We Made It!

We made it to Death Valley! We drove down Tuesday and Wednesday, and Kaiya was amazingly good on the drive. I expected screaming the whole way, but she was pretty content to play in the carseat, at least the first day. We moved in to our house, and I have been taking pictures to post, but forgot to load them on the computer, so next time. We don't have internet at home, but the visitor's center does WiFi for a few hours a day, so the blog lives! We also dont' have cell service, but got a landline instead. It's like we're living in the 1970s. So far we love it here. The house is great and the view is beautiful! More later with pictures when I can remember to load them!

A Cute Photo

It's Kaiya's first pose! She'll often smile for the camera if I ask her to, but she never holds it long enough for me to actually get the picture. So here's her very first smiling pose.

In other news, things are getting crazy with the move. We are leaving here next Tuesday morning, and want to have everything packed by Monday. Patrick is working through Saturday, of course there's church on Sunday, and I have my very last appointment with my midwife Monday morning. So it's finally starting to feel like we've got to get things done! We're not sure if we'll have internet access once we get down there or not, so I'm hoping to do at least one more post before we leave... if I have time.

A Baby Shower!

Last weekend I went down to my mother in law's house for what I thought was a baby shower for my sister in law who just had her baby last month. She came to the house thinking that it was going to be a baby shower for me. As it turned out, it was a surprise baby shower for both of us! I didn't have a baby shower with Kaiya, since we were in Japan, and didn't expect one this time since it's our second time around and we are (most likely) having the same gender. So I was so excited when I found out. A lot of people came up from Carson (where we are all from), including my dear friend Angie Davis. I couldn't believe that people would drive all the way to Idaho for our baby shower, or that my mother in law Ginger would put all of it together for us. It was way more than I would have ever expected and so nice! We had a lot of fun with food, gifts, and a lot of people. Unfortunately, I was caught so off guard I didn't take any pictures! Luckily I was able to get some from Ginger. Here's a few pictures of the fun: A cute decoration:)
The only picture of me and Meghan (and baby Clayton)

Kaiya helped me open the gifts, and even got some herself! Ginger got a bunch of cute matching outfits for the girls. I'm so excited for them to wear them!

And lastly, we took a few belly shots while we were there. I have been such a slacker about taking any photos this pregnancy, so I wanted some cute ones for the baby's album. They didn't turn out great, but here are some of the better ones:

We tried to get a shot of Kaiya kissing the belly, but she wouldn't hold it long enough. This one is a semi-hug.
And the true belly shot at 30 weeks. I can't believe we have only 10 more weeks to go!

Messy Messy

This is what happened the other day when I gave Kaiya peanut butter oatmeal and a fruit smoothie for breakfast. Have I mentioned that she's messy?

Happy News!!

It's official! Patrick was offered and accepted a position at... Death Valley National Park!!

Patrick will be giving tours at Scotty's Castle. He starts March 30th, so we've only got a few weeks until the move!

Some people might be wondering why we are so excited to be going to Death Valley. For one, it's the largest National Park in the contiguous United States, so there will be a lot to do and see. But even more importantly, it's a permanent position. Most people who desire a career in the National Parks will have to start out doing seasonal 6 month positions for several years before they will be able to get a permanent one. For obvious reasons, moving every 6 months isn't really practical for us. So we feel so lucky and blessed that Patrick was able to get this job. The National Park Service is so much more competitive than we thought it was going to be. Some people think that you can just transfer to whatever Park you want to work at, but in reality there are only a few parks that offer permanent positions in Patrick's field (interpretation) each year. And there are usually several hundred applicants to each opening. The application packet is huge, including a seven page resume, all college transcripts, and essay questions about how well suited you are to the position. It is then mailed to a regional office, where it is ranked along with all of the other applicants and given a score from 0-100. If you score above 90, then it is forwarded on the the hiring official for the Park you applied at. It is then compared against the other applicants, and the hiring official will select 3 candidates to interview. She first calls the employer and current supervisor, and if she is still interested in you, you will get a call to schedule an interview. The interviews are by phone and normally last for about an hour. After doing all the interviews, the hiring official will usually select one from the three. But sometimes they decide not to hire anyone after all. It sounds simple, but the process usually takes about 3 months.

We have been waiting to hear on this job for 6 months. Patrick applied in September, was interviewed twice in November, we were told they would be hiring before the new year, and then in January, then February, and just when we had given up entirely on the job, Patrick received a call and an offer.

After so many months of applying for different positions and being uncertain about our future, we are both so excited and happy to finally know where we are going and that Patrick's career in the National Parks is becoming a reality. There will obviously be many challenges to living in Death Valley (the hottest, driest, lowest point in North America), but we are just looking forward to this opportunity and feeling grateful for it. And of course, we hope that many of our friends will come visit!