The Move

We made it! After a month of craziness we are happy to call this home. Many of you have had to hear the long version of this last month but the Reader's Digest version is this: came to Michigan for interviews in June, found a job for Julie, then underwent a very ridiculous negotiation period which made us feel as if we had lost the job (they wanted me to sign a non-compete clause of 20 miles from their clinics and all other corporately owned clinics in the US), found tenets for our home in OR, we did not have a place to live in MI until our moving truck was in Nebraska, my job offer was finalized at the end of June 1 week before leaving for MI, Colin and I both worked a lot during the month of June whilst packing or looking for jobs or a place to live until midnight most nights, upon moving out we had minor plumbing issues that about put me over the edge, then on our last day in the house in OR I came home to to new tenet MOVED in 1 day early which was ok'd by the property manager we hired. So to say the least I had a bottle of wine readily available for the month of June. BUT last minute (the day after the truck arrived ) a small miracle occurred and we were able to sign a lease for the place we are in now (we were previously on board to sign a lease for a hole in the wall that butted up to a Ford dealership - it was so bad we titled it the Blooth house because it was blue and such a hole in the wall for all of you Arrested Development followers). So we have moved into a small cottage on a lake that has the most amazing sunsets!

Colin and Charlie drove this giant 26 foot truck while toeing a car 2,500 miles. Colin's fan/AC broke in Nebraska while Charlie was driving it on a 97 degree day so luckily my car was in tow and the AC worked so they switched the vehicles around and life was much better for them. The drive took 4.5 days. The guys and Roxie did such a great job.

We were so sad to leave our garden. This was a head of broccoli I picked right before leaving. It is to late to even plant pots in MI now and I am already having growers withdrawal. Luckily Brighton has a great farmer's market.

Our dear friend's Katie and Geoff watched Lily for 3 days while we packed the truck and cleaned the house with many other friends. I cannot imagine 2 1 year olds for 1 day let alone 3 days. We could not have done it without them. The kids had the time of their life and became even closer. We have so many adorable stories from this time. On the other side of things we had 1 week to pack and clean the house and there is NO WAY we could not have done it without our friends. It made it that much harder to leave such an amazing group of people. I can't tell you the number of times I have already said, "I wish.......insert your name here....could come over tonight." The hole in our hearts is large a the indebtedness is even larger. We love you guys and miss you so much.

It seemed so fitting that the day before leaving Eugene I ran 'The Butte to Butte' with Mike, Adrienne and Ana while pushing Lily in the stroller. The race is a 10K that spans from one side of town to the other starting and stopping at each Butte. The race has been a tradition for years for the Simpson's and Davis'. The race brought many tears and a lot of great memories back to mind. We all got personal bests even with pushing the strollers! Rosie and Lily got to ride on the school bus for their 1st time ever together and that made my heart smile. (Above: Lily, Adrienne and Rosie)

A very HAPPY daddy to be holding his little girl again. Lily is pointing and talking about the moving truck here. She loved the truck.

Father and son (and Roxie) happy to be at their destination!

I was ecstatic to see that nothing had moved and nothing was broken in the truck we packed with the help of a few amazingly strong men!

Pure craziness!

more craziness!

The movers (minus my dad) on the MI side! We cannot thank them enough. I have no idea how we would have survived without them.

We have a great patio over looking the lake. Side note Lily is so smart she is starting to copy everything we do - putting on sunglasses, shoes, headbands, toweling off.

A very happy Aunt Megan. Lily took the hat off of Megan and put it on her own head.