Our long trip...

We would drive by this sign every time we went to stake center. This was the first time we were actually going to go the distance.
Our stop in Cumberand, MD
RUB a DUB, DUB three little boys in the tub. My mom used to always take pictures of us in the tub with our cousins... its only fair to take pictures of our kids with my cousins kids too...
We love Nauvoo!!
Calderwoods at the I-80 Truck stop!!


Well, We made it!! We crossed 11 states and made it to Utah. We had a great trip!! It was a little bit rough as we started. Late Friday night we finished cleaning, returning everything and saying goodbyes. We have so many people to thank for all of the packing, loading and the cleaning, I know we couldn't have done it alone! Thank you. We called our real estate agent one last time, made sure everything was done and then left the keys and walked away from our sweet home.

That night we spent the night with the Taylors and the next morning we packed up to leave. Unfortunately, I packed the keys in the trunk somewhere too. Luckily we had the spare keys and when we arrived in Utah I found them in Camdens suitcase (not a great place).

Fun stats from our trip:

- The most we paid for gas: $4.99/gallon (West Virginia)
- The least amount we paid: $4.51/gallon (Missouri)
- We averaged 40 miles/gallon (600 miles/tank)
- We stopped more for nursing/food/and wiggles than we did for gas.
- GPS saved us through flooded streets and closed bridges in Illinois/Missouri
- Yucky story: Between emptying the basement and cleaning it, Camden scooted accross the carpet. As I picked him up he was chewing on something- come to find out it was a dried beetle from under the desk.
- Scary story: Late at night Justin and I were listening to our book on tape "Eclipse" by Stephany Myers (about vampires). I turned around to see Brayden, thinking he would be asleep. It scared me to pieces to see him awake with blood all over his face. He had picked his nose to hard, and got a bloody nose. He didn't notice, but it will scare a mom in the middle of the night!
- We added 2000 miles to our car, in about 32 hours running time.
- We spent fathers day in Nauvoo
- We spent my birthday crossing my favorite state!! (WYOMING, :)
- Brayden carries keys around telling people that they are his home keys, little does he know we have no home right now.
- As we arrived into Utah we traveled on I-84 only to find 3/4 of it is UNDER CONSTRUCTION!! gotta love Utahs miles of construction, with no one working, and no way of anyone working on 30 miles of road at one time, yet they need to put the cones out so we can all see that they MIGHT want to work on it sometime this next summer. Justins philosophy is that they over bought on cones and have no place to store them, so better put them to good use.
- We made three big stops:
-Cumberland, Maryland to ride the B&O railroad, see the C&O Canal, enjoy Heritage Days, and ride the trolley around town. LOVED IT
-Nauvoo, Illinois to see the temple, enjoy church history and meet up with my cousin and his cute family. We loved staying at a cute bed and breakfast by the flooded mississippi river.
-Rawlins, Wyoming to see our friends from Maryland...( The Calderwoods) Crazy enough they are already settled in Colorado, and they went to visit family in Utah. We stopped to meet them half way accross the state, on their way home.

Moving and changing

We have great news!! On June 2nd, Justin was officially done, and to top it off, we ended up with two offers on our house. We have been so blessed. We love living in Maryland, and we are sad to leave. We have loved the trees, the history, the adventures, and most of all our dear friends.

With all of the showings on the house I put out a bowl of candy for people. Brayden always wanted some, and one time they pulled up to the house as we were walking in. I told Brayden that they wanted to see the house and that we were going to stay outside. He was so so upset because he wanted to eat candy with them.

So, over the course of the past few months we taught him where many of his friends were moving, and that he was moving too. Today as we pulled up to the store to return some stuff, I asked him if he knew where we were and he said OREGON? Obviously he has no idea what is coming.

The last month we have been saying goodbye to many of the people who have made this experience in Maryland so great. It is hard to lose the connections with people. We hope to keep in touch with many of you. I knew it was going to be hard saying goodbye to the people, but I didn't realize that I had bonded to my home and my routine. Tonight as I sang songs to my adorable boys, I realized that it was the last time that I will be singing to them in their blue nursery. It is also hard to realize that this is the last night Brayden will be in a crib. He is growing so fast, and we have put off the big boy bed until he gets to Oregon.

So tonight is my realization that life is changing, and that we are growing. We can no longer show the student id at the ball game and get the discount. We came out here without cell phones and now can't imagine life without them. We didn't have internet the first 4 years of marriage and now it is the last thing we are going to disconnect. My boys are growing so fast and Brayden is going to need big boy underwear and a big boy bed. I am actually a mother of two, and that we are growing so fast yet we are going to squeeze two kids, two adults and all of our junk for a month in a sedan and drive accross the entire country (only a mere 47 hour road trip). Wish us the best of luck!! We will be internet-less for several weeks, can't wait to read everyones blogs then!

Camping in the middle of DC

We camped at the coolest place, it was Greenbelt National Park. It is located just inside the DC beltway. We got the luxury of camping with the bugs, smelling like camp fire and getting ticks. While we were there we got to hike, go to a MLS game, and spend the sabbath at the DC temple. We have decided that it is probably the only camp ground in the US where you can actually hear the metro as you roast your smores.

Justin was so excited for the MLS game, and his favorite part was that we got free parking because we own a VW. Justin acted as though he won the lottery or something. We were suprised at how much Brayden loved to watch. These are the final camping days on the East Coast!!