Leaving Provo!

It has been a long time since I blogged!!  Monday was a crazy day!!!  We spent most of the day packing.  Brett came over and helped and played for a bit.  We are so lucky to have him and Jeff and Elizabeth there to help us out.

Emptying out our water storage.

Tuesday morning Connor had to go to the doctor for his 18 month check.  It was a few weeks early but I figured it was better to get it done than have to figure out doctor stuff right when we got here...along with everything else we had to figure out.  He is still little, but he is developing cognitively right on track.  I took everyone to the library for the last craft and story time of the summer.  Alan stayed home and kept packing.  There was a Wymount water activity on the softball field so I took these guys over there and found someone who would keep and eye on them while I went to the doctor and so Alan could keep packing.   I had to go to the doctor to get records and one last check before moving.  Brett was there when I got back...helping pack.  We were also anxiously waiting for our moving truck to come.  They gave us the window of 1 pm - 4pm.  It got there about 10 minutes to 4.  We worked on packing a little more and then for a special treat we went and had dinner at Pizza Pie Cafe.  The kids all had free buffet coupons from Summer reading and it is a good fun place to eat.  We got there a little late and we were leaving just as the karaoke was starting...it was loud!

Saving a place for the moving truck...and how we felt at times about moving.

Wednesday morning people from our ward came and help us load the moving truck.  Along with Brett, Jeff, Elizabeth, Steven (Elizabeth's brother), and Kari (Steven's girlfriend).  We are super grateful for everyone's help.  After a couple of hours we were ready for a break!  Especially the kids.  We at a little lunch then went to North Park for Provo city's pioneer day celebration.  They always have tons of fun things to do and see there.  Brett came with us and Alan stayed home to organize things on the truck a little better.  We flew through the compass course and checked out the pioneer village.  It was a fun little break while moving and we got to feel like we celebrated pioneer day a bit.  When we got home we did a little more packing and loading the truck.  In the evening we took a break and had a barbeque with Jeff, Elizabeth, Brett, Steven, and Kari.  Jeff and Elizabeth were nice enough to take care of it all for us.

Brett with some of his treasures from us :) He insisted on walking home that night.

Thursday was more packing, loading, and cleaning.  Some people from our ward came and helped wipe down the bedrooms and vacuumed as we got them all cleaned out.  When the kitchen was all cleaned out they wiped down the whole kitchen too.  I had to take Connor to the doctor again in the morning.  The pediatrician had wanted to do blood work one last time to check everything.  They had tried to draw blood when we were there on Tuesday, but kept missing in his arm...poor little guy.  Thursday they said the one who is good with kids would be there...but he wasn't.  The girl told me that she had never missed and I was willing to let her try so I didn't have to take Connor back on Friday.  She looked at Connor's arm and found a vein, so she went and got everything ready.  When she went to actually do it she couldn't find the vein again so she didn't prick him.  Lauren got to go play with a friend for part of the morning and had a great time there.  It was nice for the friend to invite her over since Lauren was going to miss her birthday party on Saturday.  Thursday night was the Summer reading party at Veteran's memorial pool.  It started at 8.  So by the time it started we were all tired and it was starting to get cold, but we still had a fun time.  Brett went with us.  Jared and Lauren had a great time going down the slides with Alan and Brett.  We forced Bradley to do it once and he hated it.  He went with Brett and Brett bribed him with tons of candy/ gum.  When we asked Bradley if he liked it and it was worth it at the bottom of the slide he just said NO!  Brett made good and brought him all the goods when he came over on Friday....smarties, gum (like 3 packs...one for each of them...because we all know how Lauren loves her gum), and a big bag of skittles.

Collecting some boxes that I saw in north Wymount.

As part of the quad potluck that night they also had a talent show.

These two are such good buddies.

Friday was spent mostly cleaning.  I took Connor back to the lab so they could get the blood test done.  The guy who they told me was good with kids was finally there....and I figured out why he was good with kids.  He was ruthless.  Everyone else had tried to get it out of Connor's little arm.  He didn't even bother to try that.  He started with the heel.  Then he just squeezed as hard as he had to to get the blood that they needed to run the tests.  Connor (and I) did not enjoy it!  But the tests got done and the tests were all normal.  We had kept our bed off the truck until the very end so I could still sleep on it.  So Alan...with some help loaded that on and put the last few things on.  Then we spent the rest of the time cleaning.  Brett came over for most of the day and Jeff and Elizabeth stopped by too.  We were all tired and exhausted by the end of the week!  Between watching kids and other things that kept coming up we were up pretty late getting everything cleaned.  Brett stayed around and helped us out.  I don't think we went to bed until close to 2.  Sometime in the afternoon/ evening we called the moving truck company to come pick up the truck.  They said they would come get it on Monday.

It's a lunch day!

It's all loaded!!!

Putting the wall in place.

Closing up the truck!

A bat that was on the walkway right by our door.

Saturday morning we got up and did a few last things.  I think we were just so tired we weren't moving very fast.  We had a few last pictures we wanted to take and people to say good bye to.  We were finally ready to leave in our packed to the max car right about noon.  Leaving Wymount and Provo was hard!  I knew it would be.  I don't think I cried as many tears when we were actually leaving as the week leading up to it, but it was hard.  Part of what made it a little easier was knowing that we were on our way to visit Grandma and Grandpa Schachterle.  We hadn't been to their house in 3 years and we were all excited to go see them.  The drive was long, but we made it!  We only had to stop 4 times, but it's hard to be fast at a stop with all of us.  I think we were able to have two stops that were 15 minutes and the other 2 were a little longer.  We got gas and dinner in Boise and kept going.  When it got dark I told them they could watch a movie.  (We had a DVD player in the car, but the last time we used it was last time we drove to Washington 3 years ago.)  We weren't sure it was set up to work, but I figured it out!  It took me a little while to figure the sound out.  By the time it was really going it was probably close to 10.  I told them all they could fall asleep during it, but none of them did.  By the time we got to Grandma and Grandpa's house we were all really glad we were there!  It was hard to wind down once we got there, but eventually we all made it to bed.

Can we fit just a little more?

Good thing these guys had their seats all staked out.

Our empty apartment

I kind of wish we had taken yearly pictures by the sign...but really who knew we would be here so long.

Sunday we got up and went to church with Grandma and Grandpa.  Then we just had a nice relaxing day visiting with Grandma and Grandpa and checking out their house.

Happy Birthday Lauren and We're Moving!!!!

Monday Lauren had a well child check.  She is doing great and healthy.  We told Dr. Willmore we were moving and after we said where he spent about 15 minutes telling us how great Carlsbad is...and no at that point we didn't know we were really going.  Dr. Willmore's son was the guy who helped check us in and weigh Lauren and stuff.  He had Lauren guess his age.  She said 22 and got it right on.  Then she says to him you're older than my dad. I just laughed.  We organized a little more and tried to wait patiently.

Tuesday I took Jared, Lauren, and Bradley to visit Kati at hygiene school.  Kati had 2 friends to clean Jared and Lauren's teeth and she tried to do Brad.  Bradley would not open his mouth for anything...or sit in her chair by himself...or look at her.  Finally I forced his mouth open and she brushed them with her spiny brush and a little later he let her count them, but that was it.  Kati called and had Tate come in so she could pass something off.  The other girls said Jared and Lauren both did great!  Lauren kept asking if they were done yet and the girl kept saying a little longer and she would say ok and sit some more.  They got teeth cleaned, x-rays, and fluoride and everything else done, but it was a really long visit.  I don't blame Lauren for wanting to be done.  We got there at 8 and they were done at 11:15 ish.  Bradley fell asleep on the way home, so part of it might have been because he was tired.  Connor stayed home with Alan.  In the afternoon we went to the Wymount activity.  They did fun science things like gack, suck a egg down into the jar, exploding paint ( vinegar and baking soda with food coloring in a bag), and they tried to do invisible ink.  They had a great time.  Connor wasn't feeling very good and had a fever.  I think most because his molars are coming in.  He has been super drooly with a runny nose.  We walked over to the softball field and he fell asleep on my lap and slept the whole time.  Alan went to work.  We all tried to wait patiently, but our week to cancel the truck was up...and we didn't cancel it.  That night I baked 6 dozen cup cakes for Lauren's birthday party and the chocolate cake she wanted.

Wednesday was Lauren's 6th birthday!  I frosted all the cup cakes in the morning.  We went to the aspire parents group and Ready to Learn.  We all got all the pizza we could eat for lunch.  The kids all got to pick a beanie baby to bring home too.  Lauren picked a walrus and was playing and it got stuck up on a light.  We had to have the tallest person stand on a chair to get it down.  She was lucky to get it back.  We hurried home when it was over and started to fill water balloons.  Our neighbor came down and helped...we had to do it from our hose.  We had about an hour and we managed to fill the whole package.  I think there were 175.   Water balloons are fun, but that is a lot of time for the 3 minutes of fun the 45 kids throwing them.  Besides water balloons we also got the grounds guy (Lance) to turn on the sprinklers on the softball field for her party.  Most of the time was spent playing in the sprinklers and slip n sliding on a tarp we got.  The kids all loved it.  We also had a pinata.  There were popsicles, cupcakes, juice, and all the candy the little kids could eat.  I took out all the candy I could find in our house.  It was a huge bowl full.  Lauren had a great time and I think the other kids did too.  After cleaning up her party we came home and I frosted her cake.  Our neighbor knocked on the door to see if we wanted some of their dinner...she had made way too much.  I said I would have to ask Lauren since it was her birthday...she had gotten to choose...from what we had in the freezer.  The offer was stir fry...and Lauren said no.  Our neighbor was saying birthday dinners are important...you get to pick whatever you want.  I said yeah but I did make her pick out of the freezer just in case we move.  She had wanted corn dogs and corn on the cob.  Our neighbor (Lisa) said we have corn dogs in the freezer and my kids won't eat them any more and I don't like them let me go get them...I think I have enough for 2 for everyone. She brought  14 corn dogs and a container of stir fry.  We also had pickles and chip.  Lauren got what she wanted for dinner after all...Lucky girl!  Jeff and Brett ate with us too.  Elizabeth had to go to a meeting.   Lauren wanted to wait for her to open presents and have cake.  We skyped with Bethany Lily and Maggie while we waited.  Lauren opened her presents and we had cake.  She was pretty excited to get a booster car seat.  We skyped with Ash and Will right before bed.  She also got to talk to grandma and grandpa.  I think Lauren had a pretty great day.

Jared dressed up since it was Lauren's birthday.

trying to do a water balloon toss

By the time Thursday rolled around I wasn't sure if a job offer was ever going to come.  I didn't mention that on Wednesday Alan emailed to see if it was coming soon.  They told him the guy who had been on vacation the week before had lost his laptop on the trip and some of the paper work had to be redone.  We went to the library for story time and craft.  The craft was little mummies out of tissue paper and a clothes pin...and googly eyes...oh and a pipe cleaner tied around for the arms.  They actually turned out pretty cute. In the afternoon Alan went to work for a bit.  We went the the Wymount activity.  It was art day.  They had several coloring pages, painting with edible paint (vanilla yogurt with koolaid mixed in) and some clay.  Jared and Lauren spent most of the time painting...and when everyone else was done painting they were splatter painting with it.  Bradley did a little painting, but then just ate it.  Connor painted and then had fun watching the other guys.splatter paint.  Alan showed up at the end of the activity...I figured the offer must have come...and it had!  We went right home to read it.  It is pretty exciting.  We were pretty sure we were going to take it, but decided to sleep on it.  That night we went to the quad potluck.  There were several regulars out of town so it was a small turn out, but still fun.

Friday we started packing...and box collecting.  Alan signed and faxed back the paper work he needed to to accept the offer.  We have a job!!!  We also turned in our 30 day notice to Wymount.  We came up with a plan for moving that we feel good about.  Most of it was already in place, but we changed it a little.  We had been thinking we would fill the truck as fast as possible and hurry to find a place in California before our stuff got there.  Then unload the truck and go to the family reunion. We decided to fill the truck and send our stuff to CA and just go to Washington and have a week vacation at grandma and grandpa's before the reunion.  Then after the reunion hurry down and find a place before school starts.  This was will save us lots of driving and some money...and sanity since we didn't know exactly how long it would take our stuff to get there.  The way we are doing it they will store it up to a month for us for an extra 350 dollars.  We are excited about this.  Moving is hard especially since we have been here for so long. I was really anxious about the whole thing, but now that we know for sure and have a good plan I really am excited to be moving on.  It is time for a change.  We worked on packing quite a bit.  Brett came up and played/ watched the kiddos for a while in the afternoon so we could get more done.  That night Alan stayed home to finish the contract work for 5D and I took these guys to the outdoor movie on campus.  It was Despicable Me.  We enjoyed the ice cream and games before the movie started.  We saw Brett there and Jeff and Elizabeth. Jared and Lauren loved it.  Bradley got tired, but stayed up the whole time.  Connor wasn't too into the movie, but was good enough and only bothered a few of the people around us.

Saturday was another day filled with packing.  In the morning I took the kids to a birthday party at the new splash pad at pioneer park.  We have been wanting to check it out. I'm glad we went to the party...we were the only friends who showed up.  The mom told us they tried to just do a family party on his birthday, but no family showed up...no uncles or grandma...and they live close.  Saturday at least 2 uncles were there and grandma.  It was a small party...it's hard to have a party if no one goes.  After the splash pad we played on the play ground for a short time.  It was also the farmer's market going on at the park so there were a lot of people there.  We came home ate lunch.  Jeff and Elizabeth took the kids to play at their place all afternoon and fed them dinner.  Brett came over and helped us pack.  He packed our kids books...which was super helpful!  He would have been a little faster if he didn't read them all before putting them in the box :) We remembered to turn on the Tabernacle Choir pioneer concert and listened to it a little.  Brett had to go home to write his talk.

Sunday was a good day.  I did singing time for the last time in this ward.  We sang pioneer songs and I told some pioneer stories.  We played the same game as last year since it was all ready to go.  It was using a sea gull to pick crickets off the floor.  Fingers are the beak of the sea gull.  It was simple, but fun. There was a new primary presidency and relief society presidency called.  In primary all year they have been putting cotton balls in a container and for each one they tell how they know Heavenly Father loves them.  There were just 2 cotton balls left in the bag and Jared and Bradley got chosen.  Bradley said Temples and Jared said shelter.  All I could think was for a few more days we will have shelter...then we will be homeless for at least 3 weeks.  But through our faith in Heavenly Father we can have faith that we will be able to find shelter quickly when we get to California.  Lauren got to do the scripture and got sung to for her birthday.  After church Jeff and Elizabeth took the kids to their house again for a couple of hours.  Then we all ate dinner together.  I went visiting teaching after that.  When I got home Alan went up to the Moore's house to pick up some things that we had stored in their basement.  We are really grateful they let us do that!  We wish we all could have gone to say bye, but their newest little guy isn't doing well...and we wouldn't have fit in the car with all our stuff.  It was a crazy week, but I'm really glad to have a plan...even if it is a crazy plan.