Well we made it here, to Harrisburg (Souix Falls), South Dakota!
Events:
Phil's mom and dad came to Mesa to help us pack the truck, clean the house, and make the move.
Saturday, 5-30-09:
We had 14 guys from our ward come help pack the moving truck. We are so thankful to all of them! All the guys couldn't get over how organized Phil was. Phil and I had everything packed in boxes and then Phil moved all the boxes to the garage and organized them from heaviest to lightest in the order which they'd be placed in the truck. They were all done packing a 26 foot truck in 50 minutes. (The best part is nothing was even broke when we arrived to SD!) Several guys came up to me the next day at church and said that was the easiest move they've ever done. Way to go Phil for being so organized...THANK YOU!
The rest of the day we cleaned the house. We could not have gotten it done without Phil's mom and dad. They did soooo much to help us. I'm ashamed to say they even scrubbed our tile floor on their hands and knees. Thank you Mom and Dad!
Phil and his dad took off the next morning for the 3 day long journey. Phil's mom and the kids and I stayed at Dennis and John's house until Tuesday when the kids and I flew into Sioux Falls and Phil's mom drove back to St. George. We had so much fun with Grandma Stephenson for those 3 days!
Phil drove the 26 foot truck pulling the civic behind and Phil's dad drove the van with the joy of chauffeuring Oscar. Thank goodness that the vehicles ran good for them and the only problem they had was Oscar getting sick and throwing up in the van on Phil's suit and in the hotel room several times.
Phil and Grandpa Stephenson picked the kids and I up at the airport and drove us to our new home.
The kids LOVED it! The house is literally double the size of our home in Mesa, so needless to say we are loving the space!
Phil's dad stuck around until Thursday and helped Phil put all the furniture together and do a ton of the big stuff that needed to get done. He nearly worked himself to death! Thank you Dad, we couldn't have done it without you!
2 days later my parents drove out to see the new place and help us put everything together. Phil and my dad worked their guts out putting up a fence in our yard while my mom and I worked our guts out shopping for decorations! :) I know, doesn't hardly seem fair! In all honesty though, I think we were nearly just as tired as they were! You ladies that read this can understand the exhaustion that comes with shopping! :) My parents worked so hard around here helping us build things, hook things up, unpack, decorate, play with kids...you name it! Thank you so much Mom and Dad! We would have spent months doing what you helped us to do in days.
We have pretty much gotten the house all together, making it feel like home. We have also gotten to know the Sioux Falls area, made some neighbor friends, and are adjusting to a new ward and making new friends there.
The day after we got here Gracie and Parker saw some kids outside playing and immediately ran out there to make some friends. There are so many kids in this neighborhood so needless to say Gracie and Parker are in Heaven! They have made some great friends their age and are constantly begging to play with them. Gracie has already staked out a little boyfriend named Will, across the street. She loves getting all dazzled up before going out to play with him. Phil and I just roll our eyes and take deep breaths. This girl is boy crazy! 3 words...IT KILLS ME!
The neighborhood feels so safe. We can let the kids go out front and play in our yard or the neighbors' yards and feel safe just randomly checking on them every little bit.
Oh, how could I forget to mention the weather! For the first 2 weeks we were here the temperature was around 55 - 65 degrees during the day. That is a 50 degree drop from where we just were! We were seriously freezing. Out of those 2 weeks I bet we saw the sun 2 days. Even 3 weeks into being here it has rained for 3/4 of the time. The weather did finally warm up, but we are back to some serious humidity! Lot's of adjusting to do! :)
Here are just a few pictures...
(I regret not getting any pictures of Phil's mom and dad...in my defense, the cameras were packed. But still, it makes me sad we didn't get any.)
Some beautiful flowers in our yard.
Phil and my dad putting up the fence. The ground was made of hard-as-a-rock clay. The job ended up being much harder than planned. They did such a great job!
Gracie, hard at work! The final product!
Poor little Oscar...totally exhausted from all that digging! Haha! Grandma Holgate and Gracie working hard to get the decorations put up.
We love grandparents!
