Monday thoughts

--So far, moving ourselves and four kids halfway across the country has been...interesting.

--The transition has gone better in many ways than I'd expected. And worse in others.

--Better in terms of feeling "at home" here...strangely enough it already feels like we have more of a general life/identity here than we did in Santa Maria. Weird. Way more free time as a family (which is generally spent running errands or painting our walls.)

--Harder in terms of living out of boxes and the kids being more difficult because things are so unsettled around the house. And harder because the distance between us and most of our family and friends is very, very tangible.

--Nearly all our stuff is in our garage and we are totally still not "moved in", because we're having a bunch of the floors redone. I can't wait for beautiful new carpet and hardwoods to replace the icky current carpet. We're about to order it finally, yay.

--The church we've been trying out is a lot different from any church I've ever gone to. It's currently a PCA church, switching to RCA. The pastor (reverend? I don't know what he's called) wears a robe and they say special things when you take communion, and there's a fair amount of responsive reading. Also the theology is a bit different. But it's cool, and we like a lot of it. (And this is for Joy, and all other former SM G3 members--people don't typically use their Bibles in church, the day's scripture is printed in the bulletin and read up front.)

--Today at the DMV I applied for a Colorado driver's license. The lady asked if I needed to re-register to vote at my new address, I said yes, she asked what party affiliation...and I officially broke ties with the Republican party. I am now a "declining to state" person. (When she had asked what party, I started laughing and said "how on earth do you answer that".)

--This afternoon I shopped at Restoration Hardware with all four of my kids in tow. No one broke anything, ruined anything, or created any sort of a disturbance. I had Kaitlyn IN the stroller, and the older three kids had to hold onto the stroller and not touch anything with their other hand. For some reason they obeyed the rule.

--The people who we bought this house from drive me crazy and I don't even know them. :) We get ALL THEIR MAIL, including wedding RSVPs (for their daughter's wedding) and Victoria's Secret catalogues, both of which come in droves. For now we are stockpiling it all (minus the catalogues, which I promptly throw away--they might make great underwear but don't get me started on their "marketing", which clearly is about more than just buying undies, and geared towards men. Three of which live in my home.) Not only that, our skylight leaks, which they did not disclose, AND they apparently decided to keep assorted keys to assorted locks and refuse to give them to us.

--We picked up Kevin from work at lunchtime today and had a picnic at a park. Kaitlyn was all over the play equipment like a maniac, Anna skinned up both her knees, and Yosef gave another little girl a crazy wagon ride. You can't say we don't know how to have a great time...

Mother's Day

Yosef at Layla House, 14 mos. old, from Nazret Ethiopia

Biniam at Layla House, 14 mos. old, from Nazret, Ethiopia



Kevin prayed today at lunch for Yosef and Biniam's first mom, who we know by name. Then Anna said she wanted to add something, and proceeded to pray that their first mom would feel better. After we were done praying Anna started talking about how their birthmom is sick, and and asked some questions about HIV--she wanted to know what it stood for. We explained about immune systems, about how in many places like Ethiopia, people don't have enough money or good medical care, so they are very ill, while the prognosis for HIV in OUR country is good, because we have access to medicine and doctors. Anna then proceeded to say "we could go to the pharmacy, buy some vitamins and medicine, and send them to Ethiopia so people can get better."



It is really, really neat (and extremely convicting) to see such a tender heart in my four year old daughter. I told Anna that yes, we really should put together a care package that we could send to Ethiopia.



Honestly I feel so conflicted about the orphan crisis sometimes. I feel so far removed from the adoption process, the terribly urgent needs of so many around the world. Yes I have two sons from one of the poorest countries on the planet, with a tragic background and who met American soil with nothing but their names and the clothes on their backs. But all of that seems so far away, and distant.



Thursday night we went out for Ethiopian food, to our little hole-in-the-wall restaurant here that we like to go to. (You know the food must be good if actual Ethiopians are eating and hanging out there!) The place is small, and you sit at an actual mesob, and there's Ethiopian music playing and pictures of Ethiopia on the walls. It smells like berbere and the injera is good and sour. We ate our shiro and tibbs wot and drank our honey wine and I felt like some small part of me was "home"...something that I don't feel every day, or every week, or even every month. But for those sixty plus minutes, I felt like some part of me that had been lost, was found, and I remembered the joy, and grief, and helplessness, and urgency that I felt in Ethiopia, and that I felt for so long after returning home. But that I don't feel as tangibly anymore.



I remembered that Ethiopia is real. My sons' birthmom and her HIV are real. Poverty is real. And the millions of orphans left behind are real. May God show our family how to respond.



I have two prayers this Mother's Day: first, for my own sons' birthmother, and second, that we all might find a way to help the world's orphans. No, not everyone is called to adopt a child, but each and every one of us can help. And perhaps we owe it to these children, and ourselves, to ask the tough questions, and consider whether we might have a place in our hearts and homes for a child in need.

City livin'

So we are starting to love Denver, and are so happy to be in this particular neighborhood. We're in walking distance of some really cool shops and restaurants on South Pearl Street, and decently close to some other places.

Last night Kevin and I were hungry (I'd fed the kids leftovers for dinner earlier but we didn't have time to eat because the handyman and then the home security systems guy were coming over), and he ran out to get us gyros for dinner at an authentic middle eastern restaurant. This place is seriously like a three minute drive from our house. And the food is SO GOOD!




We live really close to the University of Denver (pictured here) and so there are several places to eat around there, like this one. Also pretty cool because in some ways we get to feel like we live in a college town, which reminds me of when we lived in SLO (which I miss). Lots of college-aged "kids" (haha, I must be really old if I call them "kids") at the grocery store, for example.



Anyway, if you live in the Denver metro area, check out the restaurant. It's great!

"G" to the "nome"

So we randomly have this hideous garden gnome figurine that someone gave me as a joke awhile back. Somehow in the move it resurfaced and has become Kaitlyn's favorite toy. (Could be because pretty much all the kids' toys are still packed in the garage. Hmmm.)

When I see Kaitlyn coming with her new little garden-dwelling pal, I know it's time to be extra alert. Yesterday, Yosef and Biniam were sitting quietly on the couch. Kaitlyn walked up and started slamming the gnome on each of the boys' feet, delighted as can be, as the boys cried out and writhed in pain. Poor kids are SO DANG PATIENT with their little sister that they don't have the hearts to yell at her (or worse.)

Guess there's no two ways about it...girl's gotta have her gnome.

(And the pictures below are of what four kids find to do when Mommy won't unpack all their toys because she's waiting for some of the floors to be recarpeted first.)

Here on another planet

Okay so I just have to make some observations about Denver because after almost three weeks of living here, I have several:

--Lots of Barack Obama fans. Lots of yard signs and bumperstickers. Today a dad at the park had an Obama t-shirt on.

--I see a lot of Ron Paul signs too.

--So many different TYPES of people...from hippies to soccer moms, they were all at the neighborhood park today.

--Very kid friendly. People in this area seem to LOVE kids. Bizarre.

--No one in Denver seems surprised by our mixed family.

--People here are EXTREMELY down to earth and friendly. I've met more random people on the street, at the park, at the store, then I ever did in Santa Maria. Really strange.

--People here LOVE the outdoors and being outside.

--And they have a lot of dogs that they walk everyday.

--It is terribly, terribly dry here.

--At the flea market (technically in Littleton) there were some seriously done-up moms...designer coats, heels, full makeup, hair done...with a baby in the bjorn...all on a Saturday morning.

--The Costcos here have way more items, and way more organic items, than our old one in California.

--The weather...well this could be a post of its own. 75 degrees one day, SNOW the next day...and every temperature here FEELS warmer than it did back in Cali, because it's so dry I guess. I love how hot it gets! No more annoying not-very-hot-but-not-very-cold weather, which perpetually drove me nuts.

Those are my observations for today. I'm sure I'll have more to share eventually!

Are we there yet?

About to leave for Colorado. (And we've found renters, yay!)


Our trip out here could basically be summed up by the title of this post. Poor kids had no clue what they were getting into...as we pulled off in Santa Barbara (about an hour into the 18 hour trip) Yosef asked happily, "Is this Denver?"

Katie happy as can be, amidst a bunch of suitcases.

Truth be told the kids were pretty much perfect the entire trip. Happy, good spirits, flexible, far less grouchy than either Kevin or I. Tom was so kind as to loan us his portable DVD player and a few DVDs for the kids. Yay!



My view for three days.

Because we got a REALLY late start the day we left (and because Kevin, with Tom's help in Santa Barbara, reloaded some stuff in the truck so we could fit a dresser and our new couches inside), we hit horrible traffic through LA and didn't get to Vegas until 2:30 a.m. Shoot.



Sad to say goodbye to the beautiful Pacific Ocean.

We got to Green River, UT at a more reasonable time the next evening. And pulled into Denver about 6:30 p.m. Thursday night.



Looking back nothing too eventful happened on the way out. I guess the highlights were:



--Running into Andy and John at In 'N Out in Santa Barbara, on their way to LA! Crazy!

--Buying new white couches on our way. I love them!

--Making assorted Penske jokes (guess you had to be there.)

--Driving through the BEAUTIFUL snowy Rocky Mountains.



Our van and our moving truck enjoying some time at IKEA.

Yeah, like I said, nothing too exciting. Even our enthusiasm at stopping at the random Jamba Juice in Mesquite was diminished as it had gone out of business since we'd been there in August, and was now just a generic smoothie place that wasn't nearly as good. Grand Junction is weird as ever, and it was pretty surreal to finally pull up to our house in Denver and know that it is "home", even if it didn't or doesn't feel that way yet.

First Denver Heldt houseguests!

Yes friends, we'd only been in our new home a little over a week when we had our very first overnight California visitors!

We were so, so blessed to have Troy and Becky Hawkins spend some time with us during their visit to Colorado (to Colorado Springs actually, to see Becky's uncle.) We met them for lunch last Saturday out by the airport when they flew in, and then last Tuesday afternoon they came up to our house and stayed the night, and flew home the next day. It was so great to get to hang out, go out for Ethiopian food (even though the food was probably the worst Ethiopian food we've had, but that's another story), and see good friends.

It occurred to me after they left that Troy and Becky feel really more like family to us than anything...our home is currently in a state of semi-disarray, we couldn't really offer them a very luxurious guest room, our kids are still in crazy-transition-mode, etc--but it doesn't really matter. I can give the Hawkins cold cereal in the morning and that's really okay. We feel so comfortable with them, and felt so honored that they would take some time out of their visit to see us.

Anyway, our home in Denver is open anytime to any friends that want to visit. Come see us!

Old friends and some new friends

Okay so I went today and actually had a great time! People were super nice and the flea market was sweet! Thank you so much, sweet California friends for the encouraging words.

I wanted to share about our last couple of weeks in California that were filled with great times with great friends. First, Andy and Jeannett hosted a going away party for us in their beautiful new home. We were so blessed to get to spend time with people so dear to us. (I didn't take any pics, oops!)

Then, Cade and Joy hosted a "Santa Maria G3 disbandment" dinner, which was wonderful. Our Grace Growth Group (hence the term "G3", for the uninitiated) had met for three full years. Wow. Many laughs and good times with Troy and Becky, Andy and Jeannett, and Cade and Joy (and Tom, and Dan and Kristin, though they bailed on us, maybe because we were too weird.)

We also were blessed by Darin, Lara and Caedra coming and making us dinner right before we left. We have been friends with them since college (Kevin knew them first) and what can I really say, they are amazing. I used to get sunburned from talking to Lara for so long in the church parking lot after church! They are those people who will always be in your heart, you know? (If you wanna see some fun old pics of us and them, check out this post on Lara's blog.)

I also got to have lunch with three girlfriends that I grew up with, a few days before we left. Dusty, Misty and Rebekah always make me laugh and it's always a treat remembering old times and catching up on life now. I will miss these girls, even though I didn't see them near enough when I still lived within an hour of them!

The day before we left, Rebekah called me in the morning and asked if she could bring her two little girls up so they could see the kids before we moved. Yay! SO not only did I get to see my sweet friend again (my BFF since 3rd grade, wow!), I got to see her kids. AND Rebekah showed up with the makings for ice cream cones, fed the kids lunch, AND took them all to the park for a long time while we worked on packing and loading the truck. When they were about to leave, her girls gave each of our kids a special "care package" for the trip: some toys, a mix of their favorite music, snacks, etc. I was so touched and my kids were so thrilled! They will miss Claire and Sadie!!! (Well, so will I.)

Also shortly before we moved, my friend Kate prepared a meal for us to have. I feel like for as long as I've known Kate, any time a baby has been born, or I've been sick, she's called with the offer of a meal. I've been so blessed by her friendship! (And not just because of her good cooking. :) ) Anyway, she made us this chicken potpie--what a fun surprise when we took the foil off!!

Anyway, I miss everyone and look forward to visiting and catching up in person one of these days! Thanks for all your prayers and friendship during this crazy time! I am blessed!

Fear and trepidation

So Kevin is force--er, encouraging me to go tomorrow morning to a ladies event for the church we've been going to, so I'll meet some people and to get a better feel for the church. I say if he thinks it's so great maybe HE should go--though having breakfast with a bunch of women and shopping at a flea market would probably not be so fun for him. :)

I totally want to meet new people and make some friends but seriously I HATE not knowing anyone, being the only new person at an event. What if I have nothing to talk about? Small talk with strangers makes me totally nervous. Ugh.

Soooo, say a prayer for me that I won't make a complete idiot out of myself!

Oh and the church we've been going to meets downtown and is a reformed church--pretty different from what we're used to (much smaller, fewer families and more singles--it is the city I suppose, liturgical, and of course the more reformed theology), but pretty cool too. Found 'em online awhile ago and were impressed with their values and purpose as a church. So far it seems cool, though it'll take some getting used to. I hate church shopping!!!

2 week mark

As of yesterday we will have been in Denver for 2 weeks. It feels like it's been much longer than that, I think.

Moving is really strange. Most of you that are my friends in real life, I didn't see on a daily, or sometimes even weekly, basis. But I somehow "know" that you're really far away now. Which makes me sad. The other strange thing is that, for some reason in many ways more tangible than missing you, I also feel sad about having no real "life" here yet. No group of friends, no church, no set routines yet like storytime or "our grocery store" or going to "our park". I feel pretty aimless most days.

By now you're probably wondering why I'm not more busy with getting our stuff all moved in and organized. WELL, about 99.99% of our furniture and possessions are currently sitting in our garage here, because we're having a bunch of flooring ripped out and redone, we're redoing our kitchen, and therefore there was no sense in moving it in, getting it all set up, only to have to move it later. SO we're living out of boxes, I unpacked minimal dishes, etc.

So far we've painted our front room, the bathroom, and the kitchen, and bought paint for the master bedroom. (The painting is what I've been doing most days.) Kevin and his dad ripped up a bunch of the carpet down in the basement and aired out some moldy floor boards (don't ask. Oh okay, you can ask. The laundry area flooded shortly after we moved in because there was a clog and the kitchen sink started draining right out onto the basement floor. EW.) Kevin worked on some stuff in the bathroom and we've picked out cabinets (we're going to reface ours and put in new shelves, instead of ripping them out altogether) and carpet. Somehow when I type this out it doesn't seem like much to show for two weeks worth of being here.

Today me and the kids are meeting Kevin for lunch. Crazy! Living so close to his office (less than 20 minutes away!) has been pretty sweet so far. He's able to come home so much sooner, go in so much later, it's great. AND now we can have a special lunch with Daddy during the week!

I'll post some pictures of our progress on the house, and our trip out here, soon. And anybody have any good ideas for places to buy cool throw pillows for my couch and loveseat???

Back from the dead!

Today, a full TWO WEEKS after moving in, we FINALLY got our phone line and internet hooked up! (Thanks to the phone company making two errors with our order.)

Anyway, for all 2 of you still checking my blog in hopes of me actually posting again, let's review, since you've probably forgotten all about me in my absence from blogland:

I'm a wife, married to Kevin, and a mom to four kids: Anna, Yosef, Biniam and Kaitlyn.

We just left our home in California (two weeks ago) to start a new life here in Denver, Colorado.

Okay, maybe that's enough for now. I'll let you get over the shock of me actually posting, and give you time to try to remember who I am. :) Be expecting regular posts from me from here on out--now I'm off to catch up on all of your blogs!!!

Made it!

Just a quick update to say we made it into Denver Thursday night alive and well! No internet yet but we'll have it soon (currently posting from a student union where we're meeting for church this morning--Kaitlyn got fussy during Sunday School so I'm out here with her. Do you still go to Heaven if you blog during church????)

Anyway I'll share more about our trip and the new digs soon. Life is overwhelming and busy and it feels as if we have a million things to do. Maybe that's because we do! :)

Parting thoughts

It's our last night in California. Tomorrow it's Las Vegas, then Wednesday night Utah, Thursday night Denver.

Our house closed today, so we now officially own a home in Denver.

We literally had too much stuff for our huge, biggest-size-they-rent Penske truck.

I've said so many difficult goodbyes and it's really, really hard. Everything hit tonight and I feel so sad.

I'm looking around my empty home and thinking about bringing Anna home from the hospital, such new parents!, bringing Yosef and Biniam home from Africa, what an amazing time!, and Kaitlyn home from the hospital, to find Grandma and the oldest three kids out on the lawn waving excitedly, welcoming home their baby sister.

I'm excited about our adventure, but tonight I feel worn out, stressed out, and emotionally drained. And wondering how on earth I'll survive without my friends, family, and Santa Maria G3. Wednesday nights just won't be the same.

I'll post pics and some stories from some of the amazing times and people we've been blessed with over the past week or so once we're in Denver. But for now I'm off to finish up some packing. Thanks so much to the Gibsons, Chad, Micah, Rebekah and my mom and dad for their amazing help today.

Talk to you soon!

Wanna buy my furniture? (*for the locals)

We have some furniture that we don't necessarily want to take to Denver. Our entertainment center, couches, and bedroom set. (Okay I guess that's just about ALL our furniture!) ANYway, if someone might be interested in purchasing any of these items, email me or leave a comment and I'll contact you with the price. All furniture comes from a pet-free and smoke-free home. :)

(And look at what a DORK I am taking the picture of the dresser while talking on the phone!)

Yesterday

First church, then Kevin's parents (who are in town) came over for the afternoon and played with the kids while I packed.

I'm going to miss our Sundays at Grace Church! We've been there for close to 10 years--starting the beginning of college, and now WE have kids in Sunday School there. So many wonderful times, dear friends, amazing support, especially as we were adopting our sons. Saying goodbye is really hard!