Location #2

 As a wife, is it cause for concern when your hubby sends you a picture of his Costco cart that looks like this?  Let's see... a fridge, 4 office chairs, a 46 ' flat screen, pictures, etc.  And that's after he told me the total on the bill for the furniture!  However, there is something exhilarating and fun about setting up a new office!  It's the excitement of the possibilities it creates, the fun of decorating it and that new office smell.  Jer has a good eye so I had no part of picking out paint, carpet or furniture.  I just come along when it's all done and put my stamp of approval on it all...conference room, my desk and the offices.  This time he gets an A++!!  With a location on a major road, sandwiched between a Target and the Superstition Springs Mall, I just know it's going to be great!

A Change Of Times

As a kid my dad loved to stop at the state signs on the highway to take a picture of any new place we went.  When I saw the sign I just couldn't help but think what a monumental event it was so I had to picture it!  It was a weird feeling changing the clocks.  It's like when you go on vacation and teeter back and forth on whether you should change your clock while you are there or just deal with recalculating it the whole time.  This time when I changed the clock it felt serious.  As if I was accepting a new time of life.  When in essence I guess I did...

The girls are enjoying Arizona summer life.  We have spent nearly every day at the pool or shopping.  There are so many malls to choose from it's fun to explore a new one every day.  We found a dollar theatre near Jer's office so that is fun too!

Just today we bought a really cool pass.  Its kind of like a season pass to a bunch of fun places around.  It gets you into several Diamondback baseball games, a water park, natural science museum, rock climbing place, trampoline place, paintball, zoo, ASU sporting events, amusement park and more.  So I guess we will have lots of places to explore now!

Gilbert or bust!

For a month now I have been nervous about everything fitting in the truck.  I measured out the area of the truck in our garage, then moved all the boxes out there in an attempt to guess if we could get it all in.  Really it's just stuff and if we had to leave stuff behind (which we did) I just wanted to be able to choose what we left.  Jer and his business partner Court began loading the boxes the day before.  The kids thought the truck was a wonderful play land especially with its automatic lift.  But to Jer and I it was a stressful thing.  We were glad to see the truck was brand new with only 2000 miles on it when we got it!  We packed that thing from floor to ceiling all the way to the last inch.  In the end it was tricky trying to get it all in!  But we managed to fit it all but the Barbie Jeep.  Ssshhh, don't tell the girls, they haven't figured out it's missing!

We spent our last night at Grandmas house.  Jeremy left at 4 the next morning and we followed at 5:30.  I had a pit in my stomach as we drove away.  I have felt good about our decision to move but at that moment I started to second guess what we were doing.  Grandma kept a brave face as we drove away for the kids but Jer says she sobbed as he left.  I thought about how this made our parents feel.  I tried to put myself in their position and think of how I would feel if it was Neeley driving away in a big truck with everything she owned.  And I decided they must have felt worse than I did and that moment.

We caught up with Jer in Boulder where we gave him a quick kiss as he drove off again and we went in for lunch.  From then on we switched places back and forth on the highway but in the end Jer's slow truck won out to our bathroom breaks.  He arrived at the hotel about 15 minutes before we did.

That night we went over to the house to show the girls their new rooms.  They were so excited to see the house they quickly forgot about the long 12 hour drive they had just endured.  The next morning we welcomed a crew of 8 strangers at 6:30 a.m. to unload the truck.  How thankful we were for the generosity of the elders from the ward to share their Saturday morning with us.  Jer and I feared it would be just the two of us there schlepping furniture off the truck for hours, instead it was one hour with lots of man power!

In all we feel so blessed for the support we received from family, mere acquaintances and pure strangers to make this move happen!  Tender mercies for sure!

A Fond Fairwell

Farewells were all around as we prepared for the big move.  My good friend Joni Walton planned a big farewell party with several families in the ward.  It was fun to meet at the park for ice cream and socializing!

My best friend Angie made going away bitter sweet.  She was so good to get in and help with everything from kid watching and box packing to floor mopping.  Her help and mental support was the sweet part, leaving her and my three adopted boys was really hard.  We have become such close friends I feel like I am leaving my sanity behind with her.  She has been there to drop everything to come over for the good and bad times of life.  I have been praying earnestly for another "Angie" that lives in Gilbert!  But really, I know no one will ever completely replace her. ;)  My best friend and sister Karen was also along for the farewells with hours of talking and box packing.  Her kids even helped with the lugging and cleaning.  I never would have gotten the kitchen and last minute cleaning done without her!

Mom Dopp played taxi driver to us after Jer's car was left in Arizona and  Dad Dopp came and helped us pack the truck.  He and Jer almost single handedly packed the furniture.  We were so worried about everything fitting in that they just couldn't wait for the guys to come.  It was like they were playing a mean game of tetris all day betting on whether the next piece would fit in a particular space.  By the time the real muscles arrived (Jer's brothers) the truck was done and they just got to spend time saying good bye's.

My parents came to say goodbye that day and to offer whatever support we needed.  I have to admit that when my mom and dad drove away for the last time I sobbed.  I have this fear of losing precious moments with them as they are growing older.  The more of life I experience the more I realize how well they taught me.  I'm so thankful for their support and love.

Schools Out For Summer!!!

I love summer!  I love everything about it!  One o'clock today couldn't come fast enough.  Neeley got her camera out this morning and started with pictures of the girls.  Then she took it to school and took pictures of all her friends/boyfriends ;).  Or maybe those are her friends boyfriends ;).  Then after school she had a going away party that her friend Nalaya threw for her.  When we pulled up they had written in the driveway, "Neeley, we will miss you!"  With an owl of course.  She has such a good group of friends I hope she can make such good friends in AZ too!

While she was at her party Kayla had a party of her own so I took Lilah and Kate to the fun center bounce houses!  Did I say I love summer!

What is home?

What is home?  Having lived in a basement apartment to a 3/4 million dollar home and everywhere in between I have realized a thing or two about "home".  When it comes right down to it, we all have a kitchen sink, a bath tub, a front door, etc.  While some are a bit fancier than others, really they all have the same function.  And to be honest, some of my happiest of moments have occurred in the most modest of circumstances.  Looking toward our 13th move in our 15 years of marriage, I have started to ponder about what makes a place "home".  A good friend describes it as going to the grocery store and seeing a familiar face.  Another as being able to get a drink at night without turning on the lights.  I like to think of it as a feeling of peace in your heart when you are there.

We have talked about moving to Arizona for years now.  But that was just talk and I never really thought the decision would really need to be made.  But when Jer came home from the office one day and said that he and his business partner Court were really talking serious about opening another office in Phoenix I thought, this can't be.  I wasn't against the idea, it was just that we were starting to get roots where we are now and I never thought the conversation would get this serious.  It is funny though, each time the thought even popped in my mind I got the most peaceful feeling in my heart.  I know that home for us now is in Gilbert, Arizona.  I know God has a plan for each of us and right now our plan is in AZ.

That brings me to my next question that Jeremy and I have discussed many times since we made this decision.  What makes people stay in the same area all their lives.  Is it because that's where their family is, because that's what they know, because that is where they get a job, fear of change?  I would say the thing that has kept us here is family and a few close friends.  And while we are very sad to move away from them, somehow we feel at peace as to where we are going.  Each Tuesday as I visit my parents lately I have thought about what this means in regards to them.  They are in the twilight of their lives and not being able to see them each week breaks my heart.  I am ever so grateful for our weekly visits the past few years.  And maybe a selfish part of me is grateful that my mom's health thrives in warmer weather so they will visit us often.

There is one thing I have learned over the years.  And that is, it doesn't matter where we are, I can bloom where planted.  Good people can be found no matter where you go.  I am sure we will be welcomed in and our prayers for good friends will be answered.  Whether it's being able to get a drink in the dark or recognizing a face at the grocery store, I am sure Gilbert, Arizona will be home soon enough.

Grandpa's Sweet New Ride!

The girls have a new activity to do every Tuesday when we visit my parents.  Grandpa takes them all around the commons area behind their house.  They were so disappointed the last time we went and Grandpa wasn't home to chauffeur!

Sweet Dreams???

Lilah and Kate are full of antics at night in their room.  Part of me thinks it's time to push bed time back but the other part of me thinks that it would spoil their fun!  On two separate occasions I came in and found each of them sleeping half off the bed.  Doesn't look very comfortable to me but how would I know?  I asked Kate why she took off all her cloths and she said she was hot. Smart girl!

Monkey Business

It's the end of the school year and things are winding down.  Apparently so are my kids.... Twice now we have realized the morning of or late the night before that they need some big project for the morning.  Despite days of asking before hand, all of the sudden Kayla just had to have an elephant costume.  Ten minutes before it was time to go to school!  Then Neeley needed a wolf puppet.  Both turned out better than I thought considering I threw them together with a dish cloth, pair of tights and some hot glue.  Gotta love hot glue!  So while the girls were at school being wild animals, we decided to go visit them at the zoo with Angie and her boys!  Much more fun to visit than to make!