McClellan Family Adventures: What a summer!!

WARNING!!! I have been using this blog as a journal. So with that said, there has been a lot that has happened within the last seven weeks that I have just need to write down and I finally have internet to do so. So this will be a LONG post with bad pictures (that will be explained later). Feel free to skip this post. :)

This summer has gone way to fast! It has been one heck of a roller coaster ride! Shortly after Nathan graduated we felt we needed to move back to Arizona. That was a scary decision to make because we did not have any job offers for Nathan. But we decided to trust in the Lord and move to Arizona the last week of June. Grandma Clement was so kind and offered us her house to stay in while we get things figured out. The night before we were to move in, her place was burglarized. Thankfully the burglars weren't the ones to smash everything up, but unfortunately they did get some of grandmas stuff. It was completely unnerving to find that out after a long 13 1/2 hour drive with cranky boys!

Nathan was able to take the first part of his Arizona pharmacist license test the first Saturday of July. He was also called back for an in-person interview with Albertsons the following Monday. Nathan went to the interview and came back feeling confident. Less then an hour after the interview he was called back and offered a job! We were so excited! We also found-out the next day that he passed with flying colors the first test. The second Saturday of July he took his last test. Right after the test we packed the car and went to his family reunion. It was so good to see family that we haven't been able to see for a long time! They boys enjoyed running all over. Unfortunately during the reunion we were informed that one of Nathans cousins had passed away in a car fire. Besides the sad news we were able to enjoy ourselves. We were able to take Cameron to the Grand Canyon. He struggled with it because of all the crowds, but it was so beautiful! When we came home Nathan learned that he had passed his last test and that he would be flying out the next Sunday for training in Texas. So that whole week was spent packing Nathan up for his trip and looking for a house in Prescott Valley, Arizona. We found one we really liked and it right across from a park and a five minute drive (at most) to work! So we filled out the application that night and mailed it the next morning.

Nathan was in Texas from Sunday, July 22 to Thursday, July 26. While he was in Texas the boys and I stayed with his parents. To be honest I felt safer being at their house alone with the boys instead of at Grandmas because of the burglars, and I needed internet to get utilities set up for the house the we were going to rent. While Nathan was gone his Dad and I went over to Grandmas house and took care of the yard. I also took the boys over to play and brought Stubby back to Grandmas house. Teresa, her friend Joseph and I picked Nathan up from the airport late Thursday night. Since Nathan had to be in Prescott Valley by 9 the next morning, we quickly stopped off at Grandmas and grabbed him an outfit for work and we back to his parents place so Nathan could see the boys. That Friday Nathan went to his first day of work and his Mom and I went up there to hand in the contract for the house and get the keys so we could move in that Saturday. Nathan was able to meet up with Mom and I at the new house after work and helped us complete the walk-through inspection. It was late by the time we left Prescott Valley so we decided to stay the night at his Moms since the boys would already be asleep by the time we got there and they would be a pain in the butt if woken up. The next morning we were anxious to get our stuff moved into the new place. So we left the boys with Grandpa and everyone else piled into cars and headed to Grandmas house to help us gather our stuff there. As we approached Grandmas house we could tell something was wrong. The screen door was open and the main door was open we could see some wood out of place. Grandmas house was broken into once again!! AHHHH!!! I freaked out!!! Words cannot express what I was feeling. Thankfully we were not there when it happened but unfortunately our poor bird was and she was clinging to the inside of her cage when we came in. She is normally a very happy active bird but has been very quiet and has not come out of her cage since! The burglars were not there for grandmas stuff this time but for ours. Looking back I honestly feel creeped out because they did not touch the room the boys were staying in, or the room that we kept all our food and bikes in. But they completely went through the room Nathan and I was in. In the last burglary they went through the same room and the same dresser and closet. So I can only conclude that these bad guys had a very close eye on the house and knew where important stuff was kept. The burglars also went back to the family room. They took things that could be replaced except all the pictures that I had just taken on my camera. I am really bummed about that! I had so many good pictures of both boys with their grandparents in Utah along with their Aunts and Uncles up there. There was even a really funny photo of Nathan in a pink bonnet and a picture of my sister Kristan wearing it and freaking out about it (she HATES pink)! I even had a picture of Stubby riding around on a old firetruck that Grandma has in her toy box. There was even a picture of Cameron at the Grand Canyon. BUMMER!!

Despite what had happened we decided to move forward with our move. We are so very grateful for Nathan's Uncle Carl, his cousin Kenny and Apryl for letting us keep some of our stuff at their place and then for their help in helping us move at such short notice. Also we a VERY grateful for Nathan's parents and siblings and Teresa's friend Joseph for putting up with us and for all their help. We honestly couldn't have done it without everyone!

We are now settled in our new place and loving it! Nathan is loving his job and feels very blessed to have it. Cameron has been able to start preschool and I am in love with the program he is in. And Aiden has been having fun anywhere he goes! Our new ward is awesome and so loving!

Looking back at everything, I have really been able to see the hand of the Lord in everything that has happened both good and bad. He has blessed Nathan to be able to focus and pass his tests as well as to be able to get a job. We were so blessed to be able to find this house and have our application processed so fast (less then two day). I have been told that normally it take two weeks and we had everything done and keys in hand in three days! When the burglary happened it was such a blessing that we were not there! The fact that the burglary happened was a blessing! It slowed us down. We were not able to make it up to Prescott Valley as early as we wanted but that was good! Unknown to us there was a really bad lighting storm that went through Prescott Valley. There was lightning strikes all over. We did not know that the dish on the side of the house was stuck during that storm until we had the tv hooked up and found out the line insides had been completely disintegrated. Had we been here as early as we wanted we would have been unloading in that storm! I am so grateful that the Lord has watched over us and kept us safe.

Below are some pictures of our adventures. They were taken on my phone...