I can't believe how much Colorado felt like home after just 11 months. Of course, we loved our 5 years in Maryland, but we were swept up in school most of the time and never planned to stay. In Colorado, we were in a new phase of life that left a little more time for friends, enjoying ourselves, and just being a family in our little home. For me at least, it was a good life! I even passed the bar and had started doing a little work from home for a small, well-respected Trusts & Estates firm. We loved our ward, our neighborhood, the rec centers and pools, and taking family bike rides on all the awesome trails nearby.
Anyway, Joe needed something different in his job. So surprisingly enough, we found a situation in Orem, Utah that we thought would work. Plus, it would give us the chance to live close to lots of family (a.k.a. free babysitters, hehe!) and fun activities. So, Joe and I are now eating our words that we would "never live in Utah" but we are really okay with that. :) Of course we don't plan to stay here permanently, but will definitely enjoy ourselves for as long as it lasts!
So that was all over a week ago. The past week Joe worked 5 days and we spent a lot of time looking at houses and thinking about where we would like to live. We also had enough family fun to remind us just how lucky we are to be spending the next little portion of our lives here. And I know of one person who is definitely happy to have Max around:
It all just happened so fast. It was hard to even get in a proper good-bye. I certainly didn't take pictures of all my friends or the things I would miss because I just don't get my camera out much, but here are just a couple of things are making me sad to be away.
1. Max & Alec ... or maybe, me and my friend Heidi :)
We became fast friends with the Smith's because we were both in the one-kid club and our boys were born only a couple of weeks apart. We even had been married around the same amount of time. Although we had our differences (BYU vs. Utah, etc.) we had a lot of fun with them. Max and Alec spent a good amount of time together and it was always nice that although Max may have non-maliciously bumped and trampled on Alec from time to time, Alec never got upset about it. :) He was also a champ at sharing his puffs with our little scavenger. I know that kids at this age aren't known for playing "together" much, but these two actually would! They would totally crack each other up and it was pretty much the cutest thing. I'm hopeful that in a few years they'll be starting soccer together back in CO and the cuteness can continue, and Heidi and I can be fellow soccer moms.
We made some other good friends in the ward as well through visiting teaching, book group, young men's calling, etc. but sadly I don't have any pictures! On top of that there were many friendly faces that I am really going to miss. It was a great ward and everyone was so awesome to offer repeatedly to help out with Max during the move (which I definitely took advantage of - thankfully). Thank goodness for facebook and blogs so it will be easy to keep in touch.
We made some other good friends in the ward as well through visiting teaching, book group, young men's calling, etc. but sadly I don't have any pictures! On top of that there were many friendly faces that I am really going to miss. It was a great ward and everyone was so awesome to offer repeatedly to help out with Max during the move (which I definitely took advantage of - thankfully). Thank goodness for facebook and blogs so it will be easy to keep in touch. 2. Rach, Ryan, & Baby Boy
Something else I am just crushed about is that my wonderful friend Rachel, who will soon be adopting a baby boy, moved to Colorado just a few weeks before we left. Talk about terrible timing! We love Rach & Ry and I am just so sad I won't be around to hang out with her & her little one like I thought I would be. Like really sad, cuz they are the coolest. We will definitely have to visit!!
Okay, so on to the big move. It was NOT. FUN. AT. ALL. I don't know why it has to be so darn difficult, but it just is. Thank goodness for friends helping with Max or we would never have gotten everything done! As it was, I had 3 nights in a row of 3 hours of sleep (partly due to my own anxiety and insomnia, but still). The final day we planned to leave at 11 am but didn't get out until after 3 in the afternoon. Here's Joe about to drive all our stuff and his car to our new state. He is awesome.
Once we were finally on the road we had more than an 8 hr drive (not counting stops) ahead of us. I had a 30 minute delay dropping our internet stuff off at Comcast on the way out so Joe went on ahead. Then not long after we got into the mountains, I heard Max start crying and the car suddenly smelled like sour milk. I didn't know what had happened, but when I pulled into a gas station at the next exit this is what I found.
Poor Max had thrown up ALL OVER THE PLACE. At first I didn't even know what to do. After I stripped the boy down and cleaned him up, he got to play in the drivers seat for about 30 minutes while I used a million wipes and papers towels to clean up his seat. Luckily he loved that and people leaving the gas station thought this little boy "steering" the car in his diaper was the cutest thing. Then we hit the road and spent the next 3 hours making up the 45 minute lead Joe had on us. We were booking it. Our only other stop of the trip was in Grand Junction, where I discovered that Max had thrown up again, cleaned him up again, and grabbed some dinner. Then we continued driving, which felt like torture because I was so exhausted. Fortunately Max was an angel and slept most of the way, which meant I listened to his sleepytime CD about 800 times. We finally pulled into my parents' house at 1:45 am.
Once we were finally on the road we had more than an 8 hr drive (not counting stops) ahead of us. I had a 30 minute delay dropping our internet stuff off at Comcast on the way out so Joe went on ahead. Then not long after we got into the mountains, I heard Max start crying and the car suddenly smelled like sour milk. I didn't know what had happened, but when I pulled into a gas station at the next exit this is what I found.
Poor Max had thrown up ALL OVER THE PLACE. At first I didn't even know what to do. After I stripped the boy down and cleaned him up, he got to play in the drivers seat for about 30 minutes while I used a million wipes and papers towels to clean up his seat. Luckily he loved that and people leaving the gas station thought this little boy "steering" the car in his diaper was the cutest thing. Then we hit the road and spent the next 3 hours making up the 45 minute lead Joe had on us. We were booking it. Our only other stop of the trip was in Grand Junction, where I discovered that Max had thrown up again, cleaned him up again, and grabbed some dinner. Then we continued driving, which felt like torture because I was so exhausted. Fortunately Max was an angel and slept most of the way, which meant I listened to his sleepytime CD about 800 times. We finally pulled into my parents' house at 1:45 am. The next morning we put all our stuff in a storage unit and Max said good-bye to the big "guck," which he was obsessed with.
So that was all over a week ago. The past week Joe worked 5 days and we spent a lot of time looking at houses and thinking about where we would like to live. We also had enough family fun to remind us just how lucky we are to be spending the next little portion of our lives here. And I know of one person who is definitely happy to have Max around:
Utah & family & friends - HELLO!!! Colorado & friends - SEE YOU LATER!!!
