We made it to Canada! The plane ride was a bit of an adventure with a two hour delay and an extra hour in the air due to only one runway being open at the Toronto airport (construction and weather closed the others), but it went better than it could have. The kids, especially Asher and Leif, we thrilled by almost everything they saw at the airport. They especially loved the escalators, the moving walkways, and being able to look out the window and see airplanes all the time. They also loved eating at the airport. Trevor did better on this plane ride than he did a couple months ago and all the other kids were pretty good too. Austin's company rented a car for us for a week and a hotel for the two days before we could get into our house, but had to complete some tasks. I was very thankful when we got to the hotel and saw that it had a living/kitchen area and two separate bedrooms each with a bathroom. The boys slept in one room, Austin and I slept with Trevor in the other room, and Heidi slept in a crib in the living room. Everyone was still sleep deprived for days, but it was a little better than all being in the same room. The first night at the hotel, we woke up to find that Heidi had thrown up in her crib and Leif had diarrhea all over the white bed! I took all the bedding off and had to call housekeeping to take it away and wash it. I felt terrible, but the maid was very kind and professional (we left her a tip when we checked out). We had to drive to another city to pick up my car and tried to get Canadian cell phones, but found that we need to get our drivers licenses or a Canadian credit card first, so that isn't going to happen right away. We met the owners of the house we are renting the night before we moved in to get the keys and I really liked them! They are a couple a little older than us and were very nice. When Asher and Leif started acting crazy and climbing all over everything, they said "it's their home now, don't worry about it". Austin met the movers at our house on Saturday morning while I stayed with the kids at the hotel and packed everything up. Then he came back for us and I followed him back to our house since I didn't have GPS to guide me(I'm trying not to use my phone unless I have wifi so that I don't rack up a huge international bill). Moving in was easy since all we really had to do was tell the movers where to put everything. I also took awhile to explore the house more since Austin picked it out by himself while I was in Colorado and I think he did a great job! The house is very spacious and comfortable for our family. It even has a few bonuses that I wasn't aware of like a mudroom/laundry room (I haven't had either in our previous homes and they are so convenient), a school room in the basement with tons of shelves for books and supplies (I plan to homeschool while we are in Canada), central vac (I especially love being able to sweep in the kitchen and mud room and just sweep it all into the little hole that sucks it all away) and a spare bedroom/bathroom/kitchenette and family room in the basement which is perfect for visitors (hint, hint to anyone that would like to come visit- you are more than welcome!). It also has a few drawbacks like a small backyard that is pretty muddy and no garbage disposal, but those are things we can work around. We went to our new ward on Sunday and everyone was very welcoming. Two of the ladies gave me their phone numbers and told me to call them if I had any questions or needed help- but I don't have a phone! (of course I could just use my US phone if it was an emergency). Heidi spent most of Relief Society with me since she started fussing in nursery and she loved all the attention she got. One woman let her sit on her lap (since I was holding Trevor) and played with her and another woman gave her a little container of goldfish which she walked around handing out to all the other women near me. Austin had to go back to work on Monday so its just me and the kids settling in to our new home. So far I'm really happy with our house, neighborhood, and ward. There are a few annoying hoops to jump through in order to get our drivers licenses, get phones, get a new van, and get everything squared away with taxes and government stuff, but we are working toward it. We are also still working on getting everything unpacked, but the essentials are out. There are boxes and packing material all over the house and pictures need to be hung up and the things we don't use every day are still in boxes (lots of Austin's stuff is still in boxes since he isn't home most of the time and I don't want to sort through all of his junk ;) I've been slightly distracted from unpacking by Heidi being sick and throwing up several times, but she seems to be on the mend now.
We are beginning to adjust to life in another country. We are trying to start thinking in Canadian dollars instead of US dollars and in the metric system rather than the standard system and figuring out the best places to shop. So far we have used Costco to restock our house with food and cleaning supplies. I've also made several trips to the grocery store closest to our house to get things we needed- it probably isn't the cheapest, but it's convenient. Here are a few things we have found different about Canada: Milk is sold in bags rather than cartons and is pretty expensive; they don't have pennies, but just round to the nearest nickel or dime; people really do say "eh" at the end of many of their sentences; a big percentage of the population is made up of people from all over the world, more so than in Colorado; everything is written in English and French because those are the two national languages, but Chinese is a very big language here too; their harmonized sales tax is crazy high: 13%, but luckily it doesn't apply to food, unless it is already prepared food like at a restaurant or deli.
Finally getting on the plane was very exciting.
Heidi rode with Austin and Trevor rode with me.
The boys wanted to ride together, but they had to sit with an adult.
Our new landlords left us a welcoming present and left little courtesies like a sponge and soap in the kitchen and soap and toilet paper in all the bathrooms.
We bought some cookies from "Girl Guides" at the grocery store. They only had one choice though- chocolate and vanilla. They are pretty good and only cost 5 Canadian dollars which is about 4 US dollars, so that's cheaper than Girl Scout cookies :)
The kids had a lunch of bread, cheese, and strawberries on a bedside table in the kitchen while the movers unloaded everything.
Afterward, Heidi was deliriously tired from three days of skipped naps, not enough sleep at night, and too much excitement. She fell asleep in Austin's arms and slept for several hours when he put her down on the love sack in the living room.
