Greetings From The Sticks...

Well...we made it. We drove up Friday and got to Orofino around 11:00pm. Jeff drove the moving truck, I drove the Yukon, and my parents followed me in their car. Jeff has been in Orofino for several weeks and I delegated the responsibility of finding a place for us to live to him.

It seemed an impossible task of finding a rental since the list is short and people want to sell their homes, not rent them out. We were getting discouraged and Jeff had mentioned to the ladies he works with that we were looking for a place. One of the girls knew of a man whose wife had passed away in October and was trying to sell his home so he could return to New Mexico where they had lived prior to moving here. Anyway...at first Mr.Bob wasn't interested in renting...he just wanted to sell. Then he came back and talked to Jeff and is letting us stay in his home while he keeps it on the market so that it's taken care of and he can get settled in his new place. It's really worked out quite nicely, however, Jeff certainly could have prepared me for the drive up to the house a bit better than he did. It's more than 5 miles up a winding mountain road that has almost no guardrail most of the way and part of it is dirt road. The first picture of this post is taken from the side of the road, not even at the highest point of the drive. There are some crazy drop offs that scare the you-know-what out of me and it didn't help that it was dark the first time we drove up here and we'd already been traveling for 5 hours. I just tried not to start bawling so that my vision wasn't blurred and kept telling myself that he was joking...although I failed to see the humor in it.

We pulled in and there was Mr.Bob to greet us and show us the house. My parents were less than thrilled about their son-in-law's decision but, in their defense, so was I. My mother kept having visions of little Ethan bouncing around on a school bus as he traveled up and down the mountain (that WILL NOT be happening) and imagining our vehicle soaring off the road. I can't say that I haven't worried about the same thing but there are so many people who live up here and even further up and we've been told that the only people who've ever gone off the edge were intoxicated...I guess I'll take some comfort in that. But it's a white-knuckle-stressed-out drive every time I go, so don't be surprised if the next time you see me I'm a bit hermit-ish and have forgotten how to act around people.

The views, though, are AMAZING. These pictures are taken from the kitchen window at the front of the house. Don't ask me what direction that is, I still haven't figured that out. But Mr.Bob sure has a vast collection of birdhouses, birdbaths, and birdfeeders so we get to watch them and our favorites are the little hummingbirds. 

Here's a picture of the back of the house. It's a different layout and the floorplan is certainly strange, but Mr.Bob and his wife built it for the two of them to grow old in. The home is 3000 square feet but there are just 2 bedrooms, the second one barely fits Ethan & Kamden's beds. Owen sleeps in the sunroom/office/hot tub room/etc. I'll post some pictures of the inside once I get done cleaning and unpacking and you can see what I mean. But we have lots of room for guests if anyone has the inkling to come visit!

The views from the back of the house are ok, I guess...

Mr.Bob has 35 acres and a private pond. We went on an adventure last night and hiked down to check it out. We saw a duck and heard some really loud bull frogs.

We see quite a few deer in the mornings down near the pond and Mr.Bob tells us that he gets a lot of them up near the house during the winter and even elk wandering through the yard.

So far these are the only wild animals that have come near the house...

We are starting to feel settled and have most boxes unpacked, thanks to Mr.Bob informing me Saturday morning that he was having an open house Wednesday before he leaves so I needed to "Have the place in some kind of order" by then. So it was a crazy, stressful weekend of cleaning and unpacking. THANKS to my parents for coming up, they did so much while they were here and worked really hard to help us get settled. Mom even cleaned the fridge which had stuff in there that expired in 2006.

We did manage to squeeze in some time to visit the fish hatchery where we got to watch them put tiny microchips into little fish before they set them free. The microchips scan each fish as they pass through dams and make their way to the ocean and then back to spawn. The boys even got to hold a baby fish and help send them on their way.

We went to church Sunday and everyone seems really nice. They have a decent sized Primary and Kamden is in Heaven since there are 6 girls in his class and he's the only boy! Ethan has 2 girls and 1 other boy in his class and he was pretty nervous about going at first but afterwords he said he was glad he went because he made some new friends, though he can't remember their names. We were even invited to a BBQ on Memorial Day so it was nice to get to know some of the ward members and our neighbors, though they live on the top of the mountain so I don't know how often I'll be paying them a visit. The boys LOVED it, they have cows, a rabbit, piglets, chickens, 2 dogs, and a black horse that when Kamden saw it he said "Look! They have a black horse, and it's the one I always wanted!"

It's been a hectic couple of months since we decided to move and we are so grateful for the wonderful family and friends that have supported us through this.

THANKS SO MUCH to all those who helped us move!
Mom

Dad

Charly

Brody

Callie

Elisa

Kennedy

Scott

Carol

Megan

Andy

Kristy

Kaycee

Kaydee

We are glad to be here together and thankful for the opportunity Jeff has to be starting a new job. We are also looking forward to coming home to visit in July!

Oh, and we got an offer on our home in Emmett and are crossing our fingers that will go smoothly. We have definatley been blessed and I'm so glad that even though sometimes things get stressful and I don't see how it will possibly work out, I'm so grateful to know that my Father in Heaven is aware of me and I know that somehow it will work out...and it always does.