Life in the Pike Lane

by Kari Diane Pike

It is nearly midnight here in Utah...and I am just getting this blog written. Of course I can come up with a million reasons...or at the least 450 of them. That is the number of email messages that waited for me when we finally got our internet services up and running yesterday in our new home. About half and hour ago, our oldest daughter arrived with her five children. They are going to be staying with us for the next several weeks while the family tries to sell their home in WY so they can join their Dad in a new home is CO. So...we pile their suitcases on top of our boxes and we will enjoy whatever time we have to spend together.

This move has been mind boggling for me. Everything still feels surreal. I am humbled by the outpouring of service rendered to help this move happen. I have a list of no less than 45 people who helped us pack, supplied meals, scrubbed walls or floors or emptied the approximately 40 gallons worth of soda and juice bottle filled with water stored in the garage...lol...that took almost an entire day! Perhaps I should start at the beginning.

July 21st, about 8:45 pm, I learned that I had 9 days to plan and pack up our home of 11 years. I've already blogged about that experience. I still giggle when I think about the miracles Heavenly Father performs to orchestrate events and make things happen! Due to the service of angels, both mortal and immortal...My husband and son drove the trucks away Friday the 31st...right on schedule. I remained behind with our two youngest daughters until the following Tuesday. Sometime early Tuesday afternoon, the house in Lindon that Doug had arranged for us to rent, suddenly fell through. Doug drove to his place of residence worried that I would arrive and he wouldn't have a home to move us in to. He prayed for help and when he turned on his computer, he found an e-mail from a person owning a rental in Highland we had decided not to rent because it was out of our budget. The man said that he and his wife really felt that we were the right family for their home and if they dropped the rent 30% would we be interested? Doug called him immediately and asked if we could move in in two hours. The answer was yes...even though we would not have a lease for three more days. When we pulled the moving vans into the driveway and began to unload, no less than 8 families appeared within an hour to help empty the trucks. Teenagers and even young children accompanied their parents, everyone hauling boxes up and down stairs. The teens eventually gathered on the lawn with our own children and quickly introduced themselves. Neighbors even brought vacuums and tools to help make things run more efficiently.

I am humbled once again...and feel very loved. I miss my Arizona home, friends and family, but I know that this is where the Lord wants us to be right now. I am excited to learn new things...like how to deal with all the fruit on the apricot, plum, apple, almond and walnut trees! oh..and grapes...and cherries, too! A family of quail live in a long neglected, weed choked flower bed. I don't have the heart to weed it. I love watching the momma and her babies march through the yard. I love the wind and the clouds...and watching the mountains change colors throughout the day. We even attended a free concert at a park across the street from the Timpanogas Temple the other night. It was held in the coolest amphitheater...all I could think of was how the setting was perfect for an intriguing romance, or sinister mystery...or...???

so...a brief summary of life in the Pike Lane. Isn't life grand!!