Well, we're not in Kansas anymore!  That's probably just as well, since when we were driving across the country,  I lit my hair on fire in Kansas. But that's a story for another day.

We spent the month of August packing up, cleaning out, driving across the US, spending delicious time with family and friends, and saying goodbye over and over and over again. (Oh, the goodbyes! The only thing worse than saying goodbye to people you love is watching your children say goodbye to people they love. Heartbreaking.)  In early September, we offically set off on the plane bound for our new home.

We're finally emerging from the jetlag fog (and some pesky colds) to explore and enjoy our new hometown. Here's our home for the next few years. We love it. It was a really lucky find when we had a quick 3 days in an off-season market to find housing; we knew as soon as we walked in that it was the one. (The only thing that will make it better is when our belongings arrive in mid October.) Can you spot two silly teenagers who sneaked into the shot?

As you can see, it's early spring here so no leaves on the trees quite yet. But we have roses in our garden!

We really like the neighborhood (Yarralumla). There's a little row of shops a few blocks away with a post office, bakery, grocery, gift shop and a few restaurants. In the other direction just a couple of blocks aways is this beautiful scene that we can't get enough of:

So that's the quick version of the past few weeks. I'll fill in some more of the details in coming days but here's our journey by the numbers:

13 different sets of beds 
drove through 11 states in 5 days
hundreds of awesome songs on our playlist
5+ generous hosts (my parents, G's parents, my brother Matt, my grandparents, and Christie)
countless generosities from and visits with dear ones
3 visits to Cafe Rio and 4 visits to Cafe Zupas
24 hours traveling to Australia from take-off in SLC to landing in Canberra
and 3.5 filled airsick bags enroute

Some details I'll fill in more than others, I promise.