The Big Move

On the Thursday after Christmas we loaded up the moving truck and prepared to start the trip to Arizona. Both sides of the family were so great and helpful getting us going! It took longer than we thought to get the truck loaded, so we decided to just drive to Vegas that night and on to Arizona the next day. Well, we got to Salt Lake..... We realized that our car registration expired in 2 days and we needed to get the car inspected and registered. After that was done, we were both so tired and exhausted from packing up all week that we decided to sleep in Salt Lake and drive the whole way the next day.

The next morning we got an early start and 6 in the morning. We were making good progress at first and the kids were being pretty good. At about Fillmore we started slowing down. Johnny decided he needed to go potty, and then about every half hour after that he needed to go again. It was very frustrating and the nerves were starting to set in for me. We were a few miles past Cedar City when Johnny had an accident. That set us back about an hour! We cleaned him and the car up and kept going til Mesquite, where we had to stop for the potty again! The weather was so nice there we had to get out and enjoy it for a little bit. After that we continued on to Vegas where we stopped for a late lunch with David's brother and his family. The kids had fun being out of the car and playing with cousins, and we got to rest our eyes for a bit.

We left Vegas around 5 to go the rest of the way to Phoenix. This part of the journey was horrible and is still scary to me. It was completely dark outside, and most of the road from there is one lane with no way to pull off to the side if needed. I was driving our van, following David who was driving the moving van. The oncoming traffic was awful, everyone had their brights on and I couldn't see. We had been on this road for about 2 hours, and after thinking I was going to die multiple times I heard a weird noise in the back of the car. And then a smell followed....Nate had thrown up everywhere! And there was nowhere to pull over. I kept driving and cried for who knows how long, when we finally found a small gas station to pull into. David cleaned Nate and the car up and I asked how long the road continued like this. The gas station worker said 80 more miles and that the road got more bumpy and to watch for wild animals! I was done! I told David I didn't care if we had to sleep in the car, I wouldn't go any further!

Luckily, across the street, there was a tiny motel that had an opening. I have never been so happy to stay in a dumpy place. We got the kids in there and showered and settled down for the night. And then I got sick, so, Nate and I were up all night sick with the stomach flu! It was awful! I haven't felt that sick in years! And I'm sure being nervous about the move was not helping. In the morning I was still very sick, so we sat in the motel all morning until we had to check out. After that I still couldn't drive, we sat in the car at the gas station until I felt well enough to drive. Finally around 2 or 3 in the afternoon we started out again. For about an hour of the drive I still felt sick! It was such a relief when we finally pulled into the Phoenix suburbs! We drove to our friends house we were staying at and got cleaned up and got some food in us. And later that evening met with a realator to find a place to live. It was 3 of the craziest days of my life! I hope I never have to go through that all again, and that trips to visit Utah go much smoother than our trip down went.

On Sunday we got a break, the owner of one of the places we'd looked at called us back and said we could move in first thing Monday morning if we wanted to rent from him, and he dropped $70 off the monthly price! We feel so blessed, we got the house we wanted, and people in the ward were so kind and helped us move in first thing the next day! This house has been good for us, it's in a good neighborhood, the neighbors have kids that play with ours, and the layout is perfect for our family! We have enough space but not too much, and it came with all appliances! The ward has been very welcoming so far, we're still getting to know people, but everyone we've met so far has been really nice! The weather has been great here, it feels like summer to us, but I'm a little nervous for actual summer. I think if we can handle Cache Valley winters, we should be able to handle Phoenix summers though!

Here we are stopped in Mesquite, we thought it was so warm there, it was 10-15 degrees cooler than it is in Arizona!

Don't tell David I posted this pic, he'll be mad, but it's just so cute!

Our little motel room. The motel literally only had 3 rooms, we were so blessed one was open that night!

The four of us crammed onto this little full sized bed.

And this was our little tv! Thank goodness for that on our sick night and day!

I'm hoping we don't have to move for a very long time. This experience was very trying and I'm not ready for a repeat. I feel like we're adjusting ok to Arizona so far, although we miss our family in Utah. This last week has been a little harder because my little sister got engaged and I wish I could be there to help with everything! I'll go back for the wedding though, and she's been great at including me on the plans with pictures!