Organized?

I am going crazy!!! I totally hate to unpack!!! One, you have to clean it all and two, you have to find a place to put it all. I have finally gotten the kitchen, dinning room, living room, bathroom and hall closet just how I want them or at least passable for the time being. So the office and master bedroom are killing me. The office has been my big project lately with trying to get things in order there but it is just not working out how I want it to be. I know it is going to take time to get things how I want them but I want it to at least be functional and not so much of a eye sore. My idea setting is to have it look as good as my oldest sisters place. I am a great organizer so I know it is possible it is just taking much longer then what I have had it planned too. I also don't want to take any pictures of the inside of the apartment to show you until it looks good. So I am sorry but you are all just going to have to keep waiting still.

Father's Day

Father's day was a lot of fun in our family. I was going to make breakfast for Michael but he made it for me (not totally sure how that happened......yeah, still don't know how). Then we got a calling that day for our ward. We are now the new primary teachers for the 11-12 year olds. It was so hard not to brake out laughing when they asked us to do that. The reason is because in the last ward that we were a part of we were the Sunday school teachers for the 12-13 year olds. Yeah, it was pretty funny. I had to tell my dad and he got a really good kick out of it too. I know this is going to be a tuff calling but I also have no doubt that it is also were the Lord wants us to be. I am just grateful that I get to team teach with Michael again or else I am sure I would go crazy. The rest of the day was pretty low key from there. Michael got a candy bar that melted in no time flat and so we froze it and then it was to hard to eat (just couldn't win with it so he had to eat it). I think all in all it was a pretty good day and hopefully the next father's day Michael will let me cook for him.

Happy Happy Birthday

I can not believe it (but then again I can) that I missed another persons birthday. This person birthday that I missed is a really important person who I treasure most dearly. My very first niece Lindsay. She is one of the greatest girls out there. I wasn't even able to call her for her birthday. I am a terrible aunt. I was able to call her a few days after her birthday and talk to her and ask how the day went for her and what she got to do and it sounded like a really good day to me. So here it is, "HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY!!!"
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I am so going to start to do birthdays differently starting next month!

Vet Visit For Hope

Well we finally took Hope into the vet. We have a vet office really close to where we live (I can walk to it in no time at all) and I heard that they are really good so I decided to give them a chance. I have totally become very picky when it comes to the vets that we take Hope to because we have come across some really bad and stupid vets. I hate to say that but it is so true! Anyways, Hopes appointment was during the time that I was sick so Michael had to take a little bit off of work to take her in. Hope needed to go to get some updates on her shots and we also wanted to get her back left leg looked at. She has been limping on it since a sledding accident when we lived in Utah (a sled with someone riding on it hit her and ran over her leg a little, yeah bad.) We would have taken her to the vet in Utah right away but I didn't trust any of them and we really didn't have the money at the time to take her either. Just something that comes with unemployment and all.
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Hope did really good for the vet. She actually liked him and when that happens then you know that the vet is good. She didn't even notice when she was getting her shots done! Hopes very first vet was that good too (the first vets assistants were terrible and hence a main reason why Hope has problems with vets or at least the techs). This next part is a little gross so you can skip it if you want to. The next thing that we got to learn is what was really wrong with Hopes ears. She has been losing fur on the tips only and we had one vet that said it was this one thing but neither Michael or I believe that was what the problem was what he said (he was the stupid vet). The vet here just looked at them and told us exactly what it was which basically when hope shakes her head the ear wax comes out and lands on the tips and when it gets hard it makes her scratch at her ears and that makes her lose the fur. All we have to do is just clean her ears out more and the tips. We have been doing that and all of the fur has already come back and she is doing great.
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The last thing the vet looked at was her back left leg. Hope did get a little grouchy at this part but can you blame her when it is something that has been hurting her. She didn't bark at him but she did do a little growl but no teeth just more of a complaint like, "Ouch, that hurts mister!" The vet said that we were okay that we didn't bring her in right away because it wouldn't have changed anything and the area has not been getting worse then what it was at the start. Basically, Hopes knee cap got moved over when she was hit by the sled and so it is rubbing on the raw part of the bone instead of being in the grove that it needs to be in. This is something that you see happen in smaller dogs and pretty much never in a Husky so it was done by the sled hitting her. He compared it to arthritis to help us understand what is happening. Hope is still fine to use the leg and run around and things so I am glad that we don't have to worry about that anymore. I am so glad that we now know what is the matter and I really trust this guy too. Since Hope has this arthritis in her leg she hasn't been using that leg as much as she should so the mussels are a little smaller on that side but she is still fine. Hope is going to need to have surgery to get her leg fixed but it will take care of the problem completely. To do the surgery we have to go somewhere else and it is a several hours drive to get there and it is also going to cost a lot to even do the surgery so now we just get to save up for it, lucky us. But I am still grateful that I know what is going on with my little girl and that she will be okay one day.
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I guess I will also tell you about Lilly since we are talking about the vet. When we came out for the job interview we did check with this vet to see if they saw turtles too which they did.........at the time. They no longer take turtles so we are going to have to find a vet for her. The vet did tell us of a place that sees turtles so we are just going to have to check that out sometime. The turtle vet does require us to drive to get there so it will be a fun little trip to find them. Lilly is doing pretty good over all. Her spot on her back is healing nicely. We are now positive that she just rubbed her shell a little hard against a rock and took off a big piece of it so nothing bad there. She does still have a cough but it isn't as bad as it use to be. We know that the cough isn't too bad because she still has a good hunger about her and is very active little girl. So that is the good news about our pets and now we just need to find a way to do the surgery for Hope, wish us luck.

Five Years

I can not believe it but Michael and I have now been married for five years and ten days. Where did the time go? Yes, I didn't blog on our anniversary for several reasons but the main one was that I was terrible sick. So as you can guess we didn't do anything for our anniversary. Well at least I didn't. Michael, the poor guy, was stuck taking care of me and the house. He was sweet enough to go out and buy me a little rose bush of yellow flowers though. I am sure that he got the flowers to try and make me feel better but I like to think that they were also for our anniversary too. I am just glad that I have a really sweet and understanding husband. We did go to the temple a few days later (even though I was still pretty sick) because we wanted to go and also it was our ward temple night so there was several good reasons. It was nice to be able to go and do something for our anniversary even though it wasn't on the actual day. I was sad that I was not able to do what I had planned for Michael but then again I can do it next year.

A Birthday Today

Today is my mothers birthday. So I just wanted to say another, "Happy Birthday," to her. I got to call her this afternoon to see if she was going to be doing anything special for her birthday today. She told me that one of my older sisters was going to be giving her a birthday party tomorrow so that will be fun for them all. Happy Birthday Again!!!

Visiting Childhood Home

Before Michael and I headed back to our apartment I had to stop by my old house in Oregon. It has become a kind of tradition almost to just go back and look to see how it is changing. We don't go back every time that we visit Oregon just to let you know. I have so many happy memories of the place and it is just fun to see it grow and change like me. It really doesn't bother me to see it different then how I knew it. Ok, it did bother me the first time that I went back but that was several years ago. This time we didn't stay long because we were doing a lot of things that day and needed to get back on the road but it was still fun to visit it again. I thought that you would all like to see what it looks now.As you drive down the street towards the house this is the lovely view that you get. Remember this is what the house looks like now. When I was growing up in it the house was a orange color and lots of other things were different.Now you can see the front door area. Yeah it is kind of hidden in the back corner and that is something that hasn't changed over the years. I wish that I could have gotten a picture of what the backyard looked like since it has changed a lot too but its all good. Hope you enjoyed my little memory lane and the end of the fun weekend that Michael and I had.

Visit To Krispy Kreme

I am sure that this is going to come as a shock but I have never been to the Krispy Kreme doughnut shop. I have always wanted to go and see the doughnut machine and to hopefully get a free doughnut myself. Michael has also wanted to take me to one for a long time and he was able to do so on Maren's graduating weekend. I was so excited to go on this new little adventure. Again, Michael's parents joined us for the fun. As you drive up to the place they have this sign that if it is lighted up that means the machine is working and we were lucky enough that the sign was actually on.This is what the sign looks like that they light up. I had to go and stand beside it because I thought that it was cool looking.Inside of the shop you see the beginning of the machine that they use. I was actually a little surprised at how small it was but it makes sense because they have to fit it into the store.We got there just as the last of these doughnuts were going though so I thought that I was not going to be able to see all of the fun. They didn't even have the icing waterfall on.This is the other end of the machine. They kind of circle back so that they can go under the heater. That big metal box thing in the back of the picture. I think that is what it is and if not then oh well.I tried to get as much as I could of the machine in the picture and this is the best that I got. Now here is my surprise for you all. I know that there has to be someone out there like me that has never gone and would love to see the machine working so I took a video. Right as we were about to go and get some doughnuts ourselves they started a new group! I was excited because that meant you got to see the entire process and it is just fun to watch too.

I know that this first one is short but it was the best video that I got of them flipping the doughnuts inside of the machine. I think that was one of my favorite parts. (If you listen carefully to the video you can hear our conversation about the machine and how it works and what we thought parts of it were. Just something that is kind of fun to listen too.)

This video shows the entire machine at work. It was fun to see the process and I now can see why everyone gets so excited over it, especially kids. I didn't get a free doughnut though but that was ok.

Here is the front of the counter where all of the doughnuts will one day end up or pass by. They all looked so good; good enough to eat *he he he*. Since I didn't get a free doughnut we bought some for the family and us to share at home.Yes, I am silly enough to take a picture of the box that we brought the doughnuts home in. I told you that I was that excited to go, it was my first time after all.The good stuff inside of the box! I picked out the chocolate doughnuts and the sprinkled ones. They were really good!!! I can not wait to go to the Krispy Kreme again and will have to find out if we have one in our area.

Farmers Market

It was only after I married Michael that I enjoyed going to the farmers market. I had gone a few times with one of my older sisters but I never felt like any of it really applied to me. I did have fun with her don't get me wrong but it was just a different kind. The day after Maren's graduation Michael and I with his parents and of course the dogs went to the farmers market that is really close to their house. I had been several times and was excited to go just to walk around and look at what was there. I really enjoyed looking at the plants this time since now Michael and I have an area to plant. It sure changes your prospective on them or at least it did with mine. While we were there we heard some music and went over and watched.These two guys were preforming some Irish music. It was a blast listening to them! I really would have gotten one of their CD's if I had the money, they were that good. I don't remember the name of the group unfortunately though.Hope even had a great time listening to them and stayed pretty focused on them until a lady in front of us notice Hope and how cute she was. The lady wanted to feed her some chicken but we just said thank you but she can't have it because it makes her sick. The farmers market was just the start of a busy fun filled day for us.

Maren Graduates

This last weekend was full of fun things but the main event was going to Maren's high school graduation. She is the last kid in the family (Michael's side that is), so it was really important for us to go. Getting there was quite an adventure in itself. Michael had been trying all week to work some extra hours each day so that we could leave early on Friday (day of graduation) without loosing anytime but for some reason he just wasn't able to get the hours moved over. He ended up having to loose a few so that we could leave close to the time that we had planned. That was a pretty big sacrifice for us but we needed to go so we figured that it was okay. When we got to Michael's parents house Hope ran out of the car, since she had been stuck in it for so long and needed to get some energy out. We had to go and catch her and then lock her up before we left so we lost some valuable time there. Eventually we got to the place that the graduation was being held at and we did have to park pretty far so we were speed walking to the building. As we were walking in they took our tickets and told us that they were locking the doors. I totally thought that they were talking about the doors that we had just came through or something but they ended up locking us out of the graduation hall that everyone was in. I was so mad! First off, this had been a big sacrifice and we really didn't have the money to do this but we still came and then for them to be rude as to lock us out I was just totally upset. I got so mad that I started to cry. So we didn't get to see Maren walk into the room and sit down as they did the graduation song. After the graduates took their seats they finally let us in. Our seats were just right close to the side door and up a little bit. They could have totally let us in but they were just being stupid! Yes, I am still a little bitter about what happened. I was also really mad that night because my camera was again having problems so you are going to be seeing some of my worst pictures ever.Can you find Maren? Here is a major hint: she is wearing a red graduation outfit. Ok, I will give you another hint: she is also looking at my camera.For one part of the program the seniors graduating that were in choir sang a song and Maren was part of the group. Lets see if you can find her here but to warn you it is a lot harder to find her because she is not looking at my camera this time.Now it is almost Maren's turn to get up to get in line to get her diploma! I knew that the pictures from my camera were going to be terrible (like at Mark's graduation since it was the same camera and the same place which also didn't have a lot of lighting) so I decided to take some videos to see if that would help out.

Here is Maren finally being able to get up and walk toward the stage to get in line to get her diploma. I know that it must have been exciting for her to realize that she was going to be a graduate and done with high school forever!

Maren turn has arrived to walk across the stage and received her diploma after all of the hard work and many accomplishments that she has done in her years at high school. Way to go girl!!!

After all of the diplomas were passed out the new graduates were free to go and find their family and friends. I love the smile that Maren has on her face here. I'm sure it was a great relief to be done with it all.Maren is so much fun! We had to do the family pictures really quick since Maren was going to be going to the senior grad night. (That is why I have so few.)I think that this was one of my best pictures that night. We sure are really proud of Maren and all that she has accomplished.Maren's father and mother who helped her and encouraged her with everything that she has done to get to this point in her life. I'm kind of sad though but Michael and I were not able to get a picture with us and Maren because she was running late for the grad nigh so she couldn't do one with us. She did enjoy the nigh with her friends. Maren told me that they went to a water park. She didn't get home until really early the next morning so we had to wait a bit to do something with her later. When Maren did wake up we gave her a gift that we had picked out to congratulate her.I liked the wrapping so much that I had to get a picture of it. The bag says milkoholic. Isn't that just funny? I loved it and told Maren that the bag represented chocolate milk! It got me laughing at least. We also were lucky enough to find a really great card (no it didn't have to do with cows).If you didn't know, Maren really likes cows so this was a great gift bag for her to get. I really do think that it turned out pretty cute though.This is what we ended up getting Maren. If you can't see very well what it is I'm sorry. It is a computer program that lets you do interior design on the computer: floor layouts, landscaping and so much more. She is going to be going into the interior design program at college so we felt that this would give her a great head start. It is a totally cool program and something that I am sure that she is going to have a blast using once she get everything on it all figured out.

Jossy's First Birthday

Yesterday was my niece Jossy's very first birthday. I just can not believe that she is already one years old (click on the word, 'one,' to read about it on my sisters blog). Where did the time go? She has grown up so much and is such a cute little girl. They did just a small family birthday celebration for her but the big family part is going to be coming soon (click on the link again to read more about what they did). I feel bad that I am missing all of the fun but at least I got to call her yesterday and say happy birthday to her over the phone. I also got to talk to Matty too (Jossy's big brother). So here it is one last time, "HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!"

Goodbye Old, Hello New

With things finally calming down, just a little bit, Michael and I decide that it was time to go and look for a dryer again. We really needed it and it was not something that we could put off very long. We looked at all of the same places that we did last time because there was really no where else to look. Michael found one that he really like but I was not totally sold on it. In the end he won and we got the dryer that he wanted (even though I am the one that has to work with it...funny). We bought it on Saturday but it didn't come until yesterday. I was happy that at least I was finally going to be able to do some washing. I also thought you would like to see what the old one looked like.We got this dryer as a wedding gift from a couple in my parents ward. We also had gotten a washing machine but that broke several years back. This has been a good little dryer and it sure was a great thing to have. The machine was way over 30 years old so I think that it held out really well.This is what the new dryer looks like. It is nice that it is white and not yellow and brown, like the old one. With it being white it at least makes me feel a little bit more modern. One thing that I was not sold on was the door. It opens to the side and I had always loved how the old one open down so that I could put things on it but I am sure that it is just going to take me time to get use to it that is all. It does work wonderfully so I am happy that Michael insisted that we get this one. It drys so much faster and uses less energy and will turn itself off if everything is dry in the dryer. It has done 4 loads of laundry in a third of the time that it use to take me. I just hope that this one last more then 30 years too.

Battling Bees

That's right! I have been fighting with honey bees like crazy this last week. It has been a total pain to deal with since I have been in such a rush to get all of the unpacking done or at least as much as I can before my parents arrive. What basically happened is on the Weds. a few bees got into the house (at the time I thought that they were hornets because they looked just like them). I was able to kill them but it was still really weired. The next day however I killed 15 bees in just a half an hour! I didn't know what to do because I was killing bees every 5 minutes or shorter and sometimes I would have to take out more then one at a time. Michael was at work when all of this was happening. I was so stressed out from trying to unpack and getting interrupted by bees did not help. I wanted to cry so bad but I wouldn't let myself for: one, I wanted to be able to see the bees; two, I didn't want Hope to freaked out as well; and three, I just didn't have time to do that. To be honest, Hope was actually a really big help in finding out where the bees were coming from. The bees were getting into the house by way of the fireplace. They would come down it and then try to get back outside through the windows but I would have them killed off before that. Some of the bees actually decided that they liked the apartment (or the smell of all the cleaners that I was using) and would stay in the dinning area. I had just cleaned off the kitchen table and I didn't want to spray it with the bug killer so I would use the bug killer container to hit the bees and stun them long enough for me to be able to get them. One bee landed on the table so I caught him in a cup and put him outside. Mind you I did not set him free to come down the fireplace again but put rocks on the cup and around it so that he couldn't get out. At that point I had, had enough and completely broke down and called Michael at work. I thought that he would be able to give me some kind of advice on what to do. Talking with him did help me feel better but he was unable to tell me what to do. I even told him that I had soaked the fireplace with the bug repellent spray and that wasn't even helping. Unfortunately a bee decided to fly down the fireplace again and I had to hang up on him to go and get it. Lucky for me I have such a sweet husband that called the apartment manager who hurried over to come and see what he could do to help. I was embarrassed about the mess but it really couldn't be helped with trying to unpack and all. The manager was at least able to tell me that it was not hornets but honey bees coming down the fireplace so that did make me feel a little better. He then said it would help if he knew where they were coming from which I was happy to answer that question for him. We then went outside, we saw a bee get in threw the top so he agreed with me on that point (I was not looking forward to finding that bee inside). Then he told me that the apartment right next to us had this same problem two years ago. The bees would come for only a couple of days and then no more. All they were trying to do is find a new home. Knowing that did not make me feel any better because this was my new home and I didn't want to share it with any bugs! The manager said to take a plastic bag, one that you can see threw, and cover our fireplace with it and that he would get someone to come on Friday to take a better look. As soon as he left, which was very soon after that, I ran inside found the bee and killed it and then got right to work covering the fireplace.I think that I did a pretty good job of covering it by myself. Since I have done that no more bees have come into the house but we have had them in the fireplace. Somehow we were able to kill two of them in there, don't ask. So then Friday comes and no one came over to look at the fireplace or the bees! I waited all day! Then if that wasn't enough my vacuum belt brakes! I was going crazy because that was the day that my family was coming and all I knew was that it was going to be at night. I had no idea what time they would be getting here so I called and no one picked up. Eventually they did call me back and it was late enough that I thought that the bee man would have come by and taken care of it but since he didn't show up I was glad that I at least had some protection for my family. I also was lucky enough to have such a nice neighbor as to let me borrow their vacuum so that I could have a clean house for my family. I did tell them about the bees and to watch their own fireplace to make sure none came down it. They were very thankful for me informing them because two members of their family are allergic to bees. But somehow the day did end pretty good. I got the house clean and unpacked enough for my family to stay they night comfortably. Michael and I took them to the mall and everyone seemed to have a great time there. That was really all we were able to show them since they needed to get to bed because they had to be on the road early the next day. I wish they could have stayed longer because I had so much more that I wanted them to see and more I wanted to do with them but you get what you can. They all said that we had a very nice place and gave me some advice about what to do with the yard too. I sure can't wait for more of my family to visit us one day (*hint, hint*). Friends are always welcomed too (*smile*).

Upacking Madness!

Memorial Day, morning, we finally started to unload the Uhaul truck. We were told that several brethren from the ward would be coming over to help us. Michael and I were so excited that we got the truck all ready to unload a half hour early and started doing some of the smaller things ourselves. Only one brethren from the ward came. The missionaries actually were kind enough to show up as well to help us (and it wasn't even a P day for them so they were in suits). Then Michael's parents came and helped out as well. It didn't take as long to unload as it did to load the thing but once it was empty everyone took off for their homes. The only item that was really hard to get into the apartment was our couch because that thing is so big. We had to get it to come in at a funny angle and take the front door off and even the legs of the couch off to get it in and it was still a tight fit. One of the missionaries joked that it only got in with much fasting and prayer. I would have to agree with him there because the entire time that they were trying to get it in I was praying like crazy that they wouldn't ruin the apartment door or wall or anything. The apartment sure was crowded so we decided to take the Uhaul truck to where it needed to go and then start unpacking. My parents were going to be visiting us at the end of the week on Friday night and I wanted the house to look really good so that they would like the place.Hope had watched everyone bring in things and she was really nice to everyone and it just totally pooped her out. For some reason she has decided that the kitchen table is the best place to take naps. She actually still does that and just loves hanging out under the table. Silly girl. Hope stayed under the table while we unpacked our things. One of the first things that we did was hook up the washer and dryer since I wanted to do some much needed laundry. But as we were hooking the dryer up it made a terrible sound. Basically the thing died on us. Yeah, I could have cried. So we left all of our things and locked Hope up in one on the rooms that was not so bad and where she couldn't hurt anything either and left to go and find a dryer. We were thinking that since it was Memorial Day that we would find a great deal and there was some out there but Michael and I just didn't like anything that we found. In the end we didn't get a new machine and I was left with having to wait to do laundry. The only thing that we could do when we got home was put the mattress on the floor and go to bed since it was to late to do any unpacking with Michael having to work the next day. Now you might be wondering why we wouldn't at least put our bed together, right? The reason for that is because the box spring had a broken board so it really would be hard on our backs. Neither of us wanted to sleep on it so we opted for the mattress only and just said that we would eventually get around to fixing it.

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The next day comes and I try to do some of the cleaning and unpacking myself and I was doing ok but I knew that we needed to fix that bed that day or else I would feel like I was getting no where. Once Michael got home I told him that we needed to fix it and he agreed so we went out to a hardware store, after we had measured the bed like crazy, and bought some wood to fix it. We also had to go to a fabric store so that I could buy some new backing and was grateful that one of the ladies at the store does re-upholstery. She was a BIG help with telling the kinds of fabric that I could use. I had taken a sample of the old backing but they don't carry anything like that in their store and I didn't want to go anywhere else because it was a store that I knew well. I did use the ladies advice and was happy with what I got. I ended up using a birthday gift card that I was saving for when we moved here to purchase the backing. I was going to use it for something else but this was way more important. With all of our things we were ready to fix the bed. We ripped off what was left of the backing and took the bad part out which wasn't to terrible, actually it was kind of fun.Michael and I put in three new back boards so that the bed would be extra strong and also in hopes that the thing would not brake for a very long time. Michael did all of the drilling and putting the screws in while I marked where the boards should go and held them in place for him too. Once he was finished with that it was then my turn.I got to put on the backing and it sure was hard to get the thing to stretch right and not pucker but I did it. They had several colors that I could have used for the backing but I figure no one is going to see it so what does it matter really. The old one was black so I didn't feel like I really needed to go with some other crazy color. I even was brave enough to use a staple gun and I have to say, "I LOVED THAT THING!!!" Maybe even a little to much but I was nice enough to let Michael has a turn using it too.The finished product. I know that I should have probably taken a before picture so that you could have seen just how bad it was before but you will just have to take my word for it. This has been needing to get done for a long time so it sure was great to have it completed and it also helped me to be a little bit braver and more self-sufficient too. I feel so self sufficient that I might even try to re-upholstery the couch and chair one day (yeah, one day).

Driving Home

The drive home was pretty good but again it was long. We left on Sunday morning and Michael and I stopped for a little bit to see my grandmother in Burly. She was really tired so we couldn't stay that long but she was nice enough to sit down and talk to us while we ate some lunch. Then we got back on the road and headed for Boise. The reason that we were going there is because it is in the direction of our new home but we needed to stop off at my aunt and uncles. My parents were going on a trip to the coast and on the way they had dropped off some of the things that we could not fit in our car when we had left them. So we were just picking it up and then we were going to stay the night at Michael's uncles place who lives in the same area. When we got to his uncles though he wasn't home and was not going to be back until tomorrow. As you can probably figure we didn't stay and just drove the rest of the way home. It was sure a long drive back but Michael and I had so much fun that we really didn't even notice Hope did enjoy the ride for the first 30 minutes but then when she realized that there was no back window for her to look out of she didn't like it much. She also sat in the middle of Michael and I so she didn't even have a side window to look out of. Hope decided then that it was just better to sleep even though she really was not tired at all. We only stopped a couple of times but when we did Hope was thrilled, wonder why (*smile*).One of the places that we stopped at to get gas had this really cool wagon close by in a parking lot. We pulled into the parking lot to wait for Michael's family while they got dinner for themselves. I was walking the dog giving her a potty brake when Michael pulled in and I just started laughing really hard because this is what I saw.Remember how the pioneer would use a cover wagon to move to a new area? Well here we are using the cover wagon to move our moving truck. LOL. Ok, I am strange and maybe you just had to be there or something if you didn't find that funny. It does amazing me though that in such a short time of history how much things have changed in a way that can really help people. I would hate to have to move all of our things in a wagon and I think that it would take us longer then just a holiday weekend.I liked the wagon so much that I had to get a picture of hope with it. I wish that I could have put her on the wagon or in it but I wasn't sure if that was safe or allowed even.For some reason Hopes expression makes me laugh hard too. It just looks like she is up to something and just waiting for me to turn my back. I bet she wanted to have a little wheel souvenir or something to chew on in the Uhaul. Hope was a little sad to leave the wagon but she was fine. The rest of the drive was the same as the first and we got home pretty late at night but at least we were finally HOME! With all of our things, I might add. The only parts left for the move was to unpack the truck and to clean EVERYTHING!!!

Remembering Them

Once we were all loaded up, Michael's parents wanted to go and visit some family members that had pasted on. I thought it was a great idea and was excited to go since it was a good opportunity to learn some more about his side of the family. We stopped at several different places and visited a lot of people. I took a ton of pictures and I am sorry to say that I don't remember very well how all of them are connected so you are going to get the ones that I do know. The one that I was most excited to visit that day though was Thomas E. Ricks (now that I am related to him even if it is just through marriage).This is the monument that they have up for Thomas E. Ricks. I just did the one side of the monument but there is more on the other sides, mostly just his wives.But this is the real headstone for where he is truly. It is just a few steps away from the monument.Now this one was at a different place. This is Michael's uncle, on his mothers side, that passed away before I ever got to meet him. I'm sad that I never really got a chance to get to know him but I am sure one day I will.This last picture is of my grandfather, on my mother's side. We visited his grave on Sunday as we were traveling back home with all of our things. I loved my grandfather a ton and he was one of the best kind of men out there. I learned a lot from him and I am glad that he never got annoyed with me always following him around. Michael thinks that I got my sense of hummer from him and I don't mind that at all (*smile*).

Uhaul It

Now for the most exciting post of all! I finally get to tell you about us going to get our things out of the storage unit. (This is going to be a long story.) I was totally ready for this because I was getting really sick and tired of not having a proper place to put anything so everything got moved around quite a bit. We had to do the move on that Memorial Day weekend because that was the only time that Michael's parents would be able to help us. We left on that Friday really late at night and drove all night to Blackfoot. Hope did come with us and she did great in the car likes she always does. Since we were stayed at Michael's aunts house, who lives in Blackfoot, Hope had to sleep in the garage. Now the reason that Hope had to stay in the garage is because one of Michael's aunts children has an allege to pet hair. I knew that she was going to have a hard time being left alone because she was wide awake (she slept a ton in the car ride to there) but also it was a new place and she was a little uneasy about the whole thing. We locked her up in her cage quickly since we were both tired and turned out the lights (it was completely black!). I think that made Hope freak out even more because she cried really bad and I could hear her banging on the cage trying to get out. Hope would quite down some of the time but not ever completely. I almost went up, several times, to the garage to go and sleep with her or at least take her in the back yard (where there is a fence) and let her play while I just sat on the step or something to watch her. Michael wouldn't let me go to her but really he couldn't have stopped me because he fell asleep in like two seconds after he told me that. So basically I didn't get hardly any sleep that night because I was worried about Hope stressing out and that she would wake up everyone in the house. Thankfully everyone said that she didn't bother them at all and that they had slept fine that night. Let me just say that I never want to do that again to my poor little girl, it was just to terrible for the both of us.

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The next morning we had to get up early so that we could go and pick up the Uhaul truck and get to the storage unit and have everything out by noon because that is when the storage place was going to be closing. If we didn't get it done before that time then the lady would not check us out. I was totally stressing about getting it done in time. Now the Uhaul truck was in Idaho Falls for us to pick up and we had done a map-quest thing so that we knew how to get there (even though we still remember the area pretty good when we lived out that way). Well for some reason the map quest directions were wrong and so it took us a lot longer to find the place. We ended up having to call them and keep them on the phone just to find them. I believe it took a little over an hour to actually find the place, sad hu? Once we had the truck and were on the road it was 11a.m. which meant we only had an hour to get our stuff in the truck and the unit cleaned out! When we got into Rexburg, where our things were, it was 11:30a.m. (are you all panicked yet?). Michael had made the suggestion that we go to the office and let them know that we had just gotten there and we would hurry as fast as we could. I think he was hoping and praying for a little kindness from them. Michael's mother and I hurried over to the office while Michael's father and him headed to the storage unit. I talked with the lady at the desk and she gave me an envelope and told me to just put the lock on it and put it in the drop off box when we are finished and then she will count that as our check out. WAY NICE!!! I was so happy I really could have hugged her. I am also so glad that Michael had me go over and talk with her. When we got to the unit it was like ten minutes from noon and they guys were trying to go fast but be careful. They really didn't have that much done but once we told them that we had all the time that we needed they both were really thankful too. It sure did make the rest of the afternoon more enjoyable. Now here is your reward for listening to only part of my story......PICTURES!!!The Uhaul truck was enormous! When Michael told me the size that he had gotten I was worried that it was to big and that we could have gotten a smaller one. Lucky for me he was right and we did need the bigger truck for all of our things.We were also blessed with wonderful sunny weather too which was great. However it also meant that we could get burned and I didn't like the idea of that happening. Lucky for all of us Michael's mother thought ahead and brought sun block (I still got burned bad though and I put on a ton!).Hope had a lot of fun just chilling in the car but she couldn't stay there the entire time since Michael's mother had some things to do for the guys.So we hooked Hope up to the Uhaul truck. At least she was able to be in the shade and she really didn't mind it at first. It was when she realized that she couldn't do much and also couldn't see us that she didn't like it that much but she got over it.Here is just the tip of the iceberg for all of our things in that storage unit. All of it was terribly dusty and I was not looking forward to cleaning every inch of our stuff when we got it to our new home but I was still thankful that we were able to get it out.Now I was helping the guys too, while doing pictures, and every now and again I would go and check on Hope to make sure that she was not getting into trouble. This is what I would find her doing. Yep, just laying under the truck. Most of the time she would be completely under it (like in the middle) but she would always come out so fast that I could never get a picture of it.At one point in the afternoon I was starting to feel really sick (I think it was because I was getting to sun burned) so I took Hope and sat down inside of the Uhaul for a few minutes. It didn't help that much but it was still probably a smart thing to do. I think Hope also appreciated being out of the hot air and to have something to do even if it was just to explore the inside of the Uhaul truck.She got so good at figuring out where and what things were that she had to take a turn at driving it. Just kidding but doesn't it look like that?The half way point. I know that it doesn't look like that at all with everything on the outside of the truck. I still can not believe all of the things that we had and we even downsized what we could before we put everything in the storage unit.After Hope and I were doing well enough for me to go and help the guys again I decided to just let Hope be off of her leash. No one else was around and the storage place had a very high fence so she couldn't get to the freeway so I felt like it was safe enough for her. She would get in the way sometimes but she now knows the word, "Move," and actually gets out of the way. Hope did finally decided that being in this spot was much better and she took a little nap while we worked.The more breakable things that we had went inside Michael's parents truck.The moment has finally come.......IT IS EMPTY!!! Now you can see how big the unit it. I was the lucky one that got to clean it out. All I had to do was just sweep it and I really didn't mind that at all. I did find quite a few spiders but I didn't let them get away without first meeting my foot.Now you can see just how right Michael was in getting the bigger truck. At least it all fit in and we were ready to go. The only thing left for the Uhaul was to drive it safely home.