Moving Adventures

We'd been packing for a couple of months in an effort to get things done a little bit at a time for our big move to California, but Thursday, April 29th marked a turning point. We had already said our hardest goodbyes to friends in the Pacific Northwest and that day Dave arrived as the first of the moving crew. Unfortunately, the following day didn't go as planned with medical issues that left me unable to lift more than 10 pounds and Micah with a cast on his arm. Thankfully, we were both fine and started recovering well, but it left our moving crew shorthanded. Mom flew up the next day to help us out; between her and Dave we made a lot of progress that week.

Still, I agreed with Mary's enthusiasm when she heard that reinforcements were on the way - Dad, Heather, and Natalie drove up Wednesday.

Photo: Heather

The following morning dawned bright and sunny. Dave, who was staying over at the coast, arrived and, after a pancake breakfast with homemade Oregon blackberry syrup, he and Joshua went to pick up the U-haul truck.

Photo: Heather

The kids, of course, thought the huge truck was exciting.

Photo: Heather

Photo: Heather

Our irises bloomed just in time for us to enjoy them.

Photo: Heather

The day was chaotic with lots of packing boxes, moving stuff around, and loading the truck, but we made a ton of progress.

David and Mary spent as much time as they could hanging out in the truck and watching the progress.

Photo: Heather

Furniture disappeared and more and more boxes appeared.

Photo: Heather

Late in the afternoon, we had visitors. Uncle Ray and Aunt Joanna came down to pick up some pistachio wood from Dad and visit. They were able to stay for dinner and dessert, and it was fun to see them again.

Joshua and Natalie grilled together.

Photo: Heather

Photo: Heather

We had blackberry crisp to use up our Oregon blackberries in a festive farewell to the area.

Photo: Heather

Friday was cool and rainy, but mostly just sprinkled so it didn't interfere too much with the loading.

Photo: Heather

We kicked things off with donuts, eggs, and fresh fruit.

Photo: Heather

Photo: Heather

Mary got to help Aunt Heather empty the strawberry pot in the backyard, mostly she kept herself busy finding and smashing slugs.

Photo: Heather

Photo: Heather

The loading continued while inside we packed the last remaining things.

Photo: Heather

By the afternoon, things were pretty empty. Dad, Joshua, Heather, and Natalie took one last trip to Smith Family Bookstore, then we had takeout from Tacovore for dinner and ate sitting around the empty kitchen.

Photo: Heather

Finally, all that was left to do was to take some pictures in front of the house. It was a great house for us, and we loved our time in Oregon. There are many people and things we will miss about the area, but we are excited to be close to our families again.

Photo: Heather

Joshua took Mary around the house to say goodbye to all the rooms before she went to bed.

Saturday, May 8, was the big moving day. Joshua left early in the morning and met his dad in Sutherlin. They arrived in Modesto and were met by Isaac, Evan, Micah, and Lamar. The six of them worked on moving everything from the truck into a storage unit.

The rest of left around six. The kids and I rode in the big blue van with Dad and Natalie while Mom drove our car and Heather rode with her.

We stopped at the storage unit to say hi and get some Gatorade for the thirsty crew.

 

Things were moving right along. We got back on the road and drove the rest of the way to Visalia. It was a long day after a long week, but we got everything where it needed to be. Most of our stuff went into storage because we're planning to live with Dad and Mom for a few months. Joshua stayed in Modesto that night and had Mother's Day breakfast with his mom the next day before coming to join us. It was a relief to be done with this stage of the move, and we are grateful for all the help we had along the way.