Life as we know it...

So I have been pretty bad about blogging since we moved to CA.  It's been a bit crazy since we got here in August and continues to be so.  In the space of less than 4 months we moved from our condo in AZ (which is still in a pending short sale which will hopefully be complete in December.), moved in with Bud's family, became official CA residents and have already made some really fun memories with the Packard family.  But as with every "life-changing event" there are many ups and downs.  The ups are that we have a place to live, family who loves us (well most the time...Ha!), cars that run, food to eat, the gospel of Jesus Christ, our sweet little Abby and a new baby on the way.  The downs...although the transfer with the plumbing union is complete Bud still remains on the waiting list to be officially hired.  This means no steady income and no health insurance.  Fortunately Bud has been working with his aunts off and on as well as with his Dad and brother in the family business and occasionally he will get side plumbing jobs from friends or family.  Needless to say some days are tougher than others.  Having no insurance has been a bit stressful as well considering that we have a baby on the way.  I'm almost 11 weeks and haven't been to the doctor yet.  But I figure even if there was something wrong that they wouldn't be able to do anything about it anyway so I'm just trying to take care of myself as well as I can.  We have applied for some government insurance in the meantime so hopefully we'll hear back about that soon.  Our living situation has been difficult too.  Mom and Dad Packard's house is beautiful and spacious but with 12 people living under one roof things can get a bit crazy and tense sometimes (but to be fair it can be really fun sometimes too).  Our little family lives in one bedroom and while it is definitely not ideal we've made it work the best we can.  The transition has been especially tough for me since it is not my family and I went from having so many responsibilities as a "homemaker" to just helping out.  Abby loves it of course because she shares a room with us and gets to hang out with her cousin Owen all day and see Grandma and Grandpa all the time.  We have been trying to stay as positive, patient and grateful as we can.  Some days it is REALLY hard because it seems like there is no light at the end of what sometimes seems like a dark tunnel.  But the truth is that there is always an end to every trial.  The funny thing is we never thought that this would be a trial.  We had everything so "perfectly" planned out in our heads and it all seemed so right.  At first everything seemed to be going according to plan but I should have known that there would be bumps in the road since Heavenly Father usually laughs at "perfect plans" because his are way more perfect.  Bud is so incredibly patient and faithful and I rely on him so much.  I hope that we will look back on this time and will have learned something from all of this and that it will be a "small moment".  Right now we just feel kind of stuck when everyone else seems to be moving forward.  But I'm certain that we are not the only ones.  Thank you to all of our family who has loved, supported, prayed and taken care of us during this transition.