Indiana Days: Farewell for Now

As evidence of our abruptly changing plans grew, we had to stretch our flexibility muscles and really, truly go with the flow. After we found out about Ian's job and how quickly they wanted him there, we had a lot of decisions to make. We had already made plans to travel through most of the month of June, but if May 7th was their date, we needed to make it work. The decision was made that Ian would drive a van load of our stuff out to California, all by himself. He'd stay there for a month, and then fly into Georgia, where we'd pick him up on our way to a cabin in the woods for a family vacation.

That meant we had to organize - and do it quickly! We gathered up essentials and lovingly shoved them into the van, packed as tightly as we could manage. It was a genuine low-rider :) If you've ever wondered if a pillow-top queen-sized mattress will fit horizontally into a minivan.. We can tell you, with the right coaxing, it will.

This was the passenger's side..

And the driver's side..

Knowing we'd be paying for every pound we shipped, we crammed as much as we could into that trusty van.

This was Ian's comfy seat..

And, yes, the red strap and clamp were relocated during the actual driving! 

That drive was a serious challenge for Ian. Doing it by himself on top of the sudden change of circumstances he'd just had, on top of ending up in a completely unfamiliar place with the pressure of a new job and no one (and no furniture!) to come home to and experience and process it all with him.. It was a bit of a doozy. He persevered, grew an affinity (might be too generous?) for Motel 6es, and made it in one piece with only a few anxious phone calls (that were responded to with varying degrees of sympathy - ha!). He set up some boxes as a 'couch' and a few others as a 'table' and spent the next 3.5 weeks learning about the area a bit and learning about all his new responsibilities. And always missing his family..

Who were partying back in Indiana! J/k. We can't even help but miss Daddy when he just goes off to work for a day, and we most certainly missed him during that long month!

Fortunately, the time was passed much more easily for us this go-around. With sunshine and green grass, we had plenty to do! Aed ate most of his lunches outside (which we learned was a horrible temptation for poor Pippers). It pretty much always ended with him laying on the ground playing with some truck, but he especially liked this one..

We got tuckered out by a fun Mother's Day visit with extended family at a big park not too far away..

We stuffed our faces with avocados..

We changed recalled parts on the buggy and felt very handy about it all..

Note, even Asher was with us in monitor form! Can you find him? :)

We LOVED watching Papaw mow the lawn..

We enjoyed ice cream outings and days at the park. Playing in the nursery at church and running in and out of the doors on the gazebo. There was much to be thankful for during our time without Daddy, but goodness gracious we were glad when we were all together again!