
On Saturday, June 1st we drove to Zillah Washington from Mapleton, Utah. Kaylee did pretty well for the first 8 hours or so, but after that she just wanted to be finished. We made a few extra stops during the last few hours to let her get out of her car seat and be carried around a bit. We rested up for a day and a half in Zillah and then headed to Seattle for 5 days. I think that is the longest period of time we’ve ever spent there. We were able to spend time with Sarah and Jimi (Tim’s cousin and husband), Sarah and Edgar (my friends from college), Tawnia and Marci (our adoption caseworker and her daughter who is my visiting teachee) and Carmen and Jeremy (my sister and brother-in-law). It was so fun to see everyone. It was especially fun to see Gracie and my nieces interact with Kaylee. Liv was a rock star older cousin. I didn’t need to worry about entertaining Kaylee for one minute while we were at the Jensen household.

Friday, June 7th we headed back to Zillah. We arrived just in time to have lunch with Hal on his very last day of work. I’m sure that he’s excited to retire after 41 years of teaching. We spent the next week in Zillah. It was nice to be back in in Tim’s parent’s home. I’ve really enjoyed their home. Hal built it with his own hands and they have lived there for 20 years. I’m sure it was really hard for them to leave. They sold their home and were preparing to move to Utah. I spent each day we were there helping to pack, clean, and load moving trucks. It’s amazing how sore moving can make your body. It was a lot of work, but we packed up two moving trucks, the cars, and the trailer and were on our way by Friday evening on June 14th. We made it to Ogden, Utah on Saturday evening and by 11:30 pm we had everything unloaded and in the storage units. It’s too bad that Tim’s parents weren’t able to move directly into their new home, but they’re still waiting for it to close. I feel bad that they still have to move everything again.

This past weekend Valerie and Brad came up to Rexburg too, so we were able to spend some time with them and their baby Lydia. We even took a day trip to South Weber to see Greg and Dani. Tim had to stay back and work on his homework, but I took Kaylee and went with my parents, the Dolls, and Spencer. It was a fun day and the 6 hours in the car wasn’t too painful.
The summer is going by quickly. We only have four more weekends in the lower 48. I’m sad to see it passing by, but also looking forward to moving into our new apartment and having our own space and our routine once again. It’s hard to keep up good habits (or aspiring habits) when you’re traveling on living with other people. I love seeing family and friends though so we'll make the most out of the next 4 weeks!