After a frantic week of packing on August 5th we left our home of more than two years in Millcreek, Utah. And almost six years in Salt Lake.
We left on schedule to Klamath Falls thanks to the massive assistance of the Stuart and Ashton families. Our boys enjoyed Grandma Stuart babysitting, Melinda babysitting, Karoline babysitting, Dejah babysitting, Marsha babysitting, and Karen babysitting. This doesn't even include the babysitting that happened so we could go up to the job interview and then check out the town again when we got offered the job. And this babysitting wasn't just sit and watch TV babysitting.
There was playdough with cousins.
Swimming with cousins.
Cousins' toys.
Zoo with cousins.
And with Grandma Stuart!!!
Making AND EATING cupcakes! They tasted as good as they looked.
More than babysitting people came over to pack, stayed up late to pack, and even had other people watch their kids so they could help us pack! People provided food. My parents cleaned and then cleaned some more.
Cameron even got a haircut during the madness of packing.
Honestly, I thought for a while that there was no way we would be able to leave on our target date. The night before Wendy still believed we'd leave the next day. The rest of us, not so much. But with all the help from everyone in the family by Saturday afternoon we packed all three vehicles; our Honda Fit, our Toyota Sequoia, and my dad's mini-van. Everything else we left in the front room of Arden's and Lorraine's house to follow us once we close on our house.
Honda Fit back
Honda Fit back seat
Honda Fit front seat
Toyota Sequoia - Back
Toyota Sequoia side
Toyota Sequoia front seat
Dad's minivan - back
Dad's Mini-van side
Everything being left behind for the moving truck
Packing isn't complete without saying goodbye. There were lots of hugs.
Nigel hug
Knee hug with Miles
We appreciate people coming to send us off...and, in some cases, making sure the house didn't stay too empty after we left!!
Marsha and the Stuarts
These diehards made it to the end - Kevin, Elaine, Henry, Marsha, and Karen say goodbye
Skardas saying goodbye
Ashtons saying goodbye from the safety of the garage
Bye Bye Marsha
We included lots of toys in the back to entertain the boys
Final door closing.
Stopping in Boise
While Wendy and I have made the trip to Klamath Falls in one night, we had no intention of trying this with three little boys. We stopped in Boise to stay with my brother Michael and his family. We love visiting Michael and KaLyn. They are such gracious hosts. The boys stayed excited the whole way to Boise so they could play with their cousins. Sadly, KaLyn's family had an emergency so the Sunday of playing with cousins turned into a morning of playing with cousins. The kids fit in a lot before lunch!!!
Toys
More toys!
Paw Patrol toy!!!
Big Bear!!
Chasing!
Daisy is just as friendly as the rest of the family.
Making sure the baby isn't left out.
Michael, being the responsible adult he is, had to stay behind for work. He showed us the Boise river. It is such a beautiful walk.
I knew that the Boise river had been high this year but it surprised me how high the water line had risen up. A brand new sandbar by the river surprised Michael, as well as numerous of the people who walked by. I heard passers-by exclaim multiple times as they passed the sandbar, 'Where did all this sand come from?" or "When did this get here?"
Where did this come from?
I don't care. It's awesome!
Of course, any walk next to a river is incomplete with some kind of water play. As a water lover myself I cannot deny my children the opportunity to play with sticks, stones, and water. Cameron got completely soaked. Andrew managed to stay mostly dry.
Smacking water with sticks
Playing with the small dam waterfall
Throwing stones
On to Klamath Falls via Grandma Hunter
After enjoying the Boise pit stop on Sunday, we continued on our way to Klamath Falls Monday. On the way out we stopped by Aunt Joan's and Uncle Vron's house to visit Grandma Hunter. Spencer fascinated Grandma and she played with him the entire time we visited. Not even taking pictures could distract her long from the little one. Uncle Vron sent us off with a nice big bag of cucumbers and other produce that has tasted amazing.
Baby? Camera? Grandma made her choice.
Saying goodbye to Aunt Joan
Even with the one day layover in Boise we still needed to have a pit stop in Oregon. Fortunately, we found a nice little park that had swings, monkey bars, climbing apparatus, and lots of grass. After around an hour playing in the park we were ready for the final home stretch.
Welcome to Klamath Falls!
We are still learning how to do family selfies.
Spencer kindly reminded us to replace the lens cap
One of the things I was looking forward to in living in rural Oregon was the lack of inversion or smog. Thus, I was rather disappointed when I discovered that rural Oregon has a lot of forest fires and that leads to a lot of smoke.
I have also realized that our future house is in a location that puts it at high risk if any fires are around. Everyone be careful with anything that causes fire or is flammable!
This morning we went to Upper Klamath Lake. We intended to go to a location where a lot of eagles and other birds are said to roost. The people who told us neglected to mention that the birds are only there December through April. We didn't see many birds. We did admire the lake.
Lightning
The weather in Klamath Falls has been interesting during the week that we have been here. The pattern so far has been beautiful mornings, sweltering afternoons, and lightning in the evening.
The lightning has caused some issues with our pool usage. According to the people who manage the pool Oregon has a rule that any pool must close down if there is lightning within 15 miles. They claim that this applies to both indoor and outdoor pools. (I'm skeptical about that last. My brief internet search found a law that outside pools needed to be shut down of lightning was within 10 miles).
Regardless, Two out of the three days the pool has been closed down due to lightning. Today, we left the pool with partly cloudy skies above us. As we exited we let a gentleman and his kids know the pool was closed due to lightning. He skeptically looked up at the partly cloudy sky and said, "Where? California?!"
The thunderstorm did eventually arrive, in middle of my three mile run. As mentioned when we left the pool it was partly cloudy. As the pool was unavailable I thought I would have time for a quick run. I started the run in partly cloudy skies. Forty minutes later I finished my run in drenching rain, strong winds, and an electric sky with c lightning flashes everywhere. Oops.
The thunderstorm presented a new experience for the boys. They asked Wendy why it was so loud around us. Followed by questions about why they saw the light before the noise. Eventually Andrew just said, "I miss the desert." Cameron agreed with him.
