-Before you start reading this, I need to tell you that Derek wrote this run down of our trip, just so you understand why certain words are used and there is a lot more detail than I would have written. I just didn't feel like typing it out and so Derek said he would.-

So here is the run down of how things went. After packing up all of our stuff in the back room of our house in Rexburg so that the Doutre's (our friends and the managers taking our spot) could move there stuff into the house, we went and visited family throughout the lands of Idaho. It was nice to survey the landscapes for one last time before going on to smaller mountains and better trees. 

Once we finally packed everything into our Budget (R) truck (which was a miracle in and of itself) we headed for Colorado to stay with our friends Bill and Linda Beck. We did spend the night with Amanda's brother Alex before leaving for the Becks house Sunday morning. We knew we were moving in the right direction, because it was already getting prettier than it was in Idaho. Anyhow, we stayed all of Sunday with the Becks, including going to church with them. It was a nice little break after our big first-day drive.

Monday morning we woke up, had a quick breakfast with the Becks and headed out. This is probably a good time to mention that the Beck family still stands at the top of our list of best cooks in the West. So, everything they fed us was truly a joy.

We drove to Independence Missouri on Monday and got there Monday night. The hotel was a prodigious 15 story building. Everyone slept while Derek suffered from stomach pains (I think it was the peach rings). The good news is, he didn't die. The bad news is, he didn't die.

Tuesday we left Independence and headed for West Lafayette Indiana. (It's true, we slept in one of the great Mormon sites on earth and didn't go see anything. We are lame, but then again, you weren't doing a 40 hour drive with two children 3 and younger.) We arrived in West Lafayette that evening and had dinner with Whit (Benjamin) and Andre-Ann Laga. (Andre-Ann, by the way, was on the top of our list of best cooks in the West, but now she doesn't live in the West, so she is now at the top of the list of best cooks in the Mid-West). 

We stayed with the Laga's that night, and everyone slept but Whit and Derek, who ended up staying up until around 4:30 a.m. (That's right, it's been two nights since Derek has slept and he hasn't crashed the car yet. Another miracle, I would say.)

We left the Laga's the next morning (Wednesday) and headed for Virginia, the land of Hallie and Macie's mother and father's educational experience. 

Note: during all of this driving the girls were taking turns riding in the truck with Derek. And on two occasions Amanda took a turn in the truck too, while Hallie drove the car. (obviously that didn't happen, but I did take a turn driving the truck).

We arrived at Brad and Ashley Close's house that night in Roanoke. Although they only live about half an hour away from Blacksburg, we were too late to check into our apartment that night. It was great to see them. This was the first night since the Beck's that Derek actually slept. 

Finally, we left for Blacksburg on Thursday morning. We got there around 11:00 and checked in. Several of the ward members came and helped us move our stuff into the apartment. As we surveyed this new land of non-inheritance, we realized it was beautiful to behold. Its lush landscape and mountainous topography really appealed to us. And so we decided we would stay after all.

The end, so far.

 Here is sweet little Macie helping me pack (I really struggled having my house such a mess that week)

  Here we are starting out our long drive. 

We stopped in Blackfoot really quick to say goodbye to Derek's family.

I don't know why but I didn't take any pictures along the way, but here are some videos I took when we got to Virginia.

 Macie and Hallie just enjoying being together.

So here is our apartment in just a few pictures (yes it is that small that I can show you in a few pictures)

 Luckily, we have a walk in closet to store all of our extra boxes and luggage.

 Here is our bedroom

 Here is Hallie and Macie's bedroom

 Our tiny little bathroom, with one little cupboard:(

 Little Macie in the Hallway

 My tiny little kitchen. I have had to be really creative with my space in the kitchen and bathroom because our apartment in Rexburg (at Avonlea) had a lot of cupboard space in the kitchen and bathroom so we have downsized a lot.

 Our little space for our dinning area- notice the wonderful carpet in the dining area:(  we had to go buy a rug so we don't ruin the carpet and have to pay to have it replaced.

 Our front door. We didn't have anywhere else to put Derek's piano so it is right next to our kitchen table.

 The living room and balcony (luckily our friends the Slaughters bought our big couch because I don't know where we would have put it).

 The tree right outside our apartment. It is nice to have a tree there (it provides more privacy and shade).

 The view from our balcony.

The swimming pool for the entire complex (which has 20 buildings) is right across the street from us which will be nice for the girls and I during the warm-humid days.

Well thats our apartment. I have to admit I was way to spoiled while managing in Rexburg. 

We went from a 3 bedroom apartment with free (well I worked for it, so not technically free) rent/utilities/internet/cable/washer and dryer (in the apartment), to having a 2 bedroom apartment on the 3rd floor and paying for rent/utilities/internet and having one coin oparated washer and dryer for 12 apartments. So needless to say I am having to do some adjusting and having some Rexburg withdrawals. 

We are surrounded by single students that are up until  2 or 3 in the morning (which I am not used to). Derek said he woke in the middle of the night because of the noise and  looked out the window and saw a girl squating next to a car peeing in the parking lot (we are definitely not in Rexburg anymore).

Even though it has been a little hard adjusting to the apartment, the ward on the other hand is wonderful. The people are very kind and welcoming, we had a couple invite us to dinner the first night we were here and another couple invite us to the lake that weekend to swim with a bunch of young couples in the ward. The sisters in the ward have a kids play group once a week and then the moms get together once a month to hang out. There are about 10 moms or so that have kids around 2 or 3 and so we are going to start a preschool for the kids this next week. We are splitting the group in half and are going to have the preschool Tuesdays and Thursdays for a couple of hours; each mom will take a week at a time, so I will only have to have the kids at my house once a month. I am really excited to get to know the other moms better and I think it will be great for Hallie to be around kids her age.