June 08

Dear Family & Friends,

We have moved. I flew back to Boise last Thursday, we picked up the moving truck and started loading it Thursday afternoon and evening, finished up loading Friday morning, drove down to Utah and got to our new home Friday night to start unloading. We decided to simply rent for a while. It got us back together faster and it allows us to be more choosy in our home buying and wait for the right deal. It also helps to get a feel for the area and where we really want to be. It is so great to be back together as a family after the past few months. I have lived in my friends basement or camped out in my office for the past 3+ months and had driven home every Friday night and back to Utah again every Sunday evening - so we are VERY grateful to be back together as a family. The concept of driving "home" to my family last night was surreal. It was so great to have family night together for the first time in months.

The past few weeks have been a bit of a whirlwind for our family. It started a couple of weeks ago - Lareen's brother Bryan who has been living down the street and who Lareen has been helping a lot, is getting married. Lareen is taking charge of the reception, open house and pretty much everything else she can touch (of course) so their open house was in Weiser on the 31st of May.

That night we came home to a message on our answering machine from my sister letting us know that my father was in the hospital and to include him in our prayers. He had accidentally drank some chemicals the previous week and it had triggered pneumonia. By noon the next day (Sunday) I had received word that my siblings were gathering in Idaho Falls to say goodbye to my father. We planned a 4pm meeting on Monday based upon the planned arrival of my brother who had to fly in from Ohio (that was the soonest he'd be able to arrive). I was able to spend Sunday night and Monday with my Dad and will be forever grateful for that time with him. My siblings, mother and myself were able to have a very spiritual final couple of hours around my father's bed and were able to say goodbye in an appropriate and peaceful way. I drove home Monday night, picked up my family and returned to Idaho Falls on Tuesday for the viewing and funeral on Wednesday.

We hurried home Wednesday night so our kids could attend their last day of school at their Charter School on Thursday - giving them an opportunity to say goodbye to their friends. Friday Lareen spend most of the day preparing for Bryan's wedding and reception that was held on Saturday and I started packing with the kids. The wedding was great! Lareen's father was able to perform the sealing in the Boise Temple (the first time he was able to do this for one of his children) and it was a very happy occasion!

Sunday night was Jarom's Eagle Court of Honor. He has worked hard to get everything done so that we could wrap this up with his friends and leaders in Idaho and so that we didn't have to worry about changing Districts, Councils etc. in the middle of the process (I've heard that is a nightmare). At the conclusion of the Court of Honor I drove to Utah to get back to work - arriving at my office at 2am for a brief nights rest on my cot.

Lareen was now in high gear (as if she had a lower gear :-) with parties for all the kids, and their friends and cousins, a party for her primary class from church, and Emma's big 8 year old Birthday Party! In the midst of that Lareen was trying to continue packing and wrap up things and return things from the wedding and reception.

So - we are grateful to be done with all that... Lareen definitely needed to change gears and slow down!

We love our new neighborhood. We have had much help, cookies, treats, help and offers for friendship from our many GREAT new neighbors. We walked to church on Sunday (we used to drive about 7 miles to Church one way). Jarom was one of 4 his age - now there are 24. Hannah was the only girl her age - now she has 19 in her primary class. There are 60 young women in our new congregation - so Logan has a plethora of new friends. Emma and Jarom have already been around the neighborhood making new friends. Logan and Hannah are little less overt - but have some activities coming up that will get them integrated well.

We are SO grateful for the many ways our family has been blessed and received tender mercies from the Lord during this entire 3+ month time frame culminating in the last couple of crazy weeks. It has drawn us closer together and strengthened us. We are very grateful and have much to look forward to as we open up a new chapter in our lives here in Highland Utah.