Making It Ours

There’s something satisfying about watching a house slowly become a home.

This week wasn’t filled with grand adventures or thousands of miles on the road. Instead, it was a week of steady progress. The kind of progress that doesn’t always make for exciting photos, but quietly lays the foundation for everything that comes next.

The movers are long gone, but the boxes seemed determined to stay. Night after night, we chipped away at them until each bedroom reached the point where it finally felt complete…or at least 90% complete. Pictures found their places on the walls, furniture settled into their permanent homes, and after moving dishes and utensils from cabinet to cabinet more times than we’d like to admit, we think we’ve finally found a kitchen layout that works.

The house isn’t quite ready for visitors yet, but it’s starting to feel like ours. One of the biggest signs of progress was that we cooked dinner at home almost every night, ate from real plates, and gathered around an actual dining room table instead of balancing takeout on moving boxes. Those little routines have a way of making a new place feel familiar.

The week also brought the less glamorous side of every military move.

Like every PCS, there was a long list of mandatory in-processing appointments. Finance, legal, medical, security, and more briefings than we could count filled a day and a half of our calendars. One briefing that definitely stood out was meeting with the wildlife biologist. Only in Alaska does “Bear Aware” become part of your newcomer’s orientation. We learned how to recognize bear behavior, when to make noise on the trails, why carrying bear spray is a good idea, and even how to safely react if we encounter a moose. Before moving here, we never imagined needing a lesson on wildlife safety, but now it feels like just another part of everyday life in Alaska. The kids have already started asking what we learned so they’ll feel more confident exploring outside once they get here, and we can’t wait to pass along everything we’ve learned.

After pages of paperwork, countless signatures, and more than a few PowerPoint presentations, we can officially say we’re checked in and administratively settled.

Professionally, this week marked another milestone as well.

Sam completed her first full week in the office without her predecessor. There were only a handful of phone calls asking, “Hey…where do I find this?” or “Can you remind me how this works?” Considering the pace and complexity of stepping into an executive role, that felt like a successful week. Every day the names become more familiar, the acronyms make a little more sense, and the job feels just a little less overwhelming.

While we were building routines in Alaska, the kids continued making memories on the ranch in Oregon.

Their adventures included a trail ride through the Oregon countryside, plenty of time with cousins, and a special day for Dax, who got to spend the day cowboying alongside Zed’s youngest brother, Scott. For a kid who loves the outdoors, it was hard to imagine a better day.

The week wrapped up with a trip to Salem, where the family cheered on their cousin Sadie as she competed in the Oregon State Softball Tournament. Summers like this don’t come around very often, and we’re grateful the kids have had the chance to soak up every minute of it.

Although we’re still separated by a few thousand miles, it feels like both halves of the herd are making the most of this unique season.

For us, that means turning a house into a home, learning new jobs, and slowly finding our rhythm in Alaska.

For the kids, it means making the most of ranch life. More horses, more cousins, more adventures, and probably a little more dirt on their boots.

We’re counting down the days until everyone is together again, but for now we’re grateful that each part of the herd is exactly where it needs to be. Every passing day brings us one step closer to having all six Davies under the same roof again.