Moving In and Settling In

We are getting further away from the actual moving day and I am forgetting a lot about what happened, but I'll share some pics and a few things I remember. 

Here is our front room on Thursday morning before the kids and I dropped Sean off to get the truck and took Alana to school. Brett was feeling anxious about all the changes and stuff going on, so we decided he could stay home from school that day. We told him it would be pretty boring, but he said he still wanted to stay home. 

 We had decided that we wanted to sleep at the new house on Thursday night so we took the beds apart and got them in the first load of the moving truck. Neil, Mom and Dad P, Sean, and I worked on loading the truck. It was a rainy snowy day and luckily Sean was able to pull the truck almost up to the door.

 Sean, Neil, Mom and Dad P all took off for the new house and Brett, Lizzie, and I went to get Alana from school and then stopped to get some pizzas for lunch. By the time I arrived at the new house, most of the truck was unloaded into the garage. We ate pizza and set up the beds. While Sean and Mom P were working on Beds, I carried boxes from the garage to whichever room they belonged to. It was exhausting but I made a lot of progress! At one point Mimi played a fun game of animals with cages using the railing from the crib. It was really cute to see especially Lizzie crawling around meowing. They girls also played for a long time in the family room with Papa putting him to sleep with pillows and blankets. Brett had a fun time playing fruit ninja on his kindle in his own bedroom. Papa and Mimi took the kids off to their house to enjoy some dinner and playtime with cousins while Sean and I drove the moving truck back up to Holliday to get the rest of the stuff. My dad met us there as well as Steffan. One other guy from the Elders quorum came and I was so grateful he was a really strong guy! I am sure angels helped those 3 lift that piano and all the other heavy furniture ( I helped with the furniture dollies and my dad hadn't arrived yet). We fit the bulk of it on the truck but it didn't all fit which was really frustrating to Sean and I! Oh well, if we ever move again lets just get the biggest truck ever! When we got out to Bluffdale several men showed up in a matter of minutes to help us unload. By the end there were at least 10 people who came to help. I felt so grateful for the family of the gospel and that these men were willing and able. It is nice to be in a ward where there are actually people who can help! There were so many of them, I told them where I wanted everything so that we wouldn't have to move it all later. Around 8:30 the kids got back and I got them to bed while Sean and Steffan went to take back the uhaul truck. Sean got home at about 10:30 and we were both exhausted! I went over 27000 steps that day! The next day was Friday and we all stayed home and unpacked. The fridge came earlier than expected so we were able to head out for a little outing and lunch. Brett and Alana decided they wanted to spend some money on new stuffed animals so we went to Target where Alana got a unicorn, and Lizzie got a chick. Brett couldn't find what he was looking for (a bird), so him and Sean ran into Seagull-no luck. We stopped at Harmons and Brett and I ran in-no luck. Then we went to IHOP for lunch where Brett was experiencing some post nasal drip that made him feel like he was going to throw up. He spent the meal gagging and running to the bathroom! The girls had a great time looking at the brand new baby next to us and eating their weight in pancakes and macaroni. I think Brett actually did have an enjoyable time, and never ended up throwing up. After that we went to Walmart in search of a bird stuffed animal and still had no luck so we told Brett no more and went home. He was quite sad but I hope he understood that we were doing our best. We helped him find the one he wanted online and got it ordered, he seemed relieved after that. I think it was a really good thing to do that day because the kids were feeling a lot of stress and change and it was good for them to have some time dedicated to something they wanted to do. We came home and Sean stayed with kids while Lizzie napped and Brett and Alana played while I went to the post office and back to the Holliday house to get out food, freezer, and whatever else I could fit. It was another exhausting day, but we made a lot of progress. On Saturday I had a viewing for a family member Danny Koester to go to. So Sean and the kids went grocery shopping while I ran to Salt Lake. When I got home I took the kids to the park-they had already gone many times but I hadn't taken them yet and it was so impressive. It is a 5 min walk from our house and is the best park ever with slides and swings and bathrooms and friends. Then Sean took Brett and Alana to Brett's soccer game while Lizzie napped. My parents met Sean at the town house after the soccer game with their trailer to get the rest of the stuff. On Sunday we had a very calm and relaxing day. Our new church doesn't start till 1, so we just rested, made brownies, went to the park, took a nap, and played piano. So nice! Our new ward is great! So many kids and Lizzie stayed in nursery the whole time! All these pics are in random order so I will add a few captions:

view out our back window right now

stuff

moving around more stuff

So remember how Sean took that huge test right before we moved! He Passed and is now a board certified family physician! Go Sean!

Brett's soccer game, his team is called the penguin ninjas and they wear black jerseys. 

Sean went to an Indian restaurant for lunch one day, gotta love the buffet!

The girls snuggling in our bed the last morning at Hidden Creek Court

Moving truck right in front of our door. 

Brett playing with Lizzie while we packed up the truck

animals in cages with Mimi

Making beds with Papa

My epic day! 193 floors!

Setting up the girls room

dirt

dessert

cooking and baking in this kitchen is a pure joy! Better then any dream I ever had!

They like the master bathtub!

A picture of our moving to do list

These have been some of Lizzie's favorite pants, she wore them every second she could and her love of them showed.

Ikea spice racks in the giant pantry

This may be my favorite room in the house!

We are so grown up! We bought a lawn mower, a compact one!

Brett's room turned out darling too and he loves it!

The girls have had some adjustments getting used to sharing a room but they love it! One night Lizzie wanted to sleep with Alana and they made it till about 5 AM before Alana came to sleep with us. We turned Lizzie's bed into a toddler bed and she loves it, but still falls out a lot since there is no side guard. It has been fun to see her blossoming with being in a big girls room with Alana. Nighttime routines have been changing and we are all trying to figure out what the new rules are =)

Our second Sunday here the kids had a lot of fun doing art. 

 This week has been crazy with getting the town house ready for our landlord. He has wanted us to get the touch up paint and carpets cleaned and I'm motivated to move quick in hopes that we can get it rented out for some of May so that we can get a little refund of our rent for that month. Its been a bit of a pain though and an emotional roller coaster for me because i'm afraid whatever I do won't please our perfectionist landlord. I spent an hour there yesterday spackleing and cleaning the oven and 2 hours touching up paint today. My mom came and kept me company and gave me tips today too which was nice and the girls and I had a great time watching the machines make the paint and mix it at the home depot.
We have also been focusing on getting more sleep and getting more fruits and veggies after all the chaos of the last few weeks.
After school today we had a guy come quote us for expanding the patio and the kids played outside in our dirt for a long time. They were filthy! Lizzie had a quick bath and the other two probably needed it but we settled for changed clothes.

 Who needs grass when you have dirt!