Packing

We are getting ready to go away for a few days. In preparation, today is packing day. It is also, vacuum out the van day, cook food for the trip day, wash the laundry so we can pack it day, print out the maps day and miscellaneous other labels. We are used to all of the activity it takes to get 13 people ready for a small trip. Knowing that most of you out there reading this blog are not from a family of this size, we thought maybe you would be interested to know how we do it.

#1. There is a family meeting, usually the night before, detailing what clothing items need to be set out and what time they are expected to be ready for inspection.

#2. A list is made of every task that needs to be completed, and in what order, so that they can be assigned. Nothing is crossed off of this list without the work being checked.

#3. Clothes are ironed and placed on hangers with the necessary accessories. For the boys, their church clothes are layered on a hanger with their pants, t-shirt, dress shirt, blazer, belt and tie. Tucked inside their shoes are their socks. For the girls, their dresses are ironed if necessary and layered with their sweaters, or blouses. For trips with multiple dress outfits, the tights (or socks) belonging to each outfit are placed in a small ziploc bag and affixed to the hanger.

#4. Clothes are inspected for appropriateness, cleanliness, completeness and grouped together by room. For example, when camping, all of the campers in a tent will have their clothes in the same suitcase. When staying in a hotel, all of the children in the same room will have their clothes in the same suitcase. When staying with another family, the children staying in the same house will have their clothing in the same suitcase. Once filled, the suitcases are labeled with the day and the names of the children. Because this trip is short, there will only be one suitcase per group for the entire trip. The little boys (ages 10 -1) will have their clothes together, the little girls (7-5) will have their clothes together, etc. The bathroom bags are packed in the same way to ensure that the necessary items are with the right children. The hair brush for the little girls won't do us any good if it is in a bag with the older girls in another house.

#5. When packed, the suitcases are taken to a central location for loading.

#6. In the morning, before we leave, the pillows, blankets and other personal things are loaded up into the van. The water bottles are loaded as well as the food. For most trips, we pack sandwich fixings and stop along the way to make our lunch. For a snack we pack pretzels, veggies and dip, string cheese, etc.



Right now we have most of the clothes ironed, some set out, some still washing, the van is already vacuumed and ready, and the bread is baking. The plans have already been made and the maps are being printed. The rest of the day will be filled with waiting for the last few items to be ready to pack, last minute tasks that need to be done, taking care of forgotten details, etc.

When I look over the pictures from the last few years of our travels, I remember all of the memories we made, the people and places we were able to visit and the laughter that we shared. Never once do I think about all of the hours of preparation that went into each trip.

Where will your travels be taking you?

Sledding 2-7-11

Oh yes. The kids take their sledding seriously. We have received several feet of snow over the past few days and few things take advantage of the fresh snow like sledding. It only took a few minutes to get geared up and they were off.

There is a look of doom on one little girl's face. This is from prior sledding experiences where she fell off and landed face first into the snow. It was time for her to go with Dad and get back on the horse, so to speak. We try to teach our children to overcome their fear of such things. After much encouragement, praise and loads of fun, she is now an experienced sledder and looking forward to the next trip.

The ride home tells of an afternoon well spent.
Hot chocolate with marshmallows of course.

The best of friends. What a blessing.

Devils Tower - July 2010

Last year we took several trips back to North Dakota, one for a wedding and one for a class reunion. This was the final leg home after the last trip with a stop overnight at Devils Tower. Even though the crew was a little road weary we had a great time. We made some amazing memories. We watched a movie on a big screen TV outside on the movie deck. It started to get
cold so a few of us went back to the camp site. The die hard viewers stayed through the cold and watched the last few minutes huddled with other campers under the umbrellas after it started to rain.

In the morning, this was our view of Devils Tower from our cabin. God's blessings are everywhere!

(l-r) Adam, Sabrina, Ruth - Nicholas is in the background

Back at the cabin, the kids enjoyed the swing and time to run around enjoying the sunshine, the grass and a book or two.


Back row (l-r) Ellie, Matthew, Joseph, Nicholas
Middle row (l-r) Maria, Mom (with Hezekiah), Brian, Ruth, Thomas
From row (l-r) Sabrina, Adam

This was from our day hike at Devils Tower.

Welcome Back!

The title refers more to me, than to any of you. I'm not sure if any of you "left". My guess is that after two years of posting nothing new you simply stopped checking back. After I joined the ranks of Facebook, I spent less time blogging here. The simplicity of uploading pictures once to Facebook was appealing, so I quit doing that here.

Regardless of my excuses, I am trying to make this blog a habit. I have often stated that I wish I had kept a daily or weekly journal when I had nothing but wee little youngsters. Those days were filled with so many blessings but were definitely a struggle. Days tended to run into weeks and into years and I don't remember so many of the details that I wish I had logged. Even though it is 10 years too late, I hope to keep track of some of the daily things we learn, God's blessings all along the way, and some of the craziness that is our daily life. So I say, "welcome back"!