Packing up and Moving!

Because of all our adventures, we really didn't get too much packing done until the Monday before our departure. To add to the stress, we needed to have the trailer packed by Thursday so that Jared's mom and stepdad could begin the journey on Friday. That would give us all day Friday to clean before heading out EARLY Saturday morning. Having a 14-month-old only complicated matters, but we are so grateful for Lisa, Michelle, and the Tylers for helping out with her. You were life savers.

We tried using baby gates a few times to keep Allie from different areas within the apartment. This is what she thought of that.

And after this, she stood on the other gate and tried going up the closer one. We got a picture of that on our cell phone, but we haven't transfered it to the computer yet. Anyway, you get the idea.

When we got the trailer and started putting things in, we realized that we'd have to be VERY strategic regarding placement of everything. It was amazing how much stuff we crammed into the trailer. We used soft, squishy things to fill in any empty spaces. Allie's duck qualified as a "soft, squishy," so he got crammed in between some boxes and the little potty.

Help Me!!
(at least he had the potty nearby to relieve himself on the trip)

We really owe a lot to Becca and Duncan Tyler, who were amazing and helped us clean and watch Allie on Friday. We passed our white glove check with flying colors and were ready to move, after a good night's sleep. We stayed at the Tyler's that night so that we wouldn't have to worry about the apartment anymore.

Saturday morning, we pulled out a little after 5 am. Even after stuffing the trailer full, filling the Tahoe up, and giving some things to the Tylers, our car still looked like this on the way down to Salt Lake City.

A little fuzzy, but Allie is in her car seat in the middle with things
stacked up on both sides of her.

Luckily, Allie slept most of the way down to Utah. If you can believe it, we then picked up Nikki's sister, Maria, and her suitcase, and headed to the Salt Lake airport. It was quite the adventure. Maria had to ride on Nikki's lap on the way to the airport. I think it is safe to say that we were all grateful that Maria and Allie were able to fly from Salt Lake City to Oklahoma City. Thank you, Maria, for flying with and taking care of Allie! Allie did really well with Maria. It probably helped that Maria and Nikki look a little bit alike.

We (Jared and Nikki) then hit the road again and were on our way to Oklahoma. To help you imagine what we saw on the drive, we thought pictures would sum it up even better than words.

We passed many windmill farms.

We passed some pretty sunflower fields and thought of a few friends and
family members who love sunflowers. 

A windmill blade being transported

Yea, we made it!

Allie having fun in our new home

We also owe a special thanks to Jared's mom and stepdad. They pulled the trailer, enduring the drive that we showed you above, and then unpacked the trailer when they got to Oklahoma. They set up our bed, Allie's crib, and put things in the proper rooms. It was so nice to be able to get here and not have to worry about the unloading. They also played with Allie on Monday while we ran errands. Thank you Grandma Terri and Grandpa Dick! We are so grateful for your help.