Strange Ridgecrest Creatures

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Finished Painting

Our appraisal finally happened on Friday. We finished painting at 3 a.m. that morning and then got up and cleaned house and yard the next morning. We're still waiting to hear the results, but hopefully all the work will have been worth it. It's a good thing it didn't happen when it was originally supposed to because we never would have been done on time. There were so many little problems in every room that had to be dealt with, it took MUCH longer than normal painting. But everything turned out pretty nicely!

So, here are the updated pictures:

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My pictures of the rest of the house didn't really turn out. The hall is white now instead of yellow with macaroni and cheese trim. I'll try and retake pictures of the living room and kitchen. Another day. For now, I'm going to chillax (that's an Omar word) and listen to the crazy desert wind, happy that I don't have to get up and paint in the morning. :)

Desert Sky

The sky was beautiful tonight. I was tired and grumpy, but it was soul healing to look out the window. I love the colors in the desert. This is the view from my front window.

Blessedly Strange Blessings

Life has been strange lately here in the Crest. In awful and wonderful ways. I'd like to tell you about two of our family's blessings in particular.

We were back in Gridley for a few days last week to attend the funeral of a good friend of mine. It was nice to see our families for a minute.

I was supposed to make the trip alone with the boys. But when it came time to leave I had a little crying break down. My husband took pity on me and threw some things together and came with us. As we were driving home he told me he had felt like we were going to break down and taht is why he decided to come.

We drove at night both ways so the boys would sleep and it wouldn't be so awful for them. On the way home Saturday night we noticed how lonely the Tehachapi highway was in the dark desert late at night. I was really glad my husband was there with me.

Well... on the way home from Church the next day, in the parking lot as we started the car actually, our belt blew off with our air conditioning compressor. We haven't had the van to drive since then as we've been trying to finish the house before our assessment today. That's one blessing.

The second... A few days before we left to Gridley I was making Spaghetti for dinner and I as I stirred I splashed the boiling water and burned my stomach badly. It hurt to the point that I couldn't stop trembling--reaffirming the fact I do not want to burn to death, but anway.(I know, I know... I'm a spazz, but that's not the point of the story this time, bear with me!)

I'm so grateful for these two experiences. We've had  wonderful opportunity to teach Helaman about how Heavenly Father loves us and really hears our prayers.  Before we left to come home from Gridley we said a prayer that we would be safe. And we made it all the way here and dropped the belt 4 blocks from our house at church the next day. When I burned my stomach Helaman prayed for me at family prayer and in his personal prayers that night. After he went to bed  we were talking about how cool it would be if I was healed and his prayers were answered so he would learn about how Heavenly Father really hears him. Well, I woke up in the morning pain free, it never hurt again. We have talked about it a lot since then, and how we made it home safely after we prayed. I'm so grateful for the opportunities we've had to teach our son such powerful lessons about God's love lately--and I praise His name for my burnt stomach and broken car. :)

Some guys grandpa

One of the counselors in our bishopric today was speaking about the kind of way God loves us. He told a story about when he was in college and broke his tooth. He called his grandfather who was a retired dentist. His grandfather came and picked him up and helped him take care of it. He was comforting the whole time and when he dropped him off, he gave him a hug and said, "Mortality is hard, isn't it?" The amazing thing about was that his grandfather was dying of cancer at the time. But he didn't talk about how he was feeling, or suffering, he just loved his grandson.

And that is how God loves us. He's sad about the bad choices of his children, I'm sure he's busy. But in our interactions with Him, it's never about that.

That's what I need to do better. That's the kind of mom and wife I dream of becoming. There's always been this image in my head, but somehow, that story today solified to me what it really was. I need to stop worrying about how I feel and what my complaints are and focus on theirs. Even when I'm tired or stressed or busy.  This week, that's the goal...

Llael's Pictures

Jelly just uploaded her pictures to facebook, so I can post some of them now. If you missed it, there is a lot longer post before this one on what's up in Ridgecrest.

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Living in the Crest

Well, we've been here for 18 days now. It doesn't seem possible that it's been that long, and yet it seems like longer at the same time. We're making progress on our colorful house (more on that later) thanks to a LOT of help. Omar's sister Llael came down with us for two weeks. She's a slave driver and we got a lot done while she was here. Well, a lot other than sleeping--we didn't do much of that! My mom and Greta and Michael and Tara and Ava came for a day and helped tons, too! We're really grateful for the families God gave us. What would we do without them?

We've been having fun mixed in with the work, too. When my family was down here we went to Texas Cattle Company and my mom bought us all lunch. That place is fun, but SO much food! The cups are a even huge, a Liter a drink. (You don't even want to know how much soda Omar had that day!) Then we went to L.A. to visit Omar's brother and play at the beach with Llael for a couple of days. Lots of good food and good company there. We take daily trips to Home Depot where there are shoppping carts that are race cars (like Lowe's in Yuba City), which Isaiah LOVES. And there is a park close to our house that we go to almost every day.  The boys like having a back yard that isn't rocks to play in, also. Yesterday as he headed out the door Helaman told me, "Sunny days make me happy!"

Isaiah was walking when we first got here, but he refuses to walk now unless he's holding your hand. He doesn't really use you to balance, but just insists on the security. Probably had one too many falls on the hard wood floor and tile. Poor baby. He continues the tradition of crawling around and finding "ca-ca" to give me off the floor, and it's a lot easier to find without carpet!

Helaman loves primary here (that's a huge relief!) and can't wait to go, walking in and sitting with a huge grin on his face. We've been really enjoying church, too. We like our ward and so far church has been a spiritual feast every week. Plus with all these smart people (all the engineers and scientists on the base) they get into some fun discussions.  It's kind of like being in a BYU ward, for those of you that have done that. Actually, almost everyone in our ward is from BYU, so that's not far off. The government recruits heavily from there.

Helaman has made a friend at the park named Michael (who is really impressed that I have a brother by the same name). I think they were supposed to be friends. The first time we came this summer we took Helaman to McDonald's one night to let him run around at the play ground. There was one other kid there, who he actually played with (not standing there watching shyly). Michael talks as well as Helaman, but he's the same age, so it was perfect for him. He's not as cautious, and a lot more active than my little worrier, but I think that's good for him. When we ran into him again at the park we were surprised and happy. They play together at the park a few evenings a week.

As for the heat in Ridgecrest... it's not as bad as Gridley has been lately. The sun does beat down on you becasue there's no refraction from the humidity that doesn't exist. But it the shade, it doesn't feel bad at all without the humidity that doesn't exist. The trouble is finding shade in the desert!

I have a few pictures to share, I need to get the rest from Llael, she was our documentary picture taker while she was here, and I forgot to get the pictures from her camera before she left.

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Homelessness

It's official, we're moving. The truck just drove away with all of our worldly possession, and we're homeless for the next few hours. We're leaving early tomorrow morning for Ridgecrest. It still doesn't feel real. Helaman has been taking it pretty well, and Isaiah doesn't care. We're sad and excited and numb all at the same time. Crazy!

Thanks for everything everyone. We've loved living here and getting to know you. Being adults in Gridley has been wonderful in ways we didn't understand as kids. We'll miss you!