Wednesday, July 17, 2013

A houseful

So our good friends: Nick and Kristy Seeliger (and their three boys) are scheduled to fly back to the States this weekend. That means it is PCS season for them (permanent change of station.) However, in this case, it's a little different as they are "separating" from the military forever. In other words, they are permanently changing employers! Nick will be taking on a job as a professor/doctor at Tulane in New Orleans, Louisiana.
 
They had to be out of their house but still had a lot of little things to do: cleaning, spraying, meeting with the landlord etc. Since they live right around the corner from us, they asked if they could stay with us during this week instead of trying to stay at a hotel on Base (TLF or temporary lodging facility). We of course, agreed.
 
In addition, the new doctor and his wife: Josh and Rebekah (friends of our's from Eglin AFB who have 3 boys of their own) are preparing to move into Nick's job and his house! They will be taking over the beautiful home on the water that Nick and Kristy just moved out of. JB and I have Power of Attorney so we are trying to help facilitate all the details surrounding that.
 
That means we have 5 little boys at our house and 1 little girl. Nick and Kristy also have 2 dogs. All said and done there are 4 grown-ups, 6 kids, and 3 dogs living at the Casa de Kitsteiner for this week.
 
In addition, our other good friends: Mike & Carla (and their two boys) are in the process of getting their house ready for their own PCS. They live around the corner from us too. They have already packed out which means their house is basically empty save a few air mattresses and some basic kitchen supplies (and of course the ever-faithful extra boxes that kids can play in.) That means that during the day, they get away from the boredom of their four empty walls by coming to the Casa de Kitsteiner too. That's 8 kids folks!
 
We've been having a fantastic (albeit a wee bit crazy) time over here. I've kept my activities away from the house to a minimum and have just been hanging with two of my best girlfriends and their families. It's actually been a sort of week-long-summer-vacation for all of us ... a time to just hang out and spend some time together before life takes us all in different directions. The weather has been amazing. Seventies, sunny, with a slight breeze rolling in off the water.
 
As for me, the kids and I will say good bye to Nick and Kristy and then prepare to head back to America ourselves. Unfortunately, I will be making the trip sans JB. Originally, he was going to accompany me back to the USA, but due to some unforeseen circumstances with work (he is "on call" to make a last minute trip to another continent to serve as a medical doctor for two weeks), I will be going by myself.
 
I'll write more about that later. But I will note that the Lord has already opened doors and confirmed that I can do this and will do this despite being 34 weeks pregnant with three young children when the flying time rolls around! One of these is realizing that a friend from Turkey (Yay Logan!) lives only 30 minutes from Norfolk (where we hope to be flying into) and can help me get from the military airport to the civilian airport and put us up for the night. (Just a little fingerprint of God!)
 
Here's a few pictures from our home to your's!

The seven kiddos (baby Liam was taking a nap) eating dinner. They are all such great buds.
 
The grown-ups. From left: Kristy, Carla (hubby Mike was studying at home), JB, and Nick.
 

Carla holding Nick and Kristy's baby Liam (a real cutie!)
 

Me hanging out the laundry. Didn't mean to cover up the pregnant belly, but I did.

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