Settling

Claire

She was very happy we went out on a walk to find a park this week because she missed going down the slides. We were wanting to be safe so we didn't let her do any of the walking even when she asked multiple times, there are sidewalks the whole way, but she wanders sometimes so she can next time now that we know the way. She is playing with her sister pretty well and I think they are getting pretty cute when they do play together especially when they are dressed up to match. We had dryer issues this week and go really low on clean laundry for a few days, but I decided to have them wear dresses since Shay is going to grow out of the cute ones soon! Claire is getting really good at helping clean up her toys before bed time so she can stay up late with mommy and daddy.

This was during our family church call

Shay

Whenever I am emptying the dishwasher, she runs to the kitchen to help me by taking out the dishes and handing them to me. She then tries to sit on the door....but at least she is trying to help right? She had fun at the park we visited and is getting better at going down the slides by herself even though she needed encouragement the first time. It would be fun to play in the water park they have next to the play ground and Shay saw it and pointed too it, but it was closed. We plan on getting a blow up tub for the back yard they can play with soon and that will fulfill their desire for the water park.

House Keeping

Since I unpacked all the boxes in the first 3 days, I've just been doing the organizing this past week in the office and kitchen. Getting things exactly where and how I want them so I can cook and Chris can do school when it starts has been important. We also applied for new drivers licenses in California and will see them in the mail soon! Only one more week until Chris starts his school and it apparently is going to be all online through Zoom since they are worried about people moving in for this school from all over and Covid-19 is still prevalent. I have noticed seeing a lot more people wearing masks in public here than when we lived in Utah and most places requires you to wear one inside buildings.

California

The Move!

It feels like it has been a long time coming to talk about since we have been planning and trying to get here for so long. We finally made our way to California and into a new apartment for the next year (at least) for Chris to attend PA school. We left our mini vacation in Idaho Monday afternoon so we could drive through the night with the girls sleeping in the back. I was worried, but we were watched over by the Lord and the trip went great! I didn't have any real trouble staying awake because I had a nap earlier in the day and the guys in the truck didn't run into any problems either. We had a slight delay around midnight where we were stuck behind a reck for half an hour, but the girls didn't wake up and we didn't fall asleep on the road. We had a lazy day after getting here and unpacking the essentials since we were all tired and trying to catch up on sleep.

Unpacking

There have been a few bumps (like not having a fridge, finding money on the garage sealing..., and spider!), but for the most part getting settled has gone really well. It took me 3 days to unpack all the boxes and get most things where they need to be even though I'll do a little more switching and organizing as I go. I mostly wanted the boxes gone and to feel like this was our home with our decorations, so I exhausted myself and skipped workouts to get it done. We've already taken care of so much that needs to be done with security cameras, spraying for bugs (and to get rid of the black widows!), getting drivers license appointments, and other little house keeping things. It is nice to make a house feel like a home so quickly.

Claire

She had so much fun when we first got to the house and everything was echoing and empty and she could run around. I think she fed off the level of excitement that we had when looking around and seeing the house for real for the first time. She also helped me decorate and found a doll that I've had since I was a little girl that I inherited from my mom so it was cute to see her wrap it up and kiss her good night. Now there are all new places for her to "hide" (lose) things and new things to make sure she doesn't ruin right off the bat. Originally we thought to start potty training her when we got here, but we ran into resistance, so we are going to let her feel more settled first and hope things go better in a few weeks. She is even eating better now that we are in this new house and tries a lot more food we offer her, she still has her favorites but she gets moods of adventurousness.

Claire practicing her colors

Shay

As the younger sister, she followed Claire around yelling and making echos as we first got to our new house and was very excited about how loud she could be. I'm sure she would have done it alone too, but they are partners in crime most the time. She has enjoyed the sprinkler we bought to water the back lawn and sometimes just sits in the water to really soak it all up. I know she liked baths before but now she will spend a good hour in there just enjoying the bubbles, toys, and water. The bath is even bigger because of our master bathroom and they have plenty of room to play and splash! She does have a better mastery of tantrums now and will walk to where we have a rug to throw herself on the floor to cry in protest of whatever it is she is disagreeing to.

Playing on the rolling chair before saying goodbye

Enjoying Idaho

Claire

She loves the animals that we get to see and the grandparents house and the cousins we visited for a BBQ had kittens which she was very excited to see. She got really comfortable holding and moving the kittens when they were trying to explore and the other ones were sleeping. I got to try braiding her hair because she likes to sit in my lap a lot and lets me play with her hair more and it stayed in all day! I'll definitely try it again when she is being cooperative since her hair is so long and beautiful these days. She is exploitative and mostly friendly as we have been playing with family, she will need to continue when it is just her sister in our new house.

Playing firewomen!

Her new song she sings all the time.

Shay

I finally did her hair, and she hated every minute of me messing with it! She was really annoyed with me making her sit down and pulled them out eventually too but I'll keep trying because it was cute. She also loves the animals we got to visit even though she is a little too rough with them and needs to be taught to be nice. I'm surprised at how understanding she is and how she knows what she wants and how to tell us by grabbing our finger and pulling us a certain way. She is so smart and probably ready to start talking, and she does a little when she says 'mo' for more. When something isn't quite right she starts squealing to let us know to fix what has gone wrong.

Shay knows it isn't supposed to sit that way

Shay giving "Kisses" to baby cousin

Chris

I gave Chris the project of using some of the wood we had to make me a planter box and he did an amazing job! I wanted it tall enough that the girls wouldn't get in and ruin the plants or play with the dirt so he measured how tall Claire was to make it the perfect height. After he built it and washed it, his brother helped sand down the rough parts and I coated it with a finish so we can bring it to Cali. While we were in town, we visited with one of Chris's oldest friends that we got close to over the years. The guys cooked a delicious dutch oven meal and I worked on a puzzle while it cooked and chatted. It was a great night with friends that we won't see for a while.

Vacation

Claire

This little adventurous girl loves playing outside in the backyard here in Blackfoot with all the things there is to do like the trampoline, swings, dogs, and so many things to get into. Chris has been helping fix some leaks in the basement and Claire loves to try to help with the dirt and really has a fun reaction to when we ask her for help. She gets really excited to be involved in our activities and will follow what we do when we ask for help with cooking, cleaning, taking care of Shay, and carrying things. I'm glad she is at this stage even if her help is small, it means a lot, and is a great way to get her to go back inside when it is dinner time. We now need to find a better way to convince her to eat more food! It still seems that she doesn't eat a lot and she doesn't like to sit down at meal times with us to eat what we are eating. I know she has the staples of food she eats and some of them are healthy, but I wish she would try more things and eat meals of bigger sizes.

Shay

It seems that she is just the opposite of her sister when it comes to eating, especially at meal times, she knows where she sits and expects food as soon as she sits down. Even when we are still cooking, if she knows it is going to be time to eat soon she wants to start, and lets us know by reaching for what we have an pulling on our pant legs. She is a little picky and we have found things she doesn't like, but for the most part she will eat new things and always has a lot of the stuff she already likes. This also happens with other things like when we went to the beach, she was scared of the sand at first but soon loved it and didn't want to leave.

Idaho

We have enjoyed being with family and been blessed to be away from a lot of the negativity that has been going on in the world. I see so many things through the media and wish to share my love for those suffering and affected more by everything. I feel it is important to be informed and take step back to look at the information without bias before commenting and feeding the flame of emotion. I also feel I need to work on my own love for everyone and try not to judge others, especially as we are moving to a new area, I want to show my light of Christ. I hope I can be a positive influence and meet some great people on our new adventure.

Goodbye Utah!

Claire

With all the packing and changes that are going on, I think she has been handling it all really well and still has been our happy girl. She got time to play with the downstairs neighbor before we left and really enjoyed helping me clean the different parts of the house. Every time I would start cleaning she would say "Me too, me too" to let me know she wanted to join, so she would get a clean rag and help for a little while until it was boring. Our trips to the park have been good and we are able to play with more friends and enjoy the slides, swings, and jungle gyms again. She no longer rides in a stroller at all! She walks the whole way there, plays, and walks back home, then usually gets tired and falls asleep on the couch while cuddling. Sometimes she likes to ride on shoulders, and she will ask "up, up" to ride on shoulders but I can't do that alone and push the stroller yet.

Shay

Our move has affected Shay a little more and she has woken up in the middle of the night somewhat upset a few times because things have been moved out of her room and its different. She still enjoys playing but can't communicate when she needs something so if I don't understand there are meltdowns. So far things aren't too bad and she can still enjoy life since we came to visit family and she has been here before. Her fixation with animals makes it easy to bring some happiness to her day and having a new toys and back yard to explore helps both girls during the day. It's night that seems to be hard, even though I've brought their pillows and blankets to try to help them feel like home. We are very lucky to have happy girls that are rolling with the punches, even though she is getting an attitude when told not to do something and comes puts her face in my face in protest.

The New Plan

Our situation is slightly changed, we are still going to California but we have been delayed 2 weeks because of the house and lease we signed is available the 16th. We made the decision to come visit Chris's family for those weeks and enjoy it as a vacation instead of a setback. I'm trying to stay optimistic, but it was hard to try to reorganize some packing to have things available for two weeks instead of pack everything for a new place that I would be able to unpack right away. I'm trying to see the Lord's hand in this process and I know some more will come with perspective when things have settled down. So far I've decided that this vacation with family is a blessing and we were supposed to have a hard time finding a house because we weren't supposed to be there until later.

Support

I remember how hard moving is from almost two years ago, with the organizing, planning, cleaning, packing and checking out. It has not been a fun ride but I'm grateful to have support and help from Chris, especially this specific move and the stress it has caused. He has kept me calm and comforted me when things have seemed to be falling apart no matter how hard I'm trying to get us a place to live. He also has great friends that have come to help us pack up the truck and move what seems to be more stuff than I thought we had... Small blessings like getting a bigger truck because the size we ordered wasn't at the pick up location, and finally FINALLY getting a lease signed so we know we have a place to live has helped too.