Father's Day Baseball

Justin's Dad came up to visit us for the Father's Day weekend. We had a great time. On Saturday, we took the Larkspur Ferry to AT&T Ballpark. The stadium sits right on the water. I mean RIGHT on the water. CRAZY! Ohhhh, but was it cold. We had to make a little pit stop on the way to buy Kaitlyn a sweatshirt...don't laugh...we just moved form Southern California...it's a lot hotter there. The game was great, the Giants stole home to win the game in the 11th inning, very exciting!

Move in Day

While all the adults were working like dogs...the kids were having the time of their lives. They asked me if they could take my camera down to the creek and this is what I found on the card. My boys are true outdoor lovers. So when we got here and they saw all of the nature around them, they fell in love. Jeremy said it best on day 2..."Mom, this is the greatest place that we have ever lived". I think that he speaks for all of us. We are so happy that the journey of life has brought us to this place. It is wonderful.

Oh, the drive...it was...long. We left Virginia and Bob's at 7am on Saturday morning. Justin was in his car (alone), Virginia and Bob were in their car with Kaitlyn and somehow I was in the Tahoe with the 2 boys AND the dog. There is something wrong with this picture. We drove for about 3 hours, to Bakersfield, which is where Justin's brother lives. We stopped at his house, went out for lunch, and left with CJ. (my nephew) We then left, on our way to Petaluma.
After 5 more hours and MANY bathroom stops, we finally made it! We pulled into the Petaluma Sheraton at 6pm, had some dinner and then straight to bed. Tommorow is moving in day.

The Move

Packing up the pool table.

Our AWESOME moving company.

They packed my entire kitchen in 30 minutes. It was very interesting to watch them work.

My WONDERFUL Mother-in-Law. She and Bob were a huge help! Thank you!!


Our move went very smooth. Although, all the credit goes to Mario with Bekins and all his helpers. He made sure that EVERTHING was taken care of. Then on top of that I had Virginia and Bob that were there to do anything that we needed.
Justin spent most of the day painting, shampooing capets and hanging a chandelier. We had a lot of things to do to get the house ready for our renters. At 10 o'clock that night, Justin and I left he house for the last time... a little sad, a little relieved and A LOT tired. We went to his mom's house where the kids were, and went to bed...

"Life is like a box of chocolates..."

"...you never know what yer gonna git." Isn't that the truth. We worked so hard for this house. I love this house. It is everything that I could ever want. But...it is only a house. My children are what make it a home and with all of us going up north then it only leaves the walls. So, we have decided to put our house up for rent. I hope that another happy family fills it's walls with love and laughter. We only enjoyed it for 10 months, but it was beautiful while it lasted.

We are moving...AGAIN!!

Near Stinson Beach




Yeah, we rented a convertable for the week...that's the way to see Nor Cal.


Downtown Petaluma


Petaluma River...it runs right through the middle of town.



The Post Office!!




Justin got the most amazing job opportunity, with an amazing company. Justin has worked for Amy's Kitchen for 4 years as a Regional Sales Director. He has loved his job and we as a family have often commented about how great the company is. They offered him a position in the office that sounded like it was right up his alley. But there was one hiccup...we would have to move 500 miles away from everyone that we knew and loved. "Are you kidding" was our initial response, but then we decided to open our minds a little.
Boy did that pay off. We flew up to Petaluma this weekend and checked out the city, houses, and of course, the job. It was absolutely amazing. We fell in love with the area, the schools are great, and the people...oh the people...they are wonderful. Petalumans like to "enjoy " life. No one is worried about rushing around to get that next thing done. You will find families out taking bike rides, or couples out for dinner and a stroll by the river. They seem to live life like they are on vacation. It is, litterally, a breath of fresh air.
We fell in love and couldn't wait to bring the rest of our family. Justin accepted the promotion and now we just have to find a house...
This is an adventure for this family of five but we can't wait! We are so excited. It will be hard to leave our family and friends but this is what we felt we needed to do rto secure our future. And everyone seems to be thrilled for us, which has been so great to hear. I hope that everyone will come and visit very soon.

CSI:Murrieta

Episode 1: After returning home from vacation, a very tired Justin and Amanda Neal are quietly resting on the couch watching TV when Justin hears some noises coming from the garage. He quickly jumps up to see the cause if the noise. He opens the door to the garage and sees...nothing.

Episode 2: After going back to the couch, he then eventually goes off to bed. The next morning, the oldest child, Jeremy, age 11, tells his dad that he saw the light going on and off on the side of the house along with some noises. Justin then goes to the side garage door only to find that the door jam has been chiseled away with a screw driver. Someone had tried to break into the house. The couple calls the police to report the attempted robbery. Murrieta CSI team is on the case. Will they catch who committed this heinous crime? Stay tuned.