New House!

Wow! We're still surprised we actually made this move to a new house. We have been in the house for about 2 weeks at this point, and are slowly but surely settling in. Now that we are on the other side of the more difficult aspects of moving, it's clear to see we made asmart choice. Though we have warm feelings toward our old house, this new space fits our family more completely. Hopefully, in time, we'll come to feel as comfortable in and attached to this home as we were in our old house.

Ryan packs him room.

Evan's room, nearly empty.

As long as we lived there, we met pretty much every night to read stories aloud together. At first it was me reading board books, then pictures books, then they started reading, now we read chapter books. This is our last night (Wednesday 8/12) of stories in the Orchard Drive house. 

Time to pack the truck! We hired some movers to help us pack a U-Haul. After about 5 hours of lugging items out, and packing strategically back to front, floor to ceiling, we realized we needed a second truck. Luckily, we were able to make that work! The movers had a heck of a time moving the piano to the truck. That was stressful to work, but it worked out. It's safely placed in the new house, and Burke already got it tuned.

Saying good-bye to our arf-arf. To explain, a few years ago, who knows exactly when, we were driving away from the house, maybe for an extended trip. Again, details are not clear. But what stuck in our family memory is as we drove away, Ryan said, "Bye, arf-arf," and he was addressing the house. Since then, we've periodically said, "Bye, arf-arf," when we drive away. Ryan recently said, it doesn't feel right calling our new space arf-arf. We'll wait for a new nickname to organically emerge. Silly, precious story. 

Bye, treehouse/platform, built by Burke & Lolo in 2016.

Our big old deck, built by the previous owner, that we really loved quite a bit. Speaking of the previous owner, they caught wind that we were selling, and asked if they could walk through for nostalgic reasons. We can appreciate that sentiment, so of course, they came through. We rented this house from them for about 18 months prior to buying it from them, so we sort of knew them. It was a blessing to reconnect and share stories, and an appreciation for the memories of the house spanning some 30 years. 

We will REALLY miss the hot tub. Used it a lot!

We hope to put one in the new yard asap. 

Out front - bye, arf-arf...

We lived here from August 2010-August 2020!

In case anyone was wondering, these are the last items to remove from the house: broom, garbage can, vacuum, coffee maker, saw, step stool, bag of junk, and children. Thursday night, we four of us walked through the house together, mentioning notable memories as we walked through each room. We spent then next two nights at my parents. 

On Friday 8/14, we shuffled trucks around, closed on both properties, unloaded one truck, and painted Evan's room in the new space. 

On Saturday, the movers returned to help us unpack the original truck. They made quick work of it, and then we were on our own to get situated and learn about our new space. Not sure what to do with all these boxes!

The boys also made quick work of setting up their rooms. First night in new house, Saturday 8/15!

Our new house!!

August 2020-???

Off to explore. Here's to new adventures...

Evan's 10 Year Pictures

Better late than never, when Evan was a little more than half way to 11, I finally got around to having some quality pics taken in honor of his 10 year milestone birthday. Our friend and professional photographer, Lydia, took the pictures. We explored some new areas of our community to use as beautiful, natural backdrops. Here are a few favorites...

Evan George Lokey

10 Years Old

Burke, Ryan, and I snuck into a few pictures, too.

We are so grateful for these generous captures of this moment in time!

July

Time keeps ticking in this unreal and unfair COVID reality. We continue to be safe and healthy, and are immensely thankful for that, though we are so sad for the many who have died or suffer long term effects of this novel virus. The weight of the world is very challenging to process. We continue to press on. 

This is the neighborhood crew. When we moved in, there were NO other children. In the last couple years, these kiddos arrived. :) I took this photo because as we prepare to move, Evan is sad to leave this crew. Luckily, we are only moving 1.2 miles away, and a direct/safe bike ride, so hopefully, they can stay in touch.

Our one and only beach day this summer.

I was lucky enough to safely visit with some dear college friends in July.

We checked out a new-to-us county park.

This was pretty fun! We went to a drive in movie. I don't think I've been to a drive in since the 1980s. I think we saw E.T. at a drive in. This time, we watched The Goonies, which is a childhood favorite.

We went with my parents to a fair food drive though on the county fairgrounds. It was a fun diversion. Nachos, cookies, elephant ears... 

Burke took the boys blueberry picking, and then we had delicious cobbler.  An annual tradition/treat.

Evan participated in our local library's book club. They read The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill. He was having trouble getting into the book at first. I really had to push him over the hump. In the end, we all really enjoyed it. It was different than anything we've read, at least recently. He said it was "deep." I cried a couple times at the depth. Ryan added it to his Top 15 Favorite Books list. A few kiddos and librarians connected via Zoom for a book club conversation. Evan actively participated, and I was impressed and proud.

Ryan and a couple school friends spent the day together. His friend (on the far left) moved to Denver, so we were happy to get them together one last time. 

August will bring a change of address, as we prepare to switch houses next weekend. 
August will bring more planning for the 2020-2021 school year, be it in-person or virtual. 

May August bring us good health and attitudes of gratitude. Be safe. Peace.