We're settled in (sort of!)

Well, as of yesterday, we've been in our new house two weeks. It really has seemed much longer than that, as we have accomplished a lot.

I am beginning to think my injured foot was a blessing in disguise. Because I had to stay off it when we first got here, the family all pitched in a lot more than usual and we got things unpacked faster. As the movers were unloading the truck, they brought most things in through the garage and into the kitchen/breakfast nook area before taking them on to other areas of the house. I found my rolling office chair and sat in that in the kitchen, directing traffic as they came in. As they brought boxes for the kitchen, I unpacked between loads of boxes coming in. By the end of the day, I had about 90% of the kitchen unpacked, which sure made things easier for settling in. Then, over the next few days we worked together as a family, room by room. I'd sit somewhere with my leg propped up, and Randy and the girls would unpack stuff. I'd tell them where it should go. Randy and Alison and Elisabeth were able to move most of the heavy things, and Emily and Hannah were the "fast runners," taking smaller items wherever they needed to go. We found it all went really fast that way.

We also had 2 women from church come help us one day when Randy was working. They were a big help, and it was nice to get to know them.

We have had a really warm welcome here. The first Sunday we were "officially" at church here, two families dropped by in the afternoon to welcome us and bring us some goodies. One family, the Gills, have 6 kids--4 boys and then 2 girls that are Emily and Hannah's ages. They invited the girls over to play "whenever they want". What was funny is that as we talked, we discovered several families from around the country that we both knew, including my college roommate, Kristie, and her husband and kids, a family we knew in Tulsa, and a couple from Rockwall! It's a small world. Our girls have gone over to play with Haley and Kelsey, their girls, a couple times, and they have also come over here.

The other family we met that Sunday, the Clarks, live behind us. (Their side fence is shared with part of our back fence.) They invited us over for dinner and Family Home Evening on that first Monday we were here. They have 2 girls, Sarah and Rachel, ages 14 and 12, and then 2 boys, Josh and Michael, who are 8 and 6. We had a lot of fun at their house, and our two oldest girls hit it right off with their girls. By the end of the evening they were exchanging cell numbers and talking about when they could hang out. Also, Melanie, the mom, is the music leader for Primary here. I told her that's what I did in Rockwall, and I really loved it. They are going out of town this weekend, and she is letting me substitute for her!

Later in the week another family, the Walters, came by whose oldest daughter, Maddie, is in Elisabeth's class at church. They brought some cookies and offered to get together and play sometime. The next day, some of the kids came over, and the younger sister, Katy, got along pretty well with Emily. The 6-year-old brother (I can't remember his name) tried to play with Hannah, but she apparently doesn't know how to play with boys! It was a little awkward until later in the afternoon, when we all went over to the neighborhood pool to swim. I had a nice chat with their mom, Julie, while the kids played in the pool.

Also, one evening, the Beehives (Alison's class at church) came over to introduce themselves and give Alison a card and stuff. She is a full head taller than all of them, and I think they are all intimidated by her! Well, as they get to know her, I'm sure they'll see how fun she is.

This week, we took the girls to get registered for school. At the junior high, the choir director was nice enough to meet us at the school to let Alison audition for choir. She had told me earlier she expected Alison would maybe be in the 8th grade audition choir, but she was "very impressed" with Alison's sight reading and her "very mature" voice. She said the show choir "Choraliers" was already very full, and she had vowed not to add anyone else, but that Alison "really belongs in there." This is quite an honor, since it is mostly 9th graders who are in there, and it's an elite choir. They will perform at home games, some community events, and competitions. Alison is very excited about it.

At the elementary school, we just had to make copies of everything and leave them in a registration box for the secretary, who won't be in the office till next week. The girls were a little disappointed about not getting to find out what class they are in, but that will come soon enough.

Randy has been experimenting with his commute to work, as there is a really good public transportation system here, and he gets a really inexpensive pass as part of his benefits from work. He has tried the commuter train "FrontRunner" and the express bus, which runs straight from Kaysville to the front of his office. The bus is really fast in the morning, but coming home it has been slow because of traffic. One day there was an overturned semi on the freeway, and all but one lane were shut down. It took him 1 1/2 hours to go the 20 miles from work to home! the train is really fast, because it doesn't slow for traffic, but he has to transfer to a bus once he gets downtown and then walk quite a ways to his office. He has also tried driving, and when our HOV lane is completed in the next couple months, he'll be able to take that (in Utah, hybrid vehicles are allowed to drive in HOV.) So he'll have to see how that goes. Today, he is trying the bus in the morning and the train in the evening. It is nice to have all those options.

Overall, we are pretty happy here, so far, though we have had a little homesickness now and then. We miss our Texas friends, but we are glad to be making friends here, too.