House Projects and Goodbyes

 Once we decided to move I felt like it was a whirlwind from there on out. Finishing teaching Emma's preschool while making final preparations for the house to be on the market, completing house projects and packing was just crazy!!!  We met with a couple realtors and put together a timeline for putting the house on the market.  We hired out the cleaning, thank goodness, and my mom came to assist us one week but Jared was trying to finish up his work for his old firm, while starting work with the new firm and finishing up house projects in the mean time (all the while in the middle of a flare up).  Like I said C-R-A-Z-Y.  Luckily, we knew we were just going to move into Jared's parent's basement and enroll the girls into elementary school where Jared's mom is the secretary so getting that end of the move squared away was simple. Jonas was also going to jump into preschool with his cousins. We could just focus on the logistics of selling and moving out of our CA house.

Jocelyn's "NOT" for sale sign

Jocelyn has a hard time with change in general so she was not happy about the thought of moving and was making her opinions known! For instance, when I brought the kids home from school one day I told them-you will see a surprise in front of our house.  Lillian slammed the car door and told me "That For Sale sign is the worst surprise EVER!" Jocelyn tried to pull it out of the ground for a good 20 minutes, wore herself out and napped for an hour.  The next day she made these "NOT" for sale signs (see above) and spit on the realtor's rug placed in front of our door.  We said goodbye to school friends and our spring time weather, church friends and neighbors-with plenty of tears in the mix for all.

Goodbye to Paradise Valley Elementary

One early-out day when we needed to be out of the house for an open house anyway and Jared was gone to Utah taking a U-haul truck and towing his car, I pulled the kids out of school early and went to the beach for a couple hours. I told them to soak up some sunshine because they might not see it for a couple months!! Although it felt crazy to do that when we had so many other responsibilities, it was such a great break for all of us!  My friends were amazing through the whole transition.  Watching kids, bringing meals or supportive words.  Sending their teenagers over to work for a couple hours for hire so we could meet deadlines.  I felt so blessed and knew we were being watched over by the Lord.  My mother in law called one day and told me about an experience she had in the temple and it was just what I needed to hear to know the Lord knew our situation.

Our quick getaway to the beach one afternoon

One of the most hectic days with trying to keep the house spotless and ready for open houses and walk-throughs was when Jared was in Utah taking the first load of our stuff (that was an unpleasant endeavor in itself) and the front door knob decided to break.  It had been giving us some troubles and I did not want it to be an issue so I had been back and forth to Home Depot three times getting a whole new door knob re-keyed, etc. and Greg (my BIL) kindly came to install it the night before.  It worked beautifully until 20 minutes before the open house.  The handle would not engage AT ALL and the door was completely bolted closed.  Despite efforts from myself, kneeling in prayer, kind neighbors and the realtor it would not budge.  I was in a huge panic.

We were supposed to be welcoming 40+ realtors through the house and their first impression would be a useless front door and having to come in through the garage (where we had shoved EVERYTHING to allow for a spotless house).  Good Grief!!  So embarrassing. My realtor looked at me like "Are you serious??"  I was at a loss!!  We scheduled a handyman for that night so it would be ready for the next day. It took the handyman a LONG time and completely breaking the brand new handle and door to get it to open so I did not feel as dumb.  He installed a brand new knob after two visits.  It was completely lame, but at the same time, completely a first world problem so Jared calmed me down from afar and flew in the next night to help with the final preparations.

The house came together pretty well and we listed it for sale for $828,000.  This was literally double what we paid for 3 1/2 years ago.  All our hard work was paying off.  Even more miraculous was that we received an offer 10 days later for $840,000 so we are in contract and hoping all goes smooth with that!  But seriously, look at how this house has transformed (mostly due to Jared's hard work):

Before & After Pictures








 
Kitchen

 

 

 

Then came the most emotionally trying parts of the move: Saying Goodbye to Friends.  My amazing friend Jody took my middle two kids for two days in a row (even cut our hair and took them to the beach and McDonald's) while we sent Emma and Jocelyn up to my parent's house for several days so Jared and I could focus on packing and gearing up to leave.  I pictured us both being able to sort through and organize everything into Long term/Short term and really make sense of the move.  However, reality proved me wrong again. Jared came down with what we assume was Influenza and a storm was threatening to change our driving plans to Utah. 

Instead, we relied on my SIL Maren and my visiting teacher to come pack our entire kitchen and closets. She seriously spent two days helping us pack while Claire put up with the constraints of the pack & play (even while I went on a final Girls Night Out with Jody and Mary).  We hired some teenagers from the ward and asked Missionaries to help with home decor, furniture, etc. We had to run back and forth to U-Haul to figure out logistics of Trucks and trailers. Some absolute saints from church came to help vacuum and wipe down cabinets last minute and we hurried everything into two days instead of 5 days to get out the door. I was an absolute wreck the last couple hours.  It started when we realized we could not bring our beloved lockers with us and continued from there...Just balling as neighbors and friends stopped by to say goodbyes and friends were helping us get last minute items in the truck.  We were all spent physically and emotionally and it showed!!

We were on the road to Dixon to pick up the girls and my mom that night, then on the way to Reno to pick up Jared's dad the next morning so we could make the trek through Nevada as quick as possible before the storm arrived.  All the hard work paid off.  I had rarely towed a trailer before, yet I found myself hauling four kids and my mom over a snowy Donner pass with a trailer, then continue to drive (with a short nap break) for the duration of the day. We finally arrived in Utah super late the next night!!

Jonas and Robbie

Saying goodbye to the bakkers (the neighbors through the fence) was so hard!

One last dinner at the Hulses

Jocelyn with her Activity Day Girls at Church

Caitlyn and Val at one last Relief Society Activity

Going to Yogurtland with the Evans one last time

Emma and Claire hanging out one last time

Lillian's friend Maddie visited and made her a travel package. Her mom put together this cute collage

The morning of the move!!  The entire move I felt the guidance of the Lord.  The scripture Doctrine & Covenants 84:88 came to mind: "And whoso receiveth you, there I will be also, for I will go before your face. I will be on your right hand and on your left, and my Spirit shall be in your hearts, and mine angels round about you, to bear you up."  We could not have done this without the amazing friends, family and neighbors helping us every step of the way.