We made it!!

     Well we made it to Arizona!! It was not easy, and I don't want to do that drive ever again, but we made it!  We started out June 18, bright and early.  My mom came over first thing and helped with Levi so we could get work done.  While Levi napped we were able to all load, so things moved much faster.  At noonish my cousin and his friend helped load some more, and my dad came and helped load the last of the big things.  Around 2 or 3 we were done loading all the big heavy things, and we just needed to pack up the random last minute things and deep clean the house.  These last minute things always take much longer than planned.  Well around 6 we rolled out of Idaho Falls and headed to SLC for the night.  Of course, the moving truck added an extra hour, and we had to make some inconvenient turn arounds in the massive truck, but eventually we made it.  We went to bed around 11:30ish that night.

     The next morning we rolled out of SLC around 7:15 am.  The drive from SLC was supposed to be 10 hours and 15 minutes.  But let's be honest, the moving truck doesn't go faster than 65 MPH.  So our 10 hour drive turned into a 14 hour drive. 

 Let's not forget the part where Derek got stuck at a weight station, or the part where we made it to St. George at noon and the AC went out in the moving truck.  Derek had to drive a whoppping 9 hours in 100 degree weather without any AC.  He was absolutely miserable.  He ended up getting heat stroke and got really sick.  And of course let's not leave out the part where Derek stopped to try and get the AC fixed and so I went ahead.... (not knowing where I was going), and putting full trust in my GPS.  Well... let's just say I missed the other highway entrance in the middle of Las Vegas rush hour traffic.  My phone then continued to lead me on a goose chase fipping U-turns left and right with Bonnie and Ray panicking as passengers in my vehicle.  The last hour of the drive we had had it.  Levi had a melt down and was inconsolable for 30 minutes.  And... not to mention Derek's GPS took him up way out of the way rather than driving directly home the last stretch of the drive.... so that added on another 15 or so minutes.  That move was absolutely terrible.  I'm not going to lie, when Levi started crying, I came pretty close to having a melt down right there with him.  I was on edge, I was sick of being cooped up in the car, and I had had it just as much as my 1 year old.  

New house, we are in love! 

  We finally arrived at our new house around 9 pm AZ time, (10 pm Idaho time).  We were famished, and the weather was still in the low 90's.  Levi and I went into the house to check it out, and Levi took off running.  He was so happy being free and able to run from room to room and explore the new place.  I was almost in tears because I knew the beds were towards the front of the moving truck, and all I wanted to do was eat and crawl into bed.  The last thing I wanted to do was run to the grocery store and then come home and finish unloading.  When I walked into the kitchen while touring our new home there were groceries sitting on our kitchen counter.  Raylon and Emili had gone and bought us groceries, used the spare key, and left them for us.  I have never been more grateful to see food in my life.  I finished touring our cute house and I was so happy with the house.  It was much bigger than we had anticipated and it is perfect for what our family needs.  I went to look and see how big the fridge was inside and low and behold, Raylon and Emili had stocked the inside of our fridge as well.  At this point I was holding back tears.  I poured Levi some milk, fed him some food and sent him to bed.  Now for the grueling unloading of the truck.

   We unloaded for about an hour, then Raylon and Emili showed up around 10:30 or 11 with chicken nuggets and more energy to help.  Once again, I was so grateful for them.  While we were unloading in the dark, our next door neighbor showed up with a big spotlight for the truck, and a dolly.  This dolly made moving go so much faster.  We had the truck unloaded between 11:30 or 12, we made the beds, and we hit the sack around 1.  We all slept like a rock, (Or as Ray would say... a rose).  

Finally finished unloading. So tired!

  The next morning Derek woke up at 5:30 wide awake, so he decided to start unpacking.  He went to plug the washing machine in when all of a sudden he felt zaps going through his whole body..... Yup, Derek electrocuted himself plugging in a stupid washer.  Luckily Bonnie had just woken up and she followed him into the room and was there right after it happened.  Derek was ok, but it took about 2 days for his body to feel completely normal again.  Also, don't forget he got heat stroke so he was also sick with that.... it gets better.

Taking a break from unloading to play a game.

   The next day Derek and I decided to tackle the kitchen, (my least favorite part).  The cupboard space is much more limited to what we were used to and we were struggling finding a spot for everything.  Derek has super long heavy utensils used for grilling.  Derek was carrying these heavy utensils when all of a sudden the big spatula fell out of  his hand and landed directly on his ankle bone.  He fell to the ground grabbing his foot.... this might sound rude but I thought he was just being dramatic and trying to be a little funny. He was so frustrated that he got hurt once again and tried to just brush it off.  He got up and hobbled to the drawer and opened it, but the drawer was broken so it fell right to the ground and shattered into pieces.  At this point I threw my hands in the air.  I think I said something along the lines of sending Derek to a corner and to not touch anything or move a muscle the rest of the day.

First grocery trip in AZ (Wasn't fun spending that much on all new food)

   That night we went out for Ray's birthday.  We went to Rustler's Rooste, which is a restaurant built into the side of a mountain. There is a slide you go down to get to your table, delicious food, cotton candy, a live band and a dance floor.  Levi sat and danced and clapped all night, he had a blast!  Anyways... let me get back to us being a disaster.  After Derek had sat for a while in the car, he got out to walk inside the restaurant.  His foot was really hurting at this point, and he went to step, and he couldn't bend he ankle.  His foot had become so swollen he couldn't move it.  So he awkwardly limped the rest of the night.  When I was walking into the restaurant I tripped and my flip flop ripped and completely broke.  Derek and I were quite the sight trying to walk the rest of the night.  I had to drag my foot behind and I couldn't pick my foot off the ground.  I wont' lie, I was embarrassed with how ridiculous we looked.

WEEE!! Levi loved the slide!

We love Rustler's Rooste!

   When we sat down to eat, I asked our waiter for a bag of ice and he looked at me like I was a weirdo.  Derek elevated his foot on my lap and I laid the bag of ice on his ankle.  We are pretty sure he cracked the bone.  Luckily he had a wrap/boot thing at home from breaking his foot before, so he just wore that and we never went in to the Dr.

   After dinner we went to Jesterz, which is a family friendly improv comedy show.  It's basically like "Who's Line Is It Anyway?"  It was so funny.  There was one part of the show where they asked the audience members to pull out the strangest things they have in their pocket or purse.  I pulled out the bag of ice.  Everyone was laughing because they thought it was a bag with a poopy diaper inside.

Jesterz!!! Fun night!

Snake at restaurant

  After Jesterz we went and got Italian ice and gelatos at Rita's.  It was a successful night full of laughter, fun, and memories.  I  will post more later, because don't worry, there is more to write about.  We are so happy to be here in AZ, but of course it is hard to be away from family.  We love our house, the location, and all the fun things our ward does.  We were also so very grateful for all of Bonnie and Ray's help with moving down here.  We couldn't have done it without them.  Believe me.... I could not have done that drive with Levi without anyone in the car.  We are excited for all the new adventures to come.  We realize it's going to be a hard 4 years, but 4 years we will never get to experience again.  Right now we are just enjoying spending time together as a family before school starts up in August.

Phoenix temple being built 10 min. from our house!