Don't be a Square, Wyoming

After the housing office told us that they could probably get us into a house by August first we went with HOUSE #1! These are some pictures from the day we moved in.

  






























We spent the first day cleaning trying to get ready for our stuff to come. We called the truck company to deliver the next day (Friday) early in the morning. So, of course they didn’t show up until about 4pm. It was hot, according to the people in our neighborhood it hasn’t been this hot here in 10 years easily! Once the truck finally arrived we opened the back up and were ready to go only to find that our stuff had shifted and bowed out the bulkhead. To most people that doesn’t make a lot of sense, so I’ll explain. There’s this piece of wood that you slip into these notches in the back of the truck to hold your stuff still but if the stuff isn’t packed correctly it will move. Basically our stuff was wider at the bottom and so the stuff on the top fell forward pushing the wood out in the middle and causing the metal bars to buckle. So after about 30 minutes of hee-ing and haw-ing to try and force it back Jonathan decided to Ninja jump over the wood and start handing me stuff over the top. It was a mess and after balancing with one hand on one side of the truck and a leg on the other to hold his weight up and throwing over random things we managed to release enough of the tension that we were able to fight the bulkhead out. It was terrible. About the time we got the wood out our help for that day arrived. We managed to get half the truck unloaded but had to stop because the mattress had folded over the stuff against them and were at 45 degree angle holding the rest of our stuff (dishes, pictures.. basically everything breakable) from careening over onto us. We decided we would wait until Saturday when we would have help from the reservists at Jonathan’s work. We just relaxed the rest of the night in preparation for the big unload day. 


The next morning we got up and started unpacking some of the boxes and shifting them around so that we could bring the rest of the stuff in. Once a few of the people came to help we created a wall of people holding the mattresses up and then Jonathan got the ladder and started handing the stuff down. After about an hour of unloading the strangest thing happened. A Subaru pulled up that I didn’t recognize and out got the CO of the office, Commander Tidwell. He got out and took off his blouse (uniform top) and then went into the back of the truck and started unloading our boxes. BLEW MY MIND. I was completely speechless (a feat in itself I know). We finished about 30 minutes later and everyone left. That afternoon in town there was this big festival called “Super Day” that was at the park only about a mile away. Once we were done we got changed and walked with the neighbors up to the park. 

There were free bouncy castles and all kinds of vendors and different activities. The energy company had their bucket trucks out and they were taking the kids up in the buckets. 

There were air bubbles that the kids could get in and run them around like hampsters, which was hilarious because one of the kids would take off and all the  would fall down. 

There were racecars that the kids could climb in and act like they were driving.  was a cover band playing Journey, which is always a win, and there was a bow and arrow target practice area set up. The kids got to shoot the bow and arrows at foam animals. Nick took the shot and hit the bear in the neck on the first try. He immediately looked over at me and said “Papa is gonna be so happy,” and after that he was strutting his stuff for the remainder of the day. When we got home it was hot out and the neighbor invited us over to have lemon slushies with them which quickly turned into a grill out and some much needed relaxation. 


The next day (Sunday) we worked extra hard getting stuff unpacked, getting the kids beds unpacked and the bathroom setup. Once those things are done we can work hard to make sure the boys get into a routine and feel settled sooner. With us moving a  we have learned that the first thing we have to do every time we move is get them settled in first. Then we make sure that the common areas get done second so that they can feel at home. It’s important to me that they don’t feel displaced any longer than necessary. They adapt well but I still try as hard as I can to make sure that they don’t have lasting homesickness issues.  After we worked super hard all day on Sunday we went to dinner (all our stuff was still packed up) at this Taco place that we had heard good things about called Taco John’s. Okay on the real—What the hell! Who decided that putting hash browns inside of freaking tacos was a great idea, and also when you get the combo it comes with hash browns as a side—except they call them ole’s—because if you get it some Spanish sounding name it will be acceptable to eat with Taco’s and nacho cheese…NOT! None of us ate hardly anything and then went next door to the overpriced grocery store to get some peanut butter and bread so we could go home and eat sandwiches. Needless to say our first outing to eat and shop was disappointing. We came home, ate our sandwiches and crashed. I learned the hard way the previous nights that just laying down and going to sleep doesn't guarantee that you're going to get a full nights sleep because the sun comes up at 5:00am. So now my bedtime mask is a running joke, because of how ridiculous I look. 

 On Tuesday night while we were unpacking the kids came running in to tell us that they found a baby bird in the yard. We went out looking to see what exactly was going on and found it on the patio. We looked for a nest, but then the kids said that there were two other babies dead in the grass. We figured that the storm from a couple days before had blown them down. At first we were going to just dispose of it, but after a little research Jonathan decided he could probably save it. He had to feed it meal worms every 15 minutes from dawn until dusk. We had meal worms (thats what our fire-bellied toads eat), so that night he fed it every 15 minutes from 6ish until midnight. I had tried to give him an out and suggested we put it in an empty nest and that way we could tell the boys that we did what we could but they wouldn't have to see a dead bird in the morning, but Jonathan said he missed medicine and so he was committed. The next morning we woke up and the bird was still alive but couldn't swallow anymore. We found an animal rescue clinic and took it there. We will call them and find out about it in another week or so.
                                         
We worked super hard on the house and got a lot done overall. A couple of days we took it easy and went to the park with the kids or just sat outside and chatted up the neighbors. Within walking distance there are a couple of cool parks and gardens for the kids. It has a creek/pond that the kids can wade in and there are all kinds of water activities to teach them about water and how it acts in different ways.
  

 There are teepee's with drums for them to play in, and an area for them to make their own puppet shows.

 

The Cheyenne Children's Park is one of them and it is by far one of the coolest interactive outdoor parks I've ever been too. 

We spent an hour to an hour and a half their easily and didn't even come close to doing everything they had. Over the next week we worked really hard to get our stuff unpacked because on July 2^nd Jonathan had to go back to work and I didn’t want to be left overwhelmed. He went into work one day and they issued him his new favorite uniform accessory.

By Friday we were set to go pick up a living room suite we found on craigslist to put in the living room because our sectional didn’t fit and had to go in the sunroom.  With some help from our awesome neighbors we were able to go get the furniture and put in the house in a little over an hour. Once it was here Jonathan decided he didn’t really like how it smelled so off to the store I went to get upholstery cleaner so I could scrub it down and make him feel more comfortable with it. It didn’t smell bad it just didn’t smell like our stuff so he was weirded out. Saturday we had planned on going to Fort Collins, but I really wanted to get some stuff done so instead we worked hard on the pictures and shelves in the living room. By the end of the day Saturday we managed to have the living room completely hung and the bookcases done. After we made dinner we were able to turn in so we could get up for church the next morning. Sunday we got up went to church, which was a bit of an adventure in itself. Mass was different than I’m use to. I’m not sure what was different but it was. We came back home and I had to lay down because of my allergies. Between the smoke from all the wildfires, and the incredibly dry air I am a mess. My eyes are always puffy, nose running, and my head aches every day. After a Benadryl induced nap I got up and Jonathan and I put the kids playroom together. I am super proud of it and more importantly they love it. All the neighborhood kids come and play all day. I will do whatever’s necessary to keep my kids wanting to play at home because then I don’t have to go looking for them. If they aren’t on their bikes they are 9 times of out 10 in our basement now.