Holy Packing!!!

 The last three days have been a blur of cleaning, organizing
and preparing the house for our three month absence.

Today I was finally able to actually start packing.  While the baby was sleeping, I planted the boys in front of the television to watch Dora & Boots go on adventure after adventure while I went nuts upstairs.

 This is what our (normally empty) banister looked like.

 And the upstairs hallway.

 And the boys' room.

 I set out clothes for today & Friday, 

 as well as jammies for each night.

 Then I separated what I will need at the hotel in Anchorage
from what I will need at Carol's when we get there.

Then we have carry on's, a tote, a cooler and all three boys' carseats. Whew.  I can't wait to be on that plane, because that means my work here will be done!

Before bedtime I managed to get everything into it's appropriate piece of luggage and I am as ready as I can be at this point.  I still can't believe that we are out of here in one short day.  But more than that, I can't believe we made it.  We have survived our first year in bush Alaska.  Josh survived his first year teaching, in his own classroom, and was even invited back for another year! (hooray!)  And somehow, I survived every transition, change & challenge thrown at me; from taking care of the kids on my own for five months, to traveling alone with Wyatt to see Josh in October, to moving in with Josh's parents, and finally to making the move to our new housing at the start of the year.  I know I will be sad come August, to leave our friends & family, again, but I do think it will be easier this year, with less unknowns.

We did this. We did it!  It's so surreal!