The Moving Trip

Of course we couldn't make our move as simple as just packing up and driving to Idaho; instead we made a whole road trip out of it. And while we were so ready to be done by the time it was all over, I wouldn't trade it for anything. Justin's family left Sunday morning and we got serious about finishing the packing.  Monday morning was boxing up those last things and cleaning, cleaning, cleaning. We picked up the truck at noon and thanks to a large moving crew everything was loaded in no time. We ended up having TONS of extra room in the truck. We pulled out of town around dinner time and headed to Carlsbad, NM. It was a little sad to say goodbye to our Texas house. Lots of good memories. That night we swam in the hotel and went to bed.
Tuesday morning we headed to the Carlsbad Caverns. They were SO COOL! I was glad we decided to squeeze them into the trip. Matthew was pretty scared at first because he was afraid of the bats. But he eventually loosened his grip on my hand and was able to appreciate the beauty of the caves. Koyle did surprisingly well walking on his own most of the time, and Landon was pretty good. He started to get really tired and ended up falling asleep on Lindy's back. It was quite the hike down in; I was surprised at how steep it was most of the way down. I did fine walking but my knee did start to hurt again towards the end because of how I was waddling down the steep path while trying to hold a kid. It would have been fun to do the full loop around the main room but that was another mile long and the kids (and pregnant lady) were starting to get tired of walking and hungry for lunch. So we just did the short loop around which was still amazing. The Earth is full of such beautiful places and it is crazy to see what some water and minerals can create. After lunch we loaded up to make the drive to Gilbert, AZ. It took us a little longer than anticipated because the truck was pretty slow going up the hills, and the poor guys roasted their brains out because the AC was broken in the moving truck. But we finally arrived at Missy's house that night.
The next few days we spent just swimming in the pool and hanging out with the family. I could not keep the boys out of the water and I even enjoyed getting in and swimming myself. Cooper got to come with Grandma and Grandpa and Matthew was happy to have a playmate. He especially enjoyed swimming with his snorkeling gear.    Wednesday night Jeff and Sarah Rosendahl came over to swim and it was great catching up with them. It had been far too long since we had seen them last. We finally met Torsten for the first time...and he's 2!
Thursday night was Rylee's graduation. We ended up getting lucky and the weather was beautiful-just right for an outdoor graduation in Phoenix. I was happy that the timing had worked out so perfect so that I could be there to celebrate with Rylee. I love that kid so much and its still kind of weird that he is so grown up now. 

Lindy was teaching me to be a cool kid and showing me what this whole Snapchat thing was about. So of course we had to steal Rylee and Baylee's phone and send a message.

Friday we helped clean the house and then we did a family luncheon at a restaurant and then headed back to Missy's to finish up preparations for Rylee's graduation party. Of course there was lots of yummy desserts Missy had made, and of course there was some more swimming involved.
Saturday morning we were off on the road again. This time headed to the Grand Canyon. Why not add another sight to the trip, right? We didn't end up spending very much time at the Canyon, we just went on one short trail to an outlook and that was about it. But we still got to see the Canyon and once again marvel and the beauty a little water can make. There were a bunch of elk all along the path. They were so close you could almost touch them and they pay one drop of attention to the people. This was just a random spot of rocks but I LOVED it for some reason and couldn't resist taking a picture. The kids found this little rock crop and would have stayed and played on it all day. There were LOTS of tears when we told them it was time to go.  The boys were especially fond of the "city bus" we got to ride on into the park! We drove all along the Canyon on our way out so we got to see more of it as we drove too. After lunch we made the trek to Southern Utah where we stopped to stay with Brian and Susan Lindsey in Canairville. Funny story-my mom had been in touch with her about us staying the night, but when we called to tell them we were pulling in and asked where we should park we realized they thought it was just my parents coming to stay...not all of us! But of course they didn't care and we threw together some beds for the rest of us. We were just grateful for a place to sleep and get out of the car.
 This was our view all week long.

Sunday we hung around with them for a while in the morning before heading off for the last leg of our trip to Pocatello. We stopped in Provo to drop Lindy off at home. We were so grateful for her help all along the way and I felt special that she had saved and spent her money to come visit us and be a part of this whole thing. Hopefully she had a good time; we tried to make it feel like a vacation and not just helping her sister move...again. We got to Pocatello around dinner time and ordered some pizza to feed our faces. Jacque was so excited for us to get there, it was really cute. She had put some streamers covering the entryway so the boys could walk through them when they came in. She also bought me a flower for my new house and had some nice smells diffusing through the house. We unloaded our mattresses and bags to sleep for the night. It was a nice moment when everyone else went back to Jacque's house and we were left alone in our new house, just our family for a few minutes of peace. 
Monday morning our family arrived and the unpacking began. We were able to get everything unloaded and all the beds, bookshelves, tables, etc. put together before everyone had to take off for home. We couldn't have done it without all of our awesome family. A huge thanks to Mom and Dad and Lindy for making the entire trek with us. And to Jay and Tami and Jamie and Clayton and Mandi and Ryan for driving up to help us unload on Monday. And to Jacque and Travis for providing lunch for the whole moving crew. You are all the best and we love you more than you know!

Graduation!!

Best post title ever! It's always so exciting when that long anticipated day finally arrives, and it's just as wonderful as you thought it would be. Justin and I worked and worked to be packed enough to be able to just spend time with our family and celebrate the moment. Jay and Tami got in on Wednesday night and it was fun to have all of Thursday to spend just with them. We went to Matthew's Kindergarten award ceremony that morning (he got the Scholar Award, and author award) and then the guys went golfing and the girls went shopping. Tami always spoils me when she visits. Thursday night Cory and Tiffany and Troy rolled in, as well as my parents and Lindy. Friday was the big day! We just hung out in the morning and then picIked Matthew up from school early and I made Justin go to campus and take pictures with the big TTUHSC seal. I was so glad we took pictures early cause things were crazy afterwards.

 I don't want to take any of the credit for Justin's big day because he is the one who has put the hours and hours of study in, the early mornings and the late nights at the hospital, and jumping through all the hoops that medical school entails. I am so proud of how hard he has worked and how well he has balanced his life. This was his big day and I am thrilled to be his woman and the one who gets to stand behind him and hold his hand as he journey's through life.At the end of our photo shoot I wanted Justin to do a celebration jump. Of course he had to be silly about it because he didn't want to : ) But I got some sweet pictures out of it!

I think the way his sleeves puffed at the end is hilarious! Makes me think of Anne of Green Gables and the puffy sleeves episode for some reason.

Then Justin and Cory went on to the Civic Center and I went back to get the boys ready. Graduation started at 3 and while we were anticipating it to be a shorter graduation, it ended up being plenty long. Each person had their full moment of glory across the stage. The kids did really well though, minus a fair number of potty breaks.

Walking in

Almost his turn!

 It was really neat that his brother Cory got to hood him. We were so glad they made the trip down and that the timing of everything lined up just right.

The moment it was official! Now we can call him Dr. Jones. Or as Koyle says Doctor Dad.

We didn't have much time to mingle afterwards because we had to rush home and drop the kids off at the babysitters, then we hurried back over to the football stadium where they held the graduation dinner. Everyone's name came on the big screen for about 10 seconds so you could take a picture. We lucked out and his name came on the screen about 3 minutes after we got down on the field so we didn't have to wait forever. Dinner was the usual catered meal and not super exciting. They didn't have us all sitting at one table either so we didn't hang around for too long. We just ate our meal, said farewell to a few of our favorite friends (Pavin, Bryce Stash, Farmers, Hansons...) and headed out. We took everyone to our favorite ice cream place, Sheridan's, one last time for desert. Of course Justin was nonchalant about the whole ordeal claiming it was just another day, but I know that secretly he was just as happy as I was.

 Somehow I don't have the picture of him in front of the screen; it must be on his phone. I'll have to add that one later.

 The Jones boy in Jones Stadium
Saturday we went boot shopping. For a graduation gift my parents bought Justin and the boys some shiny, REAL, cowboy boots. We were all so excited because this was something we had wanted to do the whole time we lived in Texas. The boys had a blast trying on all the boots. Landon was cracking us up because he picked out every pink boot in the store and was full of exclamations like, "Oo, pretty pink boots" or "nice ones" and other such cheesy claims of beauty. Why the kid likes pink I really don't know. Then Tiffany took Koyle to Cabela's to use her gift card from the March Madness tournament. She knew how much he had wanted to win and was so sweet to share her winnings with him. He got a new nice fishing pole and some more gear for his tackle box...mostly all orange in color of course! Then we finished our afternoon with some good 'ole Texas BBQ. We tried out a new place we had been wanting to visit and it didn't disappoint. After everyone had their afternoon naps we finished the evening by watching Harry Potter 3 with Matthew. Noah Sims (Matthew's buddy from down the street) came over and watched it with us too!

 Boys in their boots on our last walk around the Lubbock Temple

A big shout out to all of our family who has supported us through this experience. We couldn't do it without you and we felt so blessed to have so many of you there to celebrate with us.