Coburn Kids

So much to tell, not able to do pictures yet either but suffice it to say we are all here in one piece.  Driving 1200 miles in 2 days with 3 kids… NOT RECOMMENDED. They actually did pretty good, only 2 or 3 melt downs, but hey, I was about ready to melt down as well after being stuck in a car for 10+ hours a day.

First off let me do a round of thanks to our wonderful ward members in UT who helped us move (especially JJ who is a genius apparently at fitting things into a moving truck), to my brother Ryan for moving and helping us chuck 1/2 our house into a dumpster.  To my sister-in-law, who was the fire I needed (seriously, if I could have that motivation every day I could perform miracles!) to stay on task and work me to the point of collapse. To my lilttle brother for driving with us, giving my husband a break, helping me to laugh and to load and unload the truck (only 1 more time Jason!)  To my parents for taking the time off work to help us move, drive with us, unpack, watch the kids, keep my sanity and a million other little things that made it all possible. To the new neighbors here in IL who have been so welcoming!  To our new ward members who helped us move in and whom I’ve met at church. To my in-laws who unpacked, kept the kids out of the way of heavy moving/falling objects. To my new neighbor Vito who has all ready helped us slide around one disaster by fixing the sump pump that flooded our basement. And a special thanks to Dix, Nebraska for showing us where all small town horror movies get their inspiration from.

We’re still a bit bummed to have had to leave UT and all the wonderful neighbors, ward members and my family, but we are settling in and really enjoying IL.  Not the weather though, which has been rainy, gloomy and biting cold. We got Gena registered for school, which was a task in itself.  You  have to prove your entire family lineage, show every identifying information that you possess that the spawn next to you is indeed your offspring, produce all tax records for the last a decade, give a DNA and blood sample, have your child thoroughly examined by every doctor/specialist/therapist/nurse in a 10 mile radius and then finally a utility bill. Wait…  a utility bill?  How can I produce that I just moved in 2 days ago?  Oh, call the utility company to see if they can print something off for you.  Call all of them, and am told that nope, we can’t print something off until you receive your first bill. As an alternative the school asks you to produce an IL driver’s license with your new address.  Great.  Drive down to get one.  Wait… I have to have a utility bill to get a license?  IT’S A VICIOUS CIRCLE!! The gas, power and water company hold all the power.  You can’t register your child for school without a utility bill, you can’t get a driver’s license without a utility bill, you can’t get a bank account without a driver’s license.  It’s a conspiracy.

We got it all settled though and today she took the bus to school.  We live a 1/2 mile from the school, apparently in her district everyone is bussed.  Gena was thrilled though to get to ride on the bus.  She is loving all the different things at her school like music class, Gym (they had P.E. at her old elementary but here, since they only have 1 recess a day, they have Gym every day as well). She attends a K-2 school right now.  Next year she’ll go to the 3-5 grade school which is right next to it.  Interesting they do that but perhaps better then doing portables and year-round schooling to fit all the children. We’re getting Adessa registered for Kindergarten as well and she’s excited for that.

Caden is being clingy.  You can’t put him down.  Whenever he sees me reach for my jacket he starts to cry, the poor boy thinks I’m going to abandon him or something. He was starting to get a bit of seperation anxiety when we left UT but this whole move has just bumped it up a notch.

I’ll try to get some pics up tomorrow!