As Moving Day Approaches

 I can't believe that in just two days the movers will come to start loading our belongings into their trucks and we will be officially on our way to Utah.

Moving is no joke! It is the most difficult thing we have done in a very long time. Alan has been such a trooper through this whole thing. With my back problems, I have been limited on what I can do, but Alan has really picked up the pace and has worked non-stop for weeks now. I believe he made 6 trips to the dump with our utility trailer full of items we needed to get rid of. We then got a dumpster here for a couple of weeks and filled it up three times. It seems like more and more junk just appears and it is a never-ending-job getting rid of it all. This nightmare will be over soon...but then the fun will begin of moving into the new home and find just the right place for each object. Hmmm....maybe we should have dumped more of our belongings so we won't have to find a place for them in Utah. Haha!

Our house has been in chaos for weeks.

This picture was our first casualty!

Right now we can hardly find room in the kitchen to prepare a meal!

This, too, shall pass! I keep telling myself that this nightmare will be over soon. I don't do well with chaos. I like order in my life and I haven't had it for a while. What am I to learn from this experience? Patience and longsuffering, I guess. It has taught me to not wait 28 years to start throwing away things we no longer use or need. Oh, I've learned a lot through this process of preparing for a move. One thing is for certain...I never want to have to move again! I'm done with moving!!!

On the bright side, I had a personal experience with prayer the other night that I will share here. I was having my nightly conversation with God and He confirmed to me that he orchestrated our move and that we are in the house and ward we are in for a purpose.  In my mind, I heard him say "Joan, you just wait and see, you are going to love your new ward." This message brought peace to my soul. One concern of mine had been whether we would fit in with our new ward or not. This message directly from God put my mind at ease. Although I am leaving so many friends in the ward here and I will know absolutely no one in my new ward, I now know that things will work out for my good. With God on my side, I know that everything will be just fine!

My Birth Day

 Yesterday was my birthday, but what I'd like to share here is more about the day of my birth 68 years ago than my current birthday.

First of all, let me explain how it is a miracle that my parents had any children at all. You see, when my mother was a teenager, she had to have her appendix removed. During that surgery, the doctor saw that her ovaries hadn't developed properly. The doctor didn't tell my mom about her ovary problem, but he did tell my grandmother about it. At an earlier age, my mom had received a Patriarchal Blessing from her father, who was serving as a Patriarch for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. In that blessing, she was told that she would have children. My grandmother decided not to tell my mom that she would never be able to have children, but instead turned the problem over to the Lord. Grandma had faith that the Lord would provide a way for that blessing to come true.

When my mom and dad met and fell in love they talked about having children together. Both of them wanted a large family, not knowing of mom's medical condition. For the first three months after their wedding, my mother experienced a lot of abdominal pain. My dad was convinced that God was allowing her ovaries to develop correctly during that time. Then, miraculously, mom got pregnant and had my oldest brother, Neal, who was born on their first anniversary - July 10, 1946. Now, that is a miracle for sure!

When my mother was expecting Jane and I, she didn't know that she was carrying twins. Evidently, she was pretty big and my father thought that she must be having a baby elephant, but the doctor could only hear one heartbeat. There were no ultrasound machines to visually check on babies back then like there is today. It wasn't until after Jane was born that the doctor informed my mother that there was a second baby. Her response was that she "couldn't do it" but the doctor told her that she had no choice. Unfortunately, I guess I liked having a womb of my own and didn't want to come out because I was born an hour later than Jane. She was born at 5:05 p.m. and I was born at 6:05 p.m. Normally, twins are born only a few minutes apart, but my poor mother had to suffer another hour of labor before I made my entrance into the world.

There are very few pictures of Jane and I as babies. I think a lot of the pics got lost over time. This is my favorite picture of my mom with her two precious babies. I don't know, however, which one is me and which one is Jane.  I've never given birth to or raised a set of twins, but I know it is extremely difficult even if the babies are good babies. With three other children ages 6.5, 5 , and 2.5, I'm sure she found it very difficult to add twins into the mix. The sleep depravation must have been overwhelming. I'm sure my dad stepped up to help out, however. He was a "hands-on" type of dad.

I am so grateful that God provided a way for my parents to have children. I truly appreciate my parents and how they raised their seven children. I have always cherished them and the memories they created for their children. I appreciate that they lived the gospel of Jesus Christ in their home, thus forming a great foundation for me in my life. I have never strayed from the Church and its teachings. The gospel means too much to me to ever leave it. I will forever be in my parents debt for teaching me correct principles and setting such a great example for me. My parents have been gone for many years now. Mom passed on June 1, 1994 and my dad passed on June 19, 2007. I miss them dearly and think of them often. I long for the day when we will be reunited once again. Until then, my memories of them will have to suffice. I love you Mom & Dad!

Meeting Our New Home

 We had to wait several weeks after purchasing our new home in Riverton Utah before we were able to see it in person. Last Tuesday and Wednesday we drove (in separate cars) up to Utah. As I was driving through our new neighborhood on the way to our new home, I was caught off guard at the emotion that overcame me. Seeing the new neighborhood and home for the first time almost took my breath away and I felt tears moistening my eyes just knowing that the home was now ours. What a change this move will be for us.

I asked Alan what his first impressions were and he said he was pleasantly surprised by the good condition of the house - inside and out and very pleased with the house. He is excited about the whole house and happy with the neighborhood. We will both love living in Utah close to family.

The previous owners were good to us. They left us several items that we will be able to use like: a Dyson vacuum, laundry detergent and other products, dish soap and dishwasher detergent, a fridge stocked with bottled water and a gatorade. They also left tp in every bathroom and one bathroom even had hand soap and a hand towel. They also left us pages and pictures of instructions on different aspects of the home. 

The house was freezing cold when we arrived. It took some time for me to learn how to program the thermostat. It is different from the one I am used to programming. But we were finally able to heat up the home to a comfortable level.

This home is more high-tech than our Lancaster home was. The upstairs fireplace is remote controlled; the pavilion in the back yard is remote controlled (fans and lights); the downstairs fireplace is turned on by a switch by the light switches; the osmosis filter system is new to us, as well as having a soft water tank; and we have no idea how to operate the hot tub. We used it with Ryan on our second night there and we just kept pushing buttons until it was running. The previous owners didn't leave instructions for the hot tub, so we need to locate an owners manual for that. There, evidently, are two security systems, but we have no idea how to work either of them. Very different from the one we have been using.

We are really going to enjoy the back yard. It is pretty much the highlight of the house, in my opinion. 

I guess I'm going to have to learn how to garden! We haven't figured out how the garden gets water yet. It's a puzzle.

There are things we will be changing in the home. We don't like the carpet in the basement so we will be changing that at some point.

There are some changes we would like to make in the kitchen as well. The backsplash and countertop clash - need to make a change there. I also want the cabinets painted white plus pantry shelves installed to the left of the ovens. This will be down the road a bit.

All in all, we are very pleased with the house. I can't wait until we are actually settled in the home. The move is in about two weeks, but I'm sure we won't feel settled for a while. All in good time!