Service and Love

My sister Rita embodies both of these traits. She is almost 8 months pregnant. Yet the other night she headed over to my new house and unpacked my kitchen. Today she is hoping to go back and get the kids beds set up. Move the toys down to the toy room. She says its because she needs something to do. But she knows that it will mean the world to me to move and not have to worry about it. Thanks Rita!

Collage

I am so excited for the home we are buying. I have been thinking about how I want to decorate. Since we are on a tight budget I have been searching the web for creative cheap ideas. I decided that I really wanted to have a wall that celebrated families. I ordered a really neat "Family Tree" that I will personalize when I get down to Idaho. I want to surround it with family pictures. And I saw two cute signs at a hallmark store that gave the definition for parent and child. I am not artistic enough to paint so I used picnik.com to create these two pictures:

I wanted to have some reminders of Canada after I leave so I chose to use a picture of a maple leaf and a dogwood branch. I mounted the pictures on foam board. The total cost of the project is $4 a picture. I'm excited to finally get to Idaho and settle into my house!

Cure for a bad day

Yesterday was a pretty downer day until I found the perfect cure:

1. Sit and talk with your grandmother.
Landon and I sat and talked with my grandmother for about 45minutes. We talked about my grandfather and great grand fathers (both her dad and father in law) experiences during the first and second World Wars. Put my problems in perspective and gave me a greater appreciation for my patriotic and wonderful grandfathers. My great grandpa Knoll (Homer) lived in the United States, came to Canada married his wife Muriel and decided that he wanted to join the war effort. Since the US had not joined the war yet he signed up with the Canadian forces. He endured so much! When he got home he found he had lost his US citizenship because he had fought with the Canadians so he settled down with his wife in Canada. She told of how the scars of war affected him her whole life and how as she got older she was better able to understand why he was the way he was. The only time she ever heard him talk about his experiences was when she brought my grandfather home to meet her parents before they were married. She evesdropped as these two men spoke of there experiences. They stayed up all night. She said it was the only time she heard my grandfather speak candidly. And then she spoke of my grandfather's experiences of being a dental assistant in England, deciding he needed to contribute more and so he joined an infaltry group, and when they needed stretcher bearers he was pulled over because he has "hospital experience" (as a dental assistant!) How he would work bringing in his friends as they were injured and then he would sleep sitting up so that when he heard a call he would rush out to bring someone else in. And that they started tying him down while he slept so that he would get rest because he felt such a powerful responsibility to help out his brothers in arms that he would forfeit his own rest. At the guilt he felt at not being there to identify his best friend's body and so it was reported to the parents he was MIA and not KIA and that the friend's parents kept holding out hope though he knew his friend was gone. And then the treatment of veterns after each war. How sad! I am so grateful for the courageous men who came before me. What a legacy! And what a pattern to follow when life gets a little uncomfortable. At the end of the conversation I thanked her for sharing the stories and taking me out of my pity party. (She never once asked about my day.) She gave me a hug and said that my Auntie Margie had told her the news and figured I wouldn't want to talk about it. I LOVE my grandma. She is such a special person in my life.

2. Dinner and Visit with Wonderful Family
My sister in law heard the news from my brother. She called to tell me she loved me and that she wished she could help me but knew there was nothing she could do. So she invited us over for dinner and to go for a walk after the branch council meeting that she, Landon, and Matt had to attend. We had a beautiful dinner and I had a fabulous time watching the kids outside the church. I love watching the games that kids come up with to play. Ashley and I walked the kids down to SeaFair while the boys finished up with a branch presidency meeting. We had a great time walking around looking at the rides and food. Emily started to get cold so I bought her a sweater from our friend Rosie Fleury. She was selling them at the night market. It is really cute! When the boys showed up Emily and Collin went on the helicopter ride. SO CUTE! The guy operating the ride told Emily to push the red button in her cockpit so the ride would start. He pushed his button when she pushed hers. She was so proud of herself. I wish I had had my camera with me. Matt snapped a couple of pictures on his cell phone. Then we got some popcorn and headed up to Putters for an ice cream. We decided to go and get some Timbits so we walked back to our cars. We were parked in front of the Willingdon Campsite. I noticed a big black animal in one of the campsites across from us. It was a bear. I pointed it out to everyone. Ashley quickly put her kids in the van while mine sat in the stoller as Landon, Matt and I took a closer look. Yep she is the better mom. Emily even joined us in looking at the bear. A man came out of his motor home and asked why we were calling out. Matt told him he had a bear in his campsite. He didn't believe us and started looking around. Luckily the bear had moved two campsites down by then. He was not happy with us because he couldn't see the bear. And then we heard a loud pop and the caretaker yelling at the bear. The bear took off running right across the road. Three cars down from us. A car of teenagers that was driving by had to slam on their brakes not to hit it. The bear disappeared down the trail opposite of us. It was AWESOME! Afterwards we got our Timbits and rented the move The Informant. We went back to Matt and Ashley's house, visited with Elder Wolfgramm and the new Elder (Elder Hall) and then watched the movie. Stupid movie but great company.

By the end of the night I was tired but extremely happy and feeling positive for the future. I am so blessed!

A Needed Smile

I'm having a hard time staying positive and happy today and this post made me smile. I hope it makes you smile too!

Day 4

We received a phone call from the secretary of the US Senator who is looking into our case. The consulate had still not contacted her but she had called a contact in the US Dept of Naturalization office who looked up our case. It said that the consulate had contacted us on July 16th by letter. It stated that one of our forms had not been signed and that we needed to still prove Domicile for Landon. As I got off the phone with her we got a phone call from my old landlord. There was a letter in our mailbox from the US Consulate in Montreal. Landon drove over and got it. It ends up that our sponsorship had accidently not been signed. They were returning it. The letter was in response the email we had sent two weeks ago. They also requested that I send my passport. Which I sent at the beginning of June. My guess is that they have not yet opened up the package I sent by Purolater that contains my passport and Landon's acceptance letter from ISU. We have sent everything by email to Rita who is going to get the right forms signed and send a package the fastest way possible to Montreal tomorrow. I included a letter letting them know about my passport. Hopefully it hasn't been lost...

We will probably have to wait another 2-4 weeks after they receive the paperwork before the visa arrives. It looks like the kids and I will be in Powell River for most of the summer. Landon is heading down to Idaho this weekend because he has stuff that needs to be done before he can get his classes for September. Hopefully this will go by quickly so that I will be able to get my green card in time to teach by September 1st and so we can buy the house we are looking at. Everything hinges on the visa. Please keep us in your prayers.

Day 3 continued

Came home from town. Checked the mail box. A slip of paper was inside saying we missed a delivery. We can pick it up after 5 pm. Excitedly I flip it over. It is addressed to...

Janet Hull

Yep. No visa yet.

Day 3

No visa yesterday.

None today so far but it is only 11am.

Landon got home at 11pm yesterday. He was tired and stressed but happy to be back with us. He has a better understanding about why I hate going over the border, especially the one in Blaine, WA. Actually I am terrified of that one because of stuff that happened when I was coming into the US on a student visa. I don't find them to be the friendliest.

Landon and my parents spent 3 hours yesterday packing, going through our stuff, putting all my stuff in storage, and repacking the trailer. Then they headed back to the US border. Here is Landon's account:

My parents and Landon each had to see their own customs agent. My parents' had a chip on his shoulder while Landon's was relatively nice. He even looked embarrassed a few times by the rudeness of his co worker. Landon calls the whole experience a taste of hell. They were treated like they were ignorant idiots. They were left sitting and waiting as the vehicles and trailer were inspected. The agents asked if there was an itemized list. Landon said it was in the car, so they went out to look for it. When they came back with it, the "jerk" officer asked if this was the list Landon had been referring to. Landon said yes, but that they hadn't crossed off all the things that had been removed yet. To this the agent said, "This list doesn't suffice," and then he walked away. It was a five-six page listing of everything that was in the boxes. A few minutes later, the "nice" officer finally came back and said there was a problem with the household items. They wanted to know why there was a crib and other children's items in the trailer. Landon said they belonged to his children. The guard said that Landon would not be allowed to cross the border with them. Landon then cited the name of the guard he had talked with the night before who said that Landon could bring anything belonging to the kids, or jointly owned with me, just not items that were clearly mine. The "jerk" said, "How do we know those items are not hers (meaning Tamara)?" Landon said, "Well for that matter, how do you know any of the items in the trailer are mine, other than I'm telling you that they are?" By this time Landon was upset and he said, "Those are my things too. They are going into my house in the United States. The "jerk" walked away. The nice guard then asked Landon where the children were. Landon told him they were with their mother in Powell River, that they were born in Canada, but they are US citizens, and the items in the trailer belonged to them. Landon then walked away and told my parents that they were going to have to return to Canada. So they sat there waiting to be escorted back to their vehicles, and back into Canada. A few moments later, the nice guard returned to the counter, called Landon over, handed him the passports and signed customs slips, and said, "You're free to go." Landon was surprised and said, "You mean back to Canada, or into the United States?" The guard just nodded and said, "You're free to go." Landon just looked at him directly and said, "Thank you." He then went back to my parents and said, "We can go." They asked where, and Landon said they could go south (into the US).

Landon went into the US, grabbed a bite to eat, and headed back to the Canadian border. He was still feeling cautious about everything so when he was asked about how long he had been in the US and why, Landon told him that he was helping his inlaws get over the border with a few of his things and they were taking them down to relatives in Idaho. The guard became very suspicious at this, and began to ask more probing questions. When Landon realized he was not going to let him in, he told him the whole story. The guard said, "Oh, why didn't you tell me that?" Landon apologized, and the guard waved him through.

Yep, borders suck!

Update

No visa in the mail Monday.

So far no visa today. Last night my parents and Landon were turned away at the border due to the fact that they were trying to import items that were mine. So they stayed the night in Cloverdale. This morning spent a few hours sorting through all our boxes and putting everything into storage which was mine. Landon will take them across the border and then come back up to Powell River. When my visa arrives we will drive down to Vancouver, put all the storage into a small Uhaul van and drive both vehicles down to Idaho. We will import my car then too.

I hope the visa comes today.

PS Emily got sick last night, Collin and I are both sick today. I am grateful that we aren't on the road.

Its been awhile

I haven't posted in awhile. Life has been crazy. Living at my parents. Working for my dad as a cashier. Fantastic Hull Family reunion. Same old, same old. :)

Tomorrow is moving day. No immigration visa yet.

So by 3 pm tomorrow if it hasn't arrived than I will be waving good bye to my parents, Landon and Emily. Collin and I will be waiting it out here in PR until the visa arrives.

Please keep us in your prayers. I can't wait until this is all over!

Happy Canada Day!

Happy Canada Day Everyone!

The weather here isn't the best but that doesn't put a damper on anything!

I am so happy to be a citizen of this wonderful country. My parents have instilled a patriotism that will never go away!