The Move!

 January 2024

On January 1st, we were at our house in Pittsburg decluttering and organizing. We had pictures on the wall and dishes in the cupboards. We were wearing shorts and riding bikes outside barefoot. On January 31 we were living in a completely unfurnished house with only the dishes and cooking utensils that we brought in our suitcases. I picked the kids up from school in complete darkness while wearing full snow gear and surrounded by multiple feet of snow in every direction. It is still wild to me to think about the amount of change that occurred during those 31 days. I'll do my best to recap.

On January 2nd, Kristyn hosted a going away party for us. On the one hand, it was such a fun final chance to visit and hang out with the MANY wonderful friends during our time living in East Bay. On the other hand, I started sobbing seeing in front of me everything that we would be leaving behind. We continue to miss all of those friends (who had truly become family by the time we moved) so much!

These two sat in the corner and chatted basically the whole party.

The next 3 days were a blur of seeing our house packed up, cleaning, selling our cars, getting rid of food and belongings that didn't make the cut, packing our suitcases, and canceling accounts. We could not have done it all without our amazing support system, including our fantastic friends/neighbors who let us stay at their house just like they did when we first moved into our house. It was an extra crazy few days because Andrew worked full-time right up to the very last day.

If the garage is empty, you know the whole house must be empty.

On Friday morning, Jan 5 I handed off our minivan that we sold a couple days before, and then Lydia picked up me and the kids and our mountain of luggage. We picked up Andrew from Carmax where he was just finishing up selling our other car and headed to the Oakland airport.

SO much stuff, but considering it would be 3 months before our stuff was delivered...maybe not that much stuff.

1 of many tearful goodbyes of the week

Our first stop was Dallas so we could visit my sister and my mom's side of the family. My mom surprised us the morning we flew out and said she would also be coming down to visit before we left. I can't remember much about the flights, but I think the kids were excited enough about the things they packed and visiting family that they did great. We got in super late, and our rental car was canceled while we were on the flight, but my brother-in-law and Uber saved the day and everything worked out fine.

Aunt Sarah got to tag along for dance classes the next day, and I loved it!

My final meal request before moving out of the country was Tex Mex, so of course we went to Chuy's. Shortly after, Martha, Grandma, and Jaxson came over to hang out and chat for a few hours which was nice. It's been a couple years since I got to visit with them in person, and it was nice to reconnect. 

The kids had lots of cousin time while Andrew and I worked on things like porting our cell phone numbers, canceling final things from California, and other little details involved with moving abroad. 

We had some perfect weather days and took advantage of one to play at the park. We had so much fun playing tag and doing races with the kids, chatting while we pushed kids on the swings, and watching Lydia crush the monkey bars. Unfortunately, after getting back home I realized that my wedding ring had fallen out of my pocket at some point and despite going back and searching, we were never able to find it. 

On Monday, Martha, Grandma, and Jaxson drove up again so we could all visit and go out to dinner together. It was so nice getting to see lots of family one more time before moving. 

4 Generations

Our flight to London didn't leave until the evening, so we spent Tuesday finishing laundry, repacking our suitcases, and helping put Anna's house back in order after hosting us. I definitely lost it and cried again saying goodbye to my sister thinking about just how far away I was going. Especially because we were just getting good at taking regular trips together! Once we got through security, reality started to slowly start sinking in. The last few months had been crazy hectic filled with so many to-do's that there wasn't much time to stop and let the feelings sink in. Things would get crazy again once we got to Skellefteå and started getting things set up and settled. But for now, waiting for our one-way flight across the world, there wasn't much to do, but a lot to think about. 

The kids were SO excited to be on such a big airplane and to have their own TV and blankets. We let them play and soak in the excitement until dinner was over and we needed them to sleep. Kids are so flexible! All four of them managed to fall asleep fairly quickly and at least the two kids in my row slept until I woke them up for breakfast. I'm so glad they handled the flight well because I think it made a big difference in how quickly they adjusted to the time change and how well the rest of our flights went. 

After wandering through the Harry Potter-themed shop and playing at a playground at Heathrow, we caught our flight to Stockholm. The kids were getting a bit hyper and restless by this point, and I was doing everything I could to keep myself awake. Luckily we just needed to hang on a little longer. 

Ha! This was when I had the first moment of "What the heck have we done?" We dragged our 11 pieces of luggage plus all of our backpacks outside of the Stockholm airport to freezing temperatures and snow-covered sidewalks. We quickly found our coats, took the shuttle to the hotel, lugged everything upstairs, and tried to get everyone to bed as quickly as possible.

The next day, we let ourselves sleep in a little bit, but since we were trying to adjust to the time change, we knew we needed to get up and move around. After breakfast (Swedish hotel breakfasts are so good!), we bundled up and took the train into Stockholm. First, we ate at the same Max Burgers I remember going to with Andrew 10 years ago. Afterward, we didn't have a real plan because we didn't know how much everyone would be able to handle after such a long travel day and the time change. 

We ended up walking down to city hall and along the river. 

The kids were complaining about how cold it was, but once we found an awesome playground, they completely forgot their discomfort and we all had fun for a while. 

We have since discovered that these are very common in Sweden. If you don't get motion sick, they are super fun.

That night, we went swimming at the hotel and then had dinner in the hotel restaurant (when you're staying right by the airport, food options are a bit limited). The next morning, we got up super early and enjoyed one more hotel breakfast. The kids were much less impressed by the small plane that took us up to Skellefteå, but at least it was a short flight.

I don't think I'll ever forget the feeling when we climbed off the plane onto the tarmac in the freezing cold snow to our new home. Thankfully, as soon as we stepped inside, the very kind woman from the rental car company recognized us by our 4 kids and helped us get our luggage out to the two waiting cars. She and her coworker got us set up with the car rental, took Andrew to get the house keys, drove us to our house, and helped us get our luggage inside. People here are honestly so kind. 

After exploring the house a little, this was the "We're on our own. Now what?" moment. We had done so much planning, but this was the point when we had to start doing all of the unknown things. We bought foam pads and pillows for everyone to sleep on that night and went to the grocery store. That first grocery store trip was so stressful! I can laugh about it now, but I didn't understand anything, I had no access to the internet from my phone, and we had all four of the kids with us. The grocery carts and conveyor belts here are not the size necessary for a family of six trying to stock an empty house with food and necessities. It was total chaos. 

The kids' first time getting lösviktsgodis (bulk candy-it's a whole thing, look it up).

Winter here is beautiful, but getting used to the ever-present darkness was not easy.

Andrew and I went back to the car dealership to talk about possible cars to purchase and the kids had so much fun making crafts and drinking soda, while we talked. 

This was a monumental day. It was Andrew's first time in his whole life ever paying for a haircut. 

The large red building is our house.

Cooking and eating without my full resources or even a kitchen table was quite challenging. The kids were good sports about it, and I continually impressed myself with the meals I managed to make with such limited tools and somewhat different grocery options.

It's kind of amazing to me that this is (part of) the bread section in a mid-level grocery store. Most of the loaves are still warm!

On Sunday, we went to church and met the branch members. We were 30 minutes late, and when we walked in, the branch president asked from the pulpit if we were the Glenn family. haha The energy and excitement in the room were palpable. When you only have about 10 people in the branch, and you get 6 more, it makes perfect sense.

This is the main room in our church building. It's so tiny!

We have church in this cute house.

First family movie night in the new house! We put my laptop on top of a suitcase and all piled on my air mattress with blankets and pillows.

The kids started school about a week after we arrived, and I think they were more than ready for it. Of course, they complained and said they didn't want to go, but I think they were itching for some structure and more social interaction. At first, I was going to the school every 10 minutes to pick them up because of the staggered release times, but once we got them enrolled in the after-school program, it was easier for me and more fun for them than hanging out in an empty house. In fact, that was one of the big challenges for the first few months. We had so few things to do in the house that besides playing in the snow, the kids felt like they had nothing to do and I honestly couldn't blame them. 

I was so impressed with the kids' transition to school. They had a hard time (especially Matthew and Michael since they were jumping straight into Swedish all day) but they did it. They kept showing up, and their teachers had such good things to say about all of them. 

While they were at school, I worked on setting up the house (only so much I could do without our stuff though), buying essentials, cleaning, practicing Swedish, and trying to get outside during the few hours of sunlight every day. It was a rough and disorienting few weeks for me. 

Alex lost his first tooth! He came up to me almost in tears saying "Something is wrong with my tooth". It was crooked and hanging on by a thread and he didn't realize what was happening.

Dance party in the empty living room and more lördagsgodis! (Saturday candy)

January was a complete whirlwind. It was hectic and stressful, but at the end of it all, I think it brought our family closer together. We were uncomfortable, we had to stretch, and we were often at the end of our rope. But, we found ways to make things fun, explore, and find the novelty. I'm honestly really proud of all of us for getting through these crazy 31 days.