So many changes

Rae Ann had her baby yesterday morning! No official name yet, so we're all waiting patiently. The birth went well-Mom told me Rae Ann's a real trooper for having her at home. I was able to take Stella by yesterday to meet the new little girl. Stella wouldn't stop kissing and hugging (and at times smothering) the baby. She cried like crazy when Mom pulled her off of the baby.

Yesterday was a seriously crazy day!

[STOP. If you don't want to read all of this, you can jump down to the summarization part and get the Cliff Notes.]

I woke up at 3:30am from Mom's phone call telling me that Rae Ann was in active labor. I drove out to North Portland to pick up the bean and then drove us both back to Clackamas in Mom's truck (what a treat that monster is) where we slept for maybe two hours. Uncle Tim came by just before 8am to relieve me so I could go to work. I gave my two weeks notice at work, which almost broke my heart. I'm so tired of retail, but I love the people I work with, so it's with mixed feelings that I'm leaving Starbucks. After work I rushed back to my apartment, changed, and headed to a job interview, the second in two days, although not for the same job. One job would be from home, the second would be...well, it's just so confusing and too much information to put into words right now. Needless to say, one would be super convenient (scheduling assistant to a mutual/annuity fund wholesaler) and one would be, well, a normal job (document handler at a fabrication shop). Oh, I guess I do have the words.

After the interview, I raced back to my parents house and relieved Tim from caring for Stella. She and I played for a few hours and then I drove us back to Tom and Rae Ann's to meet the baby. Nate met us there and we all hung around for a few minutes. Mom had been there all night and all day helping with the birth and then cleaning everything once the baby was born. Nate and I left from Tom and Rae Ann's to drive up to La Center, WA, to sign the renter's agreement so that we could move into our house on Saturday. We sat around and chatted with Dave and Tiffani (friends and landlords) for awhile, took care of business, and then headed out around 10pm. AND THEN, we sat in traffic on I5 for like an hour! Sooooo irritating.

Finally we made it home. and here I am this morning battling the same allergies that got to me last night in La Center. So, to summarize:
1. there's a new kid around
2. I gave my notice at Starbucks-my last day is June 12th
3. Nate and I are moving on Saturday
4. I'll be starting a new job on the 13th of June

...and that's THAT!

Silly photos were supposed to post with the last blog. Gosh.

Did you know it's illegal to remove pine cones from the national forest? I didn't...Dad made Mom and I drive outside of the perimeter to pick up massive pine cones, but when we got back to Suzi's in Visalia, we found a tiny green pine cone in the trunk of the car, taken from the Sequoia park...Oh Dad.















And way down there at the bottom, Uncle Lonnies beautiful car...

Some pictures from California

Pretty quickly after Grandad died, we all scrambled to pull together our individual travel arrangements. I was a lucky girl to be able to go to Visalia at all, and even luckier to be on the same flight as Mom and Dad. The pictures are from the Portland airport, at the beginning of the trip...





The weather in Visalia was so nice! Hot, but wonderful. And Suzi has the greatest, most bestest pool ever that we were able to take total advantage of! Mom dove in after one of her morning jogs.



I took some pictures of the Powell's house to show Nate when I got home so that he'd be familiar with it when we go back for Christmas in December. Karina jumped right in to help...



We had lasagna for dinner one night and Karina dumped it all down her shirt...She stuck her clothes in the washer and came out wearing shorts for a shirt and a shirt for shorts, a really winning combination!

Tom's B-day Party from May 6th

The title pretty much says it all! Grandad passed away on May 5th, so it was nice to celebrate a birthday at take our minds from the next week's plans of a funeral and memorial service. We all got together at the Peil's house and barbequed in the back yard. The weather was perfect! And the food...oh so good.

The Peil's House that I Want to Call New, But It's Not Because They've Lived There For Awhile Now...

Our new house!

It's just so exciting! Nate and I are moving into a house in Clackamas on the weekend of June 3rd. It's beautiful and we're just so...well, excited!!!

Here are some pics of the place:









We'll be moving in the weekend of June 3rd.

Don't worry, we'll have a get together when we're all settled!