Ann's Words

At about 8:30 this evening, Heidi drove the van filled with tired kids into our cul de sac.  We were sitting on the front porch, waiting, following their dot on our phones.  Adam was in the rental truck about 30 minutes behind them.  As he approached, the kids ran down to the corner to welcome him HOME.

Adam’s family has been away from us for 9 years.  Today was a BIG DAY for our family.

They are home!

The next days were filled with unloading the truck while the kids explored their new home and yard and playground and the pool.  We also had a little trauma when the neighbor’s tree broke in a microburst wind that passed by.

In the meantime, we are settling into the Farm House, that resembles a storage unit for now.

Here is my kitchen window view of Adam’s new home.

I found some dresses made by Bernice in Accra that I’d been saving for the girlies.

The kids come and go between our houses.  I am the Reading Grandma.  They call me “GrAnn.”  I will drop everything to read to the kids anytime they ask.  This is going to be a really fun summer.

Today was busy.  We had 3 big jobs left to do:  Lawn, Garage and Closet.  We worked all day taking the last things out.  I emptied our closet.  Aaron came by to help.

From my journal:
At 2:15 we went to the new house to meet with Brian who had the Heating/Cooling guy there to talk about the HVAC systems we will put in. We talked for about an hour. It was great. The house is framed now. They had poured the cement in the garage and on the front porch and were finishing that up. We entered through the back. I must say that EVERYTHING about that house makes me happy. It’s perfect for us. Brian says that he wanted to build homes that were upper end, but a manageable size. Most people go big when they have money. We wanted to go smaller and that’s what he does best. Efficient, practical, comfortable, beautiful. Perfect for us in every way. The layout/floor plan excites me. I dream about my office and sewing room. I’m feeling so very grateful and happy about this next phase of our lives.

My sewing room:

My Family History office:

Now we wait for the moving truck and the van full of kids to pull into our driveway!

Well, it’s done, for the most part.  We still have a few piles to take out and there are a few places being left until the move to the new house (some of John’s office and some of my sewing room, rooms they won’t need right away).  We’ve left artwork hanging for now and some books that we’ll pack up later.  But every drawer and cupboard is empty and clean.  The fridge and oven are scoured.  The walls are wiped down.  Most shelves are empty.  The house has never been so clean.  And we have never been so exhausted.

My office has been my quilt room, then my Family History center.  Now it’s empty of documents and binders and books and photographs and important records.  Everything is in boxes or thinned out.  I wonder what will happen in this room next.  Kids these days don’t use offices.  I think this would make a great craft room for the kids.  It’s in the middle of the main floor and all the action.  It was my sanctuary.

This evening after all was done, we sat out in the back yard to rest and say our goodbyes to this home.  Adam and his family are on the road, driving here with their moving truck full of their stuff.  They’ll arrive tomorrow evening and this home will be theirs.

We did it!  Four months ago, I didn’t think it would be possible to leave this place.  We have done it.  We have packed our things up and packed up our hearts to take to another place.

The view from my bed before my last sleep in this house.

As hard as this move is for us (especially physically), it’s especially hard for Claire and Aaron, who are losing their childhood home with their bedrooms and all of their memories.  I think Claire wanted to be here one last time before the changing of the guard, to say her goodbyes.

Here we are at Bridal Veil Falls before heading back to Irvine.

This tender children’s song captures the emotion of Moving Day perfectly.  For Claire, this was her last day in our home.

Moving Day
©Bill Harley, All rights reserved

Listen to it here.  Makes me cry every time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pw5NchK2CSk

Car’s full,
Trunks packed –
Stuff on the roof rack.
Mom says
We leave soon.
Last time
In my room.
One last look out my window –
The yard, the street,
the place I know.
I go, they stay –
It’s moving day.

Here’s where
My bed stood.
Floors made
Of old wood.
Mom left
The light on
Walls marked
With crayon.
The door I slammed when I was mad.
The place I cried when I was sad.
I go, they stay
It’s moving day.

When I grow up, I might come back
To this place again.
If I find some kids live here
I’ll tell them who I am.

“Let’s go,” Dad calls
I guess that’s all
Goodbye house,
Goodbye room
I won’t be back soon
Down the steps,
Out the front door
Now I don’t live here
Anymore.
Part of my heart stays
On moving day.

I have traveled and lived in many different countries in many parts of the world.  I love America and I love the other places I’ve known.  Today we celebrate America and the opportunity we have to live and raise our families here.  It really is a gift.

From my journal:

Jeffrey had the yard set up with a long row of tables hugging the west end of his huge yard, where the shade was.  Ben was setting up the volleyball net.  Family members arrived, some with food.  J&K did the burgers and brats.  We had some potato salad and watermelon, chips, Garret did his onion rings, Lisa & Steve Owens from ID brought some potato boats with cheese and sour cream and we had lemonade and some sodas.

The food was good, especially the corn salad.  Di made all kinds of treats–cinnamon rolls, pecan sticky rolls, frosted sugar cookies, macaroons, and German Chocolate cookies.  Then she topped that off with 2 fresh peach pies.  We brought 2 freezers of ice cream.

A very lively game of volleyball started after dinner and went until dark.  Lots of good players of many ages.  Claire and Graham both played while we entertained Caleb with a ball while visiting with others.  It was a really fun evening.

I was curious to see if Alpine neighborhoods would comply with the NO FIREWORKS rule from Gov. Cox (because it’s been so dry).  Usually every Alpine neighborhood sets off fireworks and we watch from Jeffrey’s balcony.  There were none.  I was so happy about that because I’ve seen stands up selling them.  So after it got dark, we all helped clean up and headed home.  It was fun.  Claire enjoyed seeing everyone.

A message from our Church Leaders:

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

As we commemorate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has extended an invitation to members and friends throughout the world to participate in a unified fast.

In their message, President Dallin H. Oaks, President Henry B. Eyring, and President D. Todd Christofferson wrote:

“All are invited to participate in a unified fast to express gratitude for religious liberty and to pray that it be strengthened throughout the world.”

The unified fast is scheduled for Sunday, July 5, the day following Independence Day in the United States.

We invite each member of our stake to prayerfully consider participating in this special fast as you are able. As we unite our faith and prayers, may we express heartfelt gratitude for the blessings of religious freedom and petition our Heavenly Father that these precious liberties will continue to be protected and expanded throughout the world.

Thank you for your faith and willingness to join with Saints across the globe in this sacred opportunity to worship, give thanks, and seek the Lord’s blessings.

With love,

The Orem Stonewood Stake Presidency

Claire’s little family decided to fly in for the 4th of July–a big one this year, celebrating 250 years since the colonies declared their independence from Great Britain to create the United States.  Tomorrow is a big family celebration in Alpine.  Today was the calm before the storm and I hung out with Caleb at the Farm House.  I am slowly turning the Farm House into a Grandma House, filled with children’s books, games, puzzles and toys.  We’ve decided not to rent it again, but to keep it available to us and the family for comings and goings.

This afternoon Claire and I started prepping a salad she is making for the party tomorrow.  We ended up buying 27 ears of fresh corn, tripling this recipe about twice.  We’re expecting about 50 people to come to the Lewis Family Gathering.

This is a recipe worth keeping.  It was delicious!!

Fresh Corn Relish Salad
4 large ears of fresh corn
1 ½ c. diced bell pepper
1 pint cherry tomatoes
1 c. English cucumber
½ c. red onion
1/3 c. fresh cilantro
3/4 c. fresh Cotija cheese
Fresh parsley

Dressing:
3 T avocado oil
1/4 c. lime juice
2 T. Red wine vinegar
1 T. Honey
1 tsp. Dijon mustard
1 tsp. Salt
1 tsp dried Parsley (fresh above instead)
½ tsp. black pepper
1/4 tsp. cumin
1/4 tsp. Garlic powder
1/4 tsp. Chili powder

We also made homemade ice cream for the party.

Caleb LOVES helping in the yard and wearing his work gloves.

After our visit to St. Louis, we returned to Orem and went to check on the new house, to see what changes had been made.  The walls are going up and the view of Mt. Timpanogos is Spectacular!

Every day from now on was filled with packing and moving.  We had lots of repairmen coming and going, fixing this and that.  We had the windows washed and cleared all the floors to have the carpets cleaned.  We filled more boxes and stacked more in the garage.  We have been filling the Farm House garage and upstairs.  Things are filling up!

That sofa in our master bedroom now holds most of my finished quilts.  It will stay that way until we can move them into the new house later.

We enjoyed a wonderful Sabbath with the kids.

From my journal:  Church here is at 9:00.  We filled our row with all the kids and saw people we remember from other visits.  Father’s Day wasn’t mentioned in the talks, but they handed out chocolate bars and then cinnamon rolls to all the men.  In Primary, Josie gave the Article of Faith and Clark gave a talk (we prepared on the way to the graduation last night).  He talked about David and Jonathan’s friendship and what a blessing friends can be in our lives.  He said he was grateful for his friends here and he was glad none of their dads tried to kill him.  It was a great talk.

Then we slipped into Adam’s Gospel Doctrine Class.  He’s been the teacher since about the first of the year and I can tell the class members have loved him.  Today was his last time teaching.  Next Sunday is their last week here.  The members here will be really sad to see this family go.  They have really contributed to the ward.  And word is getting out that Heidi is pregnant again.

On Monday we took the kids to Suson Park.  The kids had a great time with lots of farm animals–cows, horses, goats, sheep, pigs, turkeys, chickens and ponds with ducks.  We spent a few hours there with the kids touching and petting and feeding them.  Then we went to the playground area and the kids played.  Heidi takes them out somewhere every day.

This evening Clark had a baseball game.  We took them out to Burger King before the game to relieve Heidi of preparing a meal.  They’ve packed up a lot of their food like we have.

Clark is such a good athlete. He plays up one grade, so he’s the youngest one out there (also the tallest). He plays 1st base and he had some great catches and throws this evening. I felt really proud watching him. He also got on base each time he was up to bat. These little boys are very good at stealing bases. They are really fun to watch. Heidi said the coach, George, coaches several different sports and this same group of boys move from one sport to the next, so they’ve become really good friends. Clark will be really sad to leave them.

We leave tomorrow morning early.  I think the flight is at 8:00.  Ad will take us on his way to work.  He works until the end of the month, then he’s done.  The new job in PG starts Aug 25th.

We have 2 weeks to finish moving our of our home.  Adam’s family will leave here on July 7th and arrive in Orem July 8th.  Yikes!  These last 4 months have gone by in a flash!