10 Years - Part One

 We just passed our 10 year anniversary of living at "our land" - I'm just amazed that it has been that long! For most who don't know the story, we lived in a regular house in a regular neighborhood before the big move. JD was in the Navy and we were looking at a move to Hawaii and him deploying again. Since Gabriel was 12 and a bit of a handful, we decided that he, and the rest of the kids, really needed their Dad present and it was time to end the Naval career. JD actually gave up his officer retirement, because he didn't complete 10 years as an officer, and retired as a Master Chief in order to avoid what would have been our course. We decided to remain in Virginia and started looking for land to build on a few years down the road. 

Due to some issues we had while we were foster parents, we decided that we had to move long before we planned to ensure our children's safety. We looked at rental homes in different places when I came up with the brilliant idea of just buying a mobile home and putting it on the land we were already making payments on. Then we would live right by our house when building time came.  At that time, I had no idea what that really meant! We began clearing - just enough to cram a large 2400 sq. ft. trailer in. I always felt bad when people heard that we lived in a trailer in the woods, because it was very nice; it was a brand new four bedroom and three bath with a living room and den with fireplace. While the trailer was nice, however, our surroundings were horrible! 

The clearing for the trailer when it wasn't raining -

 The septic tanks being installed -   

  
The drain-field -

 When our new "home" was delivered, it was mud, mud and more mud. It's a miracle that they could even get it in; it was one of the wettest falls in Virginia history if I recall correctly.   

We were only able to move our belongings with a trailer behind a major vehicle that could navigate the mud. I don't remember why, but our driveway wasn't completed until we had been in the house for several weeks. We had layer upon layer of gravel put down, but the rocks kept disappearing into the mud; we still joke about our $10,000 gravel drive-way.
 

 We lost our two foster daughters that we were desperately hoping to adopt a few months before the big move. I got a call for three children in the middle of the move - a three year old girl and twin baby boys. Since no one was going to keep the siblings together, I agreed to take them. They waited in emergency care while we moved and I took them three days after moving in. Let's just say it was hard - very, very hard! I had six kids, six and under, and every time we went anywhere, they had to be carried, one by one, to and from the van, because they would get stuck in the mud. 

I'm glad we are here, but I don't think I'd do it that way again! 

JD with the first five kids when we moved in.

To be continued -