Moving Halfway Across America Recap

Thursday April 30 is when we loaded the moving truck and cleaned our apartment. Thank you so much to everyone who helped us!! We literally could not have done it without you. There were so many people that showed up, some we expected and some we didn't, and people just kept randomly coming by and dropping in. It was so nice to not have to worry if we were going to get it all done! We really have the best friends. They are amazing! Our kids were at my brothers house having fun with their cousins and loving every minute of it and then Spencer and I joined them there later for a good night's sleep. Thank you Nick and Megan!! It was sad to say goodbye that morning. Scott actually wouldn't even say bye to us. He was too sad. We arrived in Utah one week after Scott was born and he and Spencer have had this special connection ever since. Scott has always loved his uncle Spencer and just lights up every time he sees him. They've had a lot of fun together. Spencer tried to hug him goodbye but Scott would have nothing of it. He just cried on his mom's shoulder as we drove away. So sad! Saying goodbye to Caleb and Becca was also very hard! We happened to be at the check out stand at Wal-Mart when we had to go our separate ways so it was kind of akward and I really tried hard to hold back the tears until later. We really miss all of you so much!


Friday morning we went back to Provo for the kids' doctors appointments and to tie up a couple of loose ends, go to the bank, and head out. I'm grateful for Spencer's prayer that morning as we knelt together as a family and he asked Heavenly Father to bless us with emotional strength and safety as we drove across the country. We know that us moving at this time is what the Lord wants us to do, and while we may not know all the reasons, we feel confident that everything will work out and be okay if we do what we're asked. I do know that Heavenly Father is very mindful of us and am strengthened each day as I recognize the blessings He has given me and my family. We really have been truly blessed.
As we pulled out of Provo and drove away from Utah I really expected that I would be kind of a basket case and cry for hours, which I was a little worried about since I was driving our car. It never happened though. I was pretty surprised, but grateful! So Spencer drove the moving truck with Gorden and I had Adelaide with me. The kids did amazing the whole time. It was incredible! Gorden thought the moving truck was awesome and loved sitting up high and seeing out so well, and of course the one on one time with Dad. Adelaide did great at entertaining herself and went through little spurts of chattiness where she would tell me all about something for a while. It was fun. I only had to stop ONE time to take care of something for her! I had given her an oatmeal cream pie and she was doing well but she dropped a bite in her lap. I told her to pick it up and eat it and I handed her a wet wipe and told her to wipe it up. So she took the wet wipe and started at the bottom and wiped the cream pie all the way up. It smeared from her crotch to her neck! All the way up! Fortunately soon after there was a large place off the side of the road where I could pull over so I stopped and cleaned her all up and wiped down all the car seat straps. It apparently took a little longer than I thought because it took me about 45 minutes to catch back up with Spencer. There was more traffic than I'd realized.
We had a hotel booked in Denver for the night and by the time we got there we were so grateful! Coming through all the mountain passes in Colorado was pretty dangerous now that I look back on everything. The weather was awful - rain, snow, freezing rain, fog, freezing fog, pitch black... We both hydroplaned a few times and just kept praying the whole way. There really wasn't anywhere to stop but it was so hard to see! I hugged the middle line and drove too close to Spencer and the reflection of his rear lights on the water in the road allowed me to barely see the lane lines. I didn't even realize that the other side of us was a huge drop off. I'm glad; I didn't need to be any more stressed out! So we made it safely and everything was fine! We all slept really well and were ready to go at it again all day Saturday.

We debated getting a hotel for Saturday night because we didn't know if I could make it to stay awake that long but I felt like I would be okay so we kept on. We had walkie talkies and that was the smartest thing we ever did! It was so so helpful to be able to communicate when we needed to, and we really talked and laughed a lot, especially after the kids fell asleep and it got dark and the tiredness was starting to set in. Once we crossed over from Missouri into Arkansas we got hit with pretty hard rain and really couldn't see well at all and had to go super slow again for a long time. We got in about 4am all safe and sound and exhausted.