From BV-ers to Wichita-ians

I have succumbed to the many pressures and requests to start a blog so that people could keep in touch with us, and now that Elenore is here, and we have moved away from Buena Vista where most of our friends were, I figured it was about time. But I am really bad at figuring this out, and we live in the land of the slowest Internet known to man so I will not be able to do a lot of the fun things yet, but I hope to learn and slowly improve our blog as I go. But hey, if you were one of the requesters, you got your wish.

As this is titled, we moved away from our home in Buena Vista to Wichita to live with Jonathan's little brother while we look and wait for job prospects. It was a really fast decision, and the reality of it is just starting to hit me that I will not see that place or those people for a very long time, if ever. That is really hard on me. I have always hated moving, every part of the process from beginning to end. Jonathan has been very good to me and patient with all my foibles. We were very blessed to have many friends come forward to help us with everything from packing, cleaning, cooking, and caring for Elenore.

The trip out here went well enough, and we were happy that we used U-pack so we could drive our own car out together and not worry about Jonathan driving a truck and me being alone in the car with Elenore. She hates her car seat so that made it difficult for me. In fact she screamed so much the first day, and I was so worn out from packing and getting only a few hours sleep a night, I was sobbing myself after only 5 hours of driving (we wanted to go at least 10 that day), so we pulled over and stayed in a hotel.

The next day we made it to Melodie's house, my best friend since childhood, and stayed with her and her beautiful family. That was absolutely wonderful and a major highlight in this whole process. We made it to Wichita and rested a few days before heading off to Colorado for a few weeks. Jonathan's brother was getting married and we were going to spend Thanksgiving with our families for the first time in years. It is a blessing they all mainly still live in Montrose. It is always fun trying to juggle time with both families, but we had a wonderful time. It was especially wonderful getting to introduce little Elenore to everyone. She has started to give such winning smiles, so she completely stole the hearts of her grandparents, aunts and uncles, and even cousins. She is the first cousin on both sides, so it was fun.

Now we are back in Wichita, our shipment of things has arrived and Jonathan has been working hard trying to get unpacked and organized. Still no job yet, but we are hopeful and looking forward to making a new home wherever we may end up.

Well, as you probably just want to see Elenore and be done with my boring ramblings, here are some pics of our visit to Colorado, the wedding and all the fun family times.

Josh's wedding with the Graves Clan. Happiness. Jonathan was the  best man. Isn't he handsome!

Siblings at the wedding. Martell, Breanne, Lara, Me, Lenore. My sisters came all the way from Utah for Joshie. We love the kid. Man, my brother is so grown up, I can't get over it!

Family Thanksgiving pictures below. That was a good day!

Hurray, Cousins! 

EVERYBODY!!!

 The sunshine was very bright midday Colorado sunshine, but it was the only time we could do it. . . I think they still turned out pretty good! I love my family to bits! Too bad our endless fields behind my family's house are now subdivisions... oh well, you still can see mountains.

The Orignial Ackermans... oops. & Elenore

SIBLINGS! Breanne, Me, Lara, Lenore, Heather, and Martell. So much happiness, I cannot even say. Look how handsome our little brother has become!

So, the kids started climbing on the roof and we brave ones followed! Such fun times have been had on that roof, it amazes me it still stands! Or rather that we did not fall through... Seth and Eve are the brave middle children of Heather's. Eve did not want to come down, or pose for the picture...

Breanne and Me: Special Sissies. I love her!

Papa Ackerman with Elenore watching us on the roof

 I have a wonderful, beautiful family, immediate and extended. I just love them all! Hope you enjoyed the pictures! Hurray for internet finally working. I was finally able to add pics and will now be able to send this to everyone!