No Longer in Limbo!

It's been almost a month, and I apologize for the silence--but we finally got our internet service set up and working late Friday night. It turned out to be more complicated than we thought. A lot has been going on--but mostly just the myriad of details that come with moving, unpacking, and getting settled. We still have a long way to go on the list of things to do! But we are feeling more settled than we have in over a year and are hoping than normalcy will return eventually. Our current priority is getting our air conditioner to work again. It worked fine for the first two weeks we were here (actually, we didn't need it at first--we still had the heater going--it was cold the first week of June!!) About the time we were starting to need it during the day, but sometimes still needed the heater at night, the thermostat died. So we bought a new one and Niles installed it, but the fan wouldn't blow and the heat or a/c wouldn't kick in. We requested and got a home warranty because of our fear of things like this happening. So we called them and they sent someone over to fix it last Monday. The repairman said it was the thermostat and somehow got the new one to work, even though we hadn't been able to. Then this Saturday Niles was starting to hang blinds on all the upstairs windows and was starting to get rather warm so turned the a/c down and it didn't turn on. So we realized it was again not functioning--called the home warranty place back again and the same guys are coming back to fix it--hopefully today and hopefully they will really fix it this time. Niles spent some time trying to solve the problem himself on Saturday so the blinds never got hung. Well, we have lived without them for three weeks, I guess we can continue for a few more days or weeks. As far as being without a/c goes--we really only feel a little uncomfortable for a few hours during the hottest part of the day. The basement is cool enough even then. We open all the windows at night and it is great. I could probably live comfortably all summer here with the windows open and only use the a/c for a few hours on the hottest days except for the fact that four of the six of us have terrible allergies--with a lot of sneezing and blowing and itchy eyes, even while taking our allergy medicine. So, unfortunately, we have to keep the windows closed as much as possible. Besides the air conditioning/heater problem, and some spiders, we are mostly loving our house so far. It is 3300 square feet which is as big as our last two houses put together. During the time we were in limbo, I had a dream that we were living in a house and I kept discovering more and more rooms that I didn't know existed. Adjusting to this house has been like living that dream--a living room, two family rooms, 5 bedrooms, a playroom, a storage room, etc. There are a lot more closets, too. There are a lot of things to be done to take advantage of all the space--like all of the basement closets (except the bedrooms) need shelves. There are a lot of gadgets to figure out--for example, there is a timer on the outside lights--I finally found the directions to it a few days ago and programmed it so the outside lights now turn on and off automatically. There are a lot of things to do since the house was vacant for nearly a year and they painted and put in new flooring but didn't finish things like a few spots that need to be painted in the basement, a few doors that didn't get rehung, and the hardware of the kitchen drawers were partially installed but not finished so we are working on doing all of those kinds of things. One thing I love about this house is the view. We are at the top of a hill and have a gorgeous view of Utah Lake and the surrounding mountains and valley from all of our back windows. Also when I go to run errands, I have breathtaking views at every turn. I lived in Utah, close to Utah Lake, for many years but was too far east on the Orem bench to see the lake, plus Geneva Steele was still there then, effectively blocking the view when I was driving in the lake area. So I never even noticed how beautiful it was back then.

Work is going well for Niles. They have recently submitted proposals to do work for the City of Vineyard, UT (by Orem down by Utah Lake); San Pete County, UT (Manti); Avondale, AZ (where Niles worked for nearly seven years); and Peoria, AZ (also where Niles worked for about the first three years we lived in Arizona). They got the first three jobs and he is going down to Arizona on Thursday to be a part of the interview team for the Peoria job! We think it is quite ironic that he will be doing work for Avondale and that he could also be doing work for Peoria--the two places that he worked for while we lived in Arizona. Niles didn't think that they had a chance of getting the two Arizona jobs, as firms with much more experience than his company were competing for them. I believe that there is a good chance they got the Avondale job because of him. There are plenty of people there that know him and know that he is a hard worker and good at what he does. He is too humble to admit such a thing, so I am doing the bragging. The last year and a half has been pretty tough on him. He deserves some credit for all of his hard work.

Here are some photos of some of the things that have been going on. A few photos will be faster and more interesting than my endless ramblings:

Our neighbors have been awesome! A bunch of them saw us unloading the van and just came over and started helping. Then we had two neighbors bring cookies, and one bring banana bread. The Relief Society President and the Bishop also came by to meet us. The RS Prez. brought some flower seedlings which I have planted and hopefully will keep alive. A whole string of neighborhood kids have come over to meet and play with the kids. This is a new experience for us and the kids are still getting used to the idea that kids just come over to see if they can play. But they like it and so do I! Our Lehi ward also came and helped unload as well as our family friends, the Mashburns! What would we do without neighbors and friends?
Day after moving day chaos. There are still boxes and piles everywhere, but it is starting to look livable, mostly thanks to Niles' mom, who came and unpacked my kitchen. She has unpacked my kitchen in every house I've owned so far and I am deeply grateful. Niles was still recovering from a bad cold and I was smack in the middle of one on the day we moved, so I wasn't being too functional. I was so tired and fuzzy in the head. Niles' dad came too, and was pleasant company, but it was still too soon after his hip replacement surgery for him to do hard labor. My parents were also very helpful--brought us dinner and helped pack our stuff at their house, etc. My dad came and helped assemble furniture and has loaned us his cordless drill--they have both helped in countless ways. My nephews came and helped unload, my sister-in-law bought me a can opener and a spatula when she heard I couldn't find mine! Niles' mom located and purchased a lid for our blender since it is missing in action. Niles' cousin showed up on our door last Friday with pizza and cookies! What would we do without family?
I got back from the store late on the day after moving day. Niles and the girls were working away at unpacking things. "Where are the boys?" I asked. Niles had given them a bath and put them in their pajamas and said they were in the basement playing with toys. I went to check on them and discovered them fast asleep in their recently-assembled bed with a pile of their recently-unpacked stuffed animals!
This is almost a week after moving in and I finally had all the boxes in the kitchen and family room area unpacked. It's starting to look like a home instead of a disaster area!
This is the playroom--I unpacked all the toys first so the boys could stay entertained and I could get the rest of the unpacking done faster. It was like Christmas for a few days around here--most of these toys were packed away for over a year and the rest were packed for the last five months. My kids have been troopers--living without so many things they love for so long.

Atom helps Niles unwrap his presents on his birthday. Niles' parents were able to join us for a small family party and peach pie.
The following Saturday we ignored all the things we should have been doing and went for a hike up American Fork Canyon. Jumble was at youth conference so she wasn't there, but everyone else went, including Boomer, our dog. This is everyone but me (the camerawoman) just before we got to the meadow with the stream and waterfall where we played for about an hour.
Here's the stream--the boys had a great time tossing rocks in the stream, jumping over and into the water, etc. Jet was soaked by the time we left!
Family photo with mom. You can see how gorgeous it is here!
Family photo with Dad--same spot (there was no one there but us so we couldn't get the whole family in one shot.)

Niles on Father's Day at his parent's house. He got stadium chairs to go with his season BYU football tickets.

Lauren with her Nana. I finally got to hold Lauren for the first time on Father's Day! She is almost 5 months old here and so cute! Jumble wearing her EFY t-shirt. She went to a BYU campus session for the first week of her summer--the first week of June and just two days after moving into our house. Her EFY roommate was from American Fork, lives about a two minute drive from our house, and is going to AF Jr. High for the first time this fall--just like Jumble. Coincidence? We don't think so! Our prayers were answered. We also prayed all week that she would have a great time and she did! Jumble got home from EFY, unpacked her room (no time to before), had a sleepover with her Lehi friends, and then went off to Youth Conference with the Lehi Stake! She has been a busy girl this summer.
Atom was "Super Sunbeam" yesterday at church. I guess they are spotlighting all the sunbeams in Primary. They had me fill out some information about him last week. I was surprised he was spotlighted so quickly. He got this cool candy necklace. He thought it was pretty great. (The window behind him is the only one with blinds installed so far!)
Jet sporting his kool-aid mustache from Nana's birthday dinner at Aunt Ruth and Uncle Dan's house last night. We are enjoying all the family functions we get to attend now! We hope to have some at our house soon--just need to get a little more settled and have functioning a/c for our family members who aren't as heat-tolerant as we are!