Move Number 9 in 8 1/2 Years

On the drive home from my grandpa's funeral, Brian and I talked about what to do with the house that we built that had been on the market for a year. It was a very disappointing situation since we had never really intended to live in the house. However, we either had to move in or lose a lot of money even if we did eventually sell it. So, we decided to move in. That was May 6th. We started moving things little-by-little since the house was vacant and then moved all of the big stuff on May 24th. We figured there was no need to put off the inevitable!

And, in case you're interested:

Move 1: Orem, UT

Move 2: El Paso, TX

Move 3: Schaumburg, IL

Move 4: Dallas, TX

Move 5: Ann Arbor, MI

Move 6: Charlotte, NC

Move 7: Seattle, WA

Move 8: Meridian, ID

Move 9: Eagle, ID

The first home we have ever purchased in our not-quite nine years of marriage.

Ruth helping me gauge the size of this rug for our new bathroom.

One of the perks of a new home was picking any fridge we wanted (that we could afford). No more crappy rental house fridges. I love this fridge! My favorite feature: you can tell it you want exactly 6 ounces of water (or 8 or 10 or whatever) and it will fill your cup exactly that full! I'm only slightly OCD. :)

I'm slightly obsessed with plastic bins. I have small, medium, large, and extra large ones. When I took this picture, there were 33 in the garage. I have way more than that...

My little family checking out the empty moving truck. So exciting!

Our First Few Days in Boise

We couldn't move into our new rental house right when we got to Boise as the owners were in the process of moving out during that time. So, we spent a few days at my sister's house where the kids played with their cousins. 

We were able to move in on the evening of June 26th. After a couple of days, the kids got to play with some of their 2nd cousins as well. It's nice to have plenty of family around!

Baby Ruby and her bright blue eyes!

I don't think the kids even wore their swimsuits once the whole time we lived in Seattle. It was a fun treat for them to play outside in the water.

Ryan, Sydney, Wes, and Lydia playing the morning away!

On Tuesday evening, we started the unloading process.

The kids all wanted to help so we let them each take something before Aunt Jennie took the littles to McDonald's. Paige (my nephews' cousin), Danny, and Nathan stuck around and were great helpers.

As Brian and I started unpacking boxes, the kids enjoyed the trampoline that the home owners had left for us to use. Wes has been known to say this is the safest trampoline in the world (because it has a net...apparently, that's really important to him).

 

A few days later, I took the kids over to Brian's aunt's house so the kids could play in the water with some of their second cousins.

I think Wes was having a fun time!

Moving Day 2012

On June 23rd, wonderful men from our ward came over to help us get everything out of our Seattle townhouse and loaded into our moving van. They were quick and efficient so we were able to get all checked out of our townhouse before it started pouring rain! 

I'm so grateful it wasn't raining during our move, the kids played wonderfully and stayed out of the way, and for those who came to help (and their wives for letting them come)!

The trickiest part of the move was getting this couch out. It had to go off the deck.

Luckily there were enough buff men to help!

They make it look like a piece of cake.

Checking out the progress on the truck.

The kids kept themselves entertained the whole morning.

Then the kids had a snack in the empty house before the cleaning lady came. (Best idea ever...who wants to clean the whole house after packing and loading a truck? No one.)

Our Final Skyline...?

 

In our 6 years and 9 months of marriage we have lived in 7 cities: 

Orem, UT

El Paso, TX

Schaumburg, IL

Dallas, TX

Ann Arbor, MI

Charlotte, NC

Seattle, WA

And in one week, we will moving to Boise, ID to make city number 8 (state number 7) in less than 7 years. We're hoping this will turn out to be a permanent move, but of course, we like to keep things interesting! :) 

We're in the process of packing, getting organized, and saying our good-byes. We should be pros by now, right? 

Moving is always bitter-sweet, but I think this time there's more sweet than bitter since we'll be surrounded by family when we move. We're all looking forward to this next adventure in our lives!

Moving Day: Seattle

The kids and I had been staying with my parents in Puyallup for almost four weeks before Brian and his dad rolled into town with a truck full of our things. Since Brian hadn't seen us in so long, he insisted the kids be there when he got into town on February 9th. We reunited, had pizza and brownies, and then the kids watched a movie while wonderful men from our church helped Brian (with the flu, no less) and his dad carry in all of the boxes and furniture to our 3-story townhouse.

Where We've Been

On Sunday, January 16th, the kids and I flew from Charlotte to Seattle. We checked three big bags and two car seats. Brian saw us to the gate and then we said goodbye for the next four weeks. The kids did really well on both plane rides, but started to get pretty tired by the end. Overall, it was a positive experience, which is really all that I could have asked for.

On Monday, January 17th, the housing hunt began. That has been a process, of course, but my mom has been great to be the chauffeur, an opinion-giver, and often the in-car babysitter. It's been so nice to have her help! It's definitely been an adventure with all of us taking turns being sick (including Wes throwing up in the middle of the Burger King table while Sydney had a direct, and pretty traumatic, view). We still haven't picked a place, but we're narrowing the areas down a bit, so that's progress.

All along, Wes has had an opinion on the place we'd move into. He can share a room with Sydney (but not a bed), and then he wants a backyard like we had in Michigan, a basement, a garage for two cars, and no "chirpers".

Chirpers are the really loud and annoying all-building fire alarms we had in our apartment building in Charlotte. They went off at least seven times in the seven months we lived there - and four of those times were the last week we were there. They made the kids panic and stressed and went off at various hours of the day, including at 3:30am the morning we left for the airport. It was really frustrating. The picture above is one of the last days we were there (the 10th) when the alarm went off around dinner time. We had a picnic in our closet because the chirper wasn't as loud in there.

I'm happy to be rid of those chirpers because they completely stressed Wes out and made him afraid of the dark and going in his room alone. Hopefully, wherever we live next will still have a fire alarm, but it won't be so loud and obnoxious.

Our Next Skyline

This week we found out that we'll be moving to Seattle in February for Brian's next two rotations with Bank of America (16 months). It was our first choice, so we're super excited and really relieved! After five years of gradually moving further east, we'll finally be within driving distance of all of the members of our immediate family (except K&N who will hopefully be moving back west as well...eventually).

Brian will be working right downtown, so the hunt is on for family-friendly housing that's affordable without a super long commute. Sounds easy, right? ;)


Anyone with friends/family or personal experience in the Seattle area are more than welcome to contribute advice about where we should live!

Discovering Charlotte

Brian didn't start work until the Monday after we arrived in Charlotte, so we spent the week getting settled and acquainted with the area.

It's always nice to find the malls that have a play place!

Wes is at an age that he enjoys getting his picture taken. Yay! :)




We took the train into downtown (which is actually walkable) to check out the amazing children's library that the kids and I will be frequenting.

The Move to Charlotte

Brian and I arrived in Salt Lake at 10:03am MT on Monday, June 21st. We showered Mom and Dad Hanks with gifts for taking care of our kids for 10 days, then packed three suitcases to check (50 lbs. each), and then packed and mailed eight boxes via FedEx to ourselves at our new address in Charlotte. We then repacked all of our carry-ons and finally went to bed. On Tuesday, June 22nd, we said goodbye to Grandma and Grandpa Hanks and caught our flight at 8:25am!

Wes, Grandpa, and Sydney enjoyed some trampoline time before we had to leave.

Wes improved his jumping skills quite a bit over the couple weeks he was in Utah.

Sydney got it figured out too, even with only one shoe.

When we got to our new apartment, Wes got the best surprise ever: a train track in his backyard!

It's kept him up a couple of nights - and naps - and he still runs to the window every 10 to 20 minutes to check out the train. At least he's happy!

Moving Road Trip: Day 6

On Monday, May 31st, we enjoyed our time at the Edward Partridge Memorial Day Breakfast in Oak City, UT. My extended family puts on this free breakfast each year and it's always a hit with the surrounding communities. After breakfast, we visited the cemetery where a lot of my family has been buried.

Lydia, Madison, Mitchell, Brian, Sydney and Wes all enjoying their breakfast.

The menu is always the same: sourdough pancakes, ham, egg, milk, and Tang.

Wes thought he was so funny eating his ham like this. :)

Henry, Jack, Wes, and Lydia were all born within two months and four days of each other. (We missed Owen in the picture who was also born in that time frame.)

Cousins Madison (with the sucker) and Wes were having a great time on the tire swing.

Sydney was trying to decide if she wanted to go down the slide.

I think this was the kids' first experience with a cemetery. I tried to keep Wes from driving his cars on the headstones...

Trying to get a picture of the cousins at Great Grandpa Smith's headstone.

Family picture. Since I was eight months pregnant with Sydney when my grandpa died, this was the first time any of us was able to see his grave.

Sydney holding hands with mamma.

Family picture with Grandma Great (Smith).

Future missionary: we plan on taking a picture just like it when he's 19 (hopefully he'll be in a suite and tie then).

Moving Road Trip: Days 4 and 5

On Saturday, May 29th, we drove to Rock Spring, WY. There aren't many pictures because we didn't do anything exciting that day. On Sunday, May 30th, we drove to Oak City, UT (after realizing our tires were shot and finding an open store in SLC to change and align them).

The kids - especially Sydney - have been obsessed with water lately. At the hotel in Rock Springs, they climbed up on the sink and were playing in the water (Wes was cleaning Lightning McQueen).

Wes was tired on Sunday after a long day of travel and car-fixing!







Sisters at The Hall in Oak City: Angie, Jennie, and Natalie.

Wes had a fun time with his cousins. Here he is pushing Ryan in the car.

A Memorial Day weekend tradition: singing traditional family songs.

Another tradition: eating Red Velvet cake with cream cheese frosting.

The kids thoroughly enjoyed the treat!