Best Friends

One of the very hardest things with this move was separating my cute Brianna and her best friend on earth, Kelsie D.!  They have been inseparable for the past 6 years and were devastated we were leaving. We have no doubt these two will be friends forever and we will do whatever we can to give them opportunities to be together over the years!

Moving Day - Empty House

Moving day finally arrived on January 25th and it was humbling how many people came over to help with last minute cleaning and to say goodbye! Wow!  I tried to be so strong the entire day, but had a couple moments where the tears crept in.  I am SO thankful for everyone that helped us - I really cannot thank them enough.  Everything went so smooth and so well and we were on the road by 7 p.m., which is not too bad.

There were a LOT of tears as we drove down our street for the last time and it was heart wrenching hearing my children so sad in the back seat of the car! I could not hold back the tears myself!  So many great years in that neighborhood and so many great friends and memories.  Also, we left both of our families and we love being with our families. It's hard to be asked to leave all of that, but we know we are doing the right thing and have no doubt everything will work out for the best!

My dear friend, Cassie, came to help clean and cheerfully cleaned the bathrooms and then put Keira to work cleaning the base boards - it was adorable.

Kelsea and my Grandma Hall

Right before we left we decided to get pictures of the kids in all of the empty rooms

This was when Brianna and her best friend on Earth said goodbye to each other.  They have been inseparable for the past six year and this part of the move was by far the most sad for me to think about.  No one wants to be taken from their best friend.  They both cried for days.

We weren't necessarily feeling as goofy as this picture shows, but that's how we kept our spirits high by saying a goofy goodbye.

The following pictures are of us unloading in St. George.  Jason's family came down and helped us. :) Once again, we are SO thankful for all the help that everyone gave us.  We are so incredibly blessed!

Packing the Trucks

 January 24th was the big day and I'll be okay if I never have to have a day like that again!  Not that it was a bad day, because it wasn't, but it was overwhelming and toyed with my emotions in many ways.  The following are pictures I decided to take at the last minute of all the rooms all packed up. Aside from a few things that we needed for the next day, everything was boxed up and ready to be loaded into the trucks when help came that night.

Jason and I picked up the trucks around 3 p.m. and it was pretty interesting driving something so large (we had 2 of the very biggest Uhaul trucks). That night we were so blessed to have over 20 men and women come and help us load up our entire house into these two trucks.  It went pretty fast and we finished in less than two hours. 4500 sf of living packed in less than two hours!  Awesome!

I felt pretty good the entire time everything was being moved out, but I also felt a lot of different emotions and could feel that I was overwhelmed.  I did great holding back the tears until my older brother came up to say goodbye - I totally lost it! I just hugged him and cried and cried. I love him so much and that was the first time I really realized I was leaving everyone behind.  I quit crying pretty fast and stayed strong the rest of the night, but I wanted to just break down and cry when we were all done.

Luckily for me, my sweet next door neighbor was helping until almost everyone was gone, so Jason and I went together to walk her home.  When we got there we hung out for a little while with the two of them and it was a nice unwind.  We laughed and it really lightened the mood.  (Our children were all staying at different places so we were free to visit a little bit.)

When we came back home my dear sister, Tami was there and helped me bring up all the extra boxes we had left over, that we didn't use, in the basement.  She was the BEST help since my sweet mother had been watching Keira and Landon for three days straight and was kind enough to keep the children away while we did all the moving. My mom would have been there to the very end, but we needed her help with the children more than that.  Tami, Jason, and I ate some steamed veggies and took a funny picture for me to post on FB about our unwinding.  It made me laugh.  I was grateful that the day ended lighthearted!

Jason and I slept at our house for the last time on an empty floor in our Master Bedroom with the most amazing air bed I have ever slept on (thanks Jex's)!

Kids Eat Free Tuesdays

We decided to take the kids to one last "Kids Eat Free Tuesdays" at Ikea.  We had a fun time together as a family and enjoyed the break from all the house packing.

Going Away Party

Can I just say, I have the BEST friends in the whole world!!  The Blomquists, Bruecks, and Forsyths decided to throw a going away party for Jason and me and we were so touched by all the people that came! It was an Ice Cream Social and they even went to the BYU Creamery to buy the ice cream in honor of our love for BYU! I tried to take a bunch of pictures but was too busy talking the entire time.  Well, as it turns out, they were taking pictures of everyone upstairs and having them write letters to us that they assembled in a scrapbook and later gave to us on the day we were moving.  It was SO thoughtful and kind . . . and it brought me to tears.  I cannot tell you how much I am going to miss all of these people!  I really can't!  The hardest part about having so many wonderful friends is having to leave them. At least I know, without a doubt, that we are doing what we are supposed to be doing right now or I never would have been able to go!!

I love this picture of the Blomquists - they're so cute!

My BYU Peeps!!