the part where we pack

Moving is a beast, isn't it? So much stuff. And you think, there's no way I need all this. But then you look at each item and of course you can't throw it away. Well, no, we did make two donation trips and fill up six garbage bags.

We used ABF U-Pack, where we fill up a trailer and then they drive it for us. Because of the weekend and Memorial Day, we had the thing for six days. Here's how the packing portion of the move went down.

1) Grey's separation anxiety made me useless on all fronts- I was always holding the kid instead of packing or loading. Our saving grace was his budding ability to feed himself. For a while, he could bring things to his mouth but letting go was the trouble. The last few days of packing up, he started to get it down. So I could pour a pile of puffs in front of him and I could get a box or two packed while he chased his treats around.

2) Our home teaching family was an incredible help. They came for four hours on their day off and loaded that truck in such terrible heat. On top of that, they made an amazing Pho lunch for us. Oh that was good. Then my visiting teacher came just to watch Grey (plus Liam and Dash, but they didn't need much) for a couple hours. My, I got so much done!

3) I had scheduled one last doctor's appointment for the kids for Wednesday afternoon. In light of how long we had the trailer, I was hoping we'd go to the appointment and then start heading out on our big move. Ha. That was ridiculous. We worked like crazy on Wednesday, hoping to head out first thing Thursday morning.... try noon. There was just a never ending amount of stuff. Our second car, which we towed behind the SUV, was just crammed full of a zillion odds and ends. We just didn't care!

4) Speaking of the doctor's appointment, Liam and Dash (I think Grey too) both fell asleep on the drive back. So we just plopped them on the bed with a napping Pogo:

They slept for hours, through all sorts of noise. Thanks boys!

5) We hadn't sold the house yet, so we were contemplating if we should try renting it out. We were so wishy washy about it because of all the risks. But, miracles of miracles, some friends from our BYU days who are soon to be moving to Houston asked if we'd rent our house to them. How absolutely perfect. An answer to prayers for sure. What a gigantic relief.

6) It was wicked hot. Always. Sean was incredible doing so much work in the heat. Lots o' water bottles.

7) Sean had just finished packing up the truck (two feet short of the space they quoted us- tetris master) and went to put up the bulkhead wall when we realized the lock we had was the wrong size. Nothing like starting a huge drive than with a half hour side trip to Home Depot.

8) Liam and Dash were obsessed with the trailer. All they ever wanted to do was visit the thing (it had to be parked a small distance from the house). What kept them busy each day (besides an unprecedented amount of electronic usage) was accompanying us to and from the trailer. Such boys.

I'll tell you about our cross-country drive (in the vertical sense) next!