Utah - Moving West and Moving Forward

I have debated continuing my little journal or not.  When you read about people stealing photos and worse horror stories and you realize there is a whole big cyber world out there, it can be daunting.  But on the other hand, I have met so many really nice folks through this blog - cyber friends - and I enjoy reading  blogs about family life and other topics - there is more to life than just people who have multiple children, believe it or not - and I learn a lot about a variety of topics, from chicken farming to stain removal to how to stand even more craziness than I have in my life, thus making me look somewhat sane and calm.

So moving forward for now, here we go.

On the home front, we are HERE - Utah that is. We are settling in, slowly but surely. It is interesting to move somewhere - 2000+ miles from "home" sight unseen and try to get a handle on what and where and who.  It sort of hit me when I registered the kids for school (we had planned to homeschool, but had to switch gears last minute for MY sanity - big mama guilt about that).  When you fill out the million forms, in triplicate, there is a place to list emergency contact in case they cannot reach you.  I realized I had NOT ONE NAME to list, knowing absolutely NO ONE within 1500 miles! That was weird.  I left it blank.

Since October, we have not had a television.  That has been an adjustment. We left a lot of our things back in MA since the two older boys are living in our home there. Maybe NOT the best idea in retrospect, but in theory it should work. (in actuality, no one is paying their rent as they should - flakes!)  We arrived without a washer & dryer, no living room furniture, no television, minimal kitchen items and linens - leaving things for the boys.  Plus, those of you with children, multiples or not, can understand that often times after MANY years of triplet abuse use, much of it was not worth bringing.  Since arriving, we have hooked up with a great church that Mike was already attending, and through their acts of kindness ministry, we have acquired a few things that some members were planning to discard as they didn't need them - including a Maytag HE front loader washer and dryer, beautiful sofa and loveseat, distressed leather couch for the kid's loft area, an entertainment center, and a TV (which was hooked up to the Wii post stat). One of my boys was incredibly happy.  He received a BEAUTIFUL queen iron bed with a NEW queen pillowtop mattress and boxspring. He is sooooo happy.  Plus the boys each have their own rooms - they have always shared.  That said, it has still been a struggle, although I can't justify complaining.  The move costs us much more than we anticipated and was estimated. Starting over is expensive, from trash cans to towels to pots and pan and so on and so on.  But it will eventually settle down after the first of the year. 

The boys are playing basketball, having made the 8th grade team at their school.  They are also on an AAU tea. My girl is dancing, so she is happy. They are slowing making their way into the Youth group at church.  I know they miss all their friends and they have gone from being big fish in a small pond to one of many fish in a much larger pond.  They are in honors classes and it is a much larger school, all new teachers, new kids, making their way and finding their course. It has been a HUGE adjustment for them, but they have been troopers and I couldn't be more proud.  Six week mid terms came home last week and it was very pleasing.  I have the best kids. We are sticking together and it's going to be good.  We are finding our new normal. Gosh, I love them more than words can say.

 I will start my holiday prep posts soon.  Stay tuned.  Blessings!