The Karas Krew: FLORIDA! FLORIDA! FLORIDA!

I have a few minutes since the boys our napping, none of our household goods have arrived, I figured I would update the blog!

As we drove away from Altus, it was so bittersweet. I loved that little town and all the friends we made, but we were all so excited to be moving to Florida. Athen and Matt chanted Florida throughout our entire roadtrip and Maximo tried his hardest to say Florida right along with them. It was so cute. The last week has been one of the most stressful and exhausting weeks of my life but we have been so blessed. It makes me realize why military families have so many kids, when you move all you have is each other and the more of you there are the more you have to rely on.
Before we left Altus there was a serious hail storm...It was unbelievable the amount of hail that came down. Unfortunately our house had some damage. We had a window break, some shingles shredded and the siding on our chimney damaged. So this made our departure from Altus a little more difficult because we had to make sure these were taken care of before we could leave! Luckily our cars weren't damaged because we were at a friend's house on the other side of town that didn't see much or any of the storm. The NB family opened their home to us all week, and fed us dinner the night before we left. They gave the boys the sweetest gifts before we left. Maximo got a shapes book, which he has hoarded since he received it. For Athen they made him the coolest coloring book ever! Inside was a place to keep crayons and then she had made pages of pictures from photographs taken of him and all of his friends. It is so cool! He loves it and told me it was "perfect" about 10 times on the car ride. Saying goodbye to the NB family was so hard and I pray that our paths will cross again SOON!

The car ride was as smooth as could be with two little ones and being pregnant. We drove 6 hours the first day, 8 the second day, and about 10 the last day. The boys slept great in all the hotels, however they woke up around 6am or earlier every single morning. They also both added four states to their roster! Athen has now been to 14 states and Maximo has been to 11 states. Athen has a map and has been following where we are going. He kept asking me if we made it to "The Mississippi" yet. He was really into where we were. I love that they are able to see so much of the country. On the rode, we mostly stopped at places that had play areas for the boys, so pretty much Chick-Fil-A's. It was good for the boys to get some energy out and be able to play before we got back in the car again. In the middle of one of our chaotic stops Matt and I were running low on patience and were arguing about our plans for the night. We were all sitting and eating and sweet little Maximo grabbed my hand then grabbed Matt's hand and looked at us both. We had forgotten to pray before dinner and it was just a sweet reminder to us of what was really important.

Florida is vastly different from OK. The scenery is beautiful. We took the boys to the beach this morning and they were both in awe and loved it so much. Athen asked if we could go back after quiet time and after dinner too! He also asked me why their are spider trees everywhere...palm trees. I'm also realizing sand will be a big part of my life. And boy is it messy!!! We were also so blessed to be able to buy a house within a day of being here. We get to move in TODAY, our household goods should be here TODAY as well. So PTL for that. The house is pretty small but the amenities are really nice. We can see the pool, playground and gym from our back porch. It is also less than 1/2 mile from the beach. Matt has to start work tomorrow and we are hoping that he can get some time off to help us unpack and settle in to our new home!
Here are some pictures from Altus and now our new home Florida!
The old big window getting loaded on a flatbed, and was eventually loaded on a big rig, and is hopefully being delivered as I type this!