Last Spring we decided that we were moving. After nearly 10 years at General Motors, Scott felt it was time for a change, (see above picture...the wear and tear on his badge says it all). Because of the department Scott worked in at GM, he couldn't let work know he was planning on quitting or they'd just escort him out the door that very day. So, we kept it mostly quiet (another reason for not blogging much). Since our house remodeling was still far from finished we decided that the kids and I would move out to Utah and then Scott would return after the house was all empty. After working a couple more weeks for GM, Scott would quit his job and go to work on the house full-time, finishing the remodeling.
May and June were all about packing. I filled our garage with boxes and threw away/donated tons.
Leaving our good friends in Michigan was the hardest part. We said goodbye at a party thrown for us and others who were also moving away that summer. (sorry Scott, I think this picture is so funny...those Wilcox sisters)!
Near the end of June, after school was out, the moving van came. My mom came out to help and she was my angel! She stayed up nearly all night with me those last couple of days, helping me pack and sort out things that would stay behind with Scott. It was more than I could've done alone, especially with a nursing baby and Scott still going to work all day.
Our last night in Michigan, we walked through our empty house and around the yard for the last time...taking pictures and saying goodbye. We had a little fireworks party later which I'm sure our neighbors really enjoyed!
Nana C and GraceThe day after the moving van came, we all got in the car and began our trip across country. We planned some detours along the way, including one last stop at our favorite Lake Michigan spot. We stayed overnight there and then took a ferry over the Lake to Wisconsin.
In Wisconsin we stopped at the Wisconsin Dells, a major waterpark utopia.
After traveling through the Badlands (way more cool than I expected) our last major stop was Mt. Rushmore. It was amazing!
We arrived in Utah on the 4th of July. My sister Cathryn (who came down from BYU-Idaho) is holding Clara and my niece Savanna (who isn't happy about sharing Cathryn's lap)!
Scott got to celebrate his bday with family before leaving us
The girls were excited to have a house with stairs!A week later our moving van FINALLY came - the day before Scott left to fly back to Michigan. It was terrible saying goodbye to Scott...I didn't know when he'd be back and I'd be on my own with the kids now in a new place. Luckily, I have his family here or I probably wouldn't have survived!
The kids played for the rest of the summer, mostly with their cousins who live one street over and at Grandma & Grandpa's pool. I slowly unpacked.
In September, I surprised Scott with a visit. I flew out with Benjamin and we stayed for a few days. Scott's bed was an air mattress on the floor, there was no hot water (FREEZING!) and the fridge was in the garage, but it was worth the trip! It was so good to see him and all the changes on the house.
I'm eating Thanksgiving dinner without kids on my lap because daddy's home and they're all on his lap now!After more than four months, and just in time for Thanksgiving, Scott finally joined us in Utah. I came home from eating out with the kids one night, and there he was! It was so strange at first to have him living with us.
Miracles do happen - Scott sold the house the day before he was leaving to move out here to Utah. It's hard to believe that that chapter of our lives is over and the house that we put so much into is someone else's now. Scott did an amazing job, but I don't think he wants to pick up a hammer again for a long time!Here's a few more pictures for those of you that requested them:
Sorry, I know you're all probably sick of seeing pictures of this house...I promise I'm done posting them!
So, Grace, who turned 8 in August, waited patiently for Dad to get home so she could be baptized. She was baptized the first weekend of December. It was a wonderful, memorable, perfect day.
Last, but not least, Benjamin turned one! It was yesterday. He really had no idea what the big fuss was about. He liked the new toys though. It took him a little while to get into his cake. He probably just wanted a little privacy, because once we all stopped staring at him, he made a nice big mess of it. I'm glad I took the time to make his cake, it was fun to do, which is saying a lot for me - I usually hate decorating cakes. The best part about Benjamin's birthday was having so much family there. We love being closer to them now!