Moving to Durango Colorado

We left this:

We packed up our two moving trucks on May 21st with the help of some awesome friends in Idaho. We spent a short night on the floor of our house, woke up on Friday to finish cleaning and packing the last of the items: plants, cleaning supplies, bedding etc.
Steve was not too sure the rest would fit in. I told him I was awake very early figuring just where everything would go, we'll make it fit!! We drove all day Friday one 26' truck driven by Steve, a 16' truck with trailer to carry Josh's Trouper driven by our son-in-love Vince, the PT driven by Josh, Vince and Lorissa's car driven by Lorissa and last but not least me in our Suburban. You really didn't want to get stuck behind our caravan!!!

Victor now minus 8!

View from behind

We drove all the way to Moab, Utah got to the hotel about 9:30 crashed in bed and awoke at 4:00am in order to arrive in Durango by 9:00am. Driving moving trucks is a slow business! It was worth getting up early to get the great help on the other end unloading all our possessions.

There was a fantastic group of guys who unloaded us in about 2 1/2 hours! Thanks!!

Our destination! Durango Colorado

Lorissa and Vince spent a week with us in Durango and then they headed off to LA. They flew from LA to Washington to load up their possessions and move them to San Diego. A little more moving than they had hoped for. So glad for your help! Thanks guys!

This house is just a rental we will be here until our house in Idaho sells(please pray!) then we will move to a more permanent location. Come for a visit we miss everyone!!

The Good-Byes

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Sports Camp

Drew and Ruth got to participate in Sports Camp put on by several churches in the area and held at our church, The River Church. They spent every evening last week learning about soccer, singing songs, hearing Bible stories and having a great time. There was a great turn out for this VBS, about 150 kids each night. Hey, notice that Drew has no more cast! He has to wear a brace and thankfully he had no incidents while at Camp!! Thanks Erik!

LIFE And JOEL'S GRADUATION

Does life seem to fly by for anyone else?
I was going to post a blog yesterday but I started to download photos and realized that I can't really start from where I am I need to go back and catch you up. Yes, I must be one of those sequential people!!
Steve lost his job on December 30th, he was praying that God would open up a full-time position in a church. Not that easy with our family needs. However, during this time of waiting Steve and I were able to finish off the work on our basement remodel, and move the kids into their new (although temporary) rooms.
Our daughter Lyndsie was set to get married in North Carolina on April 5th. In March I had been madly trying to work on ring pillows, ties, vests and dresses. Just when we think that maybe God was NOT going to open up a pastoring position we hear that our friends who pastor in Colorado are losing much of their pastoral staff to various other things! Hummm! So, Steve lets them know that we are interested if they would consider us. After a couple of calls and a "lets get you out here", which we said we could do after the wedding, we got another call, "Can you come tomorrow?" Uh yeah, sure we're not really doing anything at all!!! Thankfully I really was almost done with my sewing, two vests and two ties left to do, so the weekend(Saturday) before we were to leave to drive to Asheville, NC we took a 12 hour drive to Durango, CO! We went to church on Sunday, their mission Sunday, and I could tell Steve was back in his calling! We talked, drove around the area and talked some more, by Tuesday we were headed 12 hours back home.
Wednesday morning it's back to sewing and packing for a four day drive to NC. Lorissa and Vince were staying with us, so we loaded up both cars. We left on Monday arrived on Thursday, rehersal on Saturday, wedding on Sunday, a little more time with friends and family, left to drive home on Wednesday arrive home on Friday. Is anyone tired yet, I know I am!! Had a fantastic time with family at the wedding, nice to have everyone together.
By the way we decided to take the position that was offered in Durango, so before we left for the wedding we put the house on the market with friends of ours. So, not only did we pack but we also moved furniture and took down family photos and made the house look its best as realtors would take photos while we were gone!
When we got home it was packing for three weeks then off to Joel's graduation. And why not throw in another trip to Durango on the way to LA to look at a rental house! That only adds 12 hours to the trip, spend a couple hours looking and 12 more hours to San Dimas - are we crazy? DON'T answer that! Many of you have been telling us that for years!


Our son on the "Big Screen", at Angeles Temple

He was ready to grab that diploma, before they change their minds! 
Proud parents
At Ryan and Abby's house to celebrate Mother's Day and Joel's Graduation.

Ryan, Abby, Steve, Joel, Emily, Lori, Lorissa, Vince

Spring in the Mountains and Broken Arms

PRETTY SURE THIS IS A CASE OF SPRING FEVER

MONDAY
We went to bed last night with the snow still coming down!! YES, I said snow. Some of you don't understand that with temperatures still in the 70s and 80s but around here Spring often comes with more snow.

FRIDAY
OK, that line was written on Monday of this week right before our friends came over with dinner!! From there I never got the computer back again, you have to wait in a long line around here!! Ever since Monday the skies have been spitting snow, rain, hail or something in between. Which is probably why Wednesday night's accident happened, Yes, Spring Fever that's what I'm calling it.

WEDNESDAY

Just finished dinner and we hear some yelling downstairs not so unusual in a house full of kids. Up the stairs comes Steven carrying his little brother, Drew, trying to calm him down he carries him to me. I'm looking all over for blood, don't see anything, so now I'm looking at Steven and asking what happened and what's wrong with him. I realize later that he is trying to tell me with his eyes so that he doesn't alarm his little brother as to how bad he thinks it is. However, I'm getting slightly annoyed because I don't get what he's silently telling me. Finally, he says look at his arm, OH, now I get it! Looks broken for sure!

I sit down and try to calm him now that he knows what it is, thanks to my dullness. I try to put him in a position that won't hurt while everyone else scrambles around to get our shoes and coats and a little pain killer! We head to the hospital trying to keep his arm still over the bumps, OUCH! I can tell he is getting more and more worried about the broken arm and the hospital so I make a call to his big brothers in California. Getting them on the line I tell them what is going on and tell them their little buddy needs a bit of distraction to get him to the hospital! Bless them they talked to him the whole way and by the time he got to the hospital he was so brave!! Thanks Jason and Ryan, you saved the day!!

He broke both bones in his arm! Ends up they were climbing on the back of the couch with Steven pushing them off! He slipped or was pushed(?) and came down catching his fall with his hand. The arm was ex-rayed and splinted and we were sent home. Next day we call the clinic and they tell us to come in to cast it about 1:30. We sit in the room for awhile and then she tells us that we will have to see an orthopedic MD and theirs is out of town for seven more days and Drew  can't wait that long in a splint!! OK! We have to go over the mountain to Wilson the next day. Seems like a good Doctor knows his stuff, Drew's ex-ray looks good, won't have to be manipulated to set it, YES! What color does Drew pick for his cast? Well see for yourself. We have one very secure boy yes- sirree.

Lyndsie & David's wedding

Just for all of you who couldn't be at the wedding! I will have a slideshow up on my blog in the next week with even more pictures... but for now, here's for you Aunt Rod! ;)

~Abi

Basement Revisited Once More!!

Ryan arrived on Tuesday or wee hours of Wednesday, 4am. Next morning he nailed his dad into the closet, no literally!! Well, I guess technically his dad nailed himself into the closet!! We had been hanging doors last week and it worked great with Steve on one side keeping it flush to the wall and me on the other side leveling and nailing. He saved the closet doors for Ryan's arrival because they are double doors and a little hard for me to handle. So, Steve got in the closet to keep the door flush and nail it in but the difference this time was that there were two screws in the top that he didn't account for that were now impossible to unscrew with the door nailed in!! Yes, he is now locked in the closet. Try as they might to get him out it wasn't working. They finally came upstairs and let me know what was going on. I did think it was quite funny! He sent me to the neighbors but I found a construction site, even better. I let myself in and asked if anyone had a sawzall, because my husband nailed himself in the closet. At first he was a little worried but when he saw me laughing he wasn't quite as worried. He quickly found the saw and we headed down the street. First all he had was a wood blade and that didn't work so he ran back to find another blade, a little more sawing and he was free, thanks to AJ. The girls made him cookies.

Next we were on to the tiling! After a lot of measuring and figuring and more figuring we were ready to start. Of course everyone wanted to be involved that was a lot of bodies in one bathroom. Sometimes 5 at a time in the tub scraping!! First day,after some training by Ryan, we had most of the back wall up. Second day we got the sides up working as a team. Third day we got everything done but we had a few decisions to make and found we didn't have quite enough tile to finish it the way we wanted. Fourth day, back to the store, an hour and a half away, and finish the job. All but the grout and sealing!! Not bad for a bunch of non-professionals!! 

The Basement Almost Complete

Down the hall to the bathroom.



This should be my last post before I post the pictures of the completed basement. We have hung the doors to the rooms,  put in all light fixtures and are in the tedious process of staining, sanding and varnishing the baseboards, door trim and doors. The bathroom mirrors and towel bars are hung.

The carpet is on order and should be installed the beginning of February. Ryan is on his way as I post this to help us tile the tub, thank you Abby! So we are well on our way to a completed project. The next step will be to move furniture in, WOW!! I will post more pictures at that time.

Our Precious Rebekah

Rebekah Ashleigh Quisenberry  

10/20/97-1/9/98

Today is a special day, the day our precious little Rebekah took flight for home. Though some may say an early flight, which I might agree with, we are so greatful that God entrusted us with her for even that short amount of time. I know she is in my mother's arms in heaven and we look forward to an eternity spent with them! 

Many may not know the whole story of her birth and home going so here it is. She was born in Florida at a transition point for us. We were headed to Asheville, NC and were just awaiting her birth and the sale of our house. My sister Lynelle was there, waiting, even to the point of missing her first grandson's birth. She quickly flew home to welcome him and a week later came back to assist in Rebekah's birth. What dedication!! Rebekah was born at home with the help of her dad (and mom of course!), Aunt Nelle, and friend Betty. All went well and she was welcomed and cherished by the whole family, 9 siblings to be exact! Within 10 days we had packed up the house and headed to NC.

 Since our house had not sold yet we lived at Foursquare's Camp Courtney in Hendersonville, NC for the first 6 months. We spent Christmas there with Steve's parents and his oldest brother. 

It was in the first week of January that she seemed to have trouble breathing, it only got worse. We took her to the emergency room, the doctor there being a Christian and knowing Steve was a pastor, prayed for us and Rebekah. He was not sure what was wrong. He thought that she may have pneumonia. We were sent to Mission Hospital in Asheville. After several days of tests they found a very rare congenital heart defect, Anomalous origin of the left coronary artery from the pulmonary artery. She was air lifted to Duke University Hospital where she would have the surgery. The surgery corrected the defect but complications set in and her little heart and body could not recover. There was so much more that happened in that week and the weeks to come that it would take a book to cover it all!

 God's presence and His love was felt so much through that time. As a family we learned so much: how to love, to live each day to its fullest, never forget to say "I love You", hang on to God because He is the only one to pull you through the tough times, just how important family and friends are. Our Rebekah will always be remembered in our hearts, maybe with a few tears as well. We are so glad she came.

Rebekah Ashleigh Quisenberry

You came into this world and you were innocent.

We held you in our arms and fell in love.

We looked at your smile and forgot everything unfair in the world.

we touched your hands and in them was a calming peace.

We looked into your eyes and felt closer to God.

We looked at your perfect beautiful body and marveled at

God's wonderful creation.

Then you got sick and we wondered if

maybe God hadn't made you perfect after all.

We prayed, pouring our hearts out to God, asking Him to please,

please heal your tiny body.

Then we get a phone call, the worst of our lives. We hear, but refuse to believe.

How, how could this happen? Would He give you to us to love and hold,

only to snatch you away out of our reach FOREVER!!!!

He couldn't, He wouldn't. Not when He knew the pain it would cause us.

But maybe God was in pain too. Maybe He saw His perfect creation, and saw

how beautiful you are, and He just couldn't wait any longer to hold you in His

arms.

So He took you home, a little earlier than we would have wanted,

but now you won't have to know any kind of pain or sorrow.

Sometimes we feel like screaming, crying and blaming someone, even God for

your death. Maybe someday, somehow we will find a way to lessen our grief,

but I don't think so.

This will be one of those things that will become part of our lives forever.

When I would hold you I would dream of you growing up to a beautiful little

girl and I would take you with me to different places an always be with you.

Now that will never come to pass, I will have to be content with your memory,

and that will never be enough.

I knew you for eleven weeks, others were only privileged with a couple of days.

But there isn't a single person that your short life came in contact with that

doesn't feel somehow changed. And we will never forget you.

You came into this world and you were innocent.

We held you in our arms and fell in love.

This was written by Lorissa Qusenberry and read at Rebekah's Memorial Service by her cousin Corrie.