Follow That Penske Truck!

We are finally here! On Wednesday we squished all Aldama belongings into a little 16 foot Penske. It took Dan 3 plus attempts to fit everything in, but he managed to do it. That night we closed our doors and crashed at my parent's house. We slipped away in the middle of the night (3:45) to get an early start on the road. Dan's parents helped us with the tedious drive. We shuffled seats and took turns with the driving. It took us almost 14 hours, but all went well. We could not have done the whole move without their help. It was a long drive, though Corom slept most of the way and Noelle talked the whole time! That night we spent the night with my Aunt April and Uncle John.

The next day, the adventure really began! We got the keys to our little apartment. A girl walked by and said, "You are moving all by yourselves..let me go make some calls!" For the next few hours our stuff kept marching up the stairs being carried by tons of unfamiliar faces. Our new ward members (neighbors) came to the rescue with an overwhelming welcome! There is something really humbling about watching people work so hard to help us get settled. It turns out that our new student ward is our courtyard. (Three buildings) The only thing that didn't make it was our couch. Off to the DI because we couldn't get it up the stairs. For now we have one recliner. Whoever is the quickest gets to sit down!

We are getting settled a little at a time. We are just trying to figure out where to put everything. What do people do without garages? Camping gear? Bikes?????? Anyways, we are feeling really blessed. We have been fed by John and April 3 times this week and are making new friends every time we go down to the playground in the courtyard. (Just at the bottom of the stairs) Dan started UPS this morning and will begin school next week. I'll post pictures once we put the place together. It kind of looks like the kind of mess you make on Christmas morning right now with all of the boxes and displaced stuff. We love you all and miss you like crazy! Noelle keeps asking to visit her people in Sacramento. She'll understand in time! We'll keep you all posted. If anyone has a webcam, let us know. We would love to keep in touch that way!