Christmas Eve

Roger had the day off of work so we decided to make a trip to the movies with our friends the Despins. They've got two little girls just a few months younger than both Sarah and William and we are excited to live so close to them! We hadn't seen Tangled yet and as you can imagine, Sarah was SUPER SUPER excited to see the movie. She even asked for popcorn the night before. She's only been to 3 movies previously and I haven't purchased popcorn at a movie theater in MANY MANY YEARS. But, since it was a special occasion - and just before lunchtime - I decided to splurge. Tangled was William's second movie experience and he did really, really well. (They both went with my parents to Toy Story 3 this summer while Roger and I were at YW Camp). By the way, we absolutely LOVED the movie. Not too scary and the message was so so good. Rapunzel is a princess I can really get behind. She's adorable. And of course, when the movie was over, Sarah asked if she could watch it again. Right then. I guess we may have to buy it when it comes out in a few months.

When we got home, Roger busted out his Christmas presents a day early to work on setting up the playroom and kids' bedroom. I have to say, Roger is pretty handy with a miter saw. You should see his corner edges! I love how this room is coming together. Unfortunately, I didn't order enough wainscoting so our playroom and the bedroom are only 2/3 done. But, here's a sneak peak:






And in other exciting events - Here we are ready for Christmas Morning. Don't worry, we found the rest of our nativity later on. It just got mixed in with all of the rest of the Little People toys.

Ah the moving saga

CAUTION!! Really, this is just for our family history. It's probably pretty boring for most of you. Read or not as you wish.

Saturday morning – William thought it was Christmas. He couldn’t wait to move so he got up at 4 a.m. and consequently, Roger and I (who were planning to get up at 5 am) woke up then too. We had 95 percent of the house packed and ready to go the night before so we spent a couple of ours completing the last minute items before we headed to U-haul at 7:30 am to pick up
our truck.

Everything went seamlessly. The truck was ready and even though Roger thought to himself, “I don’t know if this will be big enough …” we took off. I dropped off my kids to play with their friends, Marshall, Max and Marcus and Roger parked the truck in front of the apartment. I returned to the apartment and continued packing the last minute items. Kim Hatch was a huge help with helping with packing the last few odds and ends. Honestly, she kept me sane and on task while Roger was down at the truck with the guys.



By 9 am we had several friends show up to help Roger load the truck. They started with the largest items first. When they were 2/3 finished loading the larger items I got word that not everything was going to fit. My heart sank. Ugh. We would have to make another trip. We spent the next hour or so loading all that would fit in the truck. Most of the apartment made it, but we had our large food storage pile, Roger’s weight set and some more boxes in the storage room that didn’t make the cut. We loaded the piano into my van along with several more fragile items.

We were all eating muffins and drinking juice by 11:30 am when Roger and I thanked and said goodbye to our friends. Rog and I finished the last few things, packed our cooler with stuff from the refrigerator, and took one last look around. I snapped a few photos of the empty place and was off. I knew I wouldn't be back ... at least for a while.

One last look. It won't look like this in a couple of weeks. The whole apartment is getting a face lift. The entire bathroom is being gutted and re-tiled and a new vanity & toilet will be installed. The windows will be replaced with double-paned windows throughout. New blinds have been ordered. The carpet is coming up and the wood floor underneath will be refinished. The entire apartment will be repainted. The gas range & cabinetry in the kitchen will be replaced. The refrigerator will stay. It was replaced while we lived there. Unfortunately, these walls will not regularly hear the pitter patter of little feet as there will not be little children in the half-bedroom/closet. The new resident is single woman with a grown son and she will use the area for a home office.









Goodbye little apartment. You have been a good home to us these past 3 1/2 years. We will miss opening your doors to have the kids run and kick balls "outside" in the hallway. We will miss visiting our neighbors barefoot. We will miss William wandering into Stan's always open door or running down to the garbage area to smell the great outdoors ...

***Sigh Sob Sigh ***

We picked up our kids and some pizza on our way out of the city. I have to admit, I was really, really sad. I didn't think it would be so hard moving 45 minutes away. I called Natalie to keep from crying the.whole way. The rain-filled sky must have been feeling my emotions for as we rounded through Oakland and Berkeley it started to downpour. But an amazing thing happened. As we passed through the tunnel, passed neighboring cities and started to see signs for Walnut Creek, I felt the most calming peace. Sun was peaking slightly through the clouds and I knew this is where we were supposed to be.

We arrived around 2:30 pm and Roger and I started unloading the truck while the kids slept in the van. I decided to let them sleep for a little while before dropping them off at my friend Marisa's home. I couldn't help too much, but I was able to bring in a few boxes to their designated rooms. I left at 3:15 pm to drop off the kids and by the time I returned at 4 pm there were half-a-dozen men and the Relief Society President at our home unloading our truck. In the next few minutes another 5 or 6 people arrived to help. I couldn't believe the overwhelming support we received from our new ward! All were complete strangers, but all so happily volunteered to help! The truck was completely unloaded by 4:45. Oh how we were wishing we had gotten the bigger truck! Everything could have been unloaded by 5:15 and we could have spent the night just organizing boxes. But alas, at 5:30 Roger was on his way back to the city to load the rest of our "stuff."

First Load (partially unloaded):


Unfortunately for Roger, the traffic was M.I.S.E.R.A.B.L.E. It took 2 hours to get back. The Saturday evening-holiday party-rainy traffic. But luckily, when he did pull in, he was able to recruit a few helpers to get the food storage, etc. into the car. The only catch was that he got to first drive the truck to the Presidio to pick up a new tenant's bed. It was definitely worth the tradeoff. As it was, it took another 2 hours to pack up the remaining items before heading back to the Walnut Creek. Roger pulled into our driveway around 11 pm and started to unload. I heard him arrive and came down to help soon after. We pretty much loaded the rest of the truck directly into the garage but it still took 2 1/2 hours. Apparently, the etc. stuff was a lot more than we thought! (Notice Roger's super tired eyes.)


We finally laid down to sleep around 2 am. It felt sooooo good to lay on our bed. (I had made up our mattresses on the floor so we could at least feel comfortable amongst all the boxes!) Roger only got a short nap before taking the U-haul truck to the drop-off spot at 6:30 am. He rode his bike back so I could sleep in with the kids.

We were very thankful that church didn't start until 12:30. It was nice to have a little time to put away a few things and find our bearings before heading out the door. I was grateful I was prompted to set aside our church clothes so I didn't have to spend time digging through boxes to find dresses, shirts, pants, shoes, socks, etc. We loved meeting the members of our new ward and the Christmas program was just great. William fell asleep in Roger's arms (completely uncharacteristically) towards the end of the meeting. For Relief Society we had a Christmas brunch with our lesson. What a perfect first Sunday! We feel completely welcome in our new ward and we are excited to get to know more people and make more friends.

We enjoyed our first dinner together as official residents of our new home. I luckily had enough ingredients to throw together a stirred lasagna. William didn't like having to be locked down to eat, but otherwise it was a momentous occasion amidst the boxes and partially remodeled rooms.


I think I'll sign off here. In a nutshell, we feel so blessed to be in our new home in such a wonderful area. We feel surrounded by love and support. We are super excited to work on our home and make it a sacred place of peace and love. Hooray for new adventures! More to come ...

2 1/2 hours ...

My friend Jennie watched the kids for a couple of hours this morning so I could crack down and really pack my house. How productive was I?






Now let me put this in perspective. I did more in 2.5 hours than I have in the last 2 days. It's amazing how much I can get done without my kids un-doing everything as I go. (William was taking out the puzzle pieces after I had wrapped them in plastic!)

End result: More boxes ready to go.


Now I just need to pack my dishes and my bedroom. That shouldn't be too hard, right?

Getting Ready

I can't believe our big move is coming up so quickly. We pick up our UHaul on Saturday morning and we are officially moving from the city. We did one last "camp out" at our home in Walnut Creek so we could put another coat of red on our playroom walls and so I could spend today working on preparing the house for the move. Can I just say I'm soooooo glad we will not be camping out there anymore. Next time we sleep there, Roger and I will be in our own bed and the kids will be in their own beds. Ahh. Can't wait!

Just for a visual: I picked up Sarah from school and it was raining. We left San Francisco at 5:15 pm and it took until 6:30 to pick up Roger. (Sarah was fast asleep by 5:30.) We then took a detour to find some drive-thru dinner at Taco Bell and then continued on our way to Walnut Creek. The rain made the roads slower than usual during rush-hour traffic. We didn't arrive until 7:15. William had napped from 1:30 until 4:15 so he was just chilling in the car for almost 3 hours. As you can imagine, he was more than wound up when we got to the house. Sarah, on the other hand had no desire to wake up and so we took off her shoes, put on a diaper and laid her on one of the twin mattresses upstairs. She didn't wake up again until almost 6 a.m.

Rog and I got to work while William played contentedly. I unloaded most of the books we had taken on previous trips and filled 3 bookshelves while Roger unloaded another car-load of "stuff" into the house. We ended up with quite a few boxes to return to our apartment to reload with more "stuff." We are coming from a one-bedroom apartment. Why do we have so much stuff?

By 9 pm we were ready to start working on applying the second coat of paint on our walls. I changed William's diaper, put on his PJs and placed him in his pack-and-play. He went down so easily!

I joined Roger and was in charge of the edges while Roger used the roller. We were in quite the groove when we heard little footsteps coming down the stairs and running into the kitchen. I thought Sarah had woken up. Silly me. It was William. He had climbed out of his pack-n-play and had the biggest grin on his face when he saw us working. Ugh! We quickly finished up our project and I tried getting William to sleep. No dice. Even when Roger and I turned out all the lights and laid down in our own make-shift beds (Rog on another twin bed and William & me on the love sac) in the family room, William wasn't a bit tired. He kept crawling all over me until I told Roger to try putting him back in the pack-n-play. As soon as Roger was back in his bed, William came back down the stairs. Awesome. I finally nodded off to sleep while William played in the dark. I have no idea when he eventually went to sleep. The next thing I knew Sarah was coming down the stairs crying because she was scared. At least it was almost 6 a.m. and she got a good nights sleep.

Needless to say, William will not be moving to a toddler bed anytime soon and I am very, very grateful he doesn't know how to climb out of his crib.


I guess I should also take a moment to give a William update since he is now 25 months. He is becoming quite the chatterbox and parrot. He loves to say "Woook" and show me a letter. He then makes the letter's sound. It's adorable. William also loves to kick, kick, kick. If it's on the ground, chances are he's going to kick it. He's getting a little pickier with his eating habits. And if there are any "treats" in sight, he will put down whatever he is holding (or eating) and reach for it. I swear my kids would live off of milk and treats if I let them! William still readily gives hugs and kisses and usually is a great sleeper. It's been a life-saver having Sarah in afternoon preschool while William naps for 2 1/2 hours. I've been able to pack, clean and take a nap of my own on Tuesdays and Thursdays. It's been heavenly.

Well, I really should get back to packing. Just 3 more sleeps!

Next Up: Thanksgiving

We have so much to be thankful for this year! Most notably is our house. In the past two weeks our home went from this ...



to this ...


And now it looks like this!


Roger and I spent the weekend cleaning our house after all of the renovations going on. We no longer have popcorn ceilings (HOORAY!) We have overhead lighting - well wiring for it anyway (HOORAY!) Our washing machine won't drain into a hose into a sink (HOORAY!)

Sure, there's still much to do before our actual move. We want to paint the playroom and kids' bedrooms, put up wainscoting, and recarpet the playroom, etc. But all of the really dusty and messy stuff is out of the way. Three cheers to Fang and his crew!!!

PS Sarah was a big helper as well cleaning the floors and the railing. She also helped with the Autumn decorations. It was so much fun to be able to get to the point where we could put up a few decorations in our home. We have so much to be thankful for.

A change of plans

We have a tradition on every first Wednesday of the month to go to the zoo. It's free day for all San Francisco residents so I pack up the kids and make the 25-30 minute drive. Since it's so far away I've never been inclined to get a zoo pass. Once a month is generally good for us. We've had many, many great times at the zoo. We love seeing all the animals, petting the sheep and goats in the family zoo, playing on the playground, and of course riding the Little Puffer and carousel.







So you can imagine my children's dismay when we arrived last Wednesday to the zoo without my wallet! You need photo id and a sf resident address to get in free. We were only planning to stay an hour since we had to rush up to Walnut Creek to sign the papers for our home so going home to get the said wallet wasn't an option. The worst part was that I didn't realize I forgot my wallet until after the kids were already in the stroller ready to go to the gates. (Well, it could have been worse - we could have realized it AFTER we got to the gate.) So with weeping and wailing from my kids I apologized profusely about forgetting our "ticket" to get in and we headed to the beach. For those of you not familiar with the SF Zoo, it is located right next to Ocean Beach along the coastline. Sarah wasn't happy about the change. She wanted to see Jack and Max and Kenzie (even though I had told her that those friends wouldn't be joining us at the zoo because they had moved far, far away).

However, once I pulled up to the beach and we got out to play and run on the beach things were good. I'm glad children are so flexible! We had a great half-hour at the beach before heading back home to get my wallet - I needed it not only for driving, but for our house signing. Now that would have made ME cry if I forgot my drivers license for that significant event! (Oh, by the way, my wallet usually stays in my diaper bag, but the night before I had moved it to my purse for a meeting and didn't transfer it back - unfortunately.)

Here's how much fun we had!! Sarah and I built a sand castle while William kicked a ball all around us. We only had to reign him in a couple of times and luckily he didn't want to get too close to the water. We had a blast and I was forgiven for forgetting our "zoo ticket."



Oh and we get our keys TODAY for our new home. Can't wait!

Our Home

Oh ... You wanted to see more than just the picture of how our van looked in our driveway.

Just a little about the house. It's in Walnut Creek - a 40 minute drive from the city. Roger's commute will stay the same, but those of us at home will have soooooo much more space!!! It's in a quaint neighborhood a couple of blocks from the Elementary School where Sarah and William and Peanut #3 will go to school. We love the backyard and are excited about our garden and playing hide-n-seek. The home was built in the mid-sixties with its own well and we bought it from the original owner. There's a bit of work to do, but we are super, super excited about transforming into "our" home. Bye Bye glittering popcorn ceilings!

Here are a few more pictures.

The Curb - this picture was taken a while ago. The tree apparently died and was uprooted. We have plans to put in a lovely shade tree in the near future. This was the picture that stole my heart and I told Roger that we just had to see it!


The Entryway



The Living Room (off to the left of the entryway). Rog is looking at the popcorn wondering how many hours it'll take removing it to make his wife happy ...



The Formal Dining Area


The Kitchen (They listed it as an updated kitchen! Bwahawhaaaah)



Eating Nook


Family Room aka PLAY ROOM!!! I'm most excited about transforming this room. I can't decide if this room or the kids' bedrooms will be first on my to-do list.


The Office - I don't know who is more excited about this room - Roger or Me? I LOVE that I'll be able to have my crafting and computer stuff in this room and CLOSE THE DOOR. And it WON'T be in my Bedroom. A moment of silence please :)


Guest Bathroom. Guests will no longer have to walk through my "always-immaculate-clothes-and-storage-closet-hallway" to use the only bathroom we have.


The Upstairs. Just a fun side-note. The upstairs portion of our house is the SAME SIZE as what we are currently living in.


Sarah's & Will's New Room. They are such good sharers that we decided to have them together a while longer. Bunk Beds are in our future!



The Nursery - We find out next week if this will be covered in pink or blue!


Kids Bathroom - Yes, I know you love the ORIGINAL linoleum and shower doors on the tub.


Master Bedroom with Vanity. Ahhh. I am soooo excited to ONLY have my bed and clothes housed in my bedroom. The room is smaller than what we currently have as a bedroom, but I just know it will feel so much ROOMIER without all the piles of projects and computer stuff and storage all around us!




Master Bath - More original linoleum and check out our "sea shell" toilet seat. Don't worry. There's a matching seat for the guest bathroom. Well, that is if Sarah wants to share the "Ariel Seat."



The Laundry Room ... well laundry area. It's in the garage if you couldn't tell.


The Garage. I know it doesn't look like much and it's not very pretty right now, but this is one of my favorite parts of owning a home. I will have my very own garage door opener that will allow me to drive into my OWN garage and park right next to my home. I can unload my groceries while the kids file out of the car and I won't have to worry about them running away from me up the alley and into a busy street. It's such a beautiful thing. I'm getting teary-eyed.


And last but not least - My New Love (AKA our backyard) Yes, the second photo is of Roger picking APPLES in our backyard. Sarah calls this the Apple Tree House with the Long Stairs. Oh Apple Tree how we LOVE you. We also have a peach tree, an orange tree, a plethora of rose bushes/trees, Mulberry Trees and pomegranate bushes - well thats what we can tell so far. I need Natalie to come out and tell me what all the trees in my yard are! We have plans to plant more fruit trees and add a vegetable garden. I'm so excited we have our own private well. William and Sarah LOVE playing back here and I am certain we'll have years and years of fun with family and friends in our backyard.




And now you've seen my clean slate to work with. I'm so excited to get the keys this weekend and get going on my projects!