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.