MnV's B-log: A New Adventure Begins!

Things sure have changed since our last blog entry. Our newest member, Violet Capri, is now 18 months old and such an amazing addition to our family. She is growing into a little lady right in front of our eyes. Blake is an amazing big brother who watches over her and protects her already. Seeing them hug and kiss each other just makes our hearts smile.

Time with these two angels is what really lead us to this new adventure. As of November 1, 2014, we both no longer work at Amgen. Matt was offered a VTP package after 17 years of service and we decided it was time to move our cheese. We had actually been itching for a while and this was the perfect opportunity. Our plan was started and we haven't stopped since. We decided to pack up everything and see the country…because we could. If we could spend time together as a family, see some amazing new places, visit with family & friends…why wouldn't we?

We've had a garage sale, enjoyed a halloween parade on Matt's last day, packed up each room of our rental house in NP (while putting aside things we thought should go in the moho), scheduled and went to kids required doc apts, visited Santa where Blake asked for a Pickle for Christmas, and as many fun things in between. Now we're at our first RV park in Indio (Indian Rivers Resort) on our way to Prescott, AZ after leaving Eaglesnest in Newbury Park and we are pinching ourselves in disbelief. That is so strange to write because it was easy to type but nothing about the past month and a half has been easy. Packing up our life into storage units and downsizing into a motorhome with 2 toddlers is not a cake walk but now that we are on the other end…it feels amazing.

We couldn't have done it without help. Thank goodness for support from family & friends. The Bartolomei KOA (as we called it) gets a 6 star rating in our book. They even helped with moving items to storage! Lol. We stayed there for 9 days after getting out of Aurora. The days went fast as they were filled with tons of organizing, fixing, arranging, etc. and we couldn't have done it all without GP & Nana's help. W sure do miss our Left Right Center players!

We could write a book on everything it took to get us here…but then we'd be writing and not enjoying…so instead we are going to look forward and try to grasp the idea that we are actually full-time RVers…FINALLY. We can already feel how this low-key, flexible, & unknown lifestyle is letting our shoulders sit a little lower. We are so grateful for this opportunity and hope to get as much out of it as possible.

Here are the kids before school in October.

This looked overwhelming…but we started packing little by little.

Mama's last day of work!

Nana & GP helped with making our 3rd annual milk jug jack-o-lanterns and ghosts! Boo!!!

Blake ditched school and we took him to his first MOVIE!!! Box Trolls…he loved it!

Making the kids halloween costumes!

Enjoying some fun at the SPBC Harvest Fair!

Aun"T" came up to enjoy some fun with the kids and carve some pumpkins!

More packing!!!

We finally enjoyed Sushi in the DV…yum. Even Violet ate with her chopsticks!

Last minute costume time!

The Monster's Inc Crew before the halloween parade at Camp Amgen on Halloween and Matt's last day of Amgen!!!

Thanks to Nana for watching the kids on Halloween night! We got to go to The Sandoval's last house party…and of course we had to go as something unusual…so we went as them…Steve & Sue! Ha! They laughed…thank goodness.

Then it was up & adam the morning after Halloween for our community garage sale…we actually got rid of quite a bit of stuff.

More packing…here was POD #1 about 1/4 full.

Violet's class had a pumpkin carving sensory activity for the kids and parents so now that we were both done with work…it was perfect for a Friday afternoon.

Of course V got down and dirty! Crazy lady!

We got to enjoy a hike with The Singhs & The Clevengers.

More packing…the kitchen was an all day event especially having to plan for what goes in the Moho, what gets packed into storage, and then what we needed to still "live" in the house for the next few weeks. Interesting...

Moho arrival day! Doesn't look like we were excited or anything.

The Lee's has us over for a BBQ…a great time catching up with great friends!

One of the last get togethers for the Bartolomei Crew before we fly the coop.

(T&J already moved to Vegas)

More packing and getting ready for movers #1 day (Thursday, November 20th).

The second POD was delivered.

Packing up the kids rooms was one step closer.

A pot of gold? hmmm…well ours at least...

Princess V.

The movers helped get POD #1 packed...

KC got her teeth brushed…finally.

And by noon POD #1 was packed full.

The kids last day of school at Camp Amgen (Friday, November 21st).

Having fun goofing off...

Alyssa & Ellie came over for a visit…and UCLA beat USC! What a good day.

Turkey day at the Bartolomei's.

We are so THANKFUL for our family and the support we've received during this time of change for us.

POD #2 move day (Friday, November 28th).

Our 1st night in the Moho out front of Aurora (Friday, November 28th).

The kids felt right at home…sleeping away the night in their new bunk beds!

Thank you Alyssa & Ellie for the Starbucks, the trash run, and the box trailer idea. We couldn't have done it without the help we got!

GP hooked up the car trailer and helped Matt load up the rest of our stuff to get it out of the garage…all in the rain! Thank you GP for all the effort & work!

This was finally coming true…had been hanging on our kitchen cabinet for a while!!!

Via Aurora…we're outta here! Onto the next chapter!

Our stay at the Bartolomei KOA officially started on Sunday, November 30th. Boy was that a 5 star park! lol.

This was the last push to get us ready to leave. Thank you GP for helping us get squared away in the last storage unit…and in the rain of course!!! And thank you Nana for watching the kids while we finished up…we couldn't have done it all without you guys!