DAY TWO---DES MOINES, IOWA

In Iowa we went swimming after dinner. Jaycee loved the water! We got back to our room and took a shower....then she crashed!!! What a day! Craig fell right asleep too, but I ended up staying up to watch the Jazz beat the Thuggets!!! GO JAZZ! Thanks to all my sisters and Heather for texting me to keep me awake! :)


Our hotel is Des Moines, Iowa...Sleep Inn. It was really nice



Jaycee at the restaurant The Shed Machine. It was next to our hotel so we ended up just walking over for dinner. It reminded me of a cracker barrell but better! In Iowa they are famous for their cattle and pork. So I ordered a ribeye steak, Craig got a Pork Tenderloin, and Jaycee had mac & cheese! We were so full afterward! That's why we decided to go swimming to work off our dinner!


Jaycee having fun in the car. I had to lean to the back seat to get this pic.



The Missouri River. I was so busy taking this picture that I missed the "WELCOME TO IOWA" sign. This is a good welcome sign. The Missouri River goes right between Nebraska and Iowa. I was really bumbed I didn't get it. The sign was on the freeway above our heads.


NEBRASKA---home of cattle everywhere and a whole lot of NOTHING!!!


Jaycee's turn to drive!


This is what I think of Nebraska! BORING!

DAY ONE---SIDNEY, NEBRASKA

WELCOME TO WYOMING! HOME OF FIREWORKS EVERYWHERE!



THESE ARE EVERYWHERE IN WYOMING. THAT'S THE SCENERY WITH ANTELOPE EVERY WHERE TOO! WHAT AN EXCITING ROAD TRIP HUH!

THIS IS A GAS STATION IN WYOMING. WHAT A NAME!



WE STOPPED AT LUNCH FOR ABOUT 45 MINUTES TO LET IZZY PLAY WITH HER FRISBEE AND JAYCEE COULD RUN AROUND. GET THIS, AS MUCH AS CRAIG HATES MCDONALDS, WE STOPPED THERE FOR LUNCH. KYLE, YOU'RE RUBBING OFF ON HIM! HAHA. CRAIG HAD A CHICKEN SAND, I HAD A CHICK SAND, AND JAYCEE HAD A CHEESEBURGER. WE TOPPED IT OFF WITH SOME STRAWBERRIES. YUMMY! IZZY DIDN'T EVEN EAT HER FOOD. I WAS SO PROUD! IZZY STAYED IN THE BACK IN HER KENNEL. AFTER LUNCH, WE LET HER COME WITH US IN THE CAB. SHE WAS SO GOOD AND JAYCEE LOVED HAVING HER LICK HER HANDS. JAYCEE LAUGHED SO HARD!



JAYCEE HANGING OUT IN THE TRUCK! SHE LOVES THE CARE BEAR BOOK. THANK YOU DANA. JAYCEE ONLY TOOK A 2 HOUR NAP RIGHT WHEN WE LEFT OGDEN. THEN SHE FELL ASLEEP FOR 20 MINUTES OR SO. I WAS NERVOUS SHE'D SLEEP ALL DAY AND NOT AT NIGHT. WE HAVE SUCH A GOOD LITTLE GIRL.




WELCOME TO NEBRASKA! SMILE IZZY








AFTER 8 HOURS IN THE TRUCK, JAYCEE WENT WILD WHEN SHE GOT OUT. THIS IS OUR HOTEL IN SIDNEY, NEBRASKA. DAYS INN. GOOD THING IT'S PET FRIENDLY. THERE'S ABSOLUTELY NOTHING IN THIS TOWN! WE EVEN WALKED ACROSS THE STREET TO OUR DINNER. CRAIG GOT A BBQ WRAP, I GOT A TURKEY WRAP, AND JAYCEE HAD FRUIT AND CHICKEN TENDERS. IT WAS PRETTY GOOD. THIS CITY IS THE CABELA'S HEADQUARTERS. SO THAT'S ABOUT ALL IN SIDNEY!


WELL THX FOR READING ON OUR FIRST DAY! I LOVE WI-FI AND ALSO BEING FREE! AS KIP (NAPOLEAN'S BROTHER) WOULD SAY, "YES, I LOVE TECHNOLOGY, ALWAYS AND FOREVER"! HAHA
WE LOVE YOU ALL AND THANK YOU FOR ALL THE TEXT AND PHONE CALLS TO KNOW ABOUT OUR SAFETY! WE'RE KEEPING YOU ALL IN OUR PRAYERS.
CRAIG-MJ-JAYCEE-IZZY :)

Saying Good-bye! :_(

Saying good bye to our very first house! I loved my first house. A lot of good memories happened in that house! I think the hardest was saying good bye to Aimee! I seriously felt like I had post-pardum again. I'd be happy then start crying again! Craig even started crying cuz he didn't want to see me so sad. We said a prayer together and that helped!





This was Craig filling up the first tank! We filled up on Saturday night in Ogden, so Sunday morning we didn't have to on our way out of town!

The Day Has Come

Well, it's about the time! We had a crazy week with cleaning the house, packing, finishing up at work, and Craig finishing his test.

Craig feels really good about his PE test. I think personally he over-studied. But it's better to be prepared then feel screwed! He came home and felt very happy to have that over with! He turned to me today and said, "Amanda, I think I passed!" He feels really confident. GREAT JOB CRAIG! Now we'll have to go through with this again in 3-5 years with he takes is SE test.
The packers came in on Friday and got the whole house packed in 5 hours. I was impressed. The guys were really nice...Felix and Dan.
Friday night we had one last get-together for Allen side. We decided to do Chuck-e-Cheese again. I seriously think it's our way of gambling for adults, but it's fun :) We said our good-byes and I was sad. But it was fun hitting the bonus and spitting out 250 tickets. Sorry Aaron and Crystal you didn't win. Sucks to be you! haha. jk
Well Saturday morning the huge-A semi pulled up to our house to move everything in to the truck. They were there from 8-4 and got it accomplished. The couch was a nightmare not only getting it in, but getting it out! I laugh, but I'm sure if it were me moving it, I wouldn't laugh. So what an eventful day. All our stuff is hauled away and headed for Maine! No turning back now.
Well we're headed for dinner at Jeremiah's and I'm getting booted out the door! So that's all for now! Keep on reading, more pics and info coming. A 6-day road trip ahead!

PS> Phyllis and Larry, we love you guys and will miss you tons! You're kitchen looks awesome! We're looking forward to eating Chick-fil-A nuggets in a couple months on your new counter tops.

Craig's Birthday in Bountiful!

Happy Birthday Craig

On Friday, April 9, Craig turned 31 years young! For his birthday I got him some new brown church shoes to wear with his suit and slacks. Also he got his favorite game, but they make it on the Wii. Cabella's Big Game Hunter. He could play that for hours if he had the time. We celebrated his birthday by going to Five Guys Burgers in Bountiful (DELICIOUS), walked around the Bountiful Temple, got his favorite ice cream at Cold Stone, then went home and watched Sherlock Holmes. What a fun birthday! It was a fun and nice night to take our minds off of the upcoming week!

Easter 2010

What a fun weekend. Saturday we celebrated Easter with Craig's side of the family. We all went to Sheri's house for a BBQ and die eggs. It was fun except Jaycee being onory. She loved playing with Lucky and Charming though! She loves dogs! Sunday morning we relaxed and watched conference then headed to Phyllis & Larry's house. Jaycee got 2 new adorable outfits from Grandma Parker and some Easter eggs. She loves banging them and cracking the eggs open. Silly girl! While we were there I got the rest of our trip planned with all the hotels and some yummy restaurants to visit! Chicago we have a stop to get some deep dish chicago pizza! So exciting! After we headed over to Reyn & Vicki's for the annual easter egg hunt. All the kids were so excited and it was nice to see TJ there to enjoy the fun, even though he had a nasal canula on. Some of the kids were sad to not see Brayden & Haylie-WE MISS THEM! Rhett asked Dalynne to call Kel and have Bray bring his Wii games. Dalynne had to explain to Rhett that Brayden moved. He was sad, but ended up playing with Bryson all night. After the hunt we had ham, potatoes, and salad for dinner. I made my famous layered jello. I told Aimee she's gonna have to learn to make it for me since I won't be here next year. It's so easy! We ended the night playing Nerts, Wii, and visiting with all the family. We have one more get together before we're off to Pittsfield, Maine! Sad but yet exciting! Here are some pics I snapped of the party!

YARD SALE!

Those are our yard sale pics! We had WAY too much fun. It was a bit chilly though!

APRIL FOOLS DAY

Bright and early, well only 9 am, I received a phone call. OUR HOUSE IS SOLD! I had to ask Kristal if it was an April Fools Joke,...NOPE! Now the busy work begins. I have to get papers from Office Max to have both of us sign and formalize. Need to call our mortgage guy and get this ball rolling. So it's officially official. We move on April 18 Sunday morning at 8 in the AM! THANK YOU TO KRISTAL, THANK YOU TO FAMILY, THANK YOU TO CRAIG FOR KEEPING HIS HEAD UP HIGH AND BEING FAITHFUL, BUT MOST OF ALL THANK YOU HEAVENLY FATHER FOR HELPING US THROUGH THIS STRESSFUL TIME! We know this move will be hard on all of us, but we know this is the right thing for our family to be doing at this time. Love you all.