Legal Question in Family Law in California

If your wife was the petitioner in the California case and you never filed a response, your wife can simply file a request for dismissal in the county where she filed the divorce.

It sounds like your California case went a long way down the road before being forgotten. Once there are child custody and support orders (which there have to be for there to be wage garnishment) California courts own the case until you file a petition to surrender jurisdiction and allow transfer of the case. California considers the children to be the state's concern until you arrange under federal law to have another state take over. Your main contact office in California is going to need to be a lawyer in the county where the divorce case is pending (they never just go away), who can sort out where things stand and get the case transferred to a new jurisdiction.