Moving Trudi's family to Iowa

Thursday

August 28, 2014

We left home in Star at 6 a.m. and

caught our first flight at 7:30.

This was a new flight United just started

from Boise direct to Houston Texas.

(nice for us)

We enjoyed our 3 1/2 hour flight in

first class style only to have

a not-so-enjoyable layover of 5 1/2 hours in Houston.

We made the flight to Killeen where

Trudi, Wyatt & Charlotte picked us up.

Friday

August 29, 2014

And now the work begins!

Most of the house was already packed

and on it's way with the movers but

there was still plenty that needed to be done before

leaving for Davenport on Sunday.

We spent a little bit of time with the kids

Coloring

reading stories and....

just playing around.

Tomorrow we will begin the "real" packing!

Saturday

August 30, 2014

Today George picked up the U-Haul truck

and we began packing it.

Hmmm....now where should I begin?

Linda started packing up the pantry

while George & Steve surveyed the U-Haul situation.

and this is how we are going to do it!

Little "Helpers".....?

more little "Helpers"  ha ha ha

We were able to get most everything except the

beds packed and loaded today

Sunday

August 31, 2014

We got an early start this morning....6:30 a.m.

working hard packing up all the

remaining "stuff"

and doing some final cleaning.

By 11 a.m. we were about done...

loading the beds and...

"leftover" miscellaneous things.

By the time they finished this was one 

very full U-Haul.

The Rental people came by for the

final walk through and....

by noon we were ready to leave their

home in Killeen, Texas.

In the mini van...

Trudi & Steve were in the front seat

Charlotte, Cora & Linda in the middle and...

two dogs in the "Way-Back"

George, Wyatt and his dog drove the

U-Haul truck.

Before we left town we stopped at Sam's Club for gas

and for some lunch at the...

Black Meg 43 Burger Place.

This place was really....really....busy so it

took longer than anticipated.

We actually left Killeen at about 2 p.m.

We were hoping to drive to Wichita but only

made it as far as... 

Perry, Oklahoma...just barely over the boarder...

where we stayed at the Comfort Inn for the night.

Monday

September 1, 2014

We were up and on our way by 9 a.m

We followed George for a while then....

He followed us.

Our first stop for the day was in Emporia Kansas

around noon.

We zipped right through

Missouri, crossing the

Missouri River on this unique bridge.

From Missouri we crossed into Iowa

Stopping in Iowa City briefly for gas in the truck.

Corn fields were, as Wyatt says,

EVERYWHERE!

Now with less than 100 miles left we were on our

final part of the trip.

Trudi & George are moving to Davenport, Iowa

but our Hotel was in Moline, Illinois

sooooo

Across the great Mississippi River and.....

into Illinois we went.

We arrived at our Hotel...

One of Marriott's Residence Inns...

at about 8 p.m.

We will stay here until Thursday morning when

the sale of the house closes.

Today we traveled about 650 miles in 

11 hours with 4 adults, 3 kids & 3 dogs...

Not too bad considering

every stop entailed...

getting gas, using the restrooms, walking the dogs, 

getting snacks

changing diapers and then

getting some very resistant kids & dogs

back in the cars.

Tuesday

September 2, 2014

in our Hotel Room

Continental Breakfasts consisted of:

Eggs, sausage, breakfast burritos, 

hot & cold cereal, rolls, muffins, Waffles,

fruit and juice or milk

Today George & Steve unloaded the U-Haul

in the garage of their new house and then

returned the truck and transport.

While the boys were busy the rest of us

went grocery shopping then....

drove by the new house

(I didn't get any pictures so here are a couple of)

screen shots from google maps

They have a nice home on a corner lot.

that backs up to a corn field  

and a large soccer field.

The little pathway between the two fields

begins at their house (by the garage)

and leads to Wyatt's school.

  Trudi did some laundry after returning to the Hotel.

The Hotel served a complimentary light dinner

then the kids all had baths before 

crawling into bed.

Wednesday

September 3, 2014

We just hung around the Hotel today.  We let the

kids take turns coming down to our room

so Trudi could have a little break.

Wyatt "Visiting" us

This afternoon Trudi & George went to their 

new house to do a walk through before closing

tomorrow morning so

We watched the kids (and dogs) while they were gone.

After dinner Linda took Charlotte for a walk around

the hotel.  They looked at the flowers,

sang some songs, watched the birds, 

and twirled around on the basketball court where

Wyatt joined them.

The two kids played a little tag then Linda showed them the art

of making a snapdragon snap...

Thursday

September 4, 2014

This was a very busy day.

We got up early after a stormy night of Thunder,

lightening, and down pouring rain.

After breakfast we checked out of the Hotel and

went to the New House.

We stayed with the kids, waiting for the movers

to come, while Trudi & George

finished up with all the closing paperwork.

The movers came about 10 a.m. and did some

preliminary work until Trudi & George

arrived about 10:40.

We made the office into a playroom for the

morning and with the help of a

big bowl of popcorn the kids were quite

content in their little space.

gradually the garage began to fill up...

until it was full of lots of boxes!

Inside the house things were beginning to

fill up also

The Kitchen didn't look too bad until...

we found several more "Kitchen" boxes 

out in the garage....oops

Soon they began bringing in the furniture....

finally a soft, familiar place to sit

And Wyatt found his own little space and

played on his Kindle.

Around lunch time Trudi & I took the kids

and went to a place called

"Happy Joe's"

Pizza

Charlotte counting on this giant

abacus 

Wyatt climbing like a little Monkey

Having fun on this cute Hippo

Cora was running everywhere

a Music board...how fun

Whew....she finally stopped....

for a couple of seconds but long enough

to get a picture....silly girl Cora

When we returned the movers were just about done

and were completely finished and gone

by 2 p.m.

The rest of the day was spent sorting the

stuff that was out of the U-Haul,

making beds, searching for things and

organizing.

Steve & Charlotte took Chase for a 

walk in the field next to their house, then...

in turn, each of the other two dogs and....

Cora found the bathtub in the master bathroom

and decided to go swimming...

clothes, blanket and all!

It was a long, busy day and by evening

everyone was tired and ready for bed.

All the kids went to bed without a peep and were

asleep in no time!

Friday - Monday

September 5-8, 2014

The next couple of days were spent just

unpacking, organizing & hooking up things

like the internet and the TV.

Trudi & Linda got the Kitchen organized.

The TV & Internet people came bright and early

and Wyatt was totally elated to have the

internet and Charlotte was glad to be watching

Sofia the First once again.

We were able to get the car cleaned up,

do a little laundry and

purchase a car seat for the new baby.

The Iowa evenings brought to view

from the back deck of the house

these gorgeous sunsets....

a beautiful ending to a few busy days!

Sunday we went to church at 9 a.m., but found out

they would be in the Ward that meets at 1:00 p.m.  

After Sacrament meeting George was able to

meet their Bishop, who seemed very nice, 

and get a paper to fill out

so the Ward Clerk could request their records.

On Monday morning Wyatt got registered for school...

he will begin on Wednesday.

We took Charlotte & Cora for a walk around

the neighborhood and then....

Went to McDonald's for lunch!

Next, George drove us around

his new work place....

Rock Island Arsenal which is an

Island in the Mississippi River.

We also stopped at the 

Locks that are on the base.  The visitor's Center

was closed, but.... 

we watched as....

The lock gates opened...

the bridge pivoted around and out of the way...

and....

the coal loaded barges began to move through the lock.

After dinner we told all the kids and Trudi

goodbye because we were going to leave for home

early in the morning.

Monday night it stormed like crazy!

About 1:15 a.m. a very loud lightening crash woke us up

and the storm continued all night long.

Amazingly, it didn't wake up the kids????

it was really loud!

At 4 a.m. we got up and ready to leave.

George took us to the airport.

We flew from Davenport to Denver and

from Denver to Boise and

were home by 10:30...in the morning!

Trudi & George have a very nice home and we are

anxious to see it again in a few weeks

when we go back to help when their baby is born.