Free Range Kids: Moving Mountains

February 2022

I feel scooped out, drained, and worn out. We just moved a mountain. We packed 364 boxes, 120 bins, and moved a family of nine from a home we thought we would stay in forever. My heart aches and the tears flow anytime I think of the beautiful home that is no longer ours and of all the people we love that have been left behind. We made so many beautiful memories and now it is time to make new ones.

Aug 28, 2021
Last day all together in NM
Isaac headed back to BYU and Caleb left on his mission in October 2021

Along with the pain and sadness, I also feel so grateful for this new adventure. Grateful for a tired body that stayed strong and was able to finish. THIRTY-FIVE days of packing every day, with the last week working into a feverish crescendo of crawling into bed clothed at 5 am only to wake up again at 7 am and start the soul-crushing grind again. So many tears shed, so many bruises, both figuratively and literally, but the pain and misery I know will soon be a distant memory. I am so grateful for my family and friends that do the hard with us. There is no one else I’d want to wade through this with.

“We were together, I forget the rest.”
Walt Whitman

It begins...

Amid all the crazy we also sold our 2010 trailer for a 2016 that had a better layout.

One day while packing, Eleanora said, "You're making me sad."
Surprised I asked, "I am? What did I do?"
"I don't know," she said dejected.
"Honey, I don't think I'm making you sad. I think this," as I pointed to the packing frenzy, "is making you sad."

Eleanora dancing

Our timeline to move in the spring was accelerated when we found a buyer (an adorable and kind couple) in January that wanted to move in February. New plan: Pack as fast as we can, drop off all our stuff in Idaho, and go on a nomad trip for 3 months while we wait for the 6 feet of snow on our property to melt.

This is the most current view from our new property. Picture was sent from one of our neighbors. He was checking it out for us since he's going to have to bulldoze a path for us before we arrive.

Feb 14, 2022
Hugging my son tonight I said, "I'm so grateful I have an 8 year old who's excited to sleep in the trailer...and poop in the woods. Wait, are you excited for that?"
"I am! I get to dig a hole."
So grateful to all my children for being, not only willing, but excited for this crazy adventure.

Making games

Making snow cave

Snow cave

Trucks arrive. After much research, Upack was the best for our situation. We were so grateful to all that came to help!

Snow was making our life trickier. Freezing temps also meant no water in the trailer. We began sleeping in the trailer Feb 15th, due to having the rugs professionally cleaned and packing all the beds.

Barely found time to groom the dog

One last climb...

Playing in the empty space

Dance party

We filled two 28 ft trucks + 7 ft of a third truck. I drove the van pulling a packed utility trailer and Peter drove the packed truck pulling our travel trailer (aka home).