July-ke living in Arizona? Heck yes, we do!

Let’s start with a “person” Abe created out of books, a tote, and other items:



He’s a regular Dr. Frankenstein. We’re setting up his laboratory in the attic next week, complete with operating table and Tesla coil.

Expect today’s blog to be followed by another blog later this week. Today’s entry will catch you up on the details of the trip and the move-in and recent happenings, and the upcoming blog entry will be a photo and video tour of our new house.

So, let’s backtrack:

Saturday, July 10th:

We were able to pick up the truck at 8am, which was awesome. However, we had to drive out to Saratoga Springs to get it (what, they couldn’t give us the truck in any of the 5 closer cities to Pleasant Grove?!). Unfortunately, we never printed out the driving directions to the rental location, so we had to go by memory (we only got lost once).

We loaded up things out of the storage unit, then headed to the house. The basic truck-loading only took about 45 minutes (special thanks to Amanda’s family and to people from the Elder’s Quorum!), then we spent another 20 minutes or so trying to fit in whatever else we could squeeze in. Apparently we were a 19-foot family trying to fit into a 17-foot truck. We had to leave behind our kitchen chairs, a glide rocker chair, the 2 older TV’s, the entertainment center, and a few other odds-and-ends. Amanda’s sister Molly has been selling those for us, and putting the money into our Utah bank account for us. Although we were sad to leave those things, Amanda was happy to discover Goodwill (thanks, Jana!) and their 50% off Saturday deals every other week! We got a couple chairs for the front room, and at Wal-mart, Amanda found some kitchen benches on clearance ($20 each instead of $50!).

After lunch and family goodbyes, we headed out at about 12:45 in the afternoon. The trip to Kanab was pretty smooth, except for Judy’s suggestion of crossing the 20 from I-15 to 89. That was very scary, especially for Amanda in the big moving truck.

We got to Kanab by about 5:30, and let me say right now that the Comfort Inn on 89 as you leave Kanab is a GREAT place to stay—nice, clean rooms, comfortable A/C, friendly staff, and free breakfast.

Sunday, July 11, 2010:

We headed out bright and early, and had no major issues that day, either, except for the harrowing descent down the mountains just south of Page, AZ. We stopped for lunch in Flagstaff and got caught in a rainstorm. I got so soaked while putting the boys in the car that my clothes were damp all the way to Phoenix! All three boys slept from Flagstaff to Phoenix, which was very nice.

We stayed the night at a Super 8 in Mesa, which wasn’t as nice, but not terrible.

Monday, July 12, 2010

We got the house keys and went to the house first thing Monday morning.

Here’s another picture of the house:



It seems a little foreboding from the outside, like Norman Bates’s house from “Psycho.”



We unloaded the car and got a couple things out of the truck, then I headed to work. I probably should’ve stayed home that day, seeing as I was very tired and we had a ton to do (and I didn’t have a computer or projects to work on at work yet). But it turned out OK.

That evening at 6, we had a huge turnout to help us unload the truck. I’d called ahead of time to see if people from the ward could help, and at least 8-10 people showed up. Also, Reed and Reiko and the 4 younger boys came to help (and shoot NERF darts at each other). Someone brought along a case of cold bottled water (it was around 110 degrees that day). We got the truck unloaded and the beds assembled in less than 45 minutes, which was awesome.

Since then, we’ve been getting things unpacked and getting settled in. This house has a lot more storage space, but unfortunately, not much in the kitchen. Our food storage is above the cupboards now:



Last Sunday was Disneyland’s 55th Anniversary, so of course I had to unpack and display my Disneyland trinkets that day:



We don’t have a swimming pool, but plastic totes work just as well:



We only have a 5-person car, so to go places together, Maddy and Joel have to share a seatbelt, or we just leave Elliott at home in his cage:



OK, we don’t really leave him home alone. That would be irresponsible. The cage is only for when he’s being bad.

We also added another child to the family, our daughter Joelle:



For the past couple nights, Amanda and I have been sleeping on our mattress in the front room while we train Elliott to sleep through the night. Turns out it hasn’t been that tough. The first night he cried for ½ hr; the second night he slept until 5am, ate a little, then went back to sleep; last night, he slept all the way until 8:45. Let’s hope it stays that way!

We’re really glad to be here. It’s hot, and our electricity bills aren’t pretty, but we love the area we’re living in, the ward is nice, my job is going well, and our house is wonderful. We are so grateful to the Lord for leading us here, and we feel like we’ll probably be here for a long time (we Petersons thrive in the desert).

How better to end the blog entry than with an Arizona sunset?