THE move, part two- Utah (August 16 and 17)

That first day of driving - from Yakima to Orem, Utah, was, I have to say, HORRIBLE. Although this drive is long and boring, and we have done it many times before, usually we handle the trip well. The reality of going slower because of a moving truck that tops out just under 70 miles per hour (which I thought was actually pretty good considering we were also towing a vehicle), and both of us having to drive truly hit this day. I knew it was ambitious to do this leg all in one day- it is 11 or so hours in the best of conditions, hardly stopping and slightly speeding . . . BUT on the other hand, no one sleeps well in a hotel with young children and a baby- so it has always been worth it to me to just push on. The clincher this day was I came down with a mild case of the stomach flu coming out the bottom end- and needed many potty stops. I didn't want to have to stop every half an hour (which is what I really needed), so I just "held it in" and bore the pain as long as I could- - making for a TERRIBLE day of driving! The trip ended up taking us fourteen hours (including a 20 minute dead stop on the freeway in Sandy, UT at about one AM because they were putting up a sign over the freeway!). Because we didn't end up leaving YAkima until 10:30 am or so (moving is different than vacations- EVERYTHING has to be packed, and everything has to be left clean and DONE!), we didn't arrive until almost two in the morning. One thing is for sure- I made a mistake planning to go that far on our FIRST day! Next time we move, the first day will have to be a half day . . . .

ANYWAY- I am glad we took a rest day the next day to visit our Utah family. Even with all the pain of the drive the day before, it was still SO WORTH it to go that direction so we could see my sister Shauna's and my brother Steve's families. It only added a few hours to the trip to go through Utah and across I-80 instead of I-90. We really didn't do much but just sleep in, play games and relax at Shauna's house the next day- but it was exactly what we needed! I felt much better this day and luckily for the rest of the trip. The mild sickness did go through everyone else in the family too - - but luckily it was fairly mild for everyone else.

Boy- we needed a rest day!


My favorite was seeing the three baby boy cousins together again! It was HARD to get them to pose for pictures together since they are all mobile! Aren't they just ADORABLE, though?






The three siblings that the three little boys go with - -


More cute and fun pictures . . .







My sister Shauna is amazing- she is so good at having fun things for my kids to do.

We also celebrated Cynthia's birthday that rest day in Utah (Tues the 17th). Her birthday is on the 18th- and we were on the road that day again. Shauna made her an ice cream pie and she opened a few presents. Happy 7th birthday to my wonderful Cynthia! She is such a wonderful part of our family and brings so much life and happines to everyone around her. I am so proud of her goodness and blossoming testimony of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.







Overall this day in Utah with family was probably the best part of our whole trek east- I love them so much and I will miss them terribly!