Lewisville, TX

This weekend, I had the opportunity take my family north, towards Dallas, to help my oldest child move into his brand-new house.  We're all very proud of the fact that he and his wife were able to purchase a new home, located in Lewisville, TX.  It's a wonderful place, complete with a spare bedroom for when we visit ; )  In fact, his little brother, G-Man, has already chosen his own room at their house.  However, he found something far more fun...more on that later.

The weekend was hot - I'm talking Africa hot.  Temperatures soared to over 100 degrees F.  Lifting couches, mattresses, dressers and boxes in that kind of heat was an interesting challenge.  The sweat made some items a bit slippery.  I wasn't happy when the sweat fell into my eyes, with a bit of a sting from the salt ; ) The inside of the moving truck became like a little sauna.  I hope I lost a few pounds from all the perspiration ; )

My son was lucky enough to have a good group of friends join us.  The extra arms and backs were a huge help.  In addition, his maternal Grandfather was there, along with his step-father - they both took on a variety of challenges related to installing ceiling fans and the garage door opener.  I'm a little better suited to helping with the boxes and installation of internet/cable ; )

Messing around with the garage door opener

Inside, everyone who wasn't carrying boxes was helping out.  My son's mother and maternal Grandmother were working with his wife on the kitchen.  We made sure that by the end of the day, they would be ready to use the kitchen.  Anyone who has moved, knows how tough the unpacking process can be.

Installing ceiling fans

My wife was also able to help out in the kitchen, and was keeping an eye on this little one:

After sweating through the entire day, we finished in record time.  In fact, with all of the help, we assembled their master bedroom furniture.  I was stupid enough to volunteer to "dust":

After all of the heavy items were secured, we started ripping through the smaller boxes.  My youngest son was given the job to carry all of the empty boxes to another location, for recycling.  The best part was that he started finding a much better use for the empty cardboard:

He turned it into a multi-unit condominium...

Overall, it was actually fun - but hard - work.  It's one of those big "life events" that I was proud to watch my oldest child experience.  I actually consider myself lucky to live close enough to help out.  This is when you remember that, even though everyone is older, you never stop being a parent.  Ever.

I can't wait to see what's in store for my son and his wife...