July 26th Funky Ghetto Ranch travel log

We left our house in Utah around 1pm on Thursday. We cried going out the gates for the last time, honking at our neighbor friends who lined up along the street as we drove away. We arrived in AZ at our rental house aka, the funky ghetto ranch, about 2am last Friday morning. When we got the key and went to open the front door, there was a skunk blocking the way. After trying to decide how to get in without getting sprayed, we decided to enter through the back. The kids raced upstairs to pick a room while we tried to unpack the essentials for sleeping, a mattress, a mattress topper, a few pillows and blankets and toothbrushes. We finally got to bed around 4am.

Sam and co. came to help unpack around 10am. The moving company (3 small but mighty) guys came around 1pm and stayed for 3 hours. They got all but a few boxes into the house. That was no small task--the (4 big )loaders who packed the trucks took 9 hours. Jake arranged the lease and realtor related things, Jerry put up beds, helped unload and did other helpful tasks, my Mom did laundry, ironed, cleaned the pool deck and pool, made us 3 or 4 meals, watched the kids, made beds and unpacked boxes. Liz helped with the kids and boxes, Molly & Todd played with the kids & helped unload the truck and we had visits from Dad, Jake & Kelly, Pete's family, Brigham's family, Sam's family. Oh, and the scorpions.

I was showering for church and put flip flops on because there was a dead roach in the shower the day before. I started the water and did a roach check. Nothing. So I'm washing my hair and i look down and there is a scorpion on the drain. I get down closer to make sure that's what it was and there is another one crawling around the edge. {insert grossed out, creeped out scream here}. Sophie had just been walking in and out of the shower while Todd was getting ready for church. I was ready to move.

We had pest control come, they sprayed 40 gallons of juice. Then we had a specialist come catch the live ones from the yard. We'll see how it works. We have to wear shoes, especially at night if you are walking around, shake out your shoes before putting them on, don't leave anything on the floor etc. I'm okay with the green carpet now, it's easier to see the scorpions. The house had been vacant for a year so hopefully now that someone is here, taking care of it, the bugs will vacate.

The kids are loving the pool. They play so well together and stay out there for hours. They have all sorts of games that they play. You can see the pool from the kitchen, eating area and family room, upstairs loft, master bedroom and both of the boys' rooms. They swim in the afternoon and again at night. Brynn is swimming by herself but mostly with a life jacket. Sophie is swimming with wings and loving it. It is a salt water pool which is better for our hair and doesn't smell like chemicals. We bought them a Wii the day we were loading up, so that's been fun for them too.

We've already had a visitor from our UT neighborhood-Dennis Dahl came down and took us to dinner at the Cheesecake Factory. He'll be down here again so it will be good to see him and hopefully their family once in a while. His wife Kathy was a good friend of mine, their son a friend of Chase's, and twins who were friends with Brigham. Dennis was also one of Chase's teachers at church.

Mom and Dad took the kids out on the town-to ballgames and to Uncle Brigham's house, Liz took the older ones bowling, Tuesday Dad took Chase and Brigham and Todd to an Arizona Diamondbacks game where they got to hit balls and throw pitches before the game. They ate lots of good food and had a fun time. The girls went to the Nordstrom sale and See's chocolate store and dairy queen. We also went to Liz's place of employment, the xrcade, a place for kids by the YMCA that has a rock climbing treadmill, obstacle courses, dance dance revolution, rowing machines, boxing games, and blowup things for the babies. We went to register the kids for school but the secretary was at a meeting so we'll do that tomorrow morning.

The weather hasn't been bad. It has rained a few times. Yesterday around 5pm it was 83 degrees. It does feel humid because of the monsoon season, but it has been about the same as we left in UT.

We still have many boxes around, I'm leaving a lot packed up. The ward was nice. It was strange to go at 10:45am for 11am church and be the first ones. In our ward we wouldn't even get a bench at that time. The YW program is small as is the primary.

Todd is out sanding and painting the boys' skateboards. We've seen a few skate parks so they want to look good when they go. Brigham said, "I haven't played with one friend". Coop and Cam sent letters to Brooke, Brynn and Brigham today and that cheered them up quite a bit. Thanks Aunt Heather! Brynn said, "Cam is the bestest cousin in the whole world. He plays with me and he likes me." Pete's three boys are coming to play tomorrow so that will be fun. I'll try to get some house pics tomorrow. I have to fight for computer time with the other three bloggers in the family.