Christmas in January

 Trying to fit our entire lives into 11 suitcases in November was difficult. We had to be pretty cut throat about what we decided to take, what we stored, what we left at the house, and what we got rid of.  A result of this was that we had literally no room in our suitcases for new things, aka Christmas presents. We got around this problem by telling the boys that we had informed Santa we were moving, and that we asked him to delay delivery until after the move. They bought it! So, now that we were here and had time to shop, we celebrated Christmas again, in January. Grandma, being the artist in residence, painted a very lovely Christmas tree, and she and the boys made ornaments out of paper. Turned out very cute! Nice face, Avery. 

The main items were new bikes for the boys. Their old ones didn't have gears, so they were ready to upgrade to handle hills easier. Emerson's new bike even has front and back shocks! Santa brought lego sets, that weren't actually real Legos, but knockoff brands from China, that can still, amazingly, integrate with actual Legos. Real Legos are stupid expensive here because they get a special international import tax applied to them. Why that same tax isn't applied to the Chinese knock-offs is beyond my paygrade. We've all been learning about tariffs, haven't we? Moral of the story is, for those who visit us, we will probably be asking you to bring a lego set or two in your suitcase. There were also several police vehicles requested by Avery, and some games we had to leave behind, like dominoes, Jenga, and battleship. 

They also got a new wardrobe for their new school. Going to have to work with Emerson to get him to wear clothes that don't consist of "soft pants" and t-shirts, but we'll get there. Nothing like a little peer pressure. He liked trying on the fleece jacket, but was not a fan of the polo and dress pants. 

The last week has also been a Christmas of sorts for Drew and myself, as we scour Facebook Marketplace for furniture and appliances. We have a 5K budget to furnish our entire place, which actually doesn't get you very far once you start adding things up. And there's always something you forget to put on the list, like a vacuum! So far we've gotten the important things, like beds, a fridge, a washing machine, a couch, and a dining room table. Next stop will be Ikea for a boatload of linens, towels, kitchen items, etc. Merry Christmas to us!