MOVING TO GEORGIA

So we decided to do our move the "cheapest" way and get a U-haul truck and pack/unpack ourselves. Of course, in order to do that, we would have to sell one of our cars or have another driver. Of the 8 years we lived in Michigan, Kellen kept saying how he thought his older brothers would love the Greenfield Village and Henry Ford Museum. But we were never able to set something up for a visit. So he decided to get his brothers out to visit before we left Michigan, and help us move as long as they were there :) Kellen's mom and step-dad Bill were able to make it out to help as well. It was awesome!

Packing Days: Uncle Jaime, Uncle's hat, Shade lost his second tooth on his last day of school (he lost his first tooth on the first day of school), Shade's packed room, Kids sleeping in the closet ("the cave"), Sleeping babies (Eli, Olive)

We decided that we needed to be in Georgia by June 11th so Kellen could have plenty of time to get settled in before he started work on Monday. So his family came out the Sunday before so we would have enough time to go see the GFV and HFM one last time, as well as make an overnight stop near the Mammoth Caves in Kentucky.

We went to HFM on Monday and GFV on Tuesday. We were still packing last minute things when we got home each night. And we took too long on Tuesday and Bill missed his flight, but luckily he was able to catch another one in Cleveland when we passed through there (oh, the fun of buddy-passes). Then some awesome people from the Livonia Ward came over Tuesday night to help us fill up the U-haul, all except for bedding. Then Wednesday morning we did last minute cleaning, selling our Mazda car stuff, turning in the apartment keys, taking pictures at 8 Mile road, grabbing a pizza, and we were off! Bill and Shauna left early in the morning with the U-haul so he could catch a flight via Cleveland, Ohio. Kellen drove with his 2 brothers and I drove with the kids. I figured it would be easier to have Shade sit between the little ones so he could help out when needed. He fed Eli many times and helped Olive with toys, snacks, movies, and books. He was such an awesome helper! We only had to stop to eat and pee!

HFM: Some of the highlights/favorites: Legos galore; Sleeping baby; Abe Lincoln's assassination chair; The hot dog hat; The wiener-mobile; dollhouses and stoves (with Shade's poses); The Dimaxian Roundhouse; The Model T's; Animal horn chair; Cool cars; Real trains; Model trains; Rosa Parks bus; Hot dog bed; Smiling baby

GFV: Big brother helper; Oldest windmill; Entrance fountain; Wright Brother's workshop; Carriage ride; Carousel; Riding Model T's; Riding the steam engine train; The covered bridge; Mossy turtle

8 Mile Road - Goodbye Michigan!

So our plan was to drive to Mammoth Caves in Kentucky that night. Unfortunately, I assumed that Kellen had printed out detailed driving instructions like he usually did, so I was trying to just follow him. But he was actually using a new app on his new phone, so we had a couple of mishaps. But we all eventually ran into each other at a hotel to spend the night. And we shoved 8 people in one room with only 2 double beds! Luckily, we had a couple extra mattresses and bedding with us...

Thursday morning we got up fairly early, ate the weird hotel breakfast, and went directly to the caves. We did a different hike this time than last time. Last time we did the "Domes and Dripstones Tour" that had a lot of stairs, was very wet, and had tons of stalagmites and stalactites. This time we went on the "Historic Tour" which was 2 miles long and through the biggest cavern open to the public. They also had a "Fat Man's Misery" part that was a very tight, curvy path. It was pretty neat, but I have to say the other one was much more scenic. But it felt really nice in the caves, with lots of naturally cool air.

Mammoth Caves (you are not allowed to use flashes inside the caves, so obviously a lot of pictures either don't turn out, or you can't really tell what it is unless you were there)

After the caves, we picked up the U-haul and drove as fast as we could the rest of the way. Kellen took the U-haul with his brother Jaime and they made very few, if any, stops so they could make it to the apartment in time to meet with people from our new church ward who had volunteered to help us move in. The rest of us made it there quite a bit later and they had already emptied out the U-haul. But since we have an apartment on the first floor facing the parking lot with a porch, they were able to do an assembly line and emptied the truck in about 40 minutes! Pretty sweet. It sure does help to belong to organizations where you have automatic friends pretty much anywhere you go, such as the church we go to (LDS church)!

New Apartment Living: Hard floors in eating, kitchen and bathroom areas; Big brother helper; Fun selfies; Chubby baby; Big sister pains; Our new backyard with a playground and a pool; Olive's vampire teeth; Our new forested town; Golf cart crossings; City of Atlanta

The next day we all drove over to Kellen's sister's house who now also lives here in Georgia. They live about 90 minutes away in Buford, but that is SO much closer than living 5 hours away like we did before, it seems like it hardly takes any time at all! We spent the weekend there, where Kellen took his brothers to the Coca Cola Museum, then drove home Sunday. Then Kellen dropped his 2 brothers and his mom off at the airport early Monday morning and went to his first day of work at his new job! Welcome to Georgia!

Curtis Cousins: Olive; Grandma; Babies; Sisters; Porch play; Coca Cola Museum; Siblings