We are having a great time. Wednesday afternoon we arrived at Thompson Lake Baptist Camp outside of Libby, MT where our good friends Kelly and Erika Mitchell serve. We had a great time visiting with them and enjoyed their beautiful home. The boys loved "hunting" with Micaiah and Lilia and it was so sweet to hear little Benjamin yelling out "ETHAN" is his little toddler voice. The boys enjoyed swimming and we even went in a canoe.
Thursday afternoon we said goodbye and headed out for Butte, MT. I really loved the northwestern Montana views. We drove around Flathead Lake up and down all the hills. It is pretty amazing to see the Rockies so close. At one point Casey said, "What's the speed limit again? By the time I get up to speed I've forgotten what speed I'm supposed to be going?" So, the going is slow, especially in the hilly and construction areas. We stopped at a place to eat in St. Ignatious, a little burger joint drive in. If you come near it, just keep going, it's so not worth it! Just before 10 pm we pulled into a little rv park called Fairmont or Fairview or something like that in Anaconda, MT. We slept well enough and everything is going well this morning. The boys are enjoying playing at the playground and Casey is getting the trailer ready to pull out. Today we will head to Yellowstone.

Day 1 of our big move/vacation!

Well, today was the first day of our moving/vacation to Texas. We planned on leaving at 9am--we left at 3pm. We planned on making it to Libby, Montana-- we made it to Spokane, WA. So far the trip has been great! No, seriously, it has! We didn't get out of town on the schedule we would have liked, but at the same time, it's not like we could come back later if we forgot anything. So we are just taking our time. Casey is enjoying driving the truck and trailer combo down the freeway, "I almost feel like a big rig trucker!--almost," he says. The Lord is good to us. We got to stay the night and visit with Casey's sister, Jeanie and her family tonight, which we would not have been able to do if we had gone through to Montana. We are planning on taking our time and enjoying whatever the Lord has for us on this trip. We are excited to be able to be together as a family for an extended while before Casey starts school. We'll try to keep everyone posted while we go. As you probably have guessed, this is Casey signing off for the McCarthy fam. Until next time...

Saying Goodbye

Today was our last Sunday at our church, WVBC. We came to WVBC in September of 2001, so we have been here almost 8 years. Wow! I can't even believe how fast the time has gone. Some seasons have been difficult, but I can say in all honesty that there isn't really any other place I would have rather been these past years. I can hardly put into words the love I have for our church family. There is something so sweet about true fellowship in a church that loves the Lord and loves one another.
Today we were so blessed by our "send off." I am more overwhelmed at God's goodness and the love His people have shown us than the sadness of leaving such dear ones. It is hard to leave, but to depart with their blessing, prayers and well wishes brings us much joy. So, today I am just thankful, and a little overwhelmed at God's grace towards our family. Thank you dear saints who have walked with us, served along side us, loved, encouraged and supported us these past years. You have greatly blessed us!

Papers are signed

We had an appointment today with the Title company to sign all those papers! Yay!!! We will close tomorrow. I am so thankful to be done with this part of the process (almost anyway). Tonight Casey will mow the lawn and we will leave our keys and be all done!!!

Almost ready

Well, here we are, exactly one week from the date we are heading out of town (hopefully). We had hoped to be signing this week on our house and closing, but the new date or deadline is the 27th. We will know more in a couple of days.
The house is totally empty (except for phone) and everything has been cleaned. So, it is nice to have all that done. We are still enjoying our "home" and the boys are especially enjoying playing with the dog. Josiah has really taken to her and will call Zoey and she almost always comes right away. If she doesn't come right away Josiah will yell, Zo-WAY, and that usually does the trick. Josiah always has a funny way of saying things like "horsey", would be "Horse-SAY". It will be fun to hear him pick up the accent when we get to Texas!

Yard Sale

The goal of today was to get rid of as much furniture as possible! Making money was secondary, but we were happy with our end total. We marked the remaining few things with a big free sign and left it by the curb...so maybe it will ALL be gone by the end of the weekend. Since we are traveling in a truck and travel (camping) trailer, we have limited space for big and bulky items. Today we were able to sell our washer/dryer, beds, tv, extra tables and all kinds of outdoor tools. And, to top it off we sold our Ford Taurus. Good riddance to that car...ahhh... I won't dwell on that, but thank you Lord for blessing us with a terrific turn out. We love that we can bless people too by practically giving away needed and useful items to those who need them. And, whenever someone asked where we were moving to it opened up an opportunity to share about God's leading in our lives...very cool.
So, we are tired today and a little sunburned, but thankful to have all of that extra stuff completely (almost) gone.
Tomorrow we are spending the day with my family and extended family in Ellensburg. It will be a last visit with the grandma's and grandpa's and aunts and uncles for awhile.

A home away from home

We have "moved" into our new home for the next 3+ weeks. Thankfully, it is fully furnished, clean and a wonderful break from the chaos at the house we are packing and cleaning. The boys are enjoying playing with "new" toys and dog and both Casey and the boys have enjoyed playing the Wii too...we like it so much, we might not leave...just kidding. I didn't realize how draining it was on me to be living among the chaos of a 1/2 packed house the last couple of weeks and still trying to maintain regular care for my family. It is a blessing to have some place to retreat to when we are done packing for the day.
No new news on the house except that the lenders are working diligently to get the underwriting done as soon as possible. It is nice to have great communication from them to our realtor.

It's July!

Well, here we are in July already. On July 1st we signed with our back-up buyer. Our first buyer did not seem able to get a loan, at least not in the time frame we were waiting for. The back up buyer looks much stronger and is working with a local lender/bank which should speed things up quite a bit. It looks like we are on track to close before our "departure" date of July 28th.

On July 4th we will be moving into a friends house to take care of it and their dog while they are on a month long mission trip to Haiti. It will be nice to have another place to live and stuff to use so that we can finish up our packing and get everything loaded up. We will be making our move to Texas in a truck and travel trailer, so if it doesn't fit...it's not going! The hardest part is deciding what we can fit (and want to take) and what needs to find a new home. It was so nice to have a friend come over the other day to help me pack and tell me what to do! All the decisions that need to be made, regardless of the significance, tend to get overwhelming at times. But, we are moving forward and every day I find myself more eager to go.