OtterPops: Settling in Utah and Feeling Grateful

After we arrived in Utah (thanks to the help and sacrifice of my mom and Jared's Dad) I felt like we just had to pause a take a deep breath! We stayed upstairs with Jared's parents for several days while Jared and Lillian had to be quarantined and cared for as they were suffering from (what we assume was) Influenza. My mom got a nasty sinus infection and the rest of us had mild colds, etc. The move had definitely taken a toll on us!

Jared's family, which is plentiful around here, turned up in huge crowds to help us unload all of our belongings into a portion of Jared's grandma's garage and his parent's garage. They are amazing for allowing us to store our belongings in their space AND rent their basement to us at a super low cost while we house hunt and let the kids finish the school year. Speaking of the basement...It is amazing! We have our own full size kitchen and laundry room, 3 bedroom, 2 bath, and our front door walks out into the most amazing backyard. My kids will have trouble leaving. A sport court, park-worthy playground, tree house, garden, plenty of grass area, firepit and pergola patio area, trampoline, sledding hill, you name it! We are feeling blessed that his parents are so generous to share it all with us.

This is random, but it just cracks me up when I come upon scenes like this (like the other day). It makes me wonder what in the world happened?! Anyhow...back to real life

There was also a miracle surrounding the move (that we became aware of afterward) which left us feeling overwhelmed with gratitude and humility. Although we knew that we were both feeling ready for a change since October, we did not have a specific end date or motivation for leaving CA and Jared's job. Perhaps it was Jared's bike accident in October where he literally had to be hit on the head to make a change?? He says he just felt like it was "wrong" to be at his job and I was feeling financially overwhelmed after the accident and our recent health insurance switch. We decided to expand the job search and felt right about accepting the job with the firm in Utah. As it turns out, apparently the same exact day we were moving to Utah, Jared's co-workers showed up at work and all the attorneys (besides the partners) were laid off. No severance package, no warning, no continuation of health benefits. Just fired. I do not think Jared's health or my nerves could have handled being unemployed so suddenly. However stressful and overwhelming the move was, no matter how much we are missing California, we KNEW without a doubt the Lord had been watching over us. Our heart is aching for Jared's co-workers, several of whom he has called to check in with. Everyone was broadsided and we are so grateful to be employed and have a bright future ahead of us.

Jared started work a few days after the move when he was still feeling under the weather, but has adjusted to the new routine since then. It honestly seems very similar to his old job in terms of what is expected of him. They took his picture for the company website and he put together his bio (isn't he handsome?):

Bio from the Thorpe North and Western website: Jared is a registered patent attorney and has a practice focused in U.S. intellectual property law, particularly in patent prosecution. His practice centers on computer technology including software and hardware. Jared’s technical background encompasses material science and optics including research in electrical properties of thin film insulators. His understanding of physics gives him the tools needed to understand a wide range of technologies.
He has drafted patents on topics such as software and business methods, computer networking and communications, peer-to-peer technology, medical devices, traffic detecting devices, hard disk drives, and nanotechnology. In addition to patent prosecution, Jared has experience with freedom to operate opinions, IP landscape reports, prior art searches, and contract review. He also enjoys spending time with his family and home improvement projects. They also added this little blurb next to his picture:
Jared cut his teeth prosecuting patents in the Silicon Valley. While working in this global technology hub, Jared amassed significant experience across a wide array of technologies and served the IP needs of start-up tech companies as well as established technology titans. He has prosecuted hundreds of patents and Jared’s clients rely on his insight and skill in identifying and protecting their innovations.

Now that life has slowed down, we were finally able to take advantage of the "bowling night" given to us by Tausha and Nate at Christmas. They had awesome lanes for cheaper than CA and let us choose for each person whether or not to have bumpers. I have to say-I was ahead the entire game (starting out with two strikes!!) and Jared had an underdog win by one point in his very last frame. What a fun night! Thanks, Andersons!

Family Bowling Night

We got the girls settled into school at Lindon elementary school and they seem to be adjusting well. They are attending a school where their Grandma is the secretary, their great aunt is the computer teacher, their great uncle is the yard duty, and their aunt also works on campus with special needs children. Jocelyn is in a class with her 1st cousin once removed, Lillian has her cousin in her class and they have several more cousins on campus in various grades. As far as a move, they are in a cocoon being surrounded by family! We have jumped right into rotating Sunday dinners with family and cookie night at Great Grandma's house.

The girls hanging out at Giuliana's one evening

However, they certainly miss their friends at Paradise Valley Elementary and have skyped with several of their friends. Jocelyn came home last week from school and had a good cry saying "she just missed CA!"

Jonas at his preschool music fieldtrip

Jonas stayed home with Emma and I for a couple weeks, then jumped into preschool head first attending a field trip with his class! He, of course, goes to a preschool with 2 cousins, one 1st cousin once removed and a 2nd cousin! LOL. They went to a music store and learned all about the different groups of instruments and listened to demos, played some instruments then followed it up by going to a nearby Krispy Kreme Donut shop to watch donuts being made and partaking of the sugar!! Even younger siblings were allowed to join us.

Krispy Kreme portion of the field trip

Living near family and old friends definitely has some perks. We took lunch to Aunt Kelsey and saw where she works one day on the way to visit another friend who went to China with me 16 years ago! We did not get any pictures with Kristin and her cute kids, but had a great time seeing her house and catching up. We are scheduled to meet up with another friend I grew up with next week. Earlier this week we visited Jared at work one afternoon to see his new office. On Saturday we met at my Uncle Travis and Aunt Heidi's house for some goodies and old fashioned spoiling for my kids. Several of their daughters came as well and it was so fun to catch up with everyone! My aunt offered my kids some creamies. They looked at her blankly so I told them "you will want to answer 'yes please'!" I turned to my aunt and explained they were still getting used to Utah traditions and treats!

Visiting Aunt Kelsey at Work

Visiting Daddy at Work

Another Utah perk: We were able to visit the Provo City Center Temple open house and let our kids go through the temple before it was dedicated, then we will attend the dedication with Jocelyn next week!! It is such a beautiful and unique building and you can tell they tried to stay true to the historic significance of the building even though they were rebuilding after a devastating fire.

At the Provo City Center Temple Open House

Our other exciting news is that we bought some baby chicks! Our kids have wanted a pet for a long time and were trying to use the move to Utah as a bargaining chip to get a dog. I decided I could compromise with some chickens. At least they live more like 2 years rather than 14 yrs like a dog, they cost a lot less, and they give back a little in the form of eggs. And, we go through a lot of eggs. We decided each person could get one chick. We researched different breeds and decided to go with three varieties that are notably good with egg laying and good with kids/handling. Meet Olive, Cali, Lacy, Ella, Oscar (yes, we told Jonas it was a girl), and Minnie (short for Minnie mouse). It has been great for the kids to learn about caring for a pet and taking on some new responsibilities (since we have been taking a break from piano). Especially Jocelyn did a lot of research and visited the IFA with Jared to really prepare the brooder and purchase all the required equipment. We met with a man that goes to church with Jared's parents who has been taking care of hens for years and has about 40 new birds per year. He showed us and the kids more than we'll ever need to know about caring for chicks (JK, it was very informative and helpful). The kids are thrilled. So far, we only had to replace two (one that died and one that was super sick so we exchanged at the store). It is fun to celebrate new life and see them stepping up to the responsibility of caring for another living creature!

The crew holding their new baby chicks. Only 3 days old

The kids had Monday off of school so Kelsey joined me as I took them up to Logan for a day trip. I pointed out the apartment complex where Jared and I met, a quick drive around campus, etc. Ever since Christmas when Grammy's health was not doing well and I was not able to make it up there for a visit I knew I wanted to make that a priority! We picked up some Aggie Ice Cream and pizzas so we could share with friends and family at my Grammy's cabin. I was able to catch up with my cousin and old roommate, as well as a quick visit with an aunt and a couple other cousins. The kids had fun running around outside, getting double servings of Aggie Ice cream and loves from Grammy. We tried to meet up with Jared's little brother who goes to school at USU, but he was working so we just took him some extra food. It was so great of Kelsey to join us and we had such a great day!