The Big Move

We started to pack 1 1/2 weeks before our three week trip to Utah. It took us every moment during that time to get everything packed. This is how our kids slept the night before we packed our truck.

It was BLAZIN' HOT in Virginia Beach on July 24th. The hottest day that I had felt all summer. We had some really sweet guys from our ward come to help...it would have been a nightmare without them. We have one piece of furniture that has got to weigh close to 1,000 pounds....no joke. Our entertainment center is ridiculously heavy but I REALLY wanted it so these guys all worked together to get it out of our place and up onto our truck. It was so hot that my camera was fogging up....so the photos are a little blurry.

Some of our helpers. It is times like these that I am so thankful for my church. It is something special to have people who do not even know you come to help you. These girls and one of the guys in the picture are from our ward but were new and we did not know them. They stayed with us for 3 hours until our truck was all packed and I am so grateful to them for their service.

Relaxing in the shade. We were all exhausted by this time. My body felt BEYOND weak. My emotions were high and I had no control of them because of how tired I was. For those of you who got a few tears from me...I apologize.

It was 102 degrees before you calculate in the humidity. It was registered as feels like: 112 degrees.

Just incase you don't believe me.

Ella is one of Hailey's good friends in Virginia Beach. It was sad to say goodbye to all of our friends. Well, most of our friends were not actually there to say goodbye too since they were all on internships for the summer but we had some very important people to see us off.

Ella's fabulous mother Jamie! Saying goodbye is one of my least favorite things to do.

We left early in the morning...okay not that early. It was supposed to be 5am and it ended up being 10am

Because of our delay, we ended up traveling at the same time as everyone else...BIG MISTAKE! Our 9 hour trip turned into a 16 hour trip! We were not prepared for that. It was rough. John always had one kid in the truck with him and I always had two. They rotated at each gas fill up.

They finially slept from about 11:30 pm to 2am when we arrived in Erie.

You can't really see this so well because it was dark but it was 68 degrees when we arrived in Erie. What a difference from that morning of 105 degrees in Virginia Beach.

This was the sweetest welcome that we could have received when we arrived to our house. We had air mattresses all ready for us and dinner and breakfast and towels and these sweet welcome wishes from our new neighbors The Stowells. Jandi has been amazing and has gone above and beyond her call of duty as a neighbor. More to come soon!