Our New Home

Well, we have been here for a week! I can't believe it. It has gone by really fast. I am sure tired of boxes, though. It feels like all I have looked at for a month is boxes... but now they are all empty and ready to go out in the recycling!



We were so blessed to find this home. It is in a beautiful area full of trees and about 1/2 mile from a small lake! Last night we went to Cinema Under The Stars a free outdoor movie that the city of Everett puts on during the summer! It doesn't get dark here until after 9:30 so it was a pretty late night for the kids, but we really enjoyed it.



It has been hard being in a new place. We can't find anything without a GPS, how does anyone get around here without it, there's so many trees you can never tell where you are! There's no friends to ride bikes with or meet at the park, so we've had to improvise! We found the public library and the city website with the list of free things to do all summer, and so we are trying to keep busy!



We are lucky to have a big backyard and en extra room in the house just for toys! Really we feel like this is the perfect place for us. It's just a challenge getting back into life. Any suggestions?

A sigh of relief!

I can't begin to describe the tension and stress that the last couple of weeks have held for us. We love being with my family and are grateful to all of my sisters for helping to play with and watch our kids. It sure makes a huge difference for them to have some of their favorite people around to entertain them!
Yet, it is unbelievably stressful to not have a plan for life even a day in advance. So, we've been praying and fasting and praying and feeling tons of comfort... just not any clear answers. Today! We have answers! On Friday Josh received a tentative job offer from Northwest Hospital, contingent upon a reference check. We weren't sure if he should accept being we were hoping for a job at the University of Washington Medical Center. They said that they would get back to Josh on Monday or Tuesday.
After a long weekend of discussion, we decided that the Northwest Hospital offered many great benefits over the University Hospital. So even though we hadn't heard from the University Hospital we decided to accept the job offer at Northwest Hospital.
Since we had decided on a job, we needed to now decide on a home. We spent all day Saturday driving around the Seattle area, with all 3 kids, and a GPS. It was a very long day.... and we didn't find anything we liked that we could afford. It was quite depressing.
So Sunday we went again to Craigslist searching for homes. I had a minor emotional breakdown... but I think 1 emotional breakdown in a month of craziness is pretty good! In the end Josh sweetly reminded me that everything was going to workout and we planned another long day in Seattle searching. This time without children (Thanks Whitney!)
And guess what! We found a perfect house! It's older but with a large front yard and a large fully fenced backyard. All grass! Imagine that! I haven't seen that much grass in a long time! The landlord takes super good care of the property so it has new carpet and new appliances in the kitchen. It looks awesome!
Today Josh also officially accepted his job offer at Northwest Hospital and he starts orientation on Monday.
We have always known that our prayers would be answered, but sometimes it's difficult to remember that we are not alone. We feel so blessed today and so grateful for the love of our Heavenly Father. We have a job and a home and beautiful healthy children (I haven't had to give Liz any medication for the entire 2 weeks we've been here... she usually does 4 puffs of an inhaler per day and a teaspoon of Zyrtec every night) It truly is a miracle!
Just remember that no matter what twists and turns life throws at you, we have a loving Heavenly Father who guides us an directs us each step of the way and truly brings miracles into our lives!

Our Trip

Well, thanks to the help from many friends, we were able to pack up and leave really quickly! The Relief Society sisters and my long time friend, Jennifer, all spent an entire morning cleaning every inch of my house. It was amazing to accomplish what it would have taken me all day, in just a couple of hours! We really appreciate the service given by so many, so willingly! Then we had the Elder's Quorum and the Young Men helping load the truck. (We probably should have gotten a bigger one) It was packed superfast with all of the men that were there helping!
We spent the rest of our day with my Brother and his family. We will miss them so much! I hope our little Madee doesn't forget us!
Saturday morning we piled into the car, took the rest of the trash to the dumpster, and headed away. We were teary eyed as we said goodbye to a home that was so good to us! We loved being in a house finally! We loved having grass and wonderful neighbors! We made great friends in the 8 months we lived in that house! Of course we weren't really excited for the 30 hour drive we had ahead of us...
These are pictures we took in Ely, Nevada. We stopped at a park to eat lunch and let the kids play. They were running all over like crazy and screaming at the tops of their lungs. This was a much needed stop!