A Really Big Move--Part III--Oh the Places They'd Go

A view from my favorite place on earth:  BYU campus.  No way we could leave the West without saying good bye (or "so long") to our alma matter. 

Here is the BYU music building where Jazz and I lived while getting our degrees in music.  The Harris Fine Arts Center.  It's so funny to think of how when we lived in this building, we were single students.  Now look!  We never envisioned bringing 4 kids back with us to visit this building someday.  It gives me warm fuzzies inside to think of how far we've come since the HFAC days.

This is the spot where Jazz and I met, on the stair case in the HFAC.  That was about 14 years ago!  I think we might look just a few days older than we did then, maybe...

I regret not putting myself in this photo, since it's always better to have people in the pictures you're taking of special places.  But anyway, I wanted a shot of this other favorite BYU locale of mine (and its related sister-copy centers, including the one at the MTC which is going to be torn down--boo!)--where I worked for almost 5 years.  It was a super fun place to work, and I can still un-jam a copy machine like nobody's business. 

This was a really fun hike we took with some Lovell cousins, up to a little waterfall in Salt Lake.  Our kids complained the whole way up (which I think took all of 10 or 15 minutes...could have had something to do with the thousands of feet of difference in elevation than what we're used to), but had the time of their lives once we got to the falls. I just love the magic of waterfalls. 

Yes, I know this picture is foggy.  That's the beauty of it.  It was so incredibly humid when we stepped out of our van for this little pit stop by the Mississippi River that my camera lens fogged up, and it took me several minutes to get it un-fogged. 

In front of the Mississippi River.  Speaking of which, here's a funny quote from last week...I was telling Goldie who her teacher is going to be this year, after getting a call from the school.  Then Tootie piped up, "I know who my teacher is going to be!  Mrs. Sippi!"  Get it?  Mississippi?  He he he : )

Jazz with our wheels at the Mississippi.

awwww : )!   Back on the road again...

Chicago Temple

Chicago Temple

Chicago Temple

Kirtland, OH Temple

Kirtland, OH Temple

Inside the Whitney Store, in Kirtland.  This was a really neat tour.  It was a special place for historical events for the prophet Joseph Smith, and we really enjoyed feeling the Spirit there. 

(look how long Didi's hair is!)

Next stop--Harrisburg PA, for one night.  I missed the "Welcome to Pennsylvania" sign, but I figured this one would do just as well.  Welcome to toll roads, yippee.

We drove through Hershey on the way to our new home; it's only about a half an hour from us.  What a fun place!  What could be better than a chocolate city?

Don't you love the street lights in Hershey?

I got these cool shirts at Hershey's Chocolate World, one for everyone in our family so we can wear them to Disneyland next year! Aren't they perfect? They are tie dyed (like Eugene), and have Kisses on them (representing PA), so I have both of our homes all "wrapped" into one in these shirts. I couldn't pass them up. Don't ask me how much they cost, 'cause I already got in trouble for that!

Didi is eager for a real cow-milking experience someday--this one didn't quite cut it.  This is in Intercourse, PA, part of the area where the Amish people live.  We spent a fun few hours there as tourists, after we got moved into our home and before our Lovell family members left. 

We're slowly learning the differences between Amish and Mennonite, which seem very similar.  There are a lot of Mennonite people here, even in our town.  They're most noticeable by the simple old-fashioned clothes that they wear, the bonnets that the women wear, the long beards that the men have (with no mustaches), and the horse-and-buggies that they drive.  It's sure fascinating to share the roads with them! 

Isn't this a beautiful building?  I'm really impressed with Jazz's new campus (this isn't the music building where he'll work, but I thought this was a nice representation of the campus). 

Jazz's new office!

And last but not least, here's one more teaser for the upcoming post about our home.  These units look kind of close together, but inside it feels very roomy to us.  It's so nice to come home to this place!  More later...

A Really Big Move--Part II--Our Western Family

  We really enjoyed connecting with our "Western Family" for our last "pre-PA" visits.  Our first family visits happened in California, our first stop in the cross-country journey.  We stayed at Jazz's parents' house in Sacramento, and we got to travel south just a little bit to hang out with Jazz's sister Julie and Brian and kids for one afternoon.  We loved seeing their home and eating out with them at a favorite family-friendly restaurant.

Thank heavens for Skype so that these fun cousins can keep visiting regularly : )!

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After California, we were off to Utah for stop #2.  We got to stay with Jazz's brother Steve and Lisa and their 3 kids.  They have a beautiful back yard that was perfect for a pizza picnic...and trampoline fun, and even camping under the stars and in a home-made tent!  Thanks, Steve, for helping Shark practice his scouting skills!

It was really fun to reunite as well at Steve's house with Jazz's cousin Stacey and her beautiful 6 kids. 

Our stay in Salt Lake was packed with one fun activity after another. We really enjoyed this little hike to the waterfall.  Our kids complained the whole way up (which took probably all of 15 minutes), but when we got there they frolicked and played, their hearts spilling over with joy.  There's something magical about waterfalls, don't you think?

Brothers : ).  Isn't it funny how they can both be the "big" brother and the "little" brother, at the same time?

This past year Shark has fallen in love with babies and toddlers.  His cousin Ada returned this affection and even wanted only him when she got injured in a big fall.  It's really fun to see how he has grown to connect with the little ones.

Despite our late arrival to Salt Lake, we were still able to visit with Ellis and Angela & her family our first night, and meet Ellis' beautiful girlfriend Helen.  She's really neat! 

We felt really lucky that even though we had to miss out on a cousins reunion on our late arrival night, were able to reschedule and save time for a visit on Friday, at Derek and Sherilyn's office.  Derek's wife was able to bring all of their kids over, and Melanie was able to bring all of her kids up too, so we had a full board room full of cousins!  It was a fabulous visit and I thought the setting in the office made it extra special for some reason.  It had been way too long since I had seen these wonderful cousins, and we had some fun laughing together, even though for just a brief time.  This was one of my favorite hours in Salt Lake : ).

We were able to reschedule our visit with Bryan and Kirsten's family and get a second visit with Angela's fun family on Friday, as well. 

We didn't think it was very fun to hang out with them, though.  NOT!!!

Lucky us--Grandma Benson happened to be traveling west across the country at the same time we were heading east, so we were able to meet for a quick stop along the way and share hugs and smiles with her, and a couple of Jazz's other Benson family relatives. 

We spent a few nights in hotels along the road, but our favorite night's stay was in Nebraska, with Jazz' mom's first cousins.  I have never known anyone from Nebraska before, and now not only do I know a handful of really nice Nebraskans, but I get to be related to them!  Cool!  Thanks for the wonderful stay!  It was so nice to meet you all.

I love this picture.  Grandma Lovell is the queen of Nursery Rhymes.  And Nursery Rhyme time is laughing time!  It's so much fun to see her recite the poems with the kids over and over until they know all of the words with her.  This was in our hotel in Harrisburg, PA.  We're almost there!

Just 4 days after our arrival to PA, we got to celebrate Tootie's 4th birthday.  Those 3 people on the right made our trip so much easier! They helped us in countless ways.  They got to stick around for awhile after we arrived--not just to help us unpack the truck and get settled a little in our new home--but also to see a few sights before going home. 

This is it!  Our new home.  I'll show you more pictures of the inside in an upcoming post.  As you can see, Byron (Jazz's dad) was the first to head back home to CA, but before Cynthia and Chad left, we were blessed by a visit from John and Amy, coming all the way from Oklahoma.  It was super fun to have them here!  We are thrilled to know that they have not-so-secret intentions to move back to the East as soon as they get a chance : ).

We were lucky and blessed to get so many fun visits with family members and friends before leaving the west for good, or for a long while at least (and I'm sorry I didn't get photos with everyone--especially our friends in Springville!).   Anytime anyone wants to come play tourist in our neck of the woods, please come see us or stay with us!  There is so much to do and see around here, you know you want to come!   If you can't come over, perhaps we'll get to see you during one of our visits next summer when Jazz graduates, or in the future.  Meanwhile, PLEASE stay in touch!  (Leaving a comment on our blog here would be a great place to start--let us know you dropped in!).  Loves to you all!

A Whole Lot of Pictures for a Really Big Move-Part I

This is our Eugene apartment, the day before we packed the truck. 

This is the first time I ever saw our apartment this clean.  When I arrived to move in here, all of our stuff had already been unloaded.  Though it was small, this may have been one of my very most favorite living places ever.  I will miss you, Spencer View.

Lots of great friends showed up to help us load the truck.  We love our Eugene friends!  Thanks, everyone!

Tootie thought the truck-loading ramp made a great slide.

Our truck, and our little ones.  Can you believe Tootie was born there, and now he's leaving as an almost-4-year old?

The moving company.  Shark and Didi had left Eugene a couple of weeks prior, as they went off on an adventure with Grandma and Grandpa Lovell.  We met up with them in Sacramento.  Jazz drove the big truck with Goldie at his side, and Tootie and I were travel companions in the van.  I drove all the way to Sacto by myself!  OK, so I was following the moving truck the whole way, but still...

So long, Eugene!  Thanks for a fabulous 5 years!!