As incredible and unbelievable as it sounds, we moved! After living in Roseau, MN for 13 years, we moved to Preston, Idaho in June. Steven left his dream job at Polaris and took a job in Logan, UT working for S&S Worldwide designing roller coasters. It was a very big change in careers for him, and as sad as he was to leave Polaris, he sacrificed so we could live closer to family.
One of the things that we had to do in order to move, was sell the dogs - our Gimli and Sage. It was so hard to see them go - they'd been part of our family for about 10 years!
But we knew that southern Idaho was no place for sled dogs - they needed to stay where they could enjoy the cold winters in Roseau. We found a great home with 80 acres and farm animals they could enjoy. We'll miss you Sage & Gimli!
S&S wanted Steven to start in April, but he was able to put it off until May so our family would only be apart for about a month. It was a sad day when he pulled away without us, but we had a lot to finish at home before we could leave (like school, packing and Alex's graduation).
We put in many LONG hours packing, painting, staining, repairing and cleaning - everyone helped!
Some were happier than others!
Many repairs had to be done on the house, lots of them after Steven had to leave. I did things I never thought I'd do - like climbing on the roof and picking away all the moss that had grown on it, then sterilizing it with bleach so it wouldn't grow back.
Looks a bit better!
The deck also needed some updating - so I cleaned and stained it.
Steven was able to come home for a week to help before we pulled away.
That was a mad crazy week of packing, cleaning and loading that we would love to forget!
Tough muscles!
This one was supervising I think!
Steven oversaw packing up our piano for its 14th move. He's gotten it down to a science. Man is that thing heavy!!
The hardest part for us was saying goodbye to everyone that became our family away from home. Our karaoke going away party with ladies from the branch was fabulous!
This is part of our weekly (sometimes bi-weekly) basketball crew. We are really going to miss them, and basketball!
When we were finally done, we left a lot of our decorative items in the home so it would show better, but most everything else was packed in our third car garage and 24' enclosed trailer.
Sad to see it so bare!
Last minute - trying to beat the storm that was coming in hard and fast.
Almost done...
I wanted to take pictures of us as we were leaving, but the storm hit so hard I couldn't do it. Talk about a downpour - then about a mile from home the canoe starting sliding around so Alex and I had to get out to secure it. Soaked to the skin, but we finally were off and going. Steven and Eli in the Tundra pulling the small trailer, me driving the Suburban with Leah and Olivia, with the canoe on top, and Alex with Ethan in the Rav4.
Leah took a turn driving after having gotten her driver's license the day before we left!
And we're off to more adventures in Idaho!