Officially a "Californian"

.... But, not proud of it yet. :) I'm still an Idaho girl at heart, I just live in California now.

Well, we made it. It was a long trip, but we made it. We don't have internet in our house yet, so I am using Lyndon's phone as a "hot spot" so I will have to make this quick. :)

We packed up our moving truck on Wednesday the 14th and also packed half the day on Thursday the 15th. Lyndon and I packed the whole moving truck ourselves except for a few heavy items one of our neighbors helped us with. We were on the road by 3 PM and had a good 5 hours to drive.

We made it to Burns, Oregon, which is a few hours from Weiser. We got gas in the truck and I filled up my car and then we had dinner. We made it to Lakeview, Oregon at 8:30 PM and got one of the last rooms available at the hotel. LUCKY! It was a small small town so there was no other hotels with Vacancy. We stayed the night and headed out early the next morning.

We made it to Willows about 1:30 PM. We had an amazing group of helpers help us unload the truck. They unloaded it in less than 2 hours. Way better than our 12 hours of loading. They were all such a blessing! We were also given some gift certificates to some local places (pizza, Mexican, grocery stores, hardware store). It was so nice. I set up the living room and Lyndon helped me set up the bedroom and we all crashed that night.

The next day was Saturday the 17th, so we just spent the morning and afternoon cleaning and unpacking. I had the house unpacked in less than 2 days. I hate moving and I hate the feeling of being in transition, so I had to have everything unpacked and set up. Pictures are on my walls, photo albums are on the shelves and toys on set up.

Sunday the 18th was Lyndon's first Sunday preaching. Nothing like jumping right in. He did a wonderful job even though we were still completely exhausted. We bought some groceries with our gift cards so we were able to make some meals at home.

The next week (Last week) we were just settling in. We checked out the park a few times, we went for some walks, we checked out downtown, started a new bank account at a local bank, got local library cards, and met some new people.

It's been a hard transition for me, but I am doing better and better each day. The first night we were here I was so overwhelmed I had an anxiety attack. I couldn't breathe and I couldn't stop crying. Lyndon had to sit with me and calm me down. I felt like an idiot for having one, but it was just so much happening all at once. I cried every day for the first week, but it slowly got better the last few days.

I have met some friends and I am learning the town. Lyndon and I will load the boys in the car and just drive. We want to learn the town. We drive random streets and then try to remember how to get different places from that location. It has helped me a lot. Going to church each Sunday has helped also. I started a Sunday school class this week which helped.

So, we are here. I will keep updating later, when we get real internet. :)

Packing Everything Up

We are packing lots! We leave on Thursday. We pick up the moving truck on Wednesday in Caldwell, ID which is about an hour away. We are going to pack everything Wednesday and head out on Thursday.

I have been slowly packing for the last few weeks, but today I started packing like crazy. We have mostly everything packed and almost ready to go.

A Good-Bye BBQ

Grandma Kay got the whole family together for a good-bye BBQ for us with both families.

We had hamburgers and hotdogs, baked beans, corn on the cob, watermelon and some amazing desserts.

There were water games for the kids and Lyndon and Kolton were the biggest kids by starting a water balloon fight.

The kids were able to feed the donkey, Eeyore, and feed the chickens, gather eggs and feed the cows.

It was a nice time to have the family together one last time before we leave.

Big Jud's

Lyndon's parents anniversary was on Saturday. We headed to Boise to celebrate with them.

We went to Big Jud's, which is a tiny little restaurant downtown. It has been featured on Guy's Big Bite on the Food Network. They have a 1 pound cheeseburger challenge where you have to eat a 1 pound hamburger and basket of fries or tater tots and drink a 16 ounce soda. Lyndon and his brother, Kolton, tried the challenge.

Lyndon made it 3/4 of the way through the hamburger and ate 1/2 of the tots and drank the drink. However, he wasn't able to complete the challenge.

Kolton ate just a little bit more than Lyndon. He finished the hamburger but barely could eat any fries.

I had an amazing normal sized cheeseburger with BBQ sauce and onion rings. This place was beyond unhealthy, but so stinkin' good!

We then went shopping at Kohls and I found some new capris and some new tops.

It was overall a good day. :)

Painting is DONE

Lyndon is just finishing up the painting of our house and garage. We put our house on the market and then started painting. We have had 3 people look at our house, but no offers yet. Fingers crossed someone will like it. I'm not sure how we are going to pay rent and a mortgage at the same time. Ouch!

Lyndon had some big helpers while he was painting. We painted it the same shade of blue that it was before.

Collyn's 1 year check-up

Collyn had his one year check-up. Thank goodness for my amazing husband for taking him for me because I had my last day of dance during the time of the appointment.

Weight: 17 lbs 4 oz (5th percentile)

Height: 28 inches (5th percentile)

He is still on his own curve, but has moved up from the 3rd percentile to the 5th percentile. We were told to keep his bottles 1/2 formula 1/2 milk to keep up the calories. :)

Other than that, he is a perfectly healthy (Teeny-tiny) little man!

Some Lasts....

This is our last full week in Weiser. It is crazy to think about. We are getting the moving truck next Wednesday and we are off to California Thursday morning. Lyndon's first Sunday is the 18th.

This week is the last week for my dance/tumbling classes. It is a little bittersweet. To be honest, with 2 babies in the house... Well, now 2 toddlers... The dance studio was a little overwhelming. I didn't feel like I could give 100% at the dance studio and at home. If I was concentrating on choreography and paperwork I was pushing my kids away and they weren't getting the attention they were craving. We were always on the run. Granted, the studio was only 7-8 minutes away from our house, but we were back and forth different times of the day trying to get things done. My classes started normally at 4 or 5 PM and that was the time Lyndon got off work. We would switch kids and cars around and then I wasn't able to spend time with them all together until 7:30 at night, which was bathtime and bedtime. That meant I had to somehow make a crockpot meal or a 30 minute healthy meal before 8 PM and rush them to sleep. Lyndon and I were able to finally talk at 9 or 10 PM while the kids were asleep. But, we were so exhausted that we usually didn't talk, we just fell asleep.

Lyndon was working 2 jobs. One full-time job Monday-Friday for a local garbage company and a part-time job at a free-Methodist church two towns away 2 days a week. He had Saturdays off. Unless it was a holiday weekend because the next Saturday he had to make up for garbage because the dump is closed on holiday Mondays. So, some weeks he didn't have a day off, which meant that I technically didn't have a "Day off" by having help with the kids. The past 4 years I haven't really seen my husband much. Pretty much in passing. We rarely had time together. This move will definitely bring us closer. Lyndon will have Friday's and Saturday's off and we are together all day Sunday anyway, we will have 3 days a week together. I'm excited about that.

This week is the last week for my nieces coming over Monday-Wednesday. Since Hannah was in Kindergarten, she has been walking to my house after school. In Kindergarten, she got off the bus a block away from my house and I would walk down and get her. When we moved, she was in 2nd grade and we live about 5 blocks from the elementary school. She was old enough that she would walk to my house alone. Susan (her mom) was trying to save money on daycare during the summer months, so I offered to watch Hannah and Hayden during the week when Cody, her husband, was working also. He had Thursdays and Fridays off. They come here everyday and Alden loves it. Alden's vocabulary has taken off because of having older kids to be around. I am going to miss those two girls dearly. This is one of the hardest things to leave, these two girls. I have seen them grow and mature everyday for the past few years. I bought them both little diamond necklaces to tell them I love them and gave them to them earlier this week.

Leaving my family is hard. Harder than words can describe. I never thought I would leave Weiser. I am a home body and a "Mommy and Daddy's" girl. I have been around family my whole life and we are very close-knit family. Lyndon has been with his family his whole life also. He moved to Boise (An hour away) for college but would come back on weekends and visit (And have his mom do his laundry). This is one of the biggest life changes for us.

I'm not really sure what to expect. I have never left. There are so many emotions going through me right now. I want to get there and get settled and get back going with our schedule and routine. I also don't want to go because it will be months before I see family again. It's time to look forward to the future and stop thinking of the "What-if's" Let's get this show on the road. We are going to start packing tomorrow. And we are leaving next week. Here we come future. I don't know what you have in store for us.... Let's see it.