Move to California

Since we have lived in California for a month now I thought I should blog about the move! 

After a week of packing and getting rid of stuff the time had come that we were ready to move to California.Why does it seem that nothing can go right when you move? Brad had reserved a 17 foot U-HAUL a month in advance. The day before we were supposed to pick up the U-HAUL, the office called and said they didn't have a 17 foot truck and told us that they would need to upgrade us to a 20 footer. That was nice, but we were already going to have more than enough room in the 17 footer. So we requested to have a 14 foot truck instead. When Brad went the next morning to pick up our 14 foot truck, the man at the front desk handed Brad the keys and said, "Ok Mr. Duffy, here are the keys to your 20 foot truck!" REALLY!!!??? Well we just went with it! Our truck had to be well over 35 feet long with a tow dolly hauling our pick-up truck. But that was just the first mishap of our adventure!!

So we hit the road on April 30th after a long day of packing and loading and cleaning! (Thank you to those who helped we couldn't have done it without you!!) Off we went to trek to California, wanting to make a couple of stops in Utah to break up our trip! Brad was driving the U-HAUL and Aubrey and I were in the car driving in front of him. We were heading to my brothers house in Lehi, Utah. Aubrey did great and slept for almost 4 hours, it was awesome! We should have been there in that amount of time but with the U-HAUL we had to travel a whole lot slower than usual! We were just pulling past Ogden and I heard Aubrey wake up and was starting to fuss a little to eat. I pulled off the nearest exit and called Brad who was a couple miles back to let him know to pull off. I fed Aubrey, had a bathroom break, and were on our way again. 

Well right as I was getting on the HWY I felt the car shake a little bit. I wondered if the car was trying to switch gears or something. All of a sudden I couldn't really steer and had to slow way down. In the mean time a couple of cars got in between my car and the U-HAUL and Brad had switched lanes because "somebody" up ahead (me) was going slow. Brad began to pass me and saw that my tire was smoking!!! Luckily there was an exit right there so I was able to get off but then my tire blew and tar pieces were flying everywhere. I was so scared but we were able to get safely off the road and call roadside assistance! Brad was able to get off on the next exit and turn around to help too! 

I am so glad it happened when it did and that I was already in the far right lane so it was easy access to get off. It would've been horrible if I was in one of the middle lanes going the speed limit of 80 MPH. I really feel like Aubrey woke up right when she needed to and that we were in the situation we were to be as safe as could be! Guardian Angels were definitely looking out for us! 

So we got the spare tire and called the Subaru dealership and they told us that our warrantee for our car would no longer be valid if we didn't get the same tire with the same tread length because a different tire could possibly through off the all-wheel drive. So we went to 3 different tire stores and made about 12 phone calls, and our tire was nowhere to be found in the state of Utah. We ended up talking to a really nice guy at discount tires who set us up with 4 new tires for a good price! He even bought the 3 good ones that we had. A couple hours and $700 later, we were back on the road and to my brother Kenny's house! 

Aubrey sure was a trooper through it all!  

Her tired smile! 

Aubrey was so excited to get out of her car seat! She even got to play with her two cousins Quinn and Zoey! It was so fun to see them all together!

 Later in the evening, Zoey warmed up to the idea to hold Aubrey! It was so cute! She is going to have a baby brother in September! Can't wait to have a baby boy in the family!!

One of my best friends, Morgan, was able to stop by too! It was so fun to see her and it was her first time meeting Aubrey! I wish we lived closer!  

A big thanks to Kenny and Jerah for letting us stay at their place!! 

After a good night of rest, we were on the road again. We made it to St. George in the late afternoon. We got checked into our hotel, cleaned up a little, and headed to Brad's Aunts house for dinner! 

Taylee was so excited for us to come over and to hold Aubrey! She really had the magic touch with her! 

Aubrey liked Tatum too!! 

Kolton was also darling with Aubrey! He was such a good sport in letting me take his picture! 

Taylee seriously had the baby touch! She got Aubrey right to sleep! Thanks Taylee! 

We loved our visit with Aunt Maureen and the kids! We wish we could of stayed longer! We spent hours talking about stories of when all the cousins were younger, eating awesome taco soup, and playing Just Dance on the wii. We had so much fun! We hope to visit again soon! 

We made it to California the next day with a warm welcome! When I say warm, I literally mean 97 degrees!!! But we also had a warm welcome with two sets of elder missionaries coming over to help us move in, along with a great friend, Amos. We are so happy to be here in California and are glad that we made it in one piece! Luckily day two and three of the trek down here was pretty un-eventful, besides a screaming baby here and there, which was to be expected! We are so grateful to all of those who helped us move! We couldn't have done it without you!