A little Progress

We are slowly but surely unpacking boxes and finding the floors in our new house. Hey we even have pictures hung on the walls as well! :-)

Kitchen:

Emma & Ethan's Room:

Living Room:

Alex Office:

Better view of the front of the house without a U-Haul in front of it! :-)

Mountain Sunset

We were invited by our neighbors Stephen and Sheri who attend Pump Springs Baptist Church to attend their picnic in the park our first Sunday night on campus. We really enjoyed getting away from the packing, enjoyed some praise and worship and some good old fashioned Southern Baptist pot luck! But my favorite part of the night was watching the sun set behind the mountain range. These photos do not even begin to capture the beauty that God painted in the sky this night. While feeling a bit homesick and remember the beach sunsets God quietly reminded me that even here, in the mountains of Kentucky He would be with us wherever we go!

Growing!

We got these yardsticks from Lowes and decided to start measuring the kids either once or twice a year while we are here on Campus at Clear Creek to see how much they will grow while we are here. It's so funny how the kids can get excited about such little things like this! 

On July 29th 2012 - Ethan measured at 44"

On July 29th 2012 - Emma measured at  48 3/4 "

Playing in the Creek

So who can resist playing in the creek for the first time? :-) Not the Hanke family! I'm sure we had people on campus who were laughing at us but we had a good time exploring the creek (which is literally in our backyard) and playing in the water on this summer afternoon!

Ethan's most favorite thing to do is throw rock after rock into the creek. And he does just that anytime he gets the chance!

Daddy, Emma, and Ethan also made a damn in the creek. Of course Ethan was most interested in the biggest rocks that would make the most splash! Emma was thoroughly involved and serious about this project though and wouldn't leave the creak until she and her daddy were finished!

Exploring The Campus & Pineville

During the first week we were on campus we did a LOT of exploring of our new home and surrounding areas. We had to take breaks from the unpacking and organizing every once and a while and just walk away from it! :-) The picture below is the entrance to the city of Pineville, it's one of those town that you don't want to blink too much or you might miss it! I think there are like 2 stoplights in the whole city! LOL! Such a difference from our hometown of Lakeland.

The campus is absolutely beautiful. Alex and me both catch ourselves in awe that we actually live in a  place like this now!

This is the bridge in front of the Clear Creek Mall (a thrift store for students and families) 

A view of the creek and Kelly Hall - where the single guys live and where the cafeteria and conference spaces are located. 

Emma and Ethan LOVE the bridge!

We are so excited as a family to finally be here on campus! We are looking forward to the journey ahead of us and looking forward to next week when all of the orientation activities will take place for the new students and families. 

Yellow Jackets

We Floridians are learning some hard lessons about Kentucky mountain Yellow Jackets. Poor Emma seems to be the one with the least amount of luck. Yesterday (July 30th) she got stung twice while out on the playground. But today she happened to run and jump right across the nest in the side of the hill and while me and Alex were still unpacking we heard screaming (the kind where you KNOW as a parent that something is wrong). Somehow they had gotten into her shirt and stung her back 4 times and then on the arm 2 times. The dang things were in her hair so as I tried to help her undress and get into the tub with some cool water they were flying around the bathroom. She was freaking out and I turned all ninja mommy on those suckers! We got the ones in the house killed and got Emma into a cold bath and then used ice and sting remover the rest of the afternoon.

Alex and our neighbor, Stephen, went out to the playground to find the nest and took care of it. Emma was thankful that Daddy had killed the rest of those mean bugs.

The poor girl is terrified of going outside now though, and I can't say I blame her. Every time she hears buzzing (even a fly!) she starts crying. So we are praying that the yellow jackets will go away and that her fears will subside so that she can enjoy the rest of the summer with her friends playing outside. 

Unpacking

The task of unpacking didn't go quite as quickly as the unloading of the U-Haul truck. But we were glad to be at our new home and ready to begin setting up house for this new adventure we were beginning  It's always funny that the kids rooms seem to be the first room to be finished in any house we have ever lived in, this was also true for the move to Kentucky. While Emma and Ethan ran around and played with their friends Alex got their beds all set up and ready for their first night in their new house. 

Ethan having a little "lunch" in while we continued with the unpacking process. 

Emma and Ethan's room with all of their toys and clothes ready to be unpacked

Alex's office area

We have a huge kitchen and dining area which will be awesome once everything is cleaned and properly put away!

The living Room

Emma and Ethan were both great helpers while we unpacked the first week of being on campus. Every time they got a chance to help out they would ask to do so. Emma even put together my plastic pantry shelves for me!

Crazy kids! Taking a snack break in their camp chairs!

Of course there were times when the boxes were overwhelming to all of us. I found them in the corner of the kitchen sitting on the rolled up living room rug watching their portable DVD players one night while Alex and I were unpacking one of the many boxes that still needed to be sorted and put away. 

Home Sweet Home

We arrived on Campus and got up to Holly Hill right around 3 pm. Ethan and Emma had already jumped out of the U-Haul and were running around the house checking out the new place. 

This is a view from the "back" of the house. Emma and Ethan will have their own private swing set that the previous tenants left! Thanking God for the little things! 

When we arrived on Campus we had a welcoming crew who had been waiting for us since that morning. Kaylee & Daniel Glenn were so excited that we had finally made it up. Emma was especially glad to see that there were some girls around here age living on Holly Hill.

Ethan & Daniel running around outside the front of our house on moving day.

I just love this picture because it is truly a portrayal of how kind and welcoming everyone on campus is. We hadn't been on Holly Hill for more than an hour and Emma and Ethan already had a pile of new friends in their room!

We were also extremely thankful for the unpacking help we received when we pulled into the driveway of our new house. 5 of the men on campus were ready and waiting to help with the unloading and they had the whole truck & trailer unloaded in less than an hour! That was WAY less time than it took to pack all those things into that truck!

We Made It!

After two days and 12 hours we finally saw the sign for the Tunnel which meant we were getting so close! 

This is the tunnel that goes through the mountain on 25E. You enter on one side in the state of Tennessee and then exit on the other side in Kentucky! :-)

The conversation on the Walkie Talkies regarding this sign was HILARIOUS. I was so disappointed that the Kentucky sign was so small! (and blurry...yes I used my camera phone while driving people - had to document the milestones!). 

Crossing the bridge on Campus and entering in front of Kelly Hall. Now after writing this blog I can laugh because we all made it safely, but somehow we missed the signs that said "No Trucks" - yeah we were supposed to go down to another entrance and not cross that particular bridge. So for those wondering it will actually hold a 20 ft U-Haul and trailer without crashing into the creek!

Emma was SO excited. Alex had barely turned off the U-Haul and she was jumping out of the front seat yelling "we're here, we're here!"

Ethan was so glad that long drive was over, he was in the mountains and ready to see his new house! Momma was ready too! 

We unloaded the trailer down at Kelly Hall and then headed up to our housing area called Holly Hill to check out our new house and start the process of unpacking.