Alpine

We loaded up the bus and left first thing Saturday morning.   My mom came out to Utah with us to help unload and drive my car, so I could help with the kids in the bus.   Austin posted this on his Instagram as we were leaving town. 

The trip was long and I was grateful for the bus so we could stretch out. 

Sweet Austin fell asleep laying down with Paige.  I found the note Kristie had put in my purse the night before.  I couldn't hold back the tears as I read her sweet message.  I wish Utah wasn't so far... I leaned my head on Jason and watched the road disappear under us.    A new adventure.  A new chapter.

We arrived in Alpine around 2am (I think).  I was wide awake as we drove through the dark neighborhood, anxious for the first glimpse of our new house.  As we came over the hill, I was surprised at how pretty the neighborhood was!   It looked so charming, I thought. 

The house looked like the pictures from the outside, but we were all still anxious to see inside.   The sleeping kids woke up quickly when we stopped and couldn't wait to run through the house and pick a room.  They were disappointed when it really sunk in that there were two less rooms than our other house.  We tried to decide if we could make the office into a bedroom, but with french doors and no closet, it didn't really make sense.

We brought cots and mats to sleep on while we waited for our furniture to arrive.   We decided we should unload and get the little ones back to sleep.  My mom left to sleep at my Aunt's house.  She offered to have us stay there as well, but we were anxious to get used to our new place.   We got the kids settled and I kept walking room to room trying to figure out where to put everything.  Jason finally dragged me to bed, reminding me that the truck wouldn't arrive for a few days and we would have time to figure it out.

I woke up a couple hours later when the sun came up.  Everyone was still asleep, but I couldn't help getting up and wandering around the house again.  As I came down the stairs, this is what I saw out my window.  Mountains. 

Yep we are in Utah.     I just stood there and took it in. 

When I finally pulled myself away from the window,  I wandered all through the house and the unfinished basement and then did it again.  I walked back upstairs and peaked in on my sleeping family

and eventually crawled back into bed with Jason and Paige to try to get a little more rest.

 

We were all finally awake around 9AM.  My mom's friend had dropped off a basket with all sorts of yummy food for breakfast for us in the middle of the night.  We did a search on our phone and found out church started at 1.  As we were finding everything we would need to get showered, our doorbell rang!  Who even knew we were here?!  We were still in our pajamas and looking road trip worn from the day before, so we sent Austin to answer the door with instructions that we were in the shower. Haha!  As Jason and I hid, Austin endured small talk with one of our new neighbors who had come to welcome us to the neighborhood and brought us freshly baked bread, butter and some tomatoes from their garden.  After they left, Jason walked around and closed the blinds!  LOL!  I made a quick mental note to shower first thing in the morning and wear a bra at all times, just in case! 

It payed off.  The next few days was a parade of unannounced visitors, all so incredibly sweet and all with a yummy homemade something and something from their garden.  The only exception was Lori, who showed up on my doorstep with cinnamon rolls.  "Hi!  I'm Lori.  I live just right down the street.  I don't bake, but these looked really good, so I hope you like them!"  Oh my gosh!  My favorite surprise on the other side of the door so far!  Loved her!  I asked if she had a garden and she said she did.  I guess we are going to have to grow a garden...

Paige and Ashlyn eating watermelon from one of our neighbor's garden.

I actually enjoyed the few days without our furniture.  No TV.  No Computer.  I did miss having somewhere to sit.  The stairs worked well enough though.  We had an ice chest and our new neighbors brought us dinners and treats.   The kids played on the rock climbing wall in our basement to help pass the time.

Registering the kids for school was quite a fiasco.  Utah requires an extra immunization that California does not.   Our health insurance was California based and not available in Utah and I didn't have the information of our new insurance or a computer... blah, blah, blah.  I finally had to pay $25 per kid to sign a waiver. $100 later, I thought we were good to go, but they said needed custody paperwork for the three oldest!  What the heck?! Really?  Yep.  Can't go to school without it.  I wasn't sure I even had anything like that.  Travis and I have always just agreed on things.  The school said it should be in my divorce paperwork.  Hmm.  I don't even know if I have that and if I do, it would be buried in a file, on a truck that is probably somewhere in Nevada.  They wouldn't even let Travis fax something in that was notarized saying I had custody of the kids and they could go to school in Utah!  In California, they go bonkers if kids miss school for even a day, but our new school wasn't concerned about how long it would take to get the paperwork or how behind the kids would be getting.  Grrr.  We eventually found a loop hole and had Travis sign a power of attorney regarding the kids and school.  I was glad I wasn't trying to unpack boxes and deal with all that.

After filling out oodles of paperwork for each of the kids, getting schedules for the older ones and teachers for the younger ones, we were ready.   I got a call the next morning from Ashlyn's school.  "We just noticed Ashlyn's birthday on her birth certificate.  She doesn't quite make the cut off date for kindergarten."  I told them she had already started school in California and asked if she could enroll as a transfer student.  Nope.  Utah law says no one can be in the public school system that is not 5 by September 1.  Ashlyn's birthday is October 1.  I called the district office and talked to a lady who had moved to Utah in February with a kindergartner whose birthday was in September and they wouldn't even let her finish the last three months of her kindergarten year!  So, no way around it.  Ashlyn wasn't going to be in Kindergarten.

I got a call from Lauren that afternoon.  I had given her Ashlyn's teacher's name and the room number she would be in with instructions to go straight there when class was out to pick up Ashlyn so they could ride the bus home together.  I had forgotten to leave Lauren a message at the school to let her know that Ashlyn wasn't going to be in school.  She had gone to Ashlyn's classroom and she wasn't there.  Worried, she asked a teacher to help her find her little sister.  They walked onto every bus and asked if Ashlyn had gotten on that bus.  No Ashlyn.  They went to the other kindergarten classrooms, the bathrooms and the office and no Ashlyn.   Lauren was panicked and called me sobbing.  I could barely understand her through her sobs.  "I can't find Ashlyn! I've looked everywhere!".   I felt to terrible!! 

And Austin, who was just starting his first year of high school, found himself in "middle school" for another year.  I actually think being the new kid, it's better to be the oldest than the youngest.   And I was happy that Austin and Jessica would be at school together.    

Finally, the truck arrived.

Check out how stacked in there everything was!  That's Jason's motorcycle on the top "shelf"!

I SO did not like the crew of rough necks that showed up to unload!!  This guy creeped me out the most, so I smiled and asked if I could take a picture of him.  I really just wanted him to know I had one... just in case.  I wanted my kids out of the house as quickly as possible!  Luckily, my mom was around to help. 

As the boxes piled off the truck, it was glaringly obvious that we weren't going to fit in this house.    There were five guys and one HUGE Samoan that counted as two, unloading things faster than I knew where to send them.  They would ask where this went or that and I felt like I was running around like a chicken with it's head cut off, checking for space. Finally I just started saying to send it to the basement.  I really just wanted these creepy guys out of my house.  Frank (the truck diver) assured me that they have all had background checks, but he had just met them that morning.  When the box came off the truck with the security cameras, I made a point of asking them to set it off to the side.

 

Finally, they were gone and I was once again surrounded by boxes.

See Ya Later

Saying goodbye is just way too hard.

 

 Luckily, with friends like these, I know it's just "see ya later."

Jason flew in Friday afternoon to drive to Utah with me and the kids.  We thought the movers would be done and gone by noon on Friday and we would have the rest of the day to hang out with our friends who had planned a little get together. 

As luck would have it, the movers weren't done and neither was I.   Even though my mom, sister and a few of my sweet friends had been over the day before to help me touch up paint on the walls, clean, and shampoo the carpets, there was still so much to do when Jason got there.  I don't remember what time we were supposed to be at our friend's house to barbecue, but I remember looking at the time and thinking we were supposed to be there and the movers were still loading and we were sweaty and dirty from packing up the last of the odds and ends.

I was glad we were in a hurry when we drove away.  No time to wander through the empty house and say goodbye.  No time to change or try to look cute.  No time to wonder again if we were doing the right thing.  Just time to move on to the next place we needed to be.

 

 

As I look through these pictures, my heart is so full. So many memories. So many years. I feel so blessed to have such great friends and have so much love in my life.  I know the friends we made, will be friends for life. 

 

It broke my heart to watch these two say goodbye.  They have been best friends for as long as I can remember.  It made it hard to keep the tears locked up behind the smile.   The idea of not having all of these dear friends not be part of my everyday life is truly heartbreaking...

Moving Time

Moving was an adventure... to say the least!

We took so long to decide if we were going to make such a big change, that by the time we decided to make the move, we had just a week before Jason would need to start work in Utah. 

 

We had already made two short trips to Utah to look at towns we would want to live in and houses we would buy.  After the first trip, we came back pretty discouraged and feeling like we should just stay in Clovis.  Nothing felt quite right, but we didn't feel good about turning down the job either. So, we went back the next weekend.  After putting 400 miles on our rental car in just one weekend (We flew to Salt Lake and drove every town between Salt Lake and Provo.), we felt really good about the "city" of Alpine.  BUT after looking at every available house to buy or rent, still nothing felt right.  We were hoping to choose a house and then go to the ward that we would be in to try to get a feel for what it was like, but we hadn't found a house and we were leaving that evening. 

 

I wondered again if maybe we weren't in the right town.  We got online again and started looking at other towns and quickly lost interest.  We knew we felt good about Alpine.  We looked again at the available houses.  There was a really "fun" house (fun as in amazing!  The kind of house that would be awesome to throw a huge party- with all the friends we don't have in Utah) that was available and in the budget.  We wondered if maybe we were too quick to pass it by and if "maybe we would feel differently if we drove the neighborhood again". 

 

We decided we needed to pray about the whole decision again.  So we did and we both felt like we needed to do nothing.  We didn't need to make any decisions right then.  We felt so much peace.  Anyone that knows me well, knows that is just plain crazy for me.  I am not a girl who likes limbo.  If there is a decision to make- especially life changing, I am not one to sit still until I have it figured out.  We had been mulling over this decision for almost two weeks.  We wrote pros and cons, life goals, financial goals, lifestyle wishes.  We talked about each of the kids and how it would effect each of them and each of us. We had family meetings. We spent countless hours on the MLS and KSL and Google Maps.  It was on our minds CONSTANTLY.

 

And now, we were just supposed to do nothing.    Nothing at all.

 

And I was completely fine with that. I was totally at peace with no decision.  I just lived.  I didn't organize or try to think about what I wouldn't want to pack or move if we decided to move.  I didn't make any trips to Goodwill.  I didn't try to get together with friends that I thought I would miss.  I just lived like normal.  I took the kids to the water park and drove kids around to various friend's houses and activities.  I did laundry, made dinner, did some back to school shopping and registered Ashlyn for Kindergarten.

A few days went by and we started feeling anxious to make a decision again.  Jason got online and saw a new house for rent. 

 We had seen it for sale, but didn't really like it.  We "drove" the house on google maps and had a really good feeling about it.   I called my little sister, Janelle, who lives in Lehi and asked if she would mind going over to the house and videoing for us.  The house looked better empty, but I still didn't love it.  It felt peaceful though, so we sat the kids down and showed them the videos.  I think we were secretly hoping they wouldn't like it, but they felt good about it too.

 

  We had heard some bad things about Alpine like the people weren't very friendly and "keeping up with the Jones'", and the kids thought they were better than everyone else because a lot of them were privileged.  It made me really nervous, but as we settled on our decision, I felt peace and knew it was where we were supposed to be.  In the back of my mind I wondered if we were supposed to be there for blessings or trials, but either way, it was right for us and we were going.

 

We scheduled the movers as soon as they could come.  The earliest they could be there to start packing was the first day Jason needed to be at work.  He said he could push his start date back, but I thought it wouldn't be a big deal to send him while I stayed with the movers. 

 

We made a trip out to the ranch to bring all of the toys back to the house to get packed up.  I got all choked up as we were leaving.  We have so many memories here!

 

Here is cute little Lauren when she was 5.

 Ronna and Stephen hamming it up!

I was just looking through old pictures and found this post about the ranch
http://www.rickardsfamily.blogspot.com/2009/08/ranch.html

It's funny that Jason's words now ring in my head.  "Someday when we look back and remember, these will be the good ole day."   So true.

Okay, back to moving.

So, Jason left for Utah and the kids had their first day of school.  Austin started High School (9th grade)and I had the complete, I can't believe I have a kid in High School moment.  Jessica started her last year of Junior High (8th grade).

 Lauren started the year off like she has every first day of school for as long as I can remember- with her hair curled.  I tried to talk her out of it this year because I wasn't sure if I would have time, but she was sure to have a bad day if I couldn't put her hair in curlers!  Lol!  But, we found time and the first day of 5th grade was a success!

Ashlyn started her first day of Kindergarten with the same sweet teacher that Jessica and Lauren had, Mrs. Sullivan.  Jason said it was probably good that he wasn't there because he would have cried.  We took lots of pictures and video and even called him on our way.

And Paige started her first day of nothing, but here is a picture just because.

 

And I started my first day of three with the packers, not to be confused with the movers, who I nicknamed, Tweedle-dee, Tweedle-dumb, and Mr. Rules.

The picture doesn't do justice to just how large Tweedle-dee and Tweedle-dumb actually are.  Huge boys, I'm sure they are men, but they were boys.  Sweet as can be and dumb as rocks.  I was amused as the days went on trying to figure out exactly what the rules were they were given.  Mr. Rules, I'm certain, knows exactly what the rules are and I'm pretty sure one of the rules, is not telling me what the rules are.  Mr. Rules was my favorite though.  Skinny, tall and slightly more intelligent than the others.  Here is a picture of Mr Rules unloading the small truck from our storage unit.

 

 He often looked like a deer in head lights when Tweedle-dee or Tweedle-dumb broke one of the rules, like packing candles in a box- one of the many no-nos.  He would remind one of the Tweedles that we weren't supposed to do that, but it was super funny to watch because they weren't quite smart enough to figure out what to do next.  It was like that cartoon with the Do-do birds that kept saying "Whatchoo gunna do?  I don't know. Whatchoo gunna do?" And then they would shrug and look at me hoping for an answer. 

 

They were super quiet and polite.  I decided one of the rules was that if they had any question, they had to walk into every room of the house until the found me and then address me by saying "excuse me ma'am"  in a calm quiet voice, without any deviation. Ever.  I think there were rules about what they were allowed to say because a few times, when I tried to make small talk with the strangers who were in my house all day touching all of my personal belongings, one of the Tweedles would look at Mr Rules like they were wondering if they were allowed to answer and sometimes give me a brief canned answer.  Curious, I tried a few times, just trying to figure out the rule.  I think it had something to do with not talking about their personal life, but job history was okay.  I also noticed that they never commented on anything or spoke unless they had a question.  And I'm pretty sure they had do anything that I asked.  I asked them if I could take a picture of them.  Tweedle-dumb is camera shy and looked away like "ahh man do I have to?" but of course, didn't speak.  Mr Rules quickly reminded him, "She asked us..."  Then they gathered for a picture that of course didn't come out.  Entertaining and super busy trying to stay ahead of them going through things I didn't want to pack and trying to get as much laundry done as possible before they packed my washer and dryer.

After three days, my house looked like this.  All Boxes.

Then the movers came and it was a whole new game!  They look like a small gang, but really they are family who have worked together for years.  They were LOUD and funny and high energy!  They gave each other a hard time, worked hard, called me darling and sweetheart (which I'm sure was a major no no for the packers) and told me no less than 50 times that I have a lot of stuff!  He also brought up a dozen times that he isn't driving his truck.  His truck was in the shop and that was just a rental.  His truck was much nicer.  That was his trailer, but that is not his truck. 

good to know

They spent 2 1/2 days just loading the truck.  Mr Rules came back on the second moving day with another guy that wasn't around long enough for a nickname.  They were given the job of getting everything from my storage unit and packing it into the truck.  It was funny to see Mr Rules talk!  It was like he was a whole different person!  Clearly, he was following "moving rules" not "packing rules".

 Frank and the gang made the process a lot less stressful, even when they were worried that it wasn't all going to fit in that enormous truck.  They did end up strapping one of the box springs to the back because there wasn't enough room inside!  Then, Frank drove away with just about everything I own.  It was a really strange feeling!  Frank would be meeting us in Utah the next week, but his sons were not coming.  He would have a new crew to unload in Utah.  The adventure begins!