Around 2:30 p.m. this afternoon, I happily told Mark we are [mostly] packed! We ran a couple of quick errands this evening, and are now heading to get kids off to bed EARLY. I had another late night packing last night, but tonight I will hopefully get a really full night of rest with packing behind me. There are so many unknowns about how tomorrow's travel will be, but we are praying for wisdom, strength and grace as we embark on this adventure. Please pray for us if you think about it!
More later...
Sunday, March 30, 2008
36 Hours and counting..
Well, we leave in 36 hours. Jess has been working all day on packing, and you can see from the picture that there are still a number of things to decide on. But she made great progress today, and I had Josh Williams over to learn about taking care of the yard while we are away.
The next challenge is Lufthansa. I've called eight times, trying to get our seats figured out for the flights. Since we are travelling with such young children, being able to "corner" the younger ones is crucial. And sitting together is paramount!
Well, my stress level went through the roof when I saw that we'd be sitting in 32F, 33F, 34F, etc. You get the drift. Clearly ridiculous. How annoying! I have record of good seats they gave me at one point, but now the CheckMyTrip.com website is reporting no seats assigned! So we are praying that the Lord will take care of the seating, and we'll just try to get to the airport a bit sooner.
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Passports arrived; ready to go?
The passports arrived last week, and I found Jessica's in the office. So we have all six. My picture is horrid. I look like I have the flu.
Jess stayed up until 3am last night, packing. It's the only time she can find to really get things done. So we are now in good shape for leaving next week. We have five suitcases, each about three-fourths full. And another bag if we need it.
I'm expecting that we'll have:
Before we are ready to go, we have to wrap up some last events here in Portland. Jess had her Mom's Bible study in our home tonight. Tomorrow night our friend Jamie from Chicago will stop in with her kids. Thursday night we'll have dinner with my side of the family. I have to figure out insurance, stopping the mail, putting other services on hold, cancelling dentist appointments, etc.
But I think the packing is coming along pretty well now, thanks to my lovely wife!
Jess stayed up until 3am last night, packing. It's the only time she can find to really get things done. So we are now in good shape for leaving next week. We have five suitcases, each about three-fourths full. And another bag if we need it.
I'm expecting that we'll have:
- Six Fordices, plus Aunt Joyce
- Five or six suitcases
- A double stroller
- A baby backpack/carrier
- Two backpacks
- One smaller bag of clothes and snacks, for the plane
- Two children's backpacks (for Cami and Hailey to haul around)
- One carseat
- Three booster seats
Before we are ready to go, we have to wrap up some last events here in Portland. Jess had her Mom's Bible study in our home tonight. Tomorrow night our friend Jamie from Chicago will stop in with her kids. Thursday night we'll have dinner with my side of the family. I have to figure out insurance, stopping the mail, putting other services on hold, cancelling dentist appointments, etc.
But I think the packing is coming along pretty well now, thanks to my lovely wife!
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Got to start packing!
We have a table in the bonus room set aside for Italy. I'm concerned that we are planning to take more than we can fit into five suitcases, so I loaded up a bunch of things into a few boxes today, and shipped them ahead.
I took a picture so that we can remember what we sent. Otherwise I'll forget and pack too many pairs of shoes! I threw in the PC video camera so we might be able to get the kids able to see family back home. I also packed a headset- I'm hoping to use Skype for cheaper phone calls.
Check out that exchange rate! It's brutal. The dollar is getting hammered. 1.57 per Euro. I'm glad that Jeppesen is covering such a tremendous amount of our costs.
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
It is hard to believe that in less than a month, my husband, my aunt, our four children (ages 15 mos/3 yrs/ 4 yrs/ 6 yrs) and I will be starting this adventure. We are in the beginning stages of thinking through packing lists, figuring out how to get 2 1/2 months worth of diapers over to Italy, trying to decide how many suitcases we'll need for us all, and praying that it all comes together.
For anyone who is curious, we are going to be living in Massa, Italy (on the west coast of Italy) because my husband is going to be working in offices there (Marina di Massa).
Being homeschoolers, it would be an understatement to say that we are excited about this opportunity for educational experience.
I have had a dream of staying in Italy for an extended time since I was a teenager. I think it began when I first watched the movie "Only You" (which was filmed on location in Italy). In fact, the first time I saw that movie it was while having a sleep-over at my aunt Joyce's house. Joyce, ironically, will be making the flight over with us to help us with our children and help us get settled for the first couple of weeks while we're there. THANK YOU, JOYCE!
My husband, Mark, and I had a wonderful, albeit a whirlwind, vacation in Italy just before our first child was born in spring of 2001. We even chose her middle name (Firenze) because she was in utero while we were there. I am looking forward to getting to really take our time and enjoy the culture this time around. Last time, we were rather rushed trying to "see it all" since we didn't expect to be able to return for a long, long time (if at all).
The end of our trip will hopefully be the crescendo of an already wonderful experience as we plan to take a couple of weeks to tour some of our favorite places before we head back to the States and the BEST part is that both sets of our parents will be joining us for that part of the trip. We'll be taking them to the major sites in the Tuscany region and then heading to Rome for a week. I fully anticipate a beautiful time together, and hope it will be an amazing first experience in Europe for them.
Stay tuned.....
For anyone who is curious, we are going to be living in Massa, Italy (on the west coast of Italy) because my husband is going to be working in offices there (Marina di Massa).
Being homeschoolers, it would be an understatement to say that we are excited about this opportunity for educational experience.
I have had a dream of staying in Italy for an extended time since I was a teenager. I think it began when I first watched the movie "Only You" (which was filmed on location in Italy). In fact, the first time I saw that movie it was while having a sleep-over at my aunt Joyce's house. Joyce, ironically, will be making the flight over with us to help us with our children and help us get settled for the first couple of weeks while we're there. THANK YOU, JOYCE!
My husband, Mark, and I had a wonderful, albeit a whirlwind, vacation in Italy just before our first child was born in spring of 2001. We even chose her middle name (Firenze) because she was in utero while we were there. I am looking forward to getting to really take our time and enjoy the culture this time around. Last time, we were rather rushed trying to "see it all" since we didn't expect to be able to return for a long, long time (if at all).
The end of our trip will hopefully be the crescendo of an already wonderful experience as we plan to take a couple of weeks to tour some of our favorite places before we head back to the States and the BEST part is that both sets of our parents will be joining us for that part of the trip. We'll be taking them to the major sites in the Tuscany region and then heading to Rome for a week. I fully anticipate a beautiful time together, and hope it will be an amazing first experience in Europe for them.
Stay tuned.....
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