The Move

Well, we made it to Texas! We drug our feet having to leave Alabama. We loved it there and really enjoyed ourselves during the past eight months. We decided to make the 10-hour drive over two days (mostly for my sanity's sake), but the whole process actually took much longer.

These first pictures have nothing to do with the move, but I wanted to post the pupmkin carving we did before we left. The kids had a lot of fun doing it and loved seeing their jack-o-lanterns out by our front door.

Day 1 (Oct. 26)

Danny and I worked late into the evening packing the things we'd need for our drive. My mom arrived to help us with the move. She's a SAINT and has been a tremendous asset! We definitely could not have survived any of this with out her.

Day 2 (Oct. 27th)

Fortunately, Raytheon provides an excellent relocation package which includes a professional moving company. On this day, the movers came and boxed up all our stuff except our beds, bedding, and towels.

Day 3 (Oct. 28)

The movers came back and loaded everything onto the big truck. It was weird seeing the house all empty.
We ate our leftover lasagna lunch, etc. on the floor.

We forgot to keep out any paper cups, so we had to drink out of some paper bowls.

We drove to Decatur, a neighboring city, to spend our first night in a hotel.

Dallin came down with something and was SO sick, the poor little guy.

Day 4 (Oct.29)

We left Alabama and drove through Mississippi, up through Memphis, and made it to Little Rock, AR with no problems (4 different states in 5 hours). The kids did WONDERFULLY, in spite of the fact that Emily was also sick by this point!!

We had torrential rains driving through Arkansas both days. Danny was a great driver and we prayed hard for safety.

My mom, the baby, and I sat in the middle seat.

Dallin and Emily sat in the very back. We had a very nice ride in our van. We love it.
We stopped for lunch outside of Memphis. We could've eaten here....

...or here. Can you guess which one we chose?

Yeah, Steak 'n Shake won, but we thought the name of the other restaurant was funny.

After a bath in our hotel in Arkansas.

Playing cards.




Day 5 (Oct. 30th)

We left Little Rock and drove the rest of the way to Dallas, again in heavy rain. It seemed to clear right up as soon as we crossed the Texas border. I didn't take any pictures of this day - the excitement of the trip had worn off and I was just ready to be done traveling. The kids did great again and the day went smoothly. It had all just gotten old.

Day 6 (Halloween)

Our belongings arrived on Saturday morning. Emily and Dallin did GREAT keeping out from under foot by playing outside by Daddy for nearly two hours. So, with these moves, the movers put stickers on every box and other large items that go onto the truck. Every sticker has a different number so they can keep track of our stuff. Danny's job was to check off each item on the number sheet, 283 to be exact.

Getting ready to go trick-or-treating that evening.

Emily was Snow White.

Dallin was a policeman.

Megan was a ladybug, with wings and all.

"Trick or treat!"

Megan was lulled to sleep in Daddy's arms as we walked from house to house.

Since Arriving

The kids have had a hay day playing in all the packing paper!

Due to a scheduling mix-up, we didn't have our gas turned on till Tuesday the 2nd. Having no heat wasn't a problem at all since it's not too cold here yet. Having no hot water, however, was a pain. We had to boil water on the stove and add it to the cold water in the bathtub in order to wash ourselves relatively comfortably. It only ever filled it a few inches high, though. Needless to say, none of us bathed as regularly as we'd have liked!

We've already been out around the neighborhood taking walks in the morning