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Hello out there!
It's been a crazy couple of weeks that's for sure. About two weeks ago I was feeling pretty homesick and depressed. Mike felt my pain so he sent out a few resumes and got a hit almost immediately. The job is in Aliso Viejo, CA... exactly where I want to be! So, the flew him down for an interview and offered him the job that day.

Then it got crazy... Michael starts kindergarten this year and school starts on September 2nd... so that meant I had to leave ASAP so I could go get him enrolled in his new school. The kids and I left Oregon on Tuesday... the DVD player was hooked up and ready to go. We started the day pretty early and headed south. Our first stop was a small town in Southern Oregon called Winston. They have a Wildlife Safari which we stopped to check out on a reccomendation from a friend. I'm glad we did because the kids and I had a blast. Hayden of course made the adventure interesting... we got out of the car to go to the gift shop and both boys wanted a stuffed snake so we got a red one for Hayden and a green one for Michael... then over to the tot lot so they could burn off some steam and play for a while... that's when Hayden saw the pond and decided to run full speed ahead right into the middle of it... talk about YUCK!!! It was a frog pond... not a nice clorinated pool. So my feet were covered with frog muck... not to mention Hayden's brand new shoes which he happened to be wearing at the time... the first time. So, that was enough of that... we headed to the car and got him changed, shoes off, before our journey through the safari.

The safari itself was great. They had just about every animal you can think of. They now have a stuffed red snake compliments of Hayden. Signs were posted everywhere along the way not to get out of the car and when the snake went out the window I seriously thought about breaking the rules and risking my life for the $6 stuffed avenger but I thought better of it... I don't think the Bison would have attacked but you never know.

After the Safari we kept driving to Yreka where we stayed at the Best Western... very clean and comfy if you find yourself in Yreka and tired. The kids and I went swimming and had a good time then got some dinner and went to bed.

Hayden got us up bright and early on Wednesday... actually it was early but not so bright. So we got up and got an early start on our second day of drivng. This was our longest day. We drove from Yreka to Kettleman (think that was the name) and stayed at another Best Western where the beds were ok but the room itself was really nice... flat screen TV and a spa tub. All in all that day we drove the most... probably 500 plus miles. Thank god for the DVD player is all I have to say... oh that and Starbucks.

Thursday we got up and got on the road by 9 and headed to complete our journey. We arrived in LA around 11:30 AM... all I can say is SMOG... OMG! I could not believe how smoggy it was. I don't know how people live there. I hate LA.

By 1 we were at my Dad's house and the kids were thrilled with their new temporary home and the chance to run around and play freely.

Anyway, Michael is all enrolled. School starts on Tuesday. We are headed to the beach tomorrow to spend the day in the sun and visit with my friend Elizabeth. It feels great to be back and nice to move to a place where you already know friends, have family, and know the area like the back of your hand.

Sorry I don't have pictures of this post. I'll add them later when I get my computer hooked up. It's still in Oregon with Mike... who will be joining us in about two weeks. This time it's he who gets to stay behind and deal with the move... although he has it easy... house is halfway packed and he wont have any kids to contend with.