Utah

I've been keeping a running total of all the things people ask about, and all the things I find good, bad or ugly!

First: Our house

It's a split level, built in typical Utah fashion. There are 4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms. Three bedrooms upstairs (master and kids) and a bedroom downstairs that we are using as a storage/ computer room. The bedrooms are ok sized- it's a good thing we didn't bring all our stuff though! There is a living room on the middle floor and a great room in the basement. It's a good layout- my only complaint is the kitchen and bathrooms. The kitchen has absolutely no cupboard space and a very little pantry. We put one of the armours from our bedroom in the kitchen to double as a cupboard! Its really ok- I just had to be really creative in finding room for everything. The bathrooms only have a single sink, with just the counter space around the sink. So- no storage place there either. The master bathroom at least had a medicine cabinet behind the mirror- but I had to put stuff in the window sill and on top of the medicine cabinet! We finally went to IKEA on Saturday and bought some cheap shelves so we have room for all our crap! (I should say, my crap- I'm the one with all the hair stuff!)

Our back yard is small- but at least has grass so the kids can play outside. We have a few dirt piles- and of course that's all they play with. The dirt here is not dry and brown like in AZ, but wet and black. So we've had to take baths a few times after playing outside! We have a plethera of 'potato bugs' (also known as rolly pollies) and Kate and Clark are really enjoying that. One thing we had to get used to is the fences. In AZ everyone has block fences 10 feet high, so you can't see in your neighbors yard. Well not here. No privacy in your back yard!

Two: The city of Lehi

It's fairly small compared to Mesa, and still has that small town feel to it. It was at one time a farming community, and just gradually gets bigger with more housing developments. The crazy thing is- there is still only 2 major roads that have everything on it. Everything else is residential. The nice thing is that the subdivisions are not nearly as big as the ones in Queen Creek and there are still alot of big lots with horses and such. Kate and Clark love to see the horses every where we go.

Theres a WalMart, Target, Kohl's, Old Navy, Costco, Home Depot and even a Cinemark- so it's not like we're totally in hick-ville.

We spend alot of time at the Library, pool, and park.

Three: Our Ward

It's a typical Utah ward, our boundaries are no more that about 6 streets. That was a bit weird for me. Kinda like being a missionary in Idaho again. It's good in that you get to know all your neighbors pretty well, but bad that everyone sees everything you do. We don't feel 'at home' here yet, and I'm not sure that we ever will. Everyone that we've met have been really nice- we just haven't met that many! We haven't had anyone approach us at church to ask us if we're new- so I kinda get the impression that people move in and out of here quickly, and that it's such a big ward that not everyone knows everyone else. We have some great neighbors across the street who have adopted us- and probably because the wife is a native to Arizona too. She's a few years older than me- but she's cousins with my best friend, Mandy Gardner. Some of you probably know her- Dee Dee Gardner, now Dee Dee Shlappi.

Four: The Weather

I can not complain about the beautiful weather. It was a bit cold the first few days we were here- I had to find some warm clothes for the kids! It's finally starting to warm up, the nice thing is that it still cools down at night. It's usually in the 80's- 90's and this weekend it's supposed to get up to 98! So it kinda feels like Arizona in March. From our house you can see the mountains and there is still snow on the top! Crazy.

Five: Radio Stations

What is up with Utah not having ANY good radio stations. Maybe those of you from Utah can point me in the right direction- but all the one's we found are just weird. They'll play hip hop and then 80's butt rock! So needless to say- I just stick to my IPOD.

Six: WalMart

You know you're in Utah when....... Only in Utah will you find " Mormon" things at Walmart. For those of you who are Mormon, you'll get a kick out of it- if you're not, it probably won't make much sense. Here's what you can find: 1) 55 gallon water barrels 2) Whole section of LDS books and movies 3) Entire isle of canning products 4) long term food storage 5) " Shelf-Reliance" shelves for number 10 cans

All in all, I'm learning to like Utah- not that I don't long to be at home in Arizona!