But we did enjoy the place for the 7+ years we lived there, and are glad we can hold onto it until the market rebounds. However, Margaret still had 6 weeks left to work in AZ. So what do we do? We move all our stuff to our new house in Wabasha (I oversee its arrival while moving my stuff from my apartment in Wisconsin with the help of friends) and Margaret, Everett, Bristol and I move in with our friends in Paradise Valley! Emily and Jason Klein-Mallin (and Eliana)were kind enough to take us in, and we had a great time with them. Thanks again for everything guys!
While I moved our stuff into our place in Wabasha Margaret and Everett took a few days and headed out to Portland, Oregon to let Alyssa, Briana and Chance meet their new cousin. It sounded like all had a good time- I definitely felt like I missed out!
Next- the move. We did over 1800 miles in a Mini Cooper with a dog, baby, 5 plants, and a bunch of misc. clothes and baby stuff. It was actually quite enjoyable, surprisingly. We took our time and stopped off to see Arches National Park outside of Moab, UT, grabbed a bite to eat in Vail Village, Colorado, and spent some time in one of the coolest little cities we've ever been to: Boulder, Colorado. Taking one's time while not hauling a bunch of stuff is the way to move, I tells ya.
Then we finally got to our new house! We're pretty excited about it, even though it marks a new move back to small town life and away from our friends in Phoenix. We miss you all, but hope you come and visit us- it's beautiful up here!
The other interesting moving challenge we encountered, however, was wedding season. This meant that the day after we arrived in Wabasha we headed up to Northfield for Katie Cowles wedding! It was lovely and great to see old friends, and we had the added bonus of seeing my parents and grandma. They watched Everett while we were at the wedding, which was really nice, but it was mostly just great to see them (it had been since January since they had seen Everett last, and since November for my grandma!).
Then...we decided to fly out to a wedding on Long Island, NY the next day. With Everett in tow. We are a bit crazy. Turned out to be an amazing time though! Thad and Britt Crow-Miller put on a great celebration and party, and we were very happy to be there. It was actually our first time to Long Island, and we were way out on the north east shore- fantastic. We really enjoyed that area, with all the small family farms and vineyards and small shops. We met up with our friend Sam Kappahn the next day before celebrating my birthday by wandering Greenport, including a really exceptional brewery!
After the wedding we got to hang out for a few days in Manhattan with our friend Leah. We ate some good food and gave Everett the NYC experience. He dug it. But in the end, it was just a nice little vacation before truly having to get settled in and unpacked. We are now close to that point, and I have to say- It's good to be a regular family...finally!
