This move marked the 20th major move for Steve and I as a couple, and it was by far the most difficult one we have done (and it is really only 1/2 over as we still have to UNpack when we get back!). But it is OVER, and we survived it, and we are thankful.
So what made it so terrible? Well, this is prob way more info than you want, but I just have to document this adventure (for those of you who want the condensed version, just skip to the end where the pics are)...
* Because of my recent wrist surgery, I couldn't help much at all with packing, etc, and Steve was ridiculously busy at the end with ministry things.
* Mikayla was running a fever and throwing up for the last few days before the move and Steve and Zach were fighting a nasty cold.
* The night before the truck came, Steve we were sitting around the table making a game plan for the next day when Steve scooped Zach up to tickle him. He turned him upside down and put his head down - just then the plastic chair collapsed! So Steve and Zach came down squarely on Zach's head. As a result of the accident, Steve bruised his tailbone and Zach got 2 lacerations on his tongue, cut his hand, and bruised his fingers and toes - not to mention the massive lump on his head and headache for 4 days afterwards.
* While we were calming Zach down and evaluating his injuries, we heard a massive CRASH from the other room. Our pantry cabinet consists of 2 pieces stacked on top of one another. The top half is about 4ft tall by 3 feet wide with sliding glass doors. Well, Mikayla accidentally pulled on a string, causing the top half to come toppling down. Thankfully, she had the presence of mind to step back so she was not hit. However, when we all ran to the scene, we realized that Ben was missing!!! Thinking he might be UNDER the cabinet, we started frantically looking for him, when he creeped back in from the other room where he had run to hide when it fell (he had been in that room but ran when it started falling). While a lot of stuff was ruined/damaged by the falling cabinet, we were just so thankful that no one was injured. It really shook us all up.
* Once we all calmed down and were able to sleep, morning came very early as we got up at 5am to strip beds, wrap mattresses, etc so we would be ready for the truck when it arrived at 8. Steve was suddenly in a LOT of ear pain and took a bunch of meds to get him through the day.
* Well, the truck never showed up. Found out that the driver's wife had gone into labor. 2 pastor friends when on the hunt for another truck - said they knew a guy, and they would ask him to be to our house by 1pm. By 10:30 we still had not heard a confirmation from them, so we tracked them down and found out they had not been able to find anything and were too embarrased to tell us. Steve started driving around hunting for a truck to rent.
* It POURED rain off and on all morning due to a passing typhoon. Steve kept popping pills so that he can stand the pain enough to supervise the move.
*At 3pm, Steve finally found a truck, and by 4pm, the guys were loading it - in the rain still.
* Despite the fact that I am not supposed to drive for another 2 wks (our car is automatic so I just used my left hand), I left with the kids and 2 American volunteers who had come to help us (a huge praise!!!) to drive up to our new area, and make a few drop-offs along the way of fridge/food stuff etc.
*At the first stop, one of the American girls fell into a sewer ditch and blew out her knee. She was in a lot of pain, but we knew that going to the ER down here was not a good idea if we could help it, so we started making phone calls to try to get her on the next day flight up to Manila. As we made phone calls and arrangements, we continued driving to our various stops.
*We finally arrived at our new house at 8pm and worked together to unload the inside and topload of the car. Since it was just Anna, me with my injured wrist and 3 kids, it was quite an adventure. We finished unloading at 8:30, but poor Ella was in a lot of pain with her knee and soaking wet from the ditch she fell in, we still had not had supper, my arm was KILLING me by this point, and the truck had still not even left Iriga to drive up to where we were.
*We made the decision to head back to the hotel and let Steve supervise the unloading by himself (poor guy, but we needed to get Ella lying down). By the time we got back to the hotel, finished making arrangements to get Anna & Ella on the am flight, got the kids scrubbed up and in bed, it was 10:45pm.
*Steve finally got back to the hotel at 12:30 am. He slept fairly well, but Zach tossed and turned and woke up a lot.
*I had planned to take the girls to the airport in the am, but Steve was awake and insisted on doing it since I shouldn't drive any more than absolutely necessary so they left at 5:30am. Zach woke up in tears from ear pain.
* Turns out they had not quite gotten all the stuff the night before, so once Steve got back from the airport at 7:30am, we headed to our house to finish up the last load. By the time we finished up everything, dropped that load off at our new house, and moved some boxes and furniture around so that they wouldn't get destroyed if the windows leak in a storm, it was 2pm.
*Steve and Zach were still in a lot of ear pain despite lots of pain meds and decongestant so we called the dr and got on the list to see the ENT that afternoon.
*Turns out that Steve's eardrum had ruptured the day before, and was in danger of doing it again. Zach's was about to rupture. We went and got them the meds they needed then headed back for the hotel and an early night.
*Steve had a VERY rough night and was in a LOT of pain. Didn't think he would be able to go to the last day at the Bible Studies today like he had hoped. Prayed long and hard for healing, and he finally got a few hours sleep then woke up feeling a little better. He left for the villages this am, armed with all his meds, and he has texted saying that he is in pain but hanging in there. He should be home in a couple hours - by 7 or 8pm hopefully.
Here are some pics of our adventures the last 2 days.
Anna and Ella were a HUGE blessing to us as they ended up here unexpectedly and worked incredibly hard to help us finish up all that we needed to do. They also took some time to love on the kids and play with them. :)
This is a pic of the cabinet that fell towards Mikayla and Ben the night before we move. The next picture shows what was left of the double glass sliding doors.
Boxes everywhere!
Once we FINALLY found a truck, we had quite the time getting it into our driveway to make loading faster. The truck actually moved the concrete gate post about 1 inch!
Steve lifted the power lines with a piece of wood to let the truck pass under.
The loading finally starts!
The kids enjoyed watching all the activity, and were thrilled when they got to check out the inside of the truck.
We are all absolutely wiped but happy to be done. 
Tomorrow we head up to a hotel closer to the aiport and finish up a few things at our new house (changing out locks, etc) before we fly to Manila the next am. Steve will have a root canal that afternoon (pray for him, it has been a tough couple days for him) then we fly to the States on Thursday morning!
