Friday, February 11, 2011

our U-HAUL drive from WA to OK

We spent the last couple days before the move doing a TON of packing and spending as much time with family as we could before we left. I'm not sure if you can tell...but the picture on the side of the UHAUL is a sting ray...so Travis being the uber-sensitive man he is nicknamed the truck the Steve Irwin. (Not very p.c., I know, but a little funny.) Here are some pictures of the basically empty UHAUL and once it was a little more filled up...it was pretty packed by the end, but I don't have a final picture of how full it really was.





Parker was taking a bath and Drayson decided he wanted one too. I think that pulling Parker away from his cousins that he loves so much was one of the hardest parts about moving...hopefully he will find some buddies here in OK too!

Getting in some last minute cuddle-time with Papa Kev-O and Nonni!




Look at that beast...Steve Irwin was huge! Once the car trailer was on it the whole thing was enormous!



Please excuse how awful we look...it was a long couple days leading up to moving day and we are looking a bit shabby. Not my finest picture...but I am taking one for the team by posting it anyway!


Having to say goodbye to my parents and sister were a couple of the hardest experiences of my life so far. It gives you a huge hole in your heart and all you can to is shed some tears and know that they are just a phone call away. My mom and sister are two of the best friends I have ever had and I miss my whole family so much. Thank goodness for a good long-distance plan and Skype!


Deacon was a trooper, he slept pretty well the whole 4 days down at Parker's feet. He would lay his head under the bench seat and stay there like he was pouting for hours!

Almost to Oregon

Our son was such a trooper...he started the journey great and ended it the same way. I couldn't imagine another toddler handling the 4 day drive as well as he did. So proud of our little guy!






Our little navigator!













State #3 (WA-OR-ID) and our stop for the night.

Sunrise in Idaho...Travis got us up and going bright and early the next day to start day 2 of the drive.


Welcome to UTAH! State #4!

Some of the prettiest scenery we saw was in Utah. It was beautiful. This is really when we started to see all the red dirt!



Not sure if this picture was taken in Utah or Wyoming...they all started to blend together. Not much to see in WY...but our next stop for the night anyway. So that makes WY state #5.

Nebraska...my least favorite state of the entire trip! The roads were so scary and I feel like I spent the majority of the drive through this state in a little bit of a panic attack! Good thing Travis is such a good driver. The semi-drivers on the other hand need to all be kicked off the road!!! They would pass you going way too fast and kick up so much snow on the road that you couldn't even see. You just had to pray that you were on a straight part of the road and wait to be able to see again. State #6



Kearney, NB and our stop for the night. There was so much snow and you could barely drive through it. There was a huge storm there that night and we didn't know if we would be able to leave the next day or not. It was terrible.



The next morning...thankfully we were able to leave. We had to do it quickly because there was another storm about to hit.




I believe these next pictures were in Kansas. State #7


So happy to see the exit for OKC. It was nice to know that we were actually getting closer to our final destination and new home. I was just glad that it meant that we were almost done driving on scary roads in the Steve Irwin!

The closer we got to Oklahoma the nicer the roads became...hoping it was a sign of good things to come!

Our trooper playing with money.


Welcome to Oklahoma!!! State #8 and finally the last one!

Little man wiped out from the last 4 days. Here he is crashed on our bed at the hotel on Tinker AFB. We stayed there for a couple days while our apartment was getting carpets cleaned.

In my next post I'll put up pictures of our new apartment (before and after we moved all our stuff in.) We got everything moved from the UHAUL to the apartment in a record 5 hours I think...my husband was a bit of a pill about the whole thing...but at least it was done!

Thursday, February 3, 2011

Daddy's Home December

After seeing Travis for Thanksgiving, it made the time between then and when he would FINALLY be coming home to us not seem so long! We were so excited to pick him up from the airport on December 22nd! It was strange to have him actually home after being away for a long 7 months...but we welcomed the chance to get used to functioning as a family of 3 again. The adjustment was more difficult for me than anyone I think. I had gotten so used to doing things on my own that it was hard for me to let Trav do things (like open up doors and drive the car). Parker was also used to having Mommy do everything that when Travis would try to change a diaper or put him down for naps and bed Parker would automatically whine and say, "Mommy do it." That phrase has become the bane of my existence!

so happy to have his Daddy home

The night Travis got home we had dinner with family and had our little Christmas with my parents and my sister's family. It was so nice to not feel like the "odd woman out" at this family function...it was always a little depressing to be the only one without my husband at family functions! The next morning we headed to Snohomish to spend Christmas with Trav's family. (We alternate every year...until now...who knows when we will get to spend Christmas with extended family again???)

It was nice to have some time to relax and Parker loved Christmas this year...he is finally old enough to really get into it and tear/fling wrapping paper everywhere! He not only opened his own presents, but Daddy's and Uncle Shane's as well!

watching cartoons with grandpa lee




grandpa lee--parker--grandma jammi

uncle tyler--amber--mommy--parker--daddy--uncle shane


doin' work on christmas eve

bubbles with uncle shane


opening his stocking on christmas morning

watching a movie with cousin raylee

helping great uncle terry open his presents


parker with uncle tyler--amber--and diesel


bath time in grandma jammi's jet tub...the jets made the bubbles go crazy so of course parks loved it