"Hooo" Could Have Guessed?

Corny, I know.  But it's a pretty awesome picture of our owl friend, isn't it?  This cool guy, who we think is a horned owl, hung out in our tree for a few days.  And he was kind enough to allow me this neat picture. :)

Well, I'm so far behind on blogging that all of these events happened almost a month ago!  It's been an amazingly crazy month for a our family, with some pretty major changes.  And who could have guessed a month ago that any of this would have happened?

In a nut shell, Danny accepted a new job in Utah, and we moved our little family from our country home in Lancaster back home to Utah! :)  It all happened so fast.  Back in September, Danny submitted a resume to a company called GMRE here in the Layton area.  In fact, Danny's parents had been home teaching a brother in their ward who works for GMRE.  Somehow, it came up in conversation that Danny was an aerospace engineer and may be interested in moving us back to Utah.  Brother Salazar told Danny's Dad to have him send in his resume.  We did, and not much came of it.  Until we were in Carlsbad with Grandma Candy over Halloween weekend.  Danny got a call while we were playing with the kids at the playground, and ended up having his first interview over the phone.  Apparently, it went well, so he had his second phone interview the next afternoon, which was Friday, October 28th.  By Tuesday, November 1st, we had an offer.  Danny had a trip that week in Seattle, so we officially accepted the offer on Friday, November 4th and agreed on a start date of December 5th!!  

Before I get into how incredibly crazy the following weeks were, let me just say what an incredible blessing this job offer is.  Danny and I had been feeling like we wanted to get closer to family, and especially closer to his Mom's Montessori preschool.  We wanted the kids to have some opportunities that we didn't feel like we'd be able to provide for them if we stayed in Lancaster.  But we also knew just how amazing our situation was in California....especially with Danny's job.  This offer came in for a higher salary, and Danny would be working at Hill AFB, which meant we would be able to live next to our families and next to the preschool.  AND...it meant we could hopefully find some obstetric care that we were satisfied with, and early enough in this pregnancy to make a difference.  When we received this offer, I was overcome with the knowledge of how much my Heavenly Father loves me, and cares about the things I care about.  That He wants our family to succeed and be happy.  We are so incredibly blessed.

And when you're blessed with something amazing in your life, it often is accompanied by sacrifice of some sort.  In this case, we've sacrificed our sanity. :)  Because we had made plans to celebrate Thanksgiving in Denver with Jami and her family, the only way the move made sense was to get it done BEFORE we left for Denver.  That gave us 2 weeks from the time Danny accepted the offer to the day we loaded the U-haul.  A feat, to be sure.  But keep in mind that I needed to pack up our whole life while Danny finished work, and while being 12 weeks pregnant and still taking care of 3 little kids!  Good thing we had help. :)  I had dear friends take the kids for me many times over that two week span so that I could pack in peace (or take a much needed nap!), and other friends who brought dinner and a listening ear.

And then there was my sweet mother-in-law, who after 2 weeks of working on her own home in preparation of our arrival, flew to California on Thursday, November 17th to help us finish up the packing and help me drive the kids to Utah while Danny drove the U-haul.  My mother-in-law is one of the hardest working women I know, and definitely one of the most selfless.  I don't know how we would have pulled it off without her, and I didn't know how much I needed her help until she was there.  I've said it before, and I'll say it again.  Even if Danny wasn't as amazing as he is, I might have married him just to get the family! :)

Well, needless to say, those 2 weeks of preparation flew by, and before we knew it (and before we were ready!) the day came to load up the truck.  I was overcome by the amount of help we had, and while it made the process a little chaotic and overwhelming for me, it was what allowed us to get it done in the time we needed.  We must have had 20 people traipsing in and out of our house, taking everything we owned out to the truck.  The kids had a blast with all their friends, and they seemed to feed off the chaos. :)

  Having so many people come and help really made Danny and I realize just what we were leaving behind, and it was hard.  After the truck was mostly loaded, and a lot of our help had already left, it was time to say goodbye to some of those I had grown closest to.  That was extremely difficult, and in my exhausted pregnant state the emotions of saying goodbye were too much for my body to take.  At this point, I was sick and really starting to lose my sanity, so Danny took the kids and I to the hotel we'd be staying at that night while my mother-in-law and sweet friend Beth stayed behind to start the cleaning process.  Thanks to their diligent work, the house was empty and clean by 10:00 pm.  Considering we didn't even start loading the truck until 4:00 pm, that's just plain impressive.  Before we left, we took one last family picture at our home.  It was really hard for me to leave, especially with it all empty.  This was only the second place that Danny and I have lived, and so much happened in that home.  I lost my little sister and mourned her passing while living in that home.  Both Sophie and Johnny took their first steps in that living room.  I labored for 24 hours in that home to get Johnny here, and eventually brought him home there.  There were so many memories and good times there.  It was such a wonderful home for us, the memories of which we will treasure forever.

Once we were all at the hotel, we got some much needed rest before our big drive.  Danny drove with Jack in the U-haul, and I'm pleased to report that Jack did great!  And Danny made excellent time.  He actually made it home about 2 1/2 minutes before Grandma, the kids, and me.  I am also pleased to say that Grandma and I had no vomit and no snow, which were the two things we were most worried about! :)  The kids did amazingly well, especially considering the craziness in their lives.  I was again reminded how amazing my sweet children are.  Something I've been reminded of quite a few times since then.

We officially made it home to Grandma and Papa Call's house at about 9:00 pm on Saturday, November 19th.  We left the U-haul loaded and enjoyed the Sabbath the next day.  We made it up to Grandma Candy's that evening to say hi to everyone and meet Uncle Nick's new girlfriend, Khushboo.  But our day of "rest" was over all too soon, with Monday and Tuesday being spent unpacking and trying to get settled, as well as doing laundry and re-packing for Denver.  After all, we were leaving for our Thanksgiving Holiday Extravaganza with the Downs on Wednesday morning!