The Big Move

Sorry it took so long to update, but as you can imagine it's been pretty hectic around here. The move was not half as bad as I thought it would be.

We left a lot later than we wanted to, because Andrew lost the truck keys and we spent hours looking for them. After partially unpacking the truck and opening boxes, the keys were found on the floor of my car. And when we were finally ready to leave, my keys came up missing--only to be found days later in Glen's (Andrew's brother) backpack. Good thing we had a spare set. Needless to say, it was a chaotic start to a long trip.

Here are Andrew and his brother, Glen, feeding the boys in an almost-empty apartment and then they walked to Quizno's for lunch.The drive with my sister was nice. It was good to have another mother in the car, because she knew exactly what to do. We only made it to Valdosta, Georgia, the first night because of the late start. I really wanted to find a hotel with a heated pool, so that we could all relax and so the boys could splash around. After miles and miles of billboards advertising an indoor, heated pool at a hotel we decided to stay there. We overlooked the seedy strip club next door and the mysterious stain on the sheets. We even overlooked the fact that you had to pay for a remote and the dead cockroach on the floor because we all wanted that pool.

But, as I scoped out the scene I soon discovered that the "indoor" pool was a carport covering an outdoor pool and that the temperature of the pool was too cold for me, nevermind Kerrick and Cullen. I asked for a refund, which the hotel clerk gave me without much of an argument, and went back to the scary room. My sister and I were sitting outside and polishing off a bottle of champagne hours later when the clerk told us that we had to leave--that a refund meant that we had to leave the premises. Because the boys were asleep and the cats were finally out of their carrier, I sucked it up and paid for the room again.

The moral of the story: Don't ever stay at the Briarwood Motel in Valdosta, Ga.
Here's Kerrick, taking a break from the drive.

We have how many more miles left?

And, as many of you know, one of the many reasons we moved back "home" was for the opportunity for Cullen and Kerrick to be able to grow up with their cousins. Here is Braden meeting the boys:

He loves the babies, steals their pacifiers, and gives them kisses.

Here is Thomas hanging out with his cousins. He's even pitched in and changes a couple of diapers. It's really good to be back. We still don't have jobs, but I had a promising interview this past week and we're sending out resumes like mad. We miss everyone in Florida and are thinking of you guys often. The dogs, by the way, love their new digs and are excited to have a yard.

Thanks for all the thoughts and well-wishes--Hillary.