So much change, so little time...

These last few weeks have really been a trip!! We went to Montana and interviewed with 3 dentist the last week in February. We came home and put in an offer to one on the 5th of March and by the 7th we were Moving to Billings Montana and starting April 1st! The Moving truck showed upon the 17th at 1: 30pm and was gone by 4:30, by 7:00 we were on our way in the van pulling the Malibu behind!
(Monday the 17th)The first night we didn't get to far we made it to Indianapolis! We were so exhausted from our day of moving and cleaning.
(Tuesday the 18th)The second day we made it quite a bit farther all the way to Sioux falls Iowa! I was so sad we didn't get to go to Nauvoo. Towing the car slowed us down quite a bit, not to mention all the stops for our carnivorous children. I swear they were hungry every minute of every day! As it turned out we would have hit some of the terrible flooding that was there had we have gone.
(Wednesday the 19th)The next day somewhere in South Dakota the transmission in the van decided it had had enough! We are so fortunate we back tracked about 20 miles to this little place that seriously had a mechanic, a u-haul drop, a truck stop and a car wash! The people were so nice. They flushed our transmission, took the U-haul dolly back, we washed the transmission fluid off the vehicles, and ate at the truck stop! ( which by the way was the BEST meal we ate!) And we were off now in 2 vehicles driving separately! ( The mechanic was so awesome he actually called us about 2 hours after we left to see if we were stranded or if the transmission was going to hold out! )
We are so frustrated at the U-haul company. When we moved to Kentucky the truck broke down 3 times and we ended up completely unloading and loading our stuff onto a new truck! And then had to beg for reimbursement for the days it took to get us a different truck. This time we just rented a dolly from them to pull the car. After they told me the full trailer that you pull your car completely onto was to heavy for our van, they tried to give it to us for the same price as a favor, because they didn't have a dolly on the lot. We went to a different store and got the dolly that was within the weight limit for our van. But the hitch they put on rubs against the muffler and makes a terrible noise and we feel like the problems we had on this trip could have been avoided. Come to find out we were maxed out on the weight limit, especially with 5 people in the car too.( They failed to mention that small detail too) The moral of the story is avoid using u-haul at all costs, I promise it is worth the extra bucks to go with a different company!
We made it all the way to Rapid City, South Dakota! ( And did I mention our truck was already in billings Montana!) We got up and went to Mount Rushmore,and stopped at an old time taffy shoppe, that pulled their own taffy. Then we hit the road again!
Finally, Thursday night we made it to Billings and in time to swim in the hotel pool too!!
Friday morning we met our truck driver and began the dreaded process of unloading the truck we had just loaded, and up to the 3rd floor too!! We were so blessed to have a few missionaries stop by to help us unload. The elevator was a huge help too!
My parents came over Easter, to help with the kiddo's and to unload boxes. Thanks Mom and Dad! The Easter bunny did find us the kids were very concerned! We are moved in and almost box free! (Almost)
Now I just have to keep my kids quiet for the next 6 months. The hallways outside our apartment door looks like a big race track and there are 3 flights of stairs to race down. We also have a nice round about inside the apartment that you can run around in a circle! Not to mention the singing, fighting, giggling, crying, stomping, and slamming that happens with 3 little girls!
Kailtyn loves school, who wouldn't it is an hour and 15 minutes shorter they have 3 recesses, no uniforms and NO homework. She has died and gone to heaven!! The girls ( Kaitlyn and Jenna) also got haircuts to their shoulders! A fun spring thing to do ! I will post pictures as soon as I can find them....
For now we are safe and sound in Billings, and looking forward to closing on the biggest purchase of our life on March 31st! This last month has been so crazy and I think I finally had enough time to absorb it all today. My tear ducts have been a bit over active today as I realize our families are not as close as they seemed( still 8 hours away) And our "Fill in" family ( our dear friends) are even farther, now that I have made that drive! I am feeling like a fish out of water. But we are excited for what the future will bring to our family.