But, before we knew it, we were on the road again, moving farther away than I had ever moved before - all the way down to Vacaville, the neighboring town. I remember checking out the houses and walking back and forth through fancy models with fake flowers and no pictures, houses that looked like no kids lived there, and choosing our favorite. I also remember after we chose the one with the pool table upstairs (I was disappointed we didn't get the pool table) that we got to visit the site of our house as it was being built, through the foundation and the skeleton being erected, and then as the building took form. Then we moved in. The huge garage had room for a large bike rack, which all of us older 5 children to put our bikes for our morning bike rides (which eventually evolved into morning runs). Then our junk began to get organized in the garage as our new friend and neighbor handyman showed us how (and helped us) line the garage walls with cabinets.

I remember how our front and back yard looked desolate, with dirt and mud misshapen everywhere, in different colors and consistencies, muddy at times, and dusty at others. I remember having to use the big water filled roller in the front and back, sitting on it occasionally when mom and my sibs pulled it across the yard, and trying to pull it across myself. I remember the mounds that slowly formed the treeline in our backyard, as the bumps in the middle spread out until we could pour the concrete.

I remember good friends the Davis' that came out to help us poor the cement for our backyard and front yard (it was one of them who finally had pity and taught me how to skate correctly after days of failure) and Uncle Robert, a good friend of the family, helping put in our sturdy gate, and even our huge patio overhang (that was a long project!). After that, the sod filled in the front lawn and the back, and we filled the sides of the backyard with stones and trees. Some lived, like the cherry trees and the tangelo tree, and some died. I also remembered the semi-successful blueberry plants on the back - those blueberries were good! I also remember mom experimenting with the front, getting redwood gravel, because it was so bright and cheerful looking, and was healthiest for the plants. I remember her planting the mint plant in the corner, which was fun to smell all of the time! and I remember her working on the rosebushes week after week for 12 years, trying to make them perfect accents to the fence behind.

I remember our bunk beds. I got the top for pretty much the whole time Andrew and I shared the room. We had the best legos ever, too - Andrew had his collection, and I had mine, and we each thought our collection was the best. To tell you the truth though, I always was slightly envious of his cool boat pieces... I could never build a good looking ship without them.

Around this time was our search for churches. I remember a church where every woman wore a cap, and a church with giant ants in front, and a church with an awesome Sunday school. There was also Christ Community church, where the worship was more modern than ever before, with a drum set, of all things! I remember the first song we sung there, He is exalted, which got me swaying in church for a moment, then stopping and glancing up guiltily at dad. There were some cool kids there, and we made some friends. I also secretly planted a garden of dandelions behind the side of the church and checked up on it every sunday. I was proud of myself! We searched for two or three years, including one long stay at Elmira Baptist church. I loved the skits there (even when I, as the main character, giggled when I was supposed to cry) and remember thinking a friend was going to die as they suffered a severe athsma attack right beside me, and had to go to the hospital. I loved the choir, and the piano recital (where I will always remember that one song where I froze for about 5 minutes straight halfway through). I also remember the creek where we would catch frogs and tadpoles, the three wheeler that the pastors son rode, the train tracks, the bar down the street, the stairs where I lost my two front teeth, the lawn we played games on at VBS, the singing at chapel, and the Sunday school where I first was led to salvation. It was while we were at Elmira that I caught pneumonia severely and couldn't go to the Institute in Basic Life Principles Conferences we went to every year or so. At those conferences, us kids would pile into buses every day to a daycare boy scout type camp and make friends, as our troops would participate in dozens of activities, including rappelling, watching skits, shooting waterballoons at targets, and guiding blindfolded pals through mazes of obstacles. But alas, that year I was seven and God wanted something else to be brought to light, so I caught a severe case of pneumonia and my younger sister caught it too. So we stayed home, and visited the doctor, who prescribed antibiotics that cured me, but didn't work as effectively on Claire. On her second visit, I joined along just for fun, and the doctor decided to humor me and listened to my heart. Good thing too!