Loving our new place

We love it here. We finished up today at the old apartment (throwing stuff away we decided wasn't worth the effort of packing), and we are down to only one box that isn't completely unpacked. Not bad considering we only started the whole process 20 days ago! It feels great to have down-sized and sent a lot of stuff off to LeAnne's that she has been gracious enough to store for us for a couple of months - then we'll probably rent a unit somewhere. I finally have a dishwasher, which has already made a huge difference for me.

Carolyn also likes it here. At the old place she we had part of the living room partitioned off where she could play, but it was very small - maybe 12 square feet. Here she is free to run (and I do mean run) everywhere except the kitchen and the bedroom. She sleeps in the walk-in closet, and is doing really well with that too.

She had a blast at mom's, and mom was just totally in Grandma heaven. It's so great that mom is retired so when we get to visit, Carolyn really is the center of attention. Mom played with her, read to her, sang songs with her, and took her out to do fun things all day every day for just short of a week. She got her pictures taken and created quite the sensation at the mall, and went out to lunch with mom & two of her girlfriends. I'm so glad that she got to go and be totally spoiled rather than being a bit neglected and frustrated here.

We like out new ward a lot, although she is such a wild girl that church is kind of an exercise in endurance right now. We don't get to both sit in a meeting . . . um . . . ever. I can't wait til she's old enough to go to nursery so we can go to class again in peace! Only 5 and a half more months :).

We are unpacked but still have a bit of organizing to do. When I get everything finished I'll post pics later this week. Craig starts school on Wednesday, so we are really glad to be al settled in.

Going Well

The move is going well. It all happened really quickly. The amount time between applying and getting the keys was 10 days, which is really super fast considering we had to pass a government screening, submit all kinds of tax and other financial records, etc. We found out for sure that we were going to move for sure a week ago (today is Monday), and The Elders' Quorum came over on Saturday with trucks to pick up the furniture and most of the boxes. That's one nice thing about church membership . . . you can call your home teacher and 5 days later they will show up with several other men to do the heavy lifting!!!

We love our new place and are very excited for our new ward. Zach & Anna are in our ward, as well as one of Craig's childhood friends and his wife, who are expecting a baby boy in December. We also have some very nice neighbors 2 doors down (more ward members) who came over to help us when they saw the action on Saturday. They have a 6-month old baby girl. I know Carolyn will be thrilled to have friends to play with!

Speaking of, we sent her to Mom's for the move. She has been there since Friday and they are all having a ball, including Herb. He is such a softie with her! Very sweet.

Busy busy busy

Well, yesterday we had to gather up a bunch of bank records and make another photocopy of B's social security card. We also needed to find Craig's social security card. Fat chance. So we found the form online to order a new one but found out that he would have to go to our local office (which is in Yakima . . . not so local) in order to get a receipt to prove that it has been ordered. In the midst of all of this, our car had a flat tire, and I mean FLAAAAAAAAAT. So he got to empty the trunk to get to the tiny spare which was also kind of flat and put that on. Apparently the jack was a joke too so we are going to look into getting a new one. Anyway, changed the tire, went to Les Schwab and they said it was beyond repair but that since we bought it there, they would give us a credit equal to what would have been the remaining life of the tire. So we got a brand new tire for $35. Yay!!! By the time all of that happened it was too late to go to Yakima, so he went this morning and is on his way home now. He will drop off the receipt, then we will get a call once everything is compiled and looked over so we can sign our new lease and pay the deposit, etc. And GET THE KEY! WAHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

BIG NEWS!!!

We are moving! Not away from Ellensburg yet - just a couple of miles away into government subsidized housing. It's pretty sudden, but we are ready. Emotionally, that is. Of course the packing thing takes a while. The biggest reason for the move is financial. Gotta pay back those student loans somehow, and the reduction in rent will help a lot! Also, our current place is at the top of a long flight of very hard stairs. Mom has been freaking out about it since Carolyn was born (actually before that because she was always terrified that I would fall and hurt her when I was pregnant). Even our landlord has expressed concern, so it really is time. The new apartment complex has lots of wide open spaces for her to play, and a couple of playgrounds for when she gets older.

P.S Carolyn is walking almost exclusively now. I know I've been really bad about posting recently - I was only home a few days from vacation when we started filling out paperwork and found out today that we will be able to start moving by the end of the week.

BIG NEWS!!!

Happy Birthday Tinker-B!

Mama shared her baked beans with me for dinner :)

Alligator Adventure