July in Olympia

July was a weird month. We moved to Olympia, WA and spent a lot of time unpacking/setting up house/figuring out our lives, and we also hung out with our extended family a lot. So it honestly felt like a really weird vacation, in which we brought all our stuff along.

First weekend in WA, we headed to the Ape Caves for a hike with Ben, the Connors, & Kenny. It was amazing and I loved it. I hope we go every summer.

My brother Paul came to town with his boyfriend, Ryun, and we had some good times with them--family dinners, outings to Owen Beach

Spencer with my sister's girls: Lindsey and Jamie

Ian with Kenny

Ben, McKenna, Declan, Audrey

One night Audrey had a YW hike, and Spencer and Ian went to the YM activity, so after dropping Audrey off on her hike, I took Declan around the same area. It was beautiful, and Declan spotted a river otter that we saw twice.

Spencer took the kids on a bike ride to Evergreen State campus, which is right on the Puget Sound (that water is close to us in several directions, and we're about an hour from the Pacific).

We started finding frogs in the yard: here's the first one. Spencer found it while doing yard work and it made me so happy.

Deco found this one.

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Spencer found this one too.

We didn't take any pictures of the trials and challenges, but there have been many: tears of grief and frustration, no air conditioning in 80-90+ degree weather, having to spend so much to get reestablished, trying to find doctors, registering for kids school, and me looking for a job. I had a wonderful interview at a middle school but they chose another candidate. Nothing else good has come up, so my plan is to be a substitute teacher and keep looking. Spencer applied for a better job than the one that brought us here and made it far in the process before also getting a no. It's felt a lot like we can't catch a break, but we recognize our many blessings in spite of challenges. We miss Monterey, we're anxious about finances, and we're hot. But we have spent a lot of great time with our families, we're relatively healthy, we still like each other, and we have food to eat and money to pay the bills. We will be okay.

June--the rest

Audrey and I got to see Dear Evan Hansen at the San Jose Center for the Performing Arts. It was so good.

Spencer got to take his brown belt class the week before we moved. It was emotional! American Karate has become part of our family. I taught kickboxing there for the last several months, all three kids took classes, and the boys and Spencer were still actively progressing until we moved. We miss it very much.

Six days before the move, Audrey got her wisdom teeth out. She healed well and was such a good patient.

First day of the move, June 21st: Spencer's parents flew down and took our minivan and our three kids up to their house in Longview (which is an hour south of our new home in Olympia, WA). They had a fun road trip (Muir Woods, Jelly Belly factory) and a great time hanging out at Grammy and Grandpa's.

Meanwhile, my dad and brother flew down and helped us load up the moving truck, along with several friends. The Uhaul was packed tight, and then the four of us caravanned up to WA. We had help from our new ward (church congregation) with unloading, and we've been doing all the hard work of moving in ever since.

I'm so grateful for my wonderful family and all that they did to help us with this very challenging move. We miss Pacific Grove but we're doing our best to make Olympia our home.