This past week has been a week of
tender mercies.
Last Sunday our things finally arrived but with a warning call the night before that we might have to have our things "shuttled" from the convenience store on the corner of our street. The driver was certain that the semi truck wouldn't fit up our street, let alone in our driveway. I agree with the fact that he wouldn't make it in the driveway, but he certainly would have made it up the street. He didn't believe us and cautiously said he would think about coming up the street after we begged him to at least look at the road before making a decision. Not knowing what he would do, we called the bishop to ask for some help. He immediately sent out mass emails and made some calls and, lucky for us, ten people showed up at 7:00 am on Sunday morning. They all knew they could possibly be carrying our things from the convenience store!
It all turned out so slick. The driver did come up to our driveway and we were able to get our things into our house in an hour and a half. They were certainly moving angels that day. It was important to me to go to church to start meeting people and I not only met all of the people that came to help us, but we were able to quickly get the moving done and we were all able to get ready and be at church on time.
Overall, I think the people of Western Mass are a little more laid back and a lot more kind than I expected. My prayers have been answered by the appliance repairman named Bob who gave me information over the phone so he wouldn't have to come out and charge me. (He thought we had a connection because our last names are both Italian! I'll take that-I'd be his friend.) The RMV (DMV) was much quicker, kinder, and more patient than I expected-even after I had to leave and come back! A postal worker stayed after closing for twenty minutes to help me with a money order. (I had been driving around for an hour looking for the post office and I arrived five minutes before closing. The GPS and Google maps failed me.) Shawn's academic department has been making up jobs for him so that he can earn some money before the school year starts-and the chair of his department told the secretary to make sure she hired the "Utah boy with a kid" in October when the department could actually hire grad students. (There is some rule about undergrads being hired first and then October is fair game.) Note that Shawn is the only student who is male in the department.
It seems that things have opened up like we have been promised they would. It is funny how I know that God keeps his promises-I've seen it over and over-but I start to panick when my timing is different than His. Silly me. People have been placed in our path this whole time to make this transition work. We have truly been blessed.
Bella has truly been a champ with this whole "change your life" business. She was excellent in the car. She has been very good while we've unpacked boxes and moved things around. She is thrilled to have her bed! (She kind of crawled around like a happy dog in the back of a pick-up when we first put her in her crib.) We are loving the silly things she has learned to do. 
I have started to find her just looking through books. I love it! I can't tell you how much I love it! She has also started humming when I go to put her to bed. I love it!
She has also started climbing. I don't love it. She knows that she can move things around and crawl up on them to get to something higher. She has stopped going up the stairs though. Shawn fell down the stairs last week while he was holding her and they both got some scrapes and rug burns. I think she might be afraid of the stairs. It helps me keep tabs on her better but I don't want her to be afraid of them forever!
The following pictures are what happen when you give a couple little pieces of an E.L. Fudge cookie to a one-year-old and run to get something while she is occupied. 
