The California Adventure Begins!

So here I am in California. This blog is supposed to cover the whole family, but since I'm writing it, I'm going to write it from my perspective. I've officially been in California for 2 weeks. Holy Cow, exactly 2 weeks ago I arrived. My life has been a whirlwind of events the last month. I spent most of December chasing details to get moved: 

"When are the appraisers coming?"

"When is the inspector coming?"

"Why didn't we pass the inspection?"

"You need those papers by when?"

"2 dozen cookies for which party, Nathaniel?"

"Oh, yeah, I have a baby"

The week leading up to our depature was pure madness. Nathaniel was Tiny Tim in a the play "A Christmas Carol". (we told Wanda we would do it BEFORE we knew that we would be moving that week); we were living in a hotel in Pocatello that week because the movers were in the house, you know, moving things (thanks Simpsons for recommending the suite at AmeriTel, we wouldn't have survived without it). Plus I was still working at night, Nathaniel was still attending school in Aberdeen, Logan was attending Preschool in Pocatello, and we had the usual holiday festivities to attend to. 

It was a harried time, but we really had luck on our side. My mom came and stayed the month with us to help take care of the kids while I took care of details (thanks mom!), and most everything that was important fell into place. We sold the house (to Derek's work) for a good price; all the paperwork went through; and we found a good home in California;  

So the next thing to do was to actually get to California. Derek and the boys left in the minivan pulling the pop-up camper with the worry of Friday's foreboding weather forecast. They left Pocatello around 9 am. At 2 pm, Derek called from Wells, Nevada. He had rented a room, and they were staying put. He was not driving through snowdrifts with a two little boys and a fishtailing pop-up camper. 

I was driving through my own snowstorm. Mom, Andi and I left Pocatello around 10 am. We were headed to Provo, making a stop in Layton to see some family (but mostly so that I could have one last, great haircut from my stylist, my aunt Anne. About noon, my Anne called and said that it had been snowing all morning, and to be careful. We hadn't seen any snow up to that point, so we were hoping to miss the snowstorm. But we didn't. Once we hit Ogden, it was a blanket of beautiful, wet snow and the traffic had slowed to a crawl. I tried to enjoy it, knowing it would be my last snow for awhile, but I couldn't really. I dislike driving in general. Driving in snow just makes me wonder why I ever got a driver's licence.

We finally made it to Anne's, waited around for a bit, then headed to Provo.

About 9 pm. Derek called again. They were on the road. They stayed in a hotel for 7 hours. He slept. The boys watched TV. The snow stopped. They moved on. 

Mom, Andi, and I stayed the night at the house of my sister, Candice. After a few adventures getting to the airport (we were late). We both ran to get to our counters. We hurried through security. We hurried and said our goodbyes. Then we both waited for over an hour as our planes were delayed due to bad weather. 

Through all this Andi was a typical 12-month-old. She was curious and restless. I chased her all over the Delta terminal, trying to keep an eye on my 4 carry-on bags. Many people felt sorry for me and tried to help. I had several people offer to carry my luggage. I gratefully accepted. I was so exhausted from chasing her in the terminal, that I was near tears when we boarded the plane. How was I going to keep her from climbing over all the seats and passengers of the very full little plane? I didn't know what I was going to do. Then, miracle of miracles, she curled up in my arms and fell asleep. The little angel slept the entire flight and didn't make a peep until we touched down in Sacramento.

Derek and the boys picked us up, and we headed for our new home. We didn't want to get a hotel, but none of our stuff was at the house. We didn't have a fridge (the landlord had told us we would have one). We debated what to do. We finally decided to get the sleeping bags out of the camper, and sleep in the new house. 

And that's how we began our adventure in California. We are missing our old friends, but we feel good about being here. And, yes, we have a fridge now (thank goodness)!

I'll publish some pictures later as I get them.