Saturday

Last Saturday was a busy day for the D-clan. It was moving day for Arian & Karin, as well as our family gift exchange. First the moving. Arian & Karin got the keys to their new home at the end of November and spent a few weeks cleaning up, painting, and the like. Then, Friday night and Saturday were the official moving days. On Friday night, Arian, Dad & Rob loaded the truck. Saturday morning I went to their apartment, to assist in final clean up and to be Karin's chauffeur. Lucky me, my "final cleanup" work meant I could entertain Alex, so Karin could do some work :) Then, Karin and I left, and dropped Alex off at friends of Arian & Karin to be babysat for the day. These friends are within walking distance of Arian & Karin's new home, so that is really nice for them. Karin & I arrived at the new house well in advance of the truck, and had time to spare. Rob & Aunt Marina joined us and we continued to wait. FINALLY, Arian & Dad arrived with the truck, containing with most of Arian & Karin's worldly goods :)



We were able to empty the truck and get their new home into some semblance of order quite quickly, and by 3:00 Rob and I were able to go home and rest before the evening festivities. But not before an unexpected shopping trip and the piano move!

The Shopping Trip
In the apartment, the shower had a door, so Arian & Karin never had a shower curtain. The new shower had no such door, nor did it have a shower curtain. So, yes, at 2:00 on Saturday December 22, off we went to Canadian Tire, expecting a zoo. It was surprisingly unbusy. We found a parking spot easily, and did not have to wait at all at the checkout. We were back in less than 20 minutes I think.

Moving the Piano
Arian & Karin's piano is quite old, and it seems to me that the older pianos are the heavier they are. This piano has moved a lot in its short life with Arian & Karin - first to their apartment, then to Mom & Dad's basement to make room for Alex's playpen, and now to their new home. Getting it in and out of the apartment (elevators, narrow doors, sharp corners) were the biggest adventures, but it is now in their new home.





Later in the day, we all arrived at Mom & Dad's for our family gift exchange. Great fun as always. First our traditional lasagne supper (thanks Mom!). We received some awesome gifts - thank you everyone!

Here's the gifts Rob and I had for everyone, under our "tree".



A close up of our pointsettia - it is huge, but gorgeous!



All the gifts! In our family, we often have several smaller items, and we always wrap them individually - we like BIG piles of presents :)



Many of Rob's customers (at work) are John Deere dealerships, and Rob now has a penchant for all things John Deere - he received a little "tool box" - I'm not sure whether it will be used to store pens & stapler on his desk or to carry around wire clippers to his customers! :)



Alex was sleeping when we started the gift exchange, but he awoke in time to receive some gifts himself.







Lisa commented that last year when she posted some of her pictures online, her friends said our family was "boring" when we open our gifts - which isn't the truth, but pictures don't capture noise :) Anyways, Dad got into the spirit of things for pictures!







All in all, it was a very fun evening, even if some of us were very tired from the day's work, and the last few weeks of work - as fixing up Arian & Karin's house had been somewhat of a family affair. We're thankful that God has provided them this new home, and we hope they have many happy years there as a family, under God's blessing hand.

We hope you all had a blessed Christmas - celebrating God's marvelous gift to us - Jesus Christ His Son - and we wish you a Happy New Year. May 2008 be a year where we all learn more of the peace that God alone can give, and go forward in service to Him, to and for His glory.