We made it to Virginia

It should be noted that I do not enjoy doing "catch up" blogging. So, after leaving Nebraska we went to Nauvoo, Ill. for two nights and camped one night in Indiana. At any rate, we enjoyed our trip across the country, we got to see the mid west and the drastic difference when we hit West Virginia. Once in Virginia we moved in with our friends while we went apartment shopping, job hunting and waited for Chris's school to start. We had plenty of spare time at this point in our lives so we: Worked on being manly:

Worked on being artsy:

Mastered Angry Birds:

We played with Logan a lot (our friend's baby):

Played A&A:

Went to the National Zoo:

And... We visited friends in Maryland and in NYC. We are definitely enjoying it out here.

Memories and A&A

We spent the rest of the day going through some of Chris's items that have been stored at his mothers home. This time we primarily went through his memory boxes to reorganize them and to see if there was any down sizing we could do. Once again, this let me see more of Chris's life, we went through his childhood possessions, mission pictures & the famous Chris shrine.

The next day Brett came to visit us, every time we go to the Midwest we meet up with Brett and an Axis and Allies game is normally played. After an afternoon of catching up over A&A we finished off the day with some Halo.

After a good meal, we ended our night playing games with Susan and Tom - the next morning - we began driving again.

Calming Nebraska

Neither my Mother or Grandmother have had the chance to visit Nebraska before, so for the morning before they left we treated them to the best part of Nebraska:

Susan and Tom's peaceful home. We gave them the grand tour of the land around the home, then introduced them to the porch - which has a new addition, the hammock.

This short time gave them a glimpse into the main reason why we go to Nebraska so often, it is so calming and Susan and Tom are great company. After we unloaded all of our things out of my mom's car, they headed back to Utah. On their way back (even though we tried to time it) they hit one big storm, luckily this one did not include golf ball size hail but it did force them to stop under an underpass for some time. It was great having them come to Nebraska with us, it was nice to have them see a big part of our lives - road trips & the Midwest.

On the road again

On our way to Nebraska, as previously mentioned, my mother and grandmother accompanied us. Near the Wyoming and Nebraska boarder violent storms are frequent, thus each time we drive to NE we plan our trips around the storms. Before we left Utah we informed my mother and grandmother of this, they said okay.. not knowing how crazy these storms really get. So, we kissed my family goodbye and off we went.

We did not make many pit stops on this leg of our journey because we were working on outrunning and staying behind storms - luckily Chris is a very good storm tracker, thanks to his upbringing in Kansas. For hours across WY we watched a storm forming in the distance, then we watched it progress over the mountains. Luckily we missed it and at the next rest stop we found out what it had produced: Golf Ball size hail

It was pretty cool, that was the first time I had seen hail that large and it was very good that we missed the storm. We continued on our journey, while Chris carefully watched another storm that we were attempting to miss.

It produced some interesting clouds, and plenty of rain, but thanks to a strategically placed dinner stop, we missed this storm as well. We got into Nebraska around ten o'clock that night, giving us enough time to show my mother and grandmother Susan & Tom's beautiful home and to have a small conversation before heading to bed.

Back in Utah

Our first night back in Utah we spent in Logan, it was a rather somber night thinking that it was going to be our last night there. We both love Logan, we've had many great memories and have loved our time there. After a good nights rest we attempted to pack our car with our final items we'd left at Jason and Sarah's house. With our fantastic packing skills, we were able to fit most of it in - I had to drive since the drivers seat had to be close to the steering wheel and Chris had to sit on blankets, but hey, we fit.

Sadly, once we got it all in we made our final drive through the beautiful Logan canyon. The next task set out for us was to enjoy time with my family in Bountiful, the first night back we had a big Barnett (my mother's side of the family) dinner party. I grew up having these at least once a month, majority of my childhood memories came from my grandparents home during a family party. It was great to have (most) of the family back together so we could see them all before we left. After some good laughs we called it a night, and returned to my parents home. We spent the night talking and then playing Halo with my brother - which is something we do every time we go to Bountiful.

So, we shipped majority of our items to Virginia to our friends home - yet there were still plenty of things we needed to get across the country, this is where parents come in handy. We decided to have my mom & grandma drive out to Nebraska (12 hr. drive) with us, and from there Chris's parents would take our things out to Virginia. Neither parties complained about the idea so more strategic packing began - in my mothers car.

Surprisingly we fit everything, I was stunned even though Chris said he knew it was possible. The only things we couldn't fit were a few boxes of food storage - which found a new loving home. Bountiful is where I was born and raised, my entire family lives in one valley, I have many fond memories of my childhood and will miss my family dearly. We had a nice time in Bountiful and will look forward to going there again within the next few years.

On the Road to Washington (State)

Jay and Becky live in Washington, over the last year we hadn't gotten a chance to go up and see them - we took the opportunity to after leaving California. We drove on the coast through Oregon and up into Washington - we love this part of the country.

This was the first time we had been to Oregon and Washington together, we had a great drive filled with beautiful scenery. Once in Washington, we went to bed because it was very late. Jay and Becky have a pool, a little dog and a fat cat. It was great to spend time there because we got to relax and enjoy our time. On our first day there we split up, girls and boys - since their friends and family were visiting. The boys went shooting and the girls went shopping, silly. That night we had some great food and played games by the pool - I love summer nights!

The next two days, Jay and Becky were at work during the days, so we got to be lazy by the pool and played with their pets. This is Zoe - Chris secretly loved her.

(There are many more pictures similar to this one) This is Luie, their fat cat, he is very funny to watch.

(Chris didn't seem this white in person - but all of our pictures prove other wise) After three short days, we had to leave Washington to head back to Utah. We enjoyed our time there, it got us thinking more about how we might need a pool in our backyard someday soon.

The Day in Sacramento

After departing from Truckee we headed to Sacramento to spend our last day with Chris's family. Chris and Grandpa Ron went to the shooting range, first thing in the morning. Chris admires his grandfathers gun collection and his knowledge surrounding the sport, so every time Chris gets a chance to go shooting with him he does.

While Chris was spending the morning with Grandpa, I spent it with the rest of the family preparing to meet up with the extended Houston family, who reside in Sacramento. Chris and Grandpa soon joined us at a local park, we had lunch and caught up with family that we hadn't seen in over a year. It was a nice afternoon with family, after returning we joined in looking through old pictures and watching home video's - this was a blast. I love watching Chris as a kid, and being able to see pictures of this great grandfather and other relatives that I didn't get the privilege to meet.