Moving is awful!!

This has been the hardest move by far! Our plan was for The Dad to leave Saturday morning of Memorial Day weekend. Leaving then would have given him the weekend to get settled before he started his new job Tuesday morning. I was going to stay here with the kidlets until school ended the first week of June.

Well, as with all good plans, this one fell apart quickly.

It took us longer to load the Uhaul and then not everything fit. Turns out we have much more stuff than we thought. So, Saturday night at 9:30 pm we were still trying to load more into the truck and finally filled every space. Much to Allaha's dismay, she was the small person who had to crawl out of the very full truck after getting the last box in.
Since there were still boxes needing to go to Utah, we took out the back seats of the van and filled it with as much as we could. That meant the kids and I had to drive with The Dad to Utah. I had the absurd idea that I would drive to Utah Sunday and drive back to Nevada on Monday. We didn't get out of Reno until 2:30 pm Sunday because we didn't realize how long it takes to load the small car onto the car-transport, then load the small car with more stuff. 45 minutes out of town, I realized I would not be able to drive back Monday, so I made arrangements with the mom of the kids I watch so I could sleep Monday night and drive back on Tuesday.

We were actually surprised just how well the Uhaul + trailer cruised across the desert. We made it to Elko by 8:30 pm where we stopped for some dinner. After eating, we decided to push on to Wendover. Once over the boarder, we stopped to get some rest. We found an inexpensive motel with free WiFi. I posted my homework that was due that night and went to sleep. That was midnight. I then got up at 4 am to get everyone else up and ready to go so we could be in AF at the storage unit before the arrival of our Unload-the-truck help.

We had the best help!!! Dave, Matt, Arthur, Peter, Julie, Whitney, Mom, Dad!! All were there with big smiles and strong muscles to get that truck unloaded to the storage unit, more unloaded to the house, loaded from the house, unloaded to the storage unit, unloaded at Julie's house, and there may have been one more stop in there.

We finally finished about 2:30 pm when we went to Applebee's for some much needed lunch. After sitting at the table for about 5 minutes, KeeKee and Otie fell asleep. The Dad and I felt much the same way. After lunch we returned the truck and began to get The Dad settled so he could focus on the new job.

Tuesday morning as The Dad left for work, the kids and I said good bye and headed back to Reno. Thanks to Redbox they watched Benji: Off the leash, Happily Never After 2, The Day the Earth Stood Still, and one more,but I can't remember it right now. We made it back very tired, but safe and sound. The kids went back to school Wednesday and I watched the extras like normal, just in a very empty house. Only 5 more days and hopefully we will get back to some semblance of normal.

Totally awake at 1 am

Last night some friends took me to dinner for my birthday, which is in a few days. After getting home around 9:30 pm and getting things finished up for the evening, I finally turned off the TV and the light to go to sleep at 11:30 pm. It is now 1:48 am and I am wide away. So now is as good a time as ever to blog.

I woke up to thoughts of the friends I have made here in Reno. I have done a pretty good job of making really good friends in all the places we have lived over the last 13 years. This stop in life has been no different. These ladies have taken good care of me and our children and have given Jason a hard time when needed. I will miss them. I know I will make new friends! I will also be living closer to family, who will always be my friends. Moving to Reno has been the farthest we have lived from family (except for the year and a half in Singapore, but that was 10 years ago so it does not seem to count anymore). These people have become an extended family.

Some of these people have contributed to our family in ways they will never know. Two brethren of our ward will always be close to my heart because they were so willing to spend time with Jason when he was in need of a friend. Weeks after we had moved to Reno, Jason was still getting used to being the boss at work. The staff that he had inherited were not happy to see him, and caused a great deal of problems for him. One evening the fatigue of it all just came crashing down on him. He knew he needed a blessing, but didn't know who to call other than the bishop. When the bishop's wife answered the phone and said her husband was not available, I thought for sure Jason would stop there. Sister Bishop then gave us the name of the 1st Counselor and Jason called him.

Without missing a beat, he and another brother were at our house, after 9 pm, in less than 30 minutes to give Jason a blessing and then stayed over 2 hours sharing their own experiences with management and disgruntled employees. What a difference those two men made!! I will forever be grateful to them.

Others have been there to watch our children while I go to doctor appointments. Even by watching the extra children. Always so cheerful and encouraging. Reminding me that I have good kids. Or calling to ask if they can come over to chat. Telling me they chose to come to my house because they knew I could cheer them up. Little did they know that calling me cheered me up. Thanks, you know who you are!

Others have taken the day off to drive four hours to the Oakland Temple for a family sealing, just to sit outside with our children. Then endure a day of family and a four hour ride home. Or taken another day off just to drive 3 hours to Discovery Kingdom, so I didn't have to be the only adult with four children. Or left work in the middle of the day to pick up one of my children from school because I couldn't go get to her. Or IMing while working. Or looking at scans of cards. Or getting up early to exercise even though they hate mornings. Or hanging out really late playing Guitar Hero. Or playing cards. Or doing cartwheels. Or having spaghetti sauce, a can of corn, butter, or a Pepsi on Sunday afternoons. Not to mention the quite sacrament meetings I had because they had the baby. Or having a good cry. Thanks, you know who your are!!

Then others who came over to chat only to end up reading People. Or to watch TV because they missed it the night before and I had it recorded only to end up talking all through it. Or to entertain six children while I lay on the couch pregnant and sick to my stomach. Or to sit on the shores of Lake Tahoe, talk about nothing and something and watch the sail boats go by. Or go camping with me so I wouldn't be the only adult with four children. Or to always tell me that I am amazing on all the days I don't feel amazing. Thanks, you know who you are!

And really, for many of these things, a number of names could be placed there, so if you relate to any of this... Thanks, you have no idea the difference you have made in my life!!

Hmmm...

It has come to my attention that if the Wells are leaving Reno, they will no longer be the Reno Wells. I guess we could be just The Wells.

I will have to think about this.

Wells on the Move

It's official, the Wells are moving to American Fork, Utah. Jason has been offered a transfer position with Integra Telecom, which is the company he has been working for since October. He is looking forward to learning more about the company in this new area. He got the position because someone was promoted. We like to hear that they promote from within. He is learning a lot about customer service and the business to business telephone industry.

He starts after Memorial Day, so we will be packing up all our stuff and he will drive out that weekend. The kids and I will stay here and camp out in the house until school is out the first week of June.

We are sad to leave Reno, but are looking forward to new opportunities and adventures.