Fun in Maryland (and DC)!

We have been in Maryland for two weeks now! My best friend Lidia just visited us for a weeks, so we have been preoccupied exploring our new turf. Here are some pictures of some of our outings.

The Capitol
Walking around DC

Visiting the Botanical Gardens (one of my favorite places)

Orchids

Resting in the Orchid Room

We went to Mount Vernon, George Washington's home or should I say estate.

As you can tell Audrey and Eric spent a lot of time together and his back felt it!

We went apple picking per Lidia's request at Larriland Farms (that rhymes with Maryland- I think they planned that). I have never seen so many apples in my life. I ate about four or five there and we brought 20 pounds home to make apple pies, apple butter and other assorted apple things.

We made it!

The Lapointe family is now in Maryland. I arrived last night with Audrey. She did very well on the plane other than 30 minutes when she was trying to fall asleep. It was weird seeing all of our stuff here already. It feels like living in two different worlds at the same time. Eric's family unloaded our truck last weekend- a big job that we are so thankful for. Eric arrived tonight at 5:30 and Audrey did not let go of him to first hour. We have some settling to do before it starts to feel like home, but we are excited to finally be here. In less important news: we really like the state flag.

Middle America

My husband is literally in the middle of America. Eric left Saturday at 6 am to drive across country. Our good friend Randy is driving our second car- thanks Randy! The first night they spent in Grand Junction at Eric's grandmother's house. He enjoyed the Rockies this morning; they even got some snow at the summit. Then, they were off the flattest part of our country. He is not impressed by the high winds and striking lack of anything scenery. Tonight they are in Salina, Kansas. They have two more days of driving to go and will total 2,720 miles. Audrey and I fly out in the morning (we got the best end of that deal). Please pray for our safety as we all travel.


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Farewell Malaika

Tonight my sister and I made the hard discusion to put down our family dog, Malaika. She was about 15 years old and had many health problems. Lately she was having a lot of respiratory issues and my little sister, Lauren had a very rough night with her Saturday night. She continued to have increased effort to breathe and poor oxygenation and we we decided that is was not right to let her suffer anymore. There were about five other families saying goodbye to their pets at the local vet's office. It was so sad. I left wondering how anyone could ever work there then realized that's what people always said about my job. Malaika was a great dog and Lauren loved her like her own child. The house already has a strange silence. I feel like I have already said goodbye to too many pets this week.

Recovery

Last spring Eric and I scheduled vacation never knowing just how much we would need it. This weekend we headed to Phoenix for four days. We were invited to come to the Marriott's Canyon Villas to spend a few days and hear a timeshare presentation. This is our third time hearing one of these presentations so we aren't really susceptible to buying a timeshare (not that we are opposed). Last April, we figured that we would just go and have a cheap vacation. We had no idea, after packing up our entire lives, how much we would need the break and how perfectly God would have orchestrated the timing. Here are a few pics from our very restful vacation.

Eric enjoying the scenic five hour drive featuring dirt and cacti.

Audrey also enjoying the drive.

We enjoyed the "Lizard Lagoon" kids pool.

Audrey decided she wanted to wear her sunglasses like Mommy and Daddy,
so cool.

Chasing bunnies with her bunny.

The foliage.

Although all we did was drive, eat, sleep, swim, swim, sleep, eat and drive- we had a great time. And most of all felt really relaxed.

Moving Day

Last Monday we moved out of the Farm. We had a physically and emotionally exhausting day. Here are some pictures of the process.

Packing all our favorite things!

Relaxing the night before in camping chairs in our couch-less living room.

Lidia beating our rugs with a stick like the good Romanian woman that she is.

"Sharps container" boxes everywhere- thanks City of Hope for an endless supply of boxes.

Audrey inspecting the empty truck.

We have so much stuff!

Moving is a lot of work! We thought we would be more relieved when the truck was packed, but we are just now beginning to feel relaxed. I was so wired that I did not even sleep the night after the big day and I've been fighting a cold ever since. Eric and I agree that we don't think we have ever been this exhausted and we're thinking that this journey might only be beginning.

One thing I won't miss...

a DIRTY child.