Pioneer Days Rodeo!

Last night we went to the Pioneer Days Rodeo in Ogden. What a great adventure and appropriate since we are now unofficial "westerners"! The rodeo was part of the Pioneer Days celebration that has been going on all week here in Utah. Today was a state holiday complete with parade, rodeo finals, and fireworks. The rodeo theme was "Tough Enough to Wear Pink" in support of and to raise money for breast cancer research. Most of the participants were in pink and a good part of the spectators were as well. We outfitted ourselves at the local western wear store (that was quite an adventure!) and set out to see what a rodeo was all about. The arena is nestled next to the beautiful Odgen River and along the Ben Lomond Peak of the Wasatch Front. We had a great time and saw cattle roping, bull riding, bronco riding, barrel racing and even a rodeo clown to add to the entertainment. Very cool small town stuff! Enjoy the pictures. Love to all, Angie

These pictures are of the living room and the family room. The red couches are in the living room on the main floor of the house. The family room is huge and is located in the basement. The windows that line the family room are at ground level.

So, here is a weather update from Farr West. It has been incredibly hot this last few days with highs in the upper 90's. The temperature keeps flirting with the 80's but no long term luck yet. The humidity here is very low and so there is no melting of the makeup when you get in the car in the morning which is great, however, our skin is so dry that we can't get enough to drink or enough lotion to soothe our hands and feet! This morning, though, I woke up to very light sprinkles of rain. (I'm not sure you can call it that but the ground is wet from something other than the sprinklers!) The humidity is 69%, YES! I want to go stand outside and let the mositure pour over me and soak in!

We had a great Sunday just hanging out together. Everyone was home which just makes my day! We went to church, out to lunch, walking on 25th street, to the movies, home for dinner and then watched one of our favorite movies, "On Golden Pond" while eating brownies. I couldn't ask for a better way to spend the day.

The house is coming together little by little. We are missing a box which is a bummer because it has the glass shelving for one section of our wall unit and some nice glass pieces. Fortunately I brought everything that was not replaceable in the car with us. I'll call the truck driver today and see if he knows anything. All of the boxes are unpacked except for Sarah's since she was out of town last week. Today we will tackle her room and get things arranged. There is still a lot to do but it does feel great to have most of the house in order.

I love being home and taking care of my family and enjoying our time together. Bumper has to go back to school in just a few weeks so we will try to fit as much "fun" time in as possible before he leaves. I was offered a job at Washington Heights Baptist Church in a support position for the student ministries pastors. It will be quite different than FBCS on the stress level indicator and so I have decided to give it a try. I don't need to start until August and then I can work just a couple of days a week until I am ready to do a full-time schedule. They were very accommodating of the craziness that this move has been for our family and giving me time to settle in. I was not particularily in a hurry to get a job but there are only a couple of churches that are actually big enough to have a full time staff and I figured that if I wanted to stay in ministry work that I had better take the opportunity.

I love and miss you all! Thanks for your prayers, e-mails, responses to the blog, facebook messages and text messages. Thank goodness for the digital age or I would feel like I was in Siberia! Love, Angie

Good Morning Monday!

Good Morning! Today marks one week in our new home. Here are a couple of images from the deck. Across the alfalfa field is the farm from which we hear the roosters and horses in the morning. It is great to sit and have coffee in the morning looking out over the field and toward the mountains. We went to church yesterday - it was good but not home! Sarah is down in St. George for the week at a Speech and Debate Conference. We enjoyed our week of having everyone together and are sad that it ended so quickly. She will be home on Saturday. The weekend is over and that means back to work today! The box population is shifting from the main house to the garage. Many of them are now flattened and ready for disposal - they did not go down easily, but, I am now winning!

A Day Off From Unpacking

Today was the season opening of the Farmer's Market in downtown Ogden. We decided to take a day off from unpacking and check out the market. There were herbs, root vegetables, crafts, jellies, jams, baked goods, cheese and assorted other products for sale. This was also the opening of the Pioneer Days events so there were horses, a stagecoach (complete with a fake robbery!) and an antique tractor display. The market site is along the historic 25th street in Ogden. Many buildings date from the 1800's. Ogden was a "bad boy" town during the 1800's and early 1900's-apparently "too rough a city" for even Al Capone! It was a fun diversion from the boxes which continue to mock me but when I stick my tounge out at them they back off!

We Are Fighting Battles!

Battle One:

We are making a small dent in the box population here in the new house. We are hoping that soon we will outnumber them but it is a fierce battle. We find that they have used aliases to disguise themselves - their nametags may say "kitchen" but you can never be sure. They do not travel with like boxes and the numbers that they have tatooed on their sides do not coincide with anything we can understand. One called itself "trophies" but was actually Bumper's bed linens. We have given up having any order to this process and are resigned that every room in the house will just be a mess for a while. Pray for victory to come swiftly!

Battle Two:

The Laundry! It multiplies every minute. A week on the road, upacking, and a husband that has been living as a bachelor for four months is a deadly combination. There is more progress on this front than with the boxes but it continues to rage on unchecked.

On a lighter note, we met some of our neighbors last night. We have got some awesome banana bread for breakfast this morning compliments of the family that lives across the street. There are lots of children in the neighborhood and everyone seems friendly enough. Chuck said that he already knows more neighbors after three days here than after five years in our Florida house. He made a map and filled in the names of everyone that has come by-pretty good idea, huh?!

We have plans to go to the Farmer's Market in Ogden this weekend and the rodeo later this month. July 24th is a state holiday to celebrate the "pioneers" who settled Utah. Apparently it is quite a celebration.

I have to sign off now the boxes are mocking me!

Love to all and thanks for the continued prayers.
Angie

We Are In Utah.

Boy am I glad that drive is over! We arrived in Utah on Sunday afternoon and the moving van delivered our household goods yesterday. It took about 6 1/2 hours to unload the truck and most everything seems to be intact - Whew! We have got a lot of work to and we all voted to unpack the kitchen first! NO MORE FAST FOOD!

I enjoyed my first morning in the house. We woke to roosters crowing at the farm across the field. There are robins in the backyard and I found the coffe pot after searching only one box. It is so incredibly quiet out here. We went out last night and were pleasantly surprised at how many stars you can see.

I would not have asked for or ever expected a nicer home. Everything is beautiful - we almost get lost trying to find eachother. Marco - Polo is a constant cry! I'll post some pictures as soon as I can find my camera.

God has certainly blessed us in all of this. As hard as it was to make this change, every where we look there is beauty and affirmation.

Love to all!

Almost There!

We are in North Platte, Nebraska tonight. We have seen enough corn for a lifetime - do we grow anything else in the U.S? We will be in Utah tomorrow after an early start. The truck will be at the new house on Monday morning so I will beat him after all!

Happy Independence Day!

We are staying just outside of Kansas City, MO tonight. We started out about one hour east of Lexington, KY this morning at 7:00 am. We spent some time with Alex's Grandmother, Great Grandmother and his brother on Wednesday and Thursday. We even had a pre-4th BBQ last night complete with fireworks. It was great to see him have the time to spend with family and reconnect!


We drove through St. Louis today and around the "arch". The Mississippi River was so high that many of the trees around the arch were out in the water. The corn is "knee-high for the 4th of July". Just perfect as our Indiana friends say! It is definitely a prettier drive than when Chuck and I went out in March. Everything is lush and green this time.


We are hoping to be in Utah Sunday, mid-day. We may not have any furniture yet but Bumper has the wireless internet working! We have our priorities you know!

Charles and Mittens made it safely to Utah yesterday. No one on the plane even realized there was a cat under the seat. I can't imaging what must be going through her little head. She is now incaptivity in the laundry room of the new house! She receives regular visits from the guys for food, water and freedom.

Angie, Sarah and Alex left today, Tuesday, July 1st. We drove for 12 hours, well, we left Pembroke Pines 12 hours before we stopped in northwest Atlanta. Can't say we were driving all that time! We were really tired starting out and so we stopped a lot more than we should have. So far so good, we head to Kentucky tomorrow.

Thanks for your prayers and encouagement.

Angie