Moving In

When last we left, you saw footage of our children beholding their new backyard for the first time. Very exciting! You have not seen the moments immediately following, wherein we smelled a natural gas leak that prohibited us from exploring the house with the same enthusiasm. So, instead of additional footage of children and their happy/excited reactions about the interior, you get this:

A disappointing and highly anticlimactic moment upon concluding our drive across the country. We had to call the gas company and wait (and it was so hot and muggy!) for someone to come investigate. Turns out that something had been knocked loose when the gas was turned off from the previous owners leaving, and due to a miscommunication with the gas company, the gas didn't get transferred over to our account in time for a smooth transition.  Once the gas company arrived, it was a quick fix and we were in. But this is the sad reason I don't have more fun footage.

We did enjoy the house in its "empty" state for the weekend, with the impending arrival of our moving truck scheduled for Monday. We spent Saturday with some of our oldest friends who have been eagerly anticipating our arrival. Since the Wells live in Virginia (SO far away), we met up in Great Falls and took a total of 13 kids ranging in age from 16 to 1 on a really beautiful and also unbelievably hot and muggy hike. Love us some good Wells!

Monday was Weston's first day back into the realm of normal-people-who-kiss-their-family-goodbye-in-the-morning-and-commute-to-work. A place he hasn't been for 10 years (!!!) 

The first day, he had a moderate but appropriate sendoff:

And I'm just going to jump ahead real quick to show you that by Tuesday it had evolved to this....

Because some of our kids are a little nuts-o.

Back to Monday...

Movers arrived with our embarrassingly gargantuan haul. I had to manage the process of inventory and direction of movers by myself and I must say, I was surprised by how much it stressed me out. There were a lot of competing emotions but the one that constantly won out time and time again was guilt.

That's so weird. I felt guilt and embarrassment for bringing so much junk with us. Here's my excuse: I didn't have the time I needed to really sift through everything and get rid of stuff. Mostly due to my hysterectomy and then working on remodeling our house in UT. Prior to my hysterectomy, I really DID try. I took a load of stuff to DI practically every weekend. sigh. My efforts were infinitesimal in comparison to what was needed. 

I also felt this weird guilt about sitting around watching the movers struggle and lift really heavy objects. 

I finally just had to walk away when they were bringing in my piano because it was stressing me out too much.

Here's just a sampling of the texting convo I had with Weston:

Me: I guess I'm supposed to tip these guys?

Me: I didn't think about drinks for them

Me: I am having so much guilt, I'm not going to be able to ask them to take the filing cabinet downstairs.

Weston: Yes. It is their job.

My guilt subsided a little bit later in the afternoon. Here's why: At our closing, we had been given a bottle of champagne as a congratulations gift. While we appreciated the gesture, the actual utility of the bubbly was pretty much lost on us. We figured we'd give it to the first neighbors who came by to welcome us, if any. Turns out, they weren't drinking folks, either. One of the movers, Ed, was not performing well (honestly from what I observed, I think it was due to mental health reasons). The others were incredibly frustrated with him.  He was actually taking breaks sitting in the truck and I even sent some food out for him because the other movers thought his blood-sugar might be low. Another mover, Mike, was the most vocal about his frustration with Ed's poor performance. He gave Ed his sandwich and made a comment about how Ed would owe him a beer later. It should be noted that this was not Mike's first reference to alcohol. So, when I heard Mike mention alcohol for the second (or third?) time, the light went on and I told them I had a bottle of wine I couldn't use. I didn't actually know it was champagne. I was trying to figure it out and read the label as sparkling wine. Mike educated me and told me that's actually what champagne is. Once their disbelief subsided, Mike started making plans for the end of the workday. I told him I could stick it in the fridge to start chilling. He suggested the freezer. He even noticed we had some paper cups handy and voila! Happy hour! I thought it was SO interesting how much the thought of that wine at the end of the day made them come alive. Mike had a little extra spring in his step and a little more open and friendly demeanor. The three that weren't driving enjoyed happy hour while I signed off on inventory with the driver. I figure that was probably the best use for the alcohol we weren't going to drink. It made the movers happy and eased my guilt. 

There is one plus-side to having packed a mammoth truckload of stuff that we didn't sort through. As we were going through boxes, we found one labeled "Emily's Dolls." We opened it and found a few things from eons ago. This one was the most nostalgic:

I opened the box and gasped, "It's Jamie Summers!" 

My girls jumped on board immediately. They asked me all about him and put the seal of approval on his ultra-cool name.  Then they took him, wrapped him in a blanket and placed him in the cradle with Jovis and Tuscan, their babies who are also (somewhat puzzlingly), male.

Annelise told me later, "I really liked it, how happy you were when you found Jamie Summers"

I've said it before: True nostalgia is very good for the soul. I love the joy and even sometimes healing that it brings.

I posted a picture of Jamie Summers to my family group chat to see if anyone remembered him. Sure they did, but many of them were surprised to learn that Jamie Summers was a boy. I guess he maybe could have been gender-fluid at one point, but from the depths of my memory the strongest impression I have is that Jamie Summers was always a boy. 

OK, I know this is getting long. But some of you asked to see some interior pictures of the house.  I wish I'd thought to take lots of pictures before we brought any of our stuff inside. I did run around and take a few snapshots on the day the movers were here. So, even though they aren't a pristine representation of the house, here you go:

The house has a lot of character and style to it, with the feel of a cabin or farmhouse. It is well-suited to our family. The kids have plenty of space and I am happy with it. 

This is a great thing. Because the house is also really old (1950) with the addition also being old (circa 1980?) So, 40 years ago, the addition was new and really nice. Now, both the original house and the addition have some quirky things that have us scratching our heads and saying, "I wonder why they did it like that....?" Also, craftsmanship. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I actually NOTICE it (or the lack thereof) now that I have the teeniest bit of experience. 

So.....sigh

We swore off any and all DIY for at least the next year. Or at least, wanted to. I'm not even exaggerating when I say that from the end of June to the beginning of August when we left, our trips to the Home Depot were at LEAST twice a day. Often more.

So we tried. We really tried. But this is us one week after taking possession of our new home.

Smiling out of sheer irony. Nothing more. 

Stay tuned for the demise of Weston's facial hair.....(sinister laugh)

Hello, USA!

We Made it!!

...And that was the longest road-trip ever.  

We made the same stops we made when we moved to DC in 2003. Somehow, it felt longer this time. Possibly because we had 5 children in tow, although they actually handled it very well.

They did coloring, we did crosswords and other puzzles, and ate a lot of junk food. The Beatles were our primary audio fare.

With only a few exceptions, this is about as rambunctious as it got.

We planned our trip so that we could see as much family as possible....even going out of our way in some cases.  We also wanted to fit some church history sites in there.  Our plans were ambitious, to say the least. We got off later than we'd hoped. If we'd known how little time we would have in Nauvoo, we probably could have axed that stop altogether. 

We got to see Weston's parents in Grand Junction, my sister Angie in Denver, and every one of Weston's siblings along the way. I see Weston's desire and efforts to stay connected with each of his siblings as distinct and admirable. I hope that will transfer to our kids.

And now for the travel log:

Grand Junction, CO

We didn't get a picture with the grandparents, unfortunately. But here's a bit of nostalgia we were able to foist upon our children in Grand Junction:

I don't think they minded too much.

Denver, CO

Pretty much impossible to describe how much I love this girl. If you want details, check out this post wherein I named my daughter after her. 

Stayed the night and then went to church with these guys. 

These cousins love each other so much, it was decided we must get the kids together at least once a year. 

Colorado Springs, CO

We stayed the night with Ky and Shannon and got to see their new house. Had lots of fun with cousins and, oh....this is where we ditched the trailer.  Sorry, guys!

Independence, MO

We left Colorado Springs much later than we'd planned, arriving at the Liberty Jail visitors center about 15 minutes before they closed. We chose Independence, MO because it is home to several significant historical sites of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. About 20 minutes north of Independence is a historical marker called Liberty Jail.  It's a reconstruction of a jail house where the prophet Joseph Smith and other church leaders spent 4 months in an underground cell where conditions were inhumane, to say the least. While in this jail, Joseph Smith received significant revelations about the Priesthood.  The sister missionaries gave us a brief tour and explained to our children some of the significance of the site. The sisters told us that when President Russell M Nelson, the current prophet of our church visited the site, he remarked:

"The joy we feel has little to do with the circumstances of our lives and everything to do with the focus of our lives." 

This is just as true for me and my family as it was for Joseph Smith. 

Nauvoo, IL

Our intention was to leave Independence early enough to spend several hours in Nauvoo. However, we chose to linger in Independence to go through the visitors center at the temple site. Little did we know, the visiting hours in Nauvoo had changed for the season only one day prior. So when we arrived in Nauvoo, it was only 10 minutes before the 5:00 closing time. We had already put our second night in Nauvoo on the chopping block so we would have enough time to load the truck without being too stressed out. Sigh.There was still plenty for us to do and see without the aid of the missionaries. But we will plan another trip to Nauvoo when we are not trying to move and remodel all in the same year.

We gave the kids their first glimpse of the Mississippi River. They were mostly impressed with the lily pads. 

We walked through the sculpture garden and down the trail of hope where we learned about some of the early saints who were expelled from Nauvoo and their difficult journey west. 

We stopped at the Nauvoo Temple for a picture.  

As we were walking on the temple grounds, I had the pleasant surprise of bumping into my friend Adrienne, who I haven't seen since we were both violin performance majors at BYU. We had a fun time catching up (how can you really catch up on 20 years in 20 minutes?). Look how bored my children are. Ha ha!

Probably our favorite highlight in Nauvoo was the Airbnb where we stayed.  It was an adorable country cottage, situated on 3 acres. Ideal for family reunions, as they welcome additional guests to set up tents. Wonder what it would take to talk my family into it....

At dusk, the children saw fireflies for the first time. This was a highly-anticipated event and they were not disappointed. Although, the season is winding down so the density of fireflies isn't quite what they will experience next summer.

(Fireflies are visible in this video for about the last 20 seconds.)

Brentwood, TN

We met up with Weston's brother Nathan and his family for a Chick-fil-A picnic in Brentwood, just outside of Nashville. It was good to play in the park and stretch our legs after that painfully long drive. Unbeknownst to any of us, however, we picked up our first tic by way of Adam's foot. Trust me, we are all now on high alert. And apparently that is going to be a necessity where we live now, as our neighborhood is overrun with deer. 

After the picnic, we drove another 90 minutes to our Airbnb in Cookeville, which was behind a boutique storefront right downtown (?). It was cute and nice, but also tricky to find at night with a car full of exhausted children.

In the morning, we sent off some postcards and stopped to pick up some snacks at the grocery store. Once the food and kids were all loaded into the car, I had to run back into the store to grab tweezers and medical supplies for tic removal. I'm just grateful that Adam noticed it early.  

Fredericksburg, VA 

We drove another very long day to get to Ben and Maegan's house in Fredericksburg. As always, we got in way later than we'd hoped. We stayed the night (Thank you!!) and had to get off early again the next morning in order to be at our closing by 11:00am.

Bethesda, MD

We arrived in Bethesda with just enough time to drop our children off at a park near the title company where we closed. My friend Rebecca met us there to be an adult presence for the kids while we went to closing. Along with signing away our foreseeable financial future, we enjoyed chatting with the sellers about the house, neighborhood, schools, and everything we would need to know. Apparently, Mrs Greene, who sold us the house has been crying as much as I have the last few weeks.

She emphasized how wonderful the house is, the neighbors, and all.

L-R: Sellers realtor Ellen, Sellers Mr and Mrs Greene, Newly mortgaged-to-the-hilt W&E Ricks

Our New Home

We Made It!!

Farewell Highland

"Let us not have tears....parting is a natural part of life."

(Points to whoever can name that movie!)

Well, it's a nice sentiment, but it didn't stop me from shedding many tears while saying goodbye to my peeps. The little double two-some pictured above was one of my biggest heartbreaks about moving. They've all handled it well, with promises aplenty of visits and being pen-pals.

I'm not really sure how to express how much I love the people we left behind. So I guess this post is mostly just to share pictures and let you know the farewells happened. We were treated to several different forms of farewell parties. My students and music colleagues put together a farewell BBQ which included dinner and a program with violin performances, slideshow, and parting gifts. It was so wonderful and I have never felt so appreciated. I was enjoying the program so much, I didn't even think about taking pictures! (kicking myself) 

We had a Richards Family farewell dinner hosted by my brother Kirk and his wife Amy at their home in Woodland Hills.

My neighbors put together the best-ever block party in our honor. Made me wonder why we haven't been doing block parties more often.

We had a fun date-night with our friends at Tucano's Grill

My oldest boys were given a farewell swimming party by the youth group and youth leaders from our church.  I don't have pictures, but here is one from the last hurrah for Adam with his friends from Renaissance.

Speaking of last hurrahs, 

we met up with the Randalls for a park day and free slurpees on 7-11.

As you can see, every Ricks child has a Randall counterpart who matches them in age, gender and personality. We are really going to miss you guys!

As we were packing and loading the truck, we had so many friends stop by to say goodbye. They brought gifts and snacks for the road. We really do feel so loved.

Here is one of almost everyone that was on-site in the final hours before our departure. By that time we were feeling so frazzled and just ready to be done. Our neighbors and friends came to the rescue and waved as we pulled away.  I'm getting all teary just thinking about it. 

Friends, I don't know how to thank you enough for loving my family and teaching me so much. I have learned so much about Christ-like love and service from our neighbors and friends in Highland and American Fork. We feel so privileged to know you and hope to sustain our friendships with you despite the distance. We'll see you again soon!