The Move

The good news was that we received news about a week before Christmas that Andrew didn't have to be to work in Illinois until the 6th of January instead of the 2nd so we had a few extra days and didn't have to leave the day after Christmas. (This was very good news. Getting out the day after Christmas would have been next to impossible) The bad news was that even though we had a few extra days, we still had an incredibly long and difficult journey ahead of us.
We got the Uhaul truck on Saturday the 28th and pulled out first thing on the 29th
(thanks to everyone who helped load the truck)

We had to say some really tough goodbyes

 And had a few really emotional moments (If we are being honest mom was the one who had the most difficult time)

and we started on our way....
I still maintain that I HATE Wyoming. It was hands down the worst part of the drive. The weather was awful. It wasn't even snowing but the wind was blowing so hard that there was a complete whiteout from the wind picking the snow up off the ground and blowing it across the road. We finally reached Cheyenne (Long after we had planned to.) I have never been so happy to see a cruddy hotel in Wyoming.
The next day was Nebraska...

I know it looks horrendously boring but after Wyoming I welcomed this sight with open arms.
Im generally one of "those" moms. I don't like my kids watching TV. and I HATE that people use phones and iPads to keep there kids entertained at every moment of every day. Its ok for kids to just sit sometimes! but.....

How do you tell them that they have to sit in the car for 8 hours and stare at nothing but windmills and dirt for 4 days? We were in the car for at least 8 hours all 4 days. Between bad weather, gas stops, bathroom breaks and having to stop to feed Ike it took us FOREVER! and I was put in my place and realized that iPads are a gift from the gods of Apple.
We spent the night in Omaha (which was super weird. Im pretty sure its a ghost town. I think we saw a total of 3 other people while in the center of the city) and the next day we headed to Iowa! This was exciting cause we got to meet up with the Bundy's and have lunch. We are hoping we will get to see them more often now that we are a little closer.
I took zero pictures of their cute little family. In fact this is the only pic I got...

He crashed after lunch and slept right through a diaper change.

That night we finally saw this...

We got to drive over the Mississippi river but it was dark so it was pretty anticlimactic. That night we got a special treat. One of Andrews friends from work offered to have us stay in his parents home they have in Nauvoo. He said it was super close to the temple but in fact it was actually kiddie corner to it. Like you walk across the street and you are on temple grounds. So awesome. The house was just a cute little old home that they use for vacations and family get togethers. There were well over 20 beds set up... there were even beds in the closets. It was pretty awesome. It was SO nice of them to just let us stay there. Even though it was New years Eve I think we were all out by 10pm. Its amazing what driving for hours does to you. Its extremely draining.

the next morning we caught just a glimpse of the temple in the day time and the river and all the old pioneer buildings. As we drove past the river (which was frozen over) Pep got a little frustrated with me "MOM! Cant you just stop so we can go fishing?!"... hopefully we will get to do that this summer..

Another ridiculously long drive (thanks to tons and tons of snow) and we finally made it!
Pep didn't get a nap that day. This pic was taken at about 5pm. Poor little guy couldn't keep his eyes open for long enough to eat his mac-n-cheese

I don't know what we would have done without Pam, Jake and Dylan. It was a long hard trip and I don't know how I would have survived it without their help. Thank You!!!!