The First Few Weeks

Last December "T" took a job with a new company.  We knew that this was an opportunity he should not pass up, but the job was based out of Colorado.  After much thought and prayer we knew that moving was the next step for us.  Man I hate selling houses.  Have I told you that lately?  It is like the worst blind date ever.  Will they like me?  Will they call me again?  Do you think they can commit? Our first offer fell through, but the second offer was a sure thing.  I'm sorry did you just ask if I had to put up my house for sell twice in a six week period?  Um...yes, I did.  Where did I put the piles of laundry that usually line my home?  In the back of my car of course.  We had the help of many family and friends though, which we will be forever grateful for.  We could not have made this move without them.

The second week in July we made our way from Salt Lake to Denver.  We only stopped 9,347 times in Wyoming to use the bathroom.   Thank you Wyoming for your hospitality and your beef jerky.  The hours were long for the kids, but man they were troopers.  I thought they could do some reading for school or maybe some math drills during the long car ride, but instead they found this cool app on my phone.  Have a look at these masterpieces:

Pretty cool right?  So we landed at a hotel in Lone Tree, Colorado.  We fit pretty well, but they didn't have a roll away, so Averi ended up sleeping in the port-a-crib.  That is just the bonus of being pint size I guess.  We spent four nights in that hotel.  We swam and ate, swam and ate.  We checked on the house several times, but it wasn't ready for us yet.  Our final day being homeless was spent at the Denver aquarium.

The admission is not cheap, but what do you expect when you get to have a shark almost bite your face off.  The kids were incredibly patient through the move in process.  Not only did we not have a home, but we spent many hours sitting in Denver traffic.  We just didn't know any better.  We have played more car games than you can imagine.  Seriously, I should write a book entitled, "Car Games for Families who are Super Naive about Big Cities and Rush Hour".

Thursday, July 17th we moved into our new home.  The moving truck had not arrived yet, but our cousins had!  We spent the next few days playing with our family and waiting for the truck, which arrived on Saturday.  The family was incredibly helpful, and things were unpacked quickly.  We spent our free time running the river, eating pizza, Celebrating A-hizzle's birthday, and playing with that same crazy phone app.

Love you cousins.  Thanks for everything.  The river near our home is a blast.  It is not always full enough to run, but we caught it just before it became to shallow.  Chubbs sat on my lap while we floated.  She told me later she wasn't sure she liked the "slantage" (she meant rapids).

The next week was spent meeting our neighbors, ward, and making friends with the bunnies and the snakes.  Colorado is unbelievably beautiful.  I have always been a city girl though, so our wilderness neighborhood has taken a little getting use to.  I run the trail near our home with a pocket knife in my running pouch.  I am sure that if some beaver latches on to my leg I can pry it off with my dull weapon.  There are these bugs that hang out in the trees at night. Forget crickets man, these things buzz like a light bulb that needs to be changed.  The squirrels run along the back of the fence all day long, just looking at me like they know my kind.  They are probably talking about me right now saying, "That crazy lady is sitting at her kitchen table eating cookies again.  Poor lady, she could seriously use a shower."

It isn't it amazing how much we grow when we are out of our comfort zone?  I obviously have much more to learn, but I am truly grateful that I get to do it in this beautiful new place.  Heavenly Father knows what I need, and he is taking good care of us.  I just pray He will keep the beavers away.