking for the son!

about an hour later i hit merritt..

7:38 am - approaching merritt.. i can't tell you how weepy i am.. we get the house today.. we begin this journey today..

8:12 am - oh my gosh.. i see a rainbow. sigh. jesus rocks.

the roads were great! and i was beginning my decent down the mountain into hope.

8:24 am - roads are clear sor far. a little traffic on roads but not bad.. spitting at times. blue sky in front of me.. :) i'm overwhelmed.
listening to steven curtis chapmans album, "all things new".. so fitting..

finally got to hope at 9:06. there was a detour.. they had to clear off the hightway from the landslides. i had to go across the bridge and take the highway thru agassiz.

9:54 am - back on the number1 highway. detour at hope - slides - and the rain has welcomed me to the lower mainland, my new home. :)

a little rain as i hit the lower mainland, but nothing windshields wipers weren't built for!

what a weird feeling to drive into greater vancouver, thinking that this is where you will hang your hat and call home..it was so full of emotion, driving past landmarks i knew as a kid.. wow..and here i was not akid anymore, driving back into the city.. crazy!

as i drove into the GVRD (greater vancouver regional district) i called our most excellent realtor bruce as per instructions to get into the house. he had to locate the keys. now THAT was an interesting piece of pertinant info!! so when i got the call back from bruce, saying that they were above the front door on the door sill, i was a little shocked... this WAS the city, hello!

11:10am - i am in burnaby! crazy reality!!

then as i went to the house and waited for the wall's to meet me there, i understood why it wasn't a HUGE issue - the door sill is about 7 feet, and there was NO way in safeway i was about to "reach" for them...i had to wait for scott to save the day!

so they came and we went into our new home.. empty...waiting for us to unload our boxes. and that we did! luckily for us, darlene's dad had an interview in vancouver the day before and would be here to help us unload the van.. YEAH! so for the next 4-ish hours, that is what we did.. backed the uHaul up to the garage and started unloading boxes. i kinda became the box sorter; as scott and henry (dar's dad) took them off the van and either handed them to me or placed them inside, i would take them up or down to the rooms they were to go in. little did i know the next day i would wake up with THE sorest quads and calves i have EVER had! and bruises on my legs to show for it too! but we got it done and met dar's brother, nathan, for greek lunch at 330 as the men took the van to it's drop off station.

noticed as we unpacked, that both backyards beside us had kids' toys.. nice. :)

we all started unpacking boxes as we wiped out cupboards. what a job!
i was definitely ready for bed that night.

the weekend...some Ikea, good sushi, erin's arrival, and more unpacking..
the next morning, i woke up as tho a MAC truck hit me, from all the stairs i did for 4 hours. unreal. that morning i had made a list and went to Ikea to pick up somethings before i went and got erin from the airport.

we decided to all meet for supper at the airport as dar's dad was leaving just as erin got in.

after our goodbye's and hello's, we headed "home" once again. and unpacked more boxes (are you seeing a running theme here??!) we pretty much did this all weekend. :)

we still had no phone/internet (we had a vonage phone, which is THRU the internet, so without the internet it was pretty much useless.)

sunday afternoon led us to another trip to Ikea.. we fit a king size frame into my car, if you can believe it! (my dad gave us an almost new king mattress and all we needed was to get a frame for it! thank you jesus!) thankfully, Ikea boxes up their products real good..but it was still long and fit in!

when i called the kids today to check on them, i mentioned to them that our neighbors must have kids, cuz of all the toys in the backyard. and rosie, in only true rosie-form, convicting her mother, says: they do? well did you go meet them yet? :) oh my daughter.. i can see she's got evangelism in her blood. so funny!

and did i mention it rains a lot here?!? :)

monday...where is thy sting?
first thing monday morning i was on the phone with Shaw Cable setting up our internet - wed morning they'd be here.. saweeeeeeeet!

my mission , since i left the kids in kelowna, was to make up their rooms and have them all unpacked so they would have some sense of home and familiarity when they arrived. that and unpacking my office/room.. oh joy!

hayley pretty much started doing the walking thing full on this week..impecable timing! :) she is so cute!

and the rest of the week sorta melts together...
i went back to kelowna wed after the internet and phone were all good to go, and stayed there til friday, yesterday. brought the kids home here and they were so excited to be here.. went straight up to their rooms.. was so sweet. it still seems all surreal.. altho i see our stuff here, it MUST be real.

i'm not sure what else to write.. my brain is fried.. it's amost midnight.. i will post what i sent to lani in estevan to share with our church family there tomoro during service.

really looking forward for jonathan to be here with us.. being apart for almost 2 and a half weeks, gets old REAL fast!

thanks for sharing this journey with us. will post more soon!

trace

To our church family in Estevan,

Well we have arrived! We got here thru the mountains and your prayers and thoughts were much appreciated! We had an exciting adventure! If you don’t read our blog on the internet about our trips’ adventures, they are posted on the bulletin board for your reading.

We are still unpacking boxes and settling in. There is lots of emotion for all us in our move – excitement, anticipation, uncertainty, expectancy. To not know where we may be going on a bus route, or knowing that “SOMEWHERE down one of these streets is a gas station”, everything is so new and unknown. We are all very thankful that we are not here individually and alone – that we have this core team here together, to come home to, to brainstorm with, to love and live with.

Yet amidst the chaos and transition of settling and getting into a groove here, there is no doubt the assurance in our hearts that we are in the right place, and know that God’s got something for us to do here in our new city.

We think of you often, as our family, knowing that you are all going through transition too. Know that we think and pray for you in it all…and that not a day goes by we don’t think of you and see all your faces!

We do have a few prayer requests that we would love for you all to pray for us this week:

* Caleb & Rosie start school on Monday (tomoro). Please pray that their transition to their new classes would be smooth and they would feel welcomed. Hayley, as she settles into routine and is in the fun stage of walking!

* Darlene starting work in a week at the BC Women’s & Children’s Hospital, and strength to finish papers for her course for work, due at the end of the week.

* Erin is in the throws of job hunting and meeting with recruiters. Please continue to pray that the right job comes quickly!

* Tracey starts BNI (Business Networking International) this week in downtown Vancouver. pray she will begin to build relationships with the business she comes in contact with.

*Scott – that his application process for UBC will be quick and his interviews go well and he is able to meet key people in the school that will help build bridges for what he is pursuing in his education. And for all the “mom groups” he and hayley will attend together… chuckle chuckle. J

* Jonathan and traveling safety for he and Pacey (our dog!) as they travel together in the big uHaul.


Well that’s all for this week! Again, we miss you all and love you lots!
Oh by the way…Have you seen our sun? I think we left it there. J

Tracey, Caleb & Rosie,
Scott, Darlene & Hayley,
and Erin

the MissionBurnaby Team