Hello People

We made it safely to Michigan. We've had some hiccups but we are mostly in the clear now. The drive was slow because of construction and Charlie pulling a trailer with our other van behind the moving van. We got here late Friday night and had no power. So with some creativity and some mirror closet doors we made some light in parts of the house. Thank goodness some of the ward had come and cleaned the house for us ahead of time because there would've been now way we could've stayed here that night had they not. Also, because there wasn't power, the sump pump in the crawl space hadn't been working so the crawl space was flooded. The bishop had been over earlier in the week to pump it out. He said they had pumped for 3 hours and probably pumped out about 10,000 gallons of water! But it had another couple inches when we arrived. The water is just about gone now, but we will have to go down there and take care of the mold that is down there now. What fun.

We didn't actually get the power on until Sunday morning. That was an adventure. At least we had water, although it wasn't warm water. We had the phone turned on on Monday and also found out that the stove wasn't working. Tuesday we found the right shut-off valve for the stove in the crawl space and then found that the pipe to the stove had a leak. So yesterday we successfully found the right size pipe and installed it. Now I can cook! We also had to go buy an electric dryer yesterday because the hook-up in the house was electric but we have a gas one. So now I get to catch up on laundry today, lots and lots of laundry. Yesterday and the day before we raked about an acre in the backyard. They have a really big yard that hadn't been mowed, well at all this season. So one of the ward members came with his brush hog and mowed down the long grass and then we got to rake it. Now we can keep up on it and it won't be such hard work. So the house is just about where it needs to be.

The kids are doing well. Lexi and Merrit are going to be at Charlie's parents' house for the next couple of weeks to work with the goats they will be showing at the 4H fair the week of the 12th through the 19th. They think it's fun and I'm glad they have something constructive to do.

Our pets aren't adjusting very well. Meg hates being in this house. She's nervous all the time and tries to get out every chance she gets. Mosi just hides all the time, especially when we are here and awake. I hope they get over it.

Charlie's side of the family is having a family reunion this Saturday at his parents' house. I'm looking forward to it. I love his family, for the most part. They are great fun to be around. Then on Sunday, his brother is blessing his new baby girl. That should be a good time too. Although, their ward begins at 8:30 am and they are a good hour drive away. That won't be a good time trying to get my family there. Oh well, the things we do for family sometimes.

Hope you all are well. I want lots of people to write on this blog so I can stay in the loop better. Love you all!