We have been packing, selling, and getting our rented house ready for its new owners. Kitchen cabinets are empty, closets are empty, and the walls are bare. Suitcases are packed up, memories carefully wrapped and protected and packaged for the 5,000 mile journey. We loaded up our minimal possessions yesterday into our Ford truck and still have a little bit of room. LOL
While we are thrilled to be heading to the Omaha area and spending lots more time with our daughter & her family, we are still saddened to say goodbye to this place. Kodiak Island is an amazing place; it's beauty and scenery are 2nd to none, except to maybe a few other places here in Alaska. The water, the waves, the wildlife.... all come together on this remote island to form beautiful landscapes that we'll treasure & remember for years. One of my childhood dreams was to visit Alaska; while studying social studies at Woodland Hills Baptist Academy, I can recall textbook photos and assigned readings about this place. I'd never heard of tundra or Eskimos - I wanted to see this place; I wanted to know about the people that chose to live here. I remember hearing the controversy surrounding the Alaskan pipeline - I didn't comprehend its need or impact, but I wanted to see it. I learned about the Alaska Marine Highway and couldn't grasp how a highway could be over water. Childhood perceptions seem kind of funny now that we've lived here, met native Alaskans (who do NOT appreciate the term Eskimo), and traveled the Marine Highway System -- it's a ferry system! LOL
We also have met some amazing people here on this little "rock" whom we will miss terribly. From Coasties who have become family, to co-workers, I say farewell, yet am grateful to Facebook and technology so we can remain in touch. And just maybe, one day we'll run across each other again somewhere...
Most of all, we already miss the babies; yesterday, was kind of emotional - nearly every Saturday, they came over to spend the night; we played in the hot tub, popped popcorn, made s'mores, watched movies, played cards, laughed, giggled, tickled, and enjoyed many special adventures. But yesterday, our little house on this rock was empty of laughter and smiles. We finished emptying rooms of things and found more emotional memories with each effort. I found myself just walking through a room now and then, listening for the laughter, hearing "MiMi" or "Poppy" being called out. I heard faint echos of little bare feet on Sunday morning as they awakened and came sneaking down the hallway to see if it was time to get up. I heard Emma Kate run through the house saying "hot tub hot tub hot tub" - probably one of her first phrases we could actually understand... She and the others LOVED the hot tub and we created tons of memories in that thing; even all winter long, we climbed in it and sang songs, told Bible stories, and just had fun.
Mill Bay Beach, Kodiak, Island, Alaska
Today is Sunday, and we only have a few days left here. I'm reminiscing and emotionally beginning to experience closure to our life here. I'm having a very hard time finding all the right words; amazing and awesome don't even come close to describing the life we've enjoyed here. We know without a doubt, God put us here; it's been proven over and over again. It's been rough a few times; from managing 2 households while Jade had EK in Anchorage for medical appts and Trip was off on the boat, to groceries not making it to the island on schedule, we've learned a lot of lessons that we'll carry with us. We've learned to love people more; to appreciate people more. We've learned that material possessions are not important - people are important. We've learned that living far away from family is HARD and emotionally upsetting. We've learned that family isn't always by blood. We've learned to enjoy the simple things in life - spending time with one another is the single most important priority.
And it is with THAT mentality that we are preparing to emotionally and physically leave Kodiak. It's time to leave; we plan to make a lot of new memories and spend some time with some other very special friends along the way. Be prepared for loads of photos both here on the blog and on FB; we'll try not to duplicate them all, but we have friends and adventures along our journey that we'd like to share with you. It's time to leave, but it's also time to enter a new adventure with another set of grandkids; we can't wait to get to Omaha and make loads of new memories with Rai & Slade. We hope you'll enjoy the story of our adventures.
We can't wait to see these precious babies in about 4 weeks!!! Hope they don't mind sharing their basement with MiMi & Poppy for a few weeks....LOL
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