Richie drove the truck and I had the kids in the van. They are generally very good travelers. We hold off on movies as long as possible by letting them each choose what CD we're going to listen to, or what book we're going to listen to. On this trip, I specially purchased (a bunch of fun snacks) and the Frozen 2 soundtrack. The kids were thrilled with new music and it was literally the only CD we listened to the whole way up, and we all loved it! :) By the end of the journey, we practically had the lyrics memorized!
The majestic Utah mountains gradually gave way to the big skies of Idaho. Both are equally beautiful in my opinion. We stopped in Burley, where Richie always remembers stopping when they came to visit Grandma Linda, and miracle of all miracles, my old college roommate was at the gas station! I remember Alisha being from Burley, but the last I heard, she didn't live there now. It must have been heavenly orchestrated. That's the only way I can explain it. How fun to run into her! We ate lunch at Perkins, where Alisha used to waitress and where Richie and I ate on our way up to the cabin for our honeymoon. It was a special treat.
The closer we got to Nampa, I could feel butterflies in my stomach. We lived here for that one summer, and then been back a few times for funeral's etc, but that's it. And I had never seen the house before. Richie had walked through it once. The closer we got to our home, I couldn't believe this was our new scenery! Corn fields, wheat fields, sugar beets, hay, barns, cows grazing...It was just picture perfect. The previous renter had just left that Saturday, and we managed to get the carpets cleaned Monday morning before we moved in. I was grateful that even though the carpets were still wet, at least I knew they were cleaner than before. The previous owner obviously had dogs, and you could smell it. We will replace the carpet sooner than later. There is also an endless list of projects to do both inside and outside the house. The inside of the house is definitely livable and comfortable, but super outdated. Our favorite part is all the storage space in the kitchen. Our least favorite part is the Master Bedroom and Bathroom. Miles is thrilled to get his own room this time around. Benson kept wandering around wondering where the basement was. :) We luckily had some help sent over by Richie's cousin Jared and basically both pods were unloaded within a few hours. Richie's cousin Cam and his family came to help us arrange things, and my friend Lauren came over with her family and brought us cleaning supplies, bread, and dinner for everyone. WOW!
The first bit of settling in is always total chaos. We have been here 3ish weeks now as of this post, and still slowly settling in. Benson found some grease and covered himself in it, found a tiny shovel and muddy spot to dig in, and got shocked by the electric fence all within the first hour of being here. Although it was exasperating, we couldn't help but smile and think, "Yep! This is why we're here! To let the kids run around and get into a little trouble." We also walked up the lane to visit Richie's uncle Shannon that first week. The kids were kindly mauled by his 2 HUGE St. Bernard's and I don't know if some of them have fully recovered :) but he has been so welcoming and has the coolest swing set ever! He leases his 50 acres to a farmer and this year it's all planted in corn, so his house is basically hidden. It's his own little world! So fun!
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