The Gale's Have Moved!
Well, mostly. All of the big stuff left our home in Ballard about a week ago. Stephen found a new job in Kremmling, Colorado! He is the new Director of Technology for West Grand School District. It's basically the same thing he did before, minus the babysitting at night. He gets to work in the day and since the school district is so small (only 2 schools), he is the sole technology guy. But he gets a fancy title and an appropriate paycheck, for which we are grateful! He's been working since Monday and, so far, really loves it! They treat him very well and he finally gets to do what he loves.
Kremmling is awesome. I've been in and out the past week. Everybody seems so nice. It's green and very beautiful! And the backdrop of the town is the absolutely beautiful cliffs. Really, they are stunning! The school is new and well maintained. Sarah will attend the half day four year old program. It's technically private but is housed at the elementary and services the district's preschoolers with IEPs. She is all set to go and I can't wait for her to be able to go to school again! She misses it and has really struggled being happy this summer.
While house hunting, we visited a few awesome properties. Rentals go fast, so they are hard to snatch when you really need one. One day we visited 4 properties. Though they were nice, beautiful, places, they all have the baseboard heating. We couldn't decide on one and kept going back and forth with pros and cons. Then I remembered that Sarah likes to sleep on the heater vent in the winter. Baseboard heating is extremely dangerous. If pillows or blankets touch the heaters, they will burst into flame. We realized that none of the properties would work. In desperation, I called a mobile home park to ask if the mobile homes had baseboard heating, as well. The lady explained that all mobile homes have forced air. We decided to come look. The home was completely remodeled, and clean. And it came with a shed and fenced yard. Though tiny, we decided to take it. We have moved from a 4 bedroom home with nice sized rooms to a 2 bedroom mobile home. The master was able to fit our bed and furniture (a miracle!) but the second room is absolutely tiny. Sarah and David each had their own nice sized bedroom with awesome closets and went to sharing a 7x7 room with an okay closet. It's a good thing they aren't old enough to know they're being gypped. David will have to sleep in his play pen for as long as he can.
This past week, with moving and everything, we've had a few "are you kidding me?" moments. We had to return our truck to Boulder, 2 hours away. So, as soon as we signed the papers for our new place, Stephen and I headed to Boulder. Stephen drove the truck and went on Highway 40 through Granby. I, with the kids, drove the car toward Silverthorne so I could catch I70. Ten miles out of town there was rock slide. I had barely missed it. I did my best to avoid the debris on the road but one of the rocks hit my back tire and, voila, I had a flat! And, of course, there was absolutely no cell service. Neither one of us had a working phone. I didn't know that Stephen had gone the other way so I sat there and waited quite a long time. There was an older gentleman who had literally driven over the rocks as they fell. He was in a Jeep with good tires, so his vehicle was fine. He found cones from another project and set them out. Then he came back to check on me. He took the kids and me into Silverthorne, but it was so late that all the tire places were closed. I still had no way of getting a hold of Stephen. The nice man got us a room at a motel and we stayed the night. When I got to the room, I realized that I'd left the diaper bag in the car. I had NO diapers for my kids. So, as you can image, I was nervous to see what would happen. That night, I called the Boulder police from the motel. I explained that my husband was returning a truck and would be waiting for me to come so I could bring him home. Thankfully, I had Stephen's paperwork for the truck. I gave the police man the address and asked if he would write a note and tape it to the key drop box with my hotel information. Stephen slept in the truck and called the next morning. Thankfully, there was a car rental place within walking distance. So, he rented a car and picked me up in Silverthorne. We spent the day getting the tire replaced and returning the rental car. Oh, and the diapers held out! He was able to pick some up on his way in and we got the kids changed! If you don't believe in miracles, well, this is definitely a miracle. Especially if you know how many diapers my kids go through in a day, and how huge and soggy they are in the morning! So that was a very awesome thing.
So now, I am back and forth, taking care of business here and at the house in Ballard. There are few small odds and ends and appointments we must keep. Some friends will be renting our house. They just moved to Ballard and have been living in their camper. She is having a baby in September and the land they bought won't be ready for 3 months. So they'll live in our house and keep it occupied while we put it on the market. I have a lot of cleaning to do. I will surely miss my friends in Ballard and Roosevelt. But I will be passing through every so often, so thankfully, I'll be able to stop in and say hello.
On August 17th we will be out in the Salt Lake area. We will celebrate David's birthday (He'll be two!) and have a get-together to say goodbye to everyone. So come if you can! And spread the word- everyone's invited! Watch for an event of Facebook with details. I want to see you all- We don't know when we'll be back!
Love, the Gales
Chatfield
Chatter
Well
Kels is starting to get on everyone’s nerves.
For years he has had work and bishopric duties, fitting in a BS in
Accounting and an MBA where he could, then studying for the CPA exam. During July he took the last section of the
CPA exam and thinks he did pretty well.
Within the week he was also released as bishop after serving 5+ years. There’s no new Church calling for him yet, so
he’s seems to be getting underfoot no matter which way the rest of the family
turns. He cleaned some carpets and
volunteered to help with stage work for Kate’s play, and Jake was all for the
High Uinta’s fishing trip they took last Saturday. Next up is a trip to visit Mom in Las Vegas,
and a camping trip with the kids. Maybe
he’ll find some accounting works soon to soak up some of his time.
Kate
is having a blast with a community theater production of Charlie and the
Chocolate Factory. She has been getting
up early enough to be at rehearsals at 8am most weekdays. She plays Grandma Georgina, and looks forward
to makeup that makes her look old, in addition to wearing furry house slippers
and her old lady dress. There’s nothing
worn down or slow moving about her the rest of the time. Kate used some of her savings to buy a small
snow cone machine, then set up shop in the front yard to sell snow cones to a
hot neighborhood. Her cousin Hannah came
for a week, and as usual the two were inseparable. She hopes to go with Kels to Vegas and swim
in Mom’s pool, and maybe see where they film the Pawn Stars series.
Jake
finds himself in a break with no basketball or baseball, even considering the
accelerated (year round or travel) teams for which he sometimes plays. In Jake’s book, that means there is more time
for fishing. A neighboring town has both
a small reservoir and a pond that are stocked with fish, and Kels can work at
either while Jake fishes. When that gets
old, Jake talks his way into daylong trips like the one to the Uinta’s, or
after-work evening trips up the local canyon to fish the creek there. Jake and Kels see people picnicking up Hobble
Creek canyon, but almost no one fishes the creek, so they pretty much get the
fish to themselves. Kels doesn’t do well
with his rod and reel, but Jake knows just what flies to use as he fly-fishes
in the little pools, managing to catch several fish in just a couple of hours. Caught forty last weekend.
Bianca
wasn’t getting enough hours working at the restaurant where she is a hostess,
so she found a second job at a shoe store in the local mall. She doesn’t seem to have a lot more money
yet, but her hours are starting to accumulate, and she has access to both great
food and cool shoes. Bianca has been
amazed to learn what the markup is on the shoes they sell at the store, so
she’s starting to learn retail and is getting great experience working with
different sorts of people. She wants to
take a break from school for awhile, so having plenty of work will keep her
busy and allow her the opportunity to save some money for whatever the future
brings.
Kellie
will be glad once Kate’s play is over.
Maybe Kate would have gotten the part anyway (there were 50+ kids trying
out for a dozen parts), but Kellie is well known in the community for
volunteering to help, for being organized enough to get things done, and for
actually doing the work for which she volunteers. No doubt the play’s producer knew that if
Kate got a part, Kellie would be a big help, and that has been the case. She’s done a great job learning how to handle
the stage crew in case she’s needed there, and she has put together the Wonka
Candy Shoppe so that patrons can donate some extra money to the community
theater by buying candy and drinks. No
doubt Bianca would say that she needs to mark things up like they do at the
shoe store, but the candy shoppe will do great just the same.
Another
thing that Kellie has the family involved with is My Story Matters. My Story Matters is a non-profit organization committed to giving the
gift of story to individuals in need. MSM
focuses on young children with cancer but on August 2nd we have the privilege
of visiting a homeless shelter in Salt Lake City. The Road Home shelter houses about 150
children and families. We will be
interviewing, photographing and offering to tell each of their stories. Once published they will be given their very
own book. When we initially offered this
service the sign-up sheets were completely filled in the first 30 minutes. We are really looking forward to Friday.
Our summer has been filled with many good things and it’s
almost time for school to start…don’t remind Jake. He’s become accustomed to his life of leisure
and says he is not yet ready for the rigors of school life. Kate can hardly wait!
We love you,
Kels, Kellie, Bianca, Jake and Kate
Pictures of the fam 4th of July hike up Bridal Veil Falls in Provo
Canyon. A little picnic, a quick nap, a
hike and feeding the fish. What a great life and a beautiful place to live!
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