Back From Chile

Abs and I just got back from Chile a week ago. We got turtle and jak settled in. They know enough to get around and shop for groceries, but they all need to learn a whole lot more spanish. We went to the beach one day north of Concepcion. It was a pretty cool beach. Cold water. Saw a tarantula on the drive back.

We took the kids out to the mountain lake in laja national park. What a beautiful place that is. Pretty stunning scenery. And the closest ski resort.

Mikey and Wyatt found a great fish restaurant in the heart of the mercado. Great fried fish and the marisca is out of this world. And it is cheap. But we mostly eat at the house. Fresh fruit is very cheap down there right now.

I started clearing out brush and trees down by the river. Going to turn that into a paradise once I am there. Plenty of rocks to build stuff with too.

Got the high speed internet hooked up. It is definitely fast enough to work off of. And there are other options if I need them. Juan's friend said he would lease me a desk in his place if I needed it. He has fiber optic lines in there.

I really enjoyed the trip this time. I can see myself living there one day. Going to terrace the whole property into gardens and stone walls. Maybe put a store at the bottom to sell stuff.

Back in GA

Well, looks like Abbey and I are here for a while. The rest of the family is heading down to our new farm in Chile pretty soon. I am interested to see how they like it, if they like it. It is quite different than America. The weather has been nice in GA. I did my first stone building competition in KY. Frustrating and fun at the same time. It was good to see Joe.

We also did a quick trip down to Orlando for the weekend. Good to see cousins. Cousins rule. It was also nice to go to the beach. I kind of missed the beach.

It was good to see Gehrig and Fabiola. They are doing awesome. Beautiful garden. I wish I could spend some more time up there. Have not had much time for anything other than work so far.

Flea markets were kind of a flop. We made some money, but not really enough to make it worth while.

Michael and Wyatt each had cavities that had to be filled Not sure why. They have never had any before. Must be what we are eating. But I am kind of worried now that I may have some. Paranoia, maybe? Jak and my appointments are next week. Abs, no cavities. But new braces.

Almost done reading the bible all the way through again. About 50 days to go. Youversion is good. Also, I am still learning spanish. I can't wait to become bilingual one day. Seems like a good skill to have.

The Move

What a stressful week. Moving sucks. Leaving Montana was hard. Especially when Abbey ran away from home the night before. I am glad she did not make it into the mountains. She probably would have died. Thank you lord for watching over her. We just finished driving across the country with one heavy trailer of crap. One the bright side, we stopped to see uncle Guy and aunt Diane in Pagosa Springs. Aunt Terry, Mike and Trisha were there as well. We all got to take a hot air balloon ride which was very cool. We threw up a little rock structure on the river at aunt dianes house.

Less than 3 weeks to go

Wow, time is creeping up on us. I finished most of the front wall. Need to finish the side and use up as many of the rocks as possible. It is looking pretty badass if I do say so. My proudest achievement for sure. Turtle and Jak came back a couple of weeks ago. Jak stayed here, turtle returned to Atl. She is supposed to return to help pack up soon. Only 3 more weeks in paradise. Montana rules. Between working, building the wall, cleaning up, and packing, the kids and I have managed to get to burnt fork lake once, kootenai a few times, painted rocks once, and the river several times. This has been the most smoke free summer since we got here. Only 2 days of smoke in the valley. And it was blowing in from WA state. I will miss this valley. Oh, and I finally got my leg behind my head in yoga. A milestone for sure. I did not think I would ever be able to do that.

Closer every day

Wow, it is amazing how much junk you collect over time. We have sold so much stuff, but still tons to go. The rock wall is growing. The fence is back up. No more rabbits. Down to 2 ducks and 10 chickens. I think we have had about 10 bonfires this month of scrap wood. We are getting there slowly but surely.

Still need to figure out some logistics, but things will work out. It doesn't look like we'll be able to keep Max and Loveheart now in GA. What a waste of money buying a van and a waste of Monica's time and money driving the dogs to GA. It would have been nice to know things before she did all of that. Their puppy money was going to be our plane tickets back to the US every year. So I assume God is telling us not to come back. There is really no other rational explanation.

Helped my buddy move to the sandpoint / bonners ferry area. What a beautiful place. I think that is where I would want to live if we moved back out here. Very green and the lake is gorgeous. I took Jak sailing on it before he left. It was great.

Abbey and Wyatt really want to stay here, but it is just not in the cards for us at this time. We all do love it here, it is a wonderful valley. Almost every sign in our lives over the last year, however, have been telling us to go to Chile. When you sit back and really pay attention to things in your life and meditate on them, you can clearly see which are positive and which are negative and which are seductive and which are trying to take you down the wrong path. God is definitely making me much more perceptive to these things and directing us. I am quite sure of this at this point. Too many things to be coincidence.

Selling Everything and Heading to Chile

We have been busy getting rid of junk and selling stuff to narrow down our move. Still lots to get rid of but we are getting there. We had 2 baby goats recently, so we'll need to sell them and the other animals soon. I am also trying to finish up as much of the wall as possible before we leave. I can't leave rocks sitting everywhere. We are all excited for the next adventure in our lives. Hopefully things will work out. I believe in my heart it was meant to be.

Monica will be taking the dogs back soon and I'll be heading back to Atlanta later in the year with whatever will fit in the trailer. I think the biggest obstacle to this is going to be learning spanish fluently.

Spring in Montana

The weather has been beautiful of late. Sunny and warm. Unfortunately for the kids, snowboarding is done for this winter. They had a blast including Jak skiiing for the first time and Michael doing black flips on his board. Abbey and Wyatt got very good as well. Abs is a speed demon. Michael beat me in chess for the first time last month. Wyatt almost beat me. They are all getting very good.

We are now cleaning up around here in preparation for a big move coming up. I think we decided today to sell everything we own instead of ship anything. So we are going to start a new life from scratch pretty much. More on this to come.

I'll miss the bitterroot valley. It will always hold a special place in my heart. From all of the things to do in close proximity to the unlimited rock for me to build with, this is a truly great place to live in America. Great people too.