A Week and a Half To Go!!!

First, I have to vent a little. I understand why family doesn't want us to go and that they aren't going to be shy about letting us know their feelings on it. I think Mike's mom was trying to manipulate us into staying by FINALLY giving us a little bit of information on his real dad's family when we went for a visit two weeks ago. Mike hadn't seen his real dad since he was 3 years old though he talked to him twice since then (he's almost 28 now).

I think she was hoping that if we found his dad's family, we wouldn't leave since we'd just met them and had so much time to catch up on with them. I hate to point out the obvious, but family is family whether they are near or far. Family is supposed to want their loved ones to be happy even if that means they aren't in the same city. I will say this plainly: Mike and I are not happy in Las Vegas and have not been happy living here for a very long time. Why should we live somewhere we are miserable just to make our family happy?

Second, though Mike wasn't sure about it, I contacted his cousin, Mari, and we arranged to surprise that side of the family at her daughter's birthday party. Mike knew he had a half-sister, Christina, but also discovered he has another sister, Judy, while we were there. There was some disappointment though because Mike was kind of hoping he'd get to get in contact with his dad, and his cousin and one of his many aunts told us his dad had died from a heart attack in July last year. It was a little overwhelming to say the least because they are all fluent in English and Spanish and expected him to be, too, but he only speaks English. That and the fact that there were about 50 family members there, and we still can't remember all their names.

I told his sister at the party that I was happy he finally got to know that side because I know he really wanted to find them but he's the kind that unless the information is volunteered by his mom, he's not going to risk possibly making her angry by asking. The other thing was that he seemed so much a part of them while his other dad's family obviously loves him but he always seems separate from them whenever they get together.

Third and last, we are getting our room organized and ready to move. I haven't been working as much as I should, but we've been saving everything I earn for our move for extra spending money. We are going to be so busy getting ready to move, looking for a job for Mike, and me working to be sure we have enough money to make the move over the next week I don't know when we are going to sleep. Plus, we have plans with his aunt and cousins as well as his Rideout sisters this Saturday...it's beginning to become so real.

Don't know when I'm going to have a chance to update this again, so keep us in your prayers that we have a safe trip across the country. We are hoping that this move will provide us with new opportunities that we aren't able to get in Vegas. We are hoping that this move will also help us get back on our feet and maybe give us a jump on starting our family.