We are off! First stop: Seattle

For the years of prepping and imagining this moment, it feels pretty surreal that we are actually doing what we have talked about for so long.  I know living in a foreign country is not at the top of a lot of people’s bucket list, but it has always been a goal for us.  Stu and I both love learning languages, and Chinese seemed like a natural choice.  There is also something awesome about figuring out how things work in a different place and seeing aspects of culture you didn’t know or understand that opens your eyes and there is no better way to do this than to be a local.  Our kids have known about the move for over a year now and so they’ve had a lot of time to roll it around in their head.  It hasn’t been easy leaving friends, starting over, and setting up life in Texas, but it has given them a little bit of confidence that they can do this next piece.  We are so excited to get on the ground.

I have been praying that our kids would feel a little of the pull that Stu and I do to this place.  In the last week, the kids have started talking about how excited they are and some of the first things they want to do once we hit the ground.  Hallie had a dream about going to school in China and she said it was super fun and she woke up more excited to go.  She was talking to Stu last night and said, “I’m glad we are going to China Dad, because I think it will help me do things that are hard except for sneeze with my eyes open because I hear that that’s impossible.”  I am so grateful for Hallie’s good attitude, it has been contagious.  From starting discussions around the dinner table about what we’re most excited about, to making lists of the fun sites she wants to see the first week, this girl is such a blessing.  

Two days ago, we brought every suitcase we have into the front room and getting kid’s clothes and started organizing and getting things inside.  We have done quite a bit of travel and I feel like I have this part down to a science.  Everyone gets 5-6 outfits, 5-6 sets of jammies, underwear and socks.  I have all of us wear our tennis shoes for the day we are traveling.  Those shoes are bulky to pack and it is nice not having kids lose shoes when we have to sprint down to our gate.  We haven’t had to do this TOO often, but it is handy and works for us.  I pack a pair of sandals for everyone, and a pair of church shoes.  One compartment zips and has all swim gear in a carrying bag.  Another compartment has a church outfit for everyone all ready to go zipped separate from the every day clothes.  When I have all of this packed, I know we can handle just about any activity we could be doing. We can swim, hike, go out to dinner, go to church, or go to the beach.  

Here I am, ready with the shoes, gathering up the last details.  Almost there!

The other crazy thing is that we decided not to ship any of our personal items over with us.  We now have a US home base set up in San Antonio with all our sentimental things and the minimized house things from our house in Utah.  It was freeing to downsize and we decided it was easier just to go over with suitcases and start life over once we get there.  In the end, it has helped all of us realize that you don’t need much stuff to be happy.  For me, I just need the basics and I need my people.  I need order and enough to go about the basics of life for cooking, laundry, playing, and studying.  That’s it.  I can do that anywhere.  

And Beijing has an IKEA and a Sam’s Club soooo…. I will be able to set up life.  And we will figure out lots of new modes to set up life. 

Tomorrow is the big day.

Airport game plan: 

We make 2 trains of suitcases (4 in each train), the big kids pull the other 2.  Stu and I each pull a train, the little girls ride on the train and we roll through to check in.  The kids each packed a backpack with the things they couldn’t live without.  The kids are such good troopers and they own the airport.  They can watch iPads on the airplane and getting on an airplane isn’t too big of a deal.  Yesterday our flight was 4 hours, and tomorrow the flight is twelve.  We’ll see how these kids do!

We get to hang out with family today in Seattle, so yay for a little breather and then on to Asia.