Settling In

We got to my parent's house Sunday evening just in time for an amazing sunset.

Our family has moved 8 times, and we do it ourselves every time (shocked gasps from every person in California...) but never in any of those times has our stuff moved out of the truck and into our house faster than this.

People showed up out of the woodwork to help.

I literally had to leap out of the way of my piano being heaved into the house.

These are people used to working that were helping.

The first couple of nights Ben and I slept in sleeping bags before we could find some sheets:) 

We are staying in my parent's house while they are on their mission for another year. 

We were greeted with this:

Never has there been such a welcome sight. Moving is just stressful and partly because you have no means of getting food when you need it!

 The snow timing was perfect. It snowed the day after we got there.

Unlike the rest of Utah, the kids were beyond thrilled!!!

After some intense "how to put on snow clothes" lessons (who knew snow pant bibs were a. necessary, and, b. went under coats) and long explanations of how "snow is frozen water and can make you wet," they played in it for hours.

It made unpacking a little easier:) 

Our ward here is awesome. We've already been visited by the bishop, the primary presidency, the stake presidency, and the elder's quorum, and had a relief society meeting, and we haven't even been here a week.

Fruit Heights isn't called the "City of Good Neighbors" for nothing. 

Macey thinks snow is SOOO awesome because she can stop and eat some whenever she wants.

We taught her about clean and dirty snow, but I still have a feeling she's going to either get sick or a really strong stomach. 

She eats icicles like lollipops. 

After watching them for a while, I decided snow is like the beach coming right to your backyard. 

And there's no sand clean up afterwords. 

This is about .5 seconds before Cody's face was smashed into the snow

and this is about .5 seconds after that.

It's a little like watching a movie from the window.

We've all come down with some little colds and coughs and I made this funky broth the other night. I feel better today and who knows if it's from this. But I feel better today.

(This is not my picture...but someone has a smashed finger!)

 Of course we had to visit Cabela's, even if Macey is vehemently opposed to the stuffing and killing of animals. She loves the live fish.

 And Ben needed new waders for FLY FISHING

his second favorite thing in life. 

The kids have been getting their fill of animals lately 

we even got to hold the baby chicks. 

We sold our car.  I'm not going to lie I shed a few tears. This car got us through vet school and the years following. We rocked it in California next to all the Porsches, Lamborginis and Bentley's, and it never ONCE had a problem. We recently got new tires and had all the major maintenance done on it, not intending to sell it. But it went to a high school student who took out his first loan and obviously comes from a good, honest, hardworking family, so I think it was a good fit. Hopefully he appreciates it as much as we did and never takes it for granted. I know we didn't!  

I think Utah is going to offer us opportunities we never could have had in California. 

 Stay tuned for my 50 favorite things about Utah.

You can bet that sunsets is going to be on the list.

I never saw a sunset from my house in California, it was physically impossible to see them. But my parents have an amazing view of the sunsets from their house.

I started putting this list together when I got depressed about moving here.

Because, California is so warm. And the beach.

But I think it's going to be perfect here!!