Why did we get such a big house again?

Every May, Mike and I usually head off to the happy land of National Boy Scout Meetings, somewhere in the United States.  Which means, since my kids are not yet to the legal age of watching themselves for a few days, we have someone take them or come and watch them for us.  Before we moved here we had to make plans to fly them back to California less than a month after landing in Utah.  They were scared to death of flying alone, but it was a great experience.  I have a wonderful Sister in Law and Brother that took care of them like their own children (but they didn't make them do as many chores, lucky kids.  I am not as nice...).  The next year they stayed with friends here and had a wonderful time.  We have been very blessed.

Last May, my Mom was able to come out again to help and visit for a month.  My cousin was getting married in the middle of June and instead of flying back and forth twice, she stayed.  It was so much fun! After all the years that I have lived far from home, having a visit for that length of time was a real treat for me and the family.  Mike and I were gone for the meeting the first week of her visit and then got to be with her the rest of the time.  

The first Monday that we were back Mike turned to me and said, "Your mom should just come and live with us."  Now, this was not completely out of the blue.  Before my dad passed away, we told her several times that if she ever wanted to come and live with us, we would love to have her here with us.  Now she isn't even 65 (for 1 more day), so she is not the age that most would probably consider doing such a thing.  However, she is legally blind and that means that she can see well enough to do things and get around, but she can't drive anymore.  In fact, she hasn't driven in over 12 years.  

Thursday night rolled around and, again, Mike said, "Your mom should really just come and live with us."  Again I told him, as I had on Monday, that when and if she was ready she would tell us.  

Friday morning, I was in the kitchen doing something and she came up to me and said slightly nervous and apprehensively, "I have something to tell you."  

Now, I have learned from my friend Jeralee, that because I am a people pleaser, I am always fearing that I am in trouble.  I have to get over that, because it is really annoying.  So, I rushed, "I know I could do better on my parenting,"  

She laughed and said, "No, that is not what I am talking to you about at all, and I think you are a great parent!"  (Well, now that you have said that, of COURSE I am!)  She paused and then said, "I think I am going to move in with you."  I think my response was of my mouth dropping open and then a shout of excitement and then she told me how she came to thinking about it.  She couldn't get the thought out of her mind all week as she was going to bed.  She went to sleep thinking about where she would put her stuff, where to move things.  She woke up thinking about it as well.  These thoughts had not been on her mind before she came and they were not invited there.  She felt a little perplexed by it all, probably especially since so many of her children and a sister lived in California.  I then told her that I could answer for Mike as well and that it could not have been coincidence that he said, not just once, but TWICE, how she should move in with us just that week.  We hadn't spoken about it for months before that.  

She still felt like she had to think and pray about it.  And by Sunday she felt like she had a confirmation with all of the thoughts and feelings that she had that she was supposed to come.  My mom really didn't understand completely why (I think she understands more now), but within four months she had moved in with us into our daylight windowed, walkout basement that she calls home.  She has two bedrooms, her own (much smaller than her old) bathroom, and a living room with a fireplace and a place for her huge office desk.  It was hard to leave kids and grand kids and her home and friends behind in California, but she has been amazing at reaching out and meeting people in our neighborhood and ward.  

Now we'll be "real" here for a short moment.  (And I hope my family does not think me ungrateful)  There have been a few bumps as the kids adjusted to another motherly figure around (back-up for mom! Woohoo!) and she has been so wonderful in trying to just remain grandmotherly (dang it, less back-up) when the law needs to be laid down.  But those things have been minor and, I think, mostly overcome and it has been a joy to have her here!  We laugh and talk a lot.  I have to fight her off in the kitchen to do dishes (I know, crazy, but I don't want to abuse the help).  It is just so nice, after all of these years, to have her close again (and no, not a little too close)  In some ways, that someday I may elaborate on, it has saved my relationship with my own daughter.  

So when we bought this huge house, almost a thousand square feet more than I had wanted and swore I would never have again, I couldn't understand why this house felt so right when we wasted so much of its space.  I spent a lot of time thinking about how we could use it better (rent it, adopt, foster, missionaries).  Why?  I love this house.  I love so many things about it.  But I just didn't understand, why this big?  All the pieces fell into place when my mom told me that she was going to move in with us.  In one moment, all of that space made sense.  And it is no longer wasted, it has purpose, and one of my best friends living there.

Two Cars, Two States, Two National Parks, One Day.

After a restful night in Williams, Arizona we headed on up to the entrance of the Grand Canyon. It is not unusual for those living in Arizona to have never seen the Grand Canyon before. It is 4 hours away from Phoenix and it is common to hear people say that you go up, look in, and drive back. (In other words, it isn't worth your time). However, I decided since we were going to be driving "right by it" on our way to Utah, we better go look at it. Otherwise, we might never get back and do it. So off we went.

We stopped at the entrance to take pictures with the official sign. While taking the kids picture, Christian looked around and asked, "So this is the Grand Canyon?" We were still a few miles from the "hole", the innocence of children cracks me up.
Some wonderful people came by and took a family picture for us, so now we have proof we were all there.

This is the view right as you drive up into your parking spot. It was spectacular, quite amazing. It was easy to see why it is one of the official wonders of the earth.

Katie was enjoying the sights. It was really hard to get the kids to move on, they were really entranced by the vastness of the canyon.

This picture really doesn't do the canyon justice. It is really beautiful.

Daddy and Katie, she was really into taking pictures here...we had hardly any pictures of Christian...he was not into it.

The end of April was a great time to go as it was not yet too hot. It was gorgeous weather. A great time to move.

Double self portrait. I found a couple of these. They were having fun with the camera.

This is the first stop (our last as we were going out that way) from the eastern entrance to the park. We went in the lookout tower. You can go all the way to the top. It was really quite something.

It was really fun to go in and up the narrow stairways and look down the center of this very tall building. I stayed close to the kids, just in case they got the urge to see if they could jump and make down to the bottom. One of my friends told me they went to every stop and visitor center in 2 hours. They are fast. We way under budgeted our time there and felt pinched for time after leaving 4-4 1/2 hours after we got there. I could have stayed longer. We were way behind schedule, but we were glad that we made the time and effort to go.

A few hours later we crossed the border into Utah. The kids were excited that we were in Utah but were wishing we were closer to our final destination.

Our Mapquest directions took us on Highway 9 to get to Saint George, Utah to stay the night with some of our friends. However, that highway is now no longer free...I don't know when that changed...but as I pulled up to the park ranger station I was a bit frustrated. It is no cheap thing to go through a park. By law, he had to charge us again for both cars to go through a different park. After spending $50 on just my car in one day, we decided $30 more wasn't much to throw in there for an annual National Parks Pass. We just need to plan to go and enjoy. It was a spectacular drive, worth the price of admission. The summer after I graduated from BYU I had been to Zion's National Park and hiked Angel's Landing and the Narrows, but had not been back since. Some people have a natural and early appreciation for nature. My parents tried. We went to National Parks, camped (in trailers), got us out to see the world, but I just took it for granted. Now I appreciate it. It was gorgeous. Had I known that we were going to really go through there (and pay for it), I would have scheduled a day in to see it. It was really stunning and it has some great hiking there also. Here are a couple of pictures while I was driving slowly through the sharp curves. Don't worry, we were the only ones around at the time.

There is Mike driving in front of us. Look at this view! It is better in person. There were more that I could have taken...but I was being safe! Hopefully we will go back soon. Maybe a weekend this summer. There are so many parks in this state.

We finally got to Saint George, where we met up with my cousin four hours after we had planned. They were troopers and we were so glad to see them. The kids had been looking forward to seeing Miles for the first time. He is adorable. The next day we were someplace and supposed to be slightly serious (I don't remember why), and Christian started to bust up laughing. Mike started to get after him until I asked him why he was laughing. "When Miles was doing...", he laughed as he told us what he was remembering from the night before. Christian knows how to entertain himself. Thanks Rob and Staci for meeting up with us so late! It was fun to see you again!

We headed for one of Mike's past boss's house who retired in St. George. Kim and Cindy live in a beautiful historic house downtown, which I forgot to get a picture of. It was really pretty, beautiful gardens and they were such great hosts, ast we dropped in late and left early since Mike had an appointment the next afternoon. We loved getting to see old friends and family on the trip.

Last Tiger Cub Meeting

We finished getting the truck packed, the house cleaned and last Joe's BBQ meal eaten and we headed off for Christian's last Pack meeting in Arizona. He led the posting of the colors with the help of a scout leader. He stood at attention and was very grown-up about it. I guess this Boy Scout program does work...who knew. (wink, wink)
He led the pledge...

And the cub scout motto...he did an awesome job. If I hadn't been so exhausted and proud, I think I would have cried. I never was a crier before, but I think this whole motherhood thing has done a number on me for certain things.

Here we are with Christian during the advancement ceremony. He was all business.

He was so excited to get the powder Tiger paw print on his back. He was thrilled.

Dad putting on the award...

Getting their beads and other awards they had completed. They got blue and yellow paint on their faces. He was so proud of that he wouldn't wash it off for two days.

Because we were moving a month early, Christian got his Bobcat award and advanced to Wolf a month earlier than the scheduled time.

Dad switched the neckerchief. No more orange, he is onto yellow.

His Tiger Cub leader Necole was just awesome this year. She loved the boys and had so much energy and enthusiasm, not to say anything about patience...you have to with this age. We are going to miss her!
Proud of that paw print, which got smudged through the night of ceremonies.
Excited and exhausted, we left the pack meeting early to head up to Williams, the first leg of our move. Sleep is far from their minds.
A proud papa with his son. It was a good night. He has earned getting his Bobcat turned right side up by doing a good deed. Now if we can only find where dad put it safely for the trip...
Congratulations, Christian! We love you!

The Moving Birthday Parties

So, what does any sane person plan to do the weekend they are getting packed and moved? Have a Moving Birthday Party, of course. I had a few people express that it was a bit crazy to do, and so it was, but we just had to do it. We have been doing birthday parties every other year and this was the kids year to have their parties. Last year, I thought that this might be a problem, but Mike assured me we wouldn't get another job that quickly after our 3-year commitment was up. So we waited. I knew that they really would want to have parties with their friends that they had in Arizona so we did them a moved it up to the weekend of the move so that they could. However, we probably would have had a moving party anyway, so it was a two-for-one deal in the end. I was a little anxious that it go well, but it was just fine. I am not a detail oriented person, so I forced myself to put all the details on Excel so I would hopefully not forget anything with all that was going on. It worked out great.

Luckily, the kids were excited about doing their parties at the same time and wanted to do the same stuff, maybe I just really sold them on the ideas. In addition, over half of the kids that came for Christian were a brother or sister of a girl that came for Katie's party, to make it easy we did it together and they loved planning it. We had a water game themed party since it starts getting hot in April. We were really lucky as the weather was a little unpredictable that week. I was praying that we wouldn't fry and it wouldn't get cold and rain. We didn't get either of those, although it was really windy. But I would take that any day over the other options.

Katie wanted to play the game to see who could pop their balloons the fastest and here the kids were getting ready. The team that got them all popped first won. And if their balloon blew away, they had to chase it down and pop it. Just additional excitement added. They had a dead tie and it ended in laughter.

Then we played water balloon volleyball. Thanks to my friend Melanie who not only brought her badminton net, but also helped me fill and tie MANY water balloons for the day. She also became my camera woman...didn't she do fabulous? The kids loved it, even if they hardly volleyed. It was really about getting wet.

We had a water balloon toss...the oldest boys won, of course...

We had to have a water balloon fight and the kids loved it. I bought 1000 balloons. We still have at least half left. I think we will have to fill some up in July and do it again here with the neighbors.

The balloons went fast...

Then they played cold potato, which you get a water balloon, poke a few holes and you don't want it to pop or have it empty when it gets passed to you. The kids had a lot of fun. I popped a few on myself as I was poking them. It was great!

They were loving it...

I think their favorite game was splash tag. We had 4 sponges...there should have been more...and if you got hit, you were it. It was a great game.

They played this while we set up for the pinata and cake and ice cream. When everything was over, many went back out and played this until their parents arrived. Whoever said that tag was out of fashion? Okay, I never heard anyone say that either...just checking. :)

The pinata! I cannot tell you how excited Katie and Christian were that they had a pinata. This was one huge pinata too. They helped fill the pinata in the morning which was a huge help!

Just to be destroyed...

In the end, by this guy...Christian's favorite babysitter. Isn't that cool that he came? Christian really wanted him to come and this 14 year old boy did. He was great. And he helped out too when we needed it. Like putting up streamers because he could do it without a ladder...unlike me.

Christian picked out an Iron Man cake. Hey, I have my limits while moving. Making the cakes...not happening so much. Albertson's was great!

Katie is growing up. No pink on this cake allowed. Indigo blue was wanted and purple was allowed to be the accent color.

Can you see how windy it was? But it was warm...so it was okay.

Christian's friends...one final picture. Memories are what we can take with us and that is what we made. His two best buddies Kristin and Reagan in the center with him.

Here is my little shy girl with all of her friends. It was the end, and I nearly started crying. I had to hold it together as I hoped that she would make friends quickly this time around and that she would be able to keep in touch with these special friends that she loves! I didn't know 9 years ago that my heart could ache that much for another person. (She is really doing well though, I have been happily surprised! And she is keeping in touch.)

A few more pictures as people were leaving. She loves them all, but just a few cute pictures that I wanted to comment on. Katie has proclaimed Maya as the funniest person she knows. They played basketball together at recess and were in class with each other every year of school.

Emily, her good friend that she met in Girl Scouts. I didn't want to do it at first when we moved to Arizona. It had been Mike's idea. They were never in the same class at school, so I don't think they would have ever met without Girl Scouts. I hate to think of the friendships we would have missed if we hadn't done it!

What can I say...look at that face. Christian got Luke and Leia action figures and is ready to play Star Wars with Kristin when they come to visit. She is Leia on the playground, people. Don't mess with her. She has been such a cute friend!

And my two DEAR friends, Melanie and Cindy...I could not have done this party without them. They volunteered to stay through the whole thing and helped me wrangle the kids and keep me organized and didn't mind me giving directions and usually anticipated what I or Mike needed before that. Thanks for helping me! You rock.

Thanks also to Terrie and Sonja who both "lent" their bathrooms to us for the party, as this park didn't have any. It would have been disastrous without that. You can't put a price on that!

Since I haven't found another place to put this, we have also had other dear friends that during our last days in town fed us, offered to help us pack and clean, and many who wanted to help in some way. What a wonderful place we called home for three years. All of my friends truly made it that and we love and miss you. Thank you for everything!

In the end, the kids had a great time celebrating while also getting closure to a wonderful chapter in their lives. They are adjusting well to the changes but are eager to see their friends again someday! Come visit...we have room!

We are Moving!!!

This picture is a hint... Where can you go and get Fry Sauce and night crawlers at the same gas station/restaurant? When I saw this, I loved it! This was in a smaller town we went through and we felt at home. It is the Riverbank Cafe/Gas Station...you still don't know, do you?

WARNING...VERY LONG (MIKE SAID SO)...Mainly for my records...

Many of you that live close by have already heard the news, but most have not heard...we are moving! We didn't really talk about the opportunity with many people because we were really not sure if Mike would get the job. But we are really excited.

When Mike and I first got married we were supposed to make a list of all the places we were willing/not willing to live/move while working for the Boy Scouts. In one category, along with the Dakotas and Alaska (just too cold people...I am a WIMP!), were Idaho and Utah. We were young(er). What can I say. A year or less after making that list we had a job in Idaho. When Mike first got the offer to interview in Idaho he immediately turned it down, I mean, we had said we were never moving there...he held to the agreement we had made. When he casually told me of the offer that night and subsequent refusal of the interview, I said, "WHAT! That is a really good job. What if that is where the Lord wants us to go?" So the next day he made the calls needed to let his future boss know that he was interested after all. Kim, a kind and wise man, let us reconsider our hastily made list and we lived in Idaho for 3.5 years. It was a great experience that opened a lot of doors for Mike. We have many good friends that we made there, I am so glad we didn't pass that up!

Fast forward to today where Mike is working for another incredible man and has learned much more. We really feel led and had the door open at the right time (timing is everything in jobs, isn't it?) and Mike has worked with Larry, a man that he had wanted to work for since before we were married. Another huge blessing in our lives. We have loved it here and with the kids being the age to forge good friends has really felt like home, even though we have rented and knew it was going to be a short stay.

We have now completed our three year "tour" as one of my friends called it. It is really a three year minimum commitment with being able to stay as long as you want (or as long as your boss can stand you). So for whichever reason you would like to pick, Mike was up for a promotion if he wanted to be. He has been the "number 2" guy in three different councils. It was time to interview for the "number 1" guy. An opportunity arose for him to interview in Ogden, Utah for the Scout Executive position. The other two men that were interviewing were either living in Utah or had worked in the council and had family there. You never know what the selection committee, made up of volunteers, is looking for or wanting. So with us being the "outsiders", so to speak, we really felt like the underdogs and that if we got the job, it was really where we were supposed to go.

To back up just a little, we had an incredible time in Utah this last summer for our family reunion. While on Temple Square, I had such a peaceful feeling. I had the thought that I could probably really love living in Utah if we ever had the opportunity...I didn't actually think that it would happen. With three councils in Utah, and timing being KING, I never thought in a million years it would happen now. I think that the Lord was preparing me for this though. Softened my heart up. Quite frankly, it is hard moving anywhere.

So back to the interview...things went really well. The first day we were there we hit the ground running. We got our car, drove to Ogden to the Boy Scout Service Center, got directions to the 3 camps that were not snowed in and were on our way. We went to a Day Camp close to Tremonton, Utah. Then went on to Bear Lake to Camp Hunt and lastly ended up at Camp Kiesel just outside of Huntsville. It had just snowed that morning so we weren't sure how the roads would be. But they were really clear. The camp properties were beautiful and we kept pinching ourselves that we were even interviewing for such a great council.

Here is the hamburger we ordered on a recommendation to two men Mike struck up a conversation with at the Riverbank Cafe close to Tremonton. It was HUGE! I think it was the first and close to the last thing I ate all day. Notice the Napoleon Dynamite Tatar Tots! Why don't they serve good tots most places anymore. They were good.

Mike was excited to be in fry sauce territory again. Porter...this is for you...if you've made it this far.

Here we are on the back of Camp Fife, overlooking the fort in the background. What beautiful mountains. And these are probably considered hills in this territory.

The view we drove into as we headed towards Logan and onto Bear Lake...

Mike, ever the posing Boy Scout at Camp Hunts Dining Hall...I love him!

The gate was secure at Camp Kiesel, so we had to hike it in. The sun was starting to go down a little at this point. I had us on a clock for how long we could be in camp so we didn't get caught in the dark...

The entrance of Camp Kiesel! Wouldn't this be stunning to enter into as a Cub Scout?

Fun with Icicles...we were having fun with them...but I think that Utahans were sick of the snow at this point of almost April...

The next day Mike had calls to do around the community and I went looking for houses "just in case". Looking for houses is a great way to see the community while being productive, because I knew I wouldn't have much time to look for a house, nor want to leave my kids again for an extended time, if we got the job. The weekend before we left I remembered that my sister's father-in-law, Mike, was a realtor in the area. I was so excited, because I knew he would help me like I was one of his kids. He is also a hoot and we laughed and coughed and sucked on lozenges together all day long. (I had had the flu really bad before we left and still had a bad residual cough).

That night, there was a reception for the candidates and the selection committee and then we went out to dinner. I was more relaxed than I probably should have been, however, I have learned that scouting volunteers are some of the most wonderful people on the planet, so they really are not scary. In fact, they were really fun to talk too. When we got back to our room, we remarked to one another how we felt really good about how the night had proceeded. We felt that if this was not the place, we could do it again! The process was somewhat demystified. We went to sleep exhausted and slept amazingly well, even though I had a bad cough.

Mike got up the next morning. We had breakfast, got ready and tried to relax until it was his turn. I called and talked to my parents almost the entire time he was gone, which helped my sanity enormously. When he came back he told me everything he could remember. He felt like he did his best. So we just waited while the committee decided over lunch. Most of the stories we had heard from others that had gone through the process before was that you usually get a knock on the door if you got it and a call if you didn't. A little after an hour had gone by, my phone rang really loud. We were so nervous (we couldn't eat lunch) that we jumped until we realized that they wouldn't call me. While I was on the phone, there was a knock at the door. I hung up quickly while jumping up. However, the door started to open on its own and we realized it was housekeeping. At this point we were laughing. We walked the halls, staying close so we could hear the phone ring in our room, just in case. Finally we went back in and the phone did ring. I was shaking my head, saying to Mike that we obviously didn't get it, but then he started to nod his head. I was so confused. He got off the phone. The HR guy for the Western Region called to tell him to "get his butt down here and sign the contract". I almost couldn't believe it! We felt so welcomed by the volunteers as we walked into the room. I think my smile at unbelief mixed with excitement was from ear to ear. We then went to the service center to meet the staff, who were so gracious. Everyone was so nice. There are some really amazing people working there too. We are still a little overwhelmed by it all.

After all the introductions were over, we rushed off to see the two houses I picked out. They were both great houses, but by the next morning, neither of them felt right for various reasons. We called to see if we could change our flight. Now this is just funny. If we changed our flight, it would have cost us over $150 each ticket (a brand new one was $190). I didn't know what we were going to do. Then the customer service agent, feeling my distress volunteered, that if we missed our flight, but still got there within two hours of take off we would be put on the next flight...FREE OF CHARGE...if we had a really good excuse. It ended up that I didn't remember our flight time...I thought we were going to make it in the end. I had remembered what time we had to leave by to catch the flight safely...but not the actual take off time. So, I really did screw up in the end. However, it bought us two hours of house looking time. After looking at 20 houses over two days we found two more houses that we really liked. One was perfect. Everything was new, lots of play things in the back for the kids, three car garage, everything. But it was further from work by 15 minutes than the other house and "just" $40,000 more. We put an offer on it and by the end of the 24 hours we gave them I was praying that they wouldn't agree to it. I call it the new car effect. You are really excited to have that brand spankin' new car...but then you make that first payment and think of all the things a cash paid for car or less expensive car would have allowed for in your budget. We ended up going with the two car, still beautifully updated, house that is only 10 minutes from work. A blessing for Mike, who is gone a lot and may only have a moment to come home before a night time meeting.

So, in the end, the Lord had different plans for us than we did almost 10 years ago. We are headed to Utah. I just hope I can survive the drama of my eight year old as we move. Those who say young kids move easily must have been drinking heavily through it.