MOVING TO THE MID-WEST... What a trip!

STEP #1: Packing in Provo... June 29 Wow!! As I look back on these pictures 3 weeks later, I can't believe that we actually did this. We had been packing for months before. Just packing a few boxes at a time and so most of it was done. We had so much stuff that I was really questioning whether it was going to fit on the truck, but it did and we even had about 4 feet of unused truck space. Horray! We had some amazing help packing everything into the truck... Jon's parents (Dennis and Janet)came down from Idaho and helped pack the truck and then drove out to Iowa with us. They were amazing. I don't think we could have done it without them. We also had some great help packing from our Home Teachers! Thanks!! Brad saw us packing so many boxes that he thought he would help us out and pack himself away. He was such a great boy during this whole packing thing it was amazing!

And therefore, he was exhausted! Aunt Melissa (Mindy's sister) came over to watch Brad for the morning while we packed the truck and cleaned the house. We are very thankful. She did a great job... (and she also clearly stated, "Oh man... there is no way I could have a kid right now! I am exhausted!" age: 18). Well, to sum up the packing, we packed and cleaned until about 5:00 that night and then we were done. We checked out of our Provo apartment, never to see the inside again (at least not that I am aware of). After all the work was done, we had a great night spending time with Jon's wonderful family including his parents and Michelle and Moroni (sister and brother-in-law). We also had time to say good-bye to some friends. We spent the night in a hotel, which was even more comfortable since we didnt have to clean it in the morning.

STEP #2: Driving EAST across I-80...

June 30-July 1

Brad was such a sport as we drove for 2 days! Did you hear what I said... "2 DAYS"! I really don't think I have ever driven that far in my entire life, but we had a great time and made some great memories. Since Dennis and Janet drove the truck, we had the time and mobility to drive a little faster and stop a little more often as Brad needed. We actually kept pretty good time with the truck, but we did pass them a couple of times. This is a picture taken by Janet of our red car as we passed the truck. It was fun to wave to them as we flew by. One of the fun stops that we looked forward to was at the Lincoln monument rest stop in Wyoming. We met up with Dennis and Janet and got a fun family picture. Our goal for the first day was to travel to Kearney, Nebraska, which is about 12-13 hours from Provo, Utah. Wow! This was quite a trip. After about 10 hours in the car we were all ready to get out. However, Brad did amazing under the circumstances. He is such a great boy! We got to the hotel that night about 8:00pm and we were really excited to go swimming. Of course the water was FREEZING cold! So we all took a little dip and then Jon and I got in the hot tub and Janet brought Brad upstairs to the room and gave him a bath. Thank heavens for Grandmas. It was great to have some time to relax after 12 hours in the car. The next day we woke up all refreshed and ready to go. We only had 6 hours to drive today and we were all ready to get to Iowa. Once into Iowa, we stopped for lunch at Chuck-E-Cheese to let Brad out to have a break. We had a blast and it was just the boost we needed for 2 more hours of driving. The picture below is some beautiful scenery of Iowa. Please note the GREEN everywhere and all the trees. It really is beautiful. Just rolling hills and so much GREEN!

STEP #3: Welcome to the HAWKEYE state!

We made it... July 1

Horray! We are HOME! Welcome to our new home in Iowa. We arrived in Iowa about 3:00pm on July 1st. It was a GLORIOUS feeling. However, we still had much to unload, an entire truck actually. We originally had it set up that some members of the Elders Quorum would help us unload, however, no one was able to come and so we had the help of some of the ward members that live in our complex. It was so nice of them to help with all the furniture and some of the boxes. We could not have done it without them. Jon and Dennis were hauling boxes for about 4 hours or so. They were amazing! Needless to say, as you all know, if you have ever moved, we were living in chaos for a while. I was so grateful to have Janet there to help me start unpacking the necessities such as the kitchen and bathrooms. Thanks a ton! Brad was really happy to be out of the car and be able to run. It was so fun to see him so happy.To celebrate our arrival, we went downtown to the Pedestrian Mall the next day. Jon's favorite restaurant, Wedges is downtown and we were so excited to show Dennis and Janet the meatball sandwich... Jon's favorite. The Ped Mall, as it is so often called here, is pretty neat.

The city library is right downtown on the Ped Mall and outside the library it has a great playground area. Brad was thrilled to have more time to play and less time watching us unpack the house!We also were able to show off a little bit of The University of Iowa campus. This picture is of the Old Capital building, which is now a main part of the campus at the University of Iowa. It is so beautiful here. We are very grateful to be here in Iowa. It has already be so much fun since we arrived and we are excited to see more and more of the great state of Iowa!