hello California

So, I thought I'd take a little break from the boxes and give a little update on our week as newly reinstated Californians.

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With just the belongings we brought on the airplane (which filled 7 suitcases and 4 carry-ons, by the way) we moved into our house. That was last Thursday and our movers came today to deliver our belongings.

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For those of you not doing the math, that's 5 days in an empty house. It was great. With a few trips to Target and some borrowed bedding and linens (thanks, Maressa!), we managed just fine and are basking in the enjoyment of living in a house! We keep having these "how did we ever live in that apartment for so long" moments. Like when we run the garbage disposal or the dishwasher, open the garage door, or send the kids out to play in the backyard. It doesn't take much to please us and it's better than I could have ever imagined. The kids have been getting the biggest thrill out of calling to each other from upstairs/downstairs and hiding in the walk-in closets.

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We were all a little sick the first few days but once we started feeling better we found plenty of things to keep us busy while we waited for the moving van to arrive. We attended Mason and Mala Harrell's sealing in the Oakland Temple on Friday, which was beautiful. We also had Grandma here for a few days which always makes things more fun.

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I only have a few pictures from the last week because I can't find my camera charger (no doubt buried in or beneath the boxes somewhere). But here's just a glimpse:

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Garrett finally got his bike we promised him for his birthday and has been riding it pretty much non-stop ever since.

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Ethan's favorite thing to do has been to go to the really cool park down the street from us and dig in the sand.

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Lydia has found all kinds of fun things to do. She took off running when she realized that I saw the bottle of rootbeer she had in hand!

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The movers came today so we now find ourselves in the middle of boxes and chaos. I have this urge to just stay up all night and get it all put away. Then again, it feels really nice to just lay here in bed as I type. I think I'll just go to sleep now. It'll all still be there tomorrow...