Catching up...FINALLY!! ***warning: this is a long post!!***

I finally figured out how to get pictures off of our camera without the little cord thingie! Because I lost it...I'm not sure when...but it's gone, gone, gone!! Anywho, I have pictures now! And that, I think, deserves a double WOOT WOOT, if not a triple!

So, December...it was a good month. We threw Mom a surprise birthday party. I had a camera at the ready to get this priceless pic of her face...Classic!It was so much fun to finally surprise Mom! She's usually the one orchestrating surprises.

At the same time, we were packing up our apartment in Provo to make the move to Texas. It was a demolition zone! Thanks to our friends and family that saw it and didn't judge me for the mess it was. Here's one pic, to get the idea:

We're so lucky we didn't get buried alive in there!! This was taken before everything was boxed up...this is maybe half of the boxes we ended up with. Many thanks to PDC, the Monahans, and the Provo liquor store for supplying our moving boxes!! On December 17th, we had our BYU 54th Ward show up in force to help us pack the moving truck and clean.

***Shoutout here to all our peeps from the 54th Ward: We love and miss you all! You guys made our time at THE BYU an experience we will always be grateful for!***

Moving Day: December 18, 2009

Here we are in front of the apartment. I'm so glad that Drew thought to take this picture! We loved this place so much!! Anyway, this is the beginning of the E-N-D-L-E-S-S drive to Texas! Which is why we don't look like we're at wit's end...yet! So, as we were driving through Moab, I came up with a brilliant plan: to take a picture of my view of the Budget truck in every state we went through...I know, I'm a GENIUS!! So, here they are; in order. Starting in Utah:

The line in the middle of the picture is the crack in our windshield. I wasn't brave enough to hold the camera out the window! Next, Colorado:

It was getting dark as we drove through the Southwest corner of Colorado, so by the time we reached the reservation in New Mexico, it was PITCH dark! Which is well documented by the New Mexico picture. No, this isn't the handwriting of a two-year old, or even a ninety-year old. It's the tail lights of the Budget truck as we headed across the darkest stretch of road known to man (which was also having some construction work done...which accounts for the complete lack of focus in this picture!). At any rate, I do think it's kind of a cool picture!!

Thank goodness that we stopped for the night when we reached Albuquerque. I couldn't stand any more driving!! We stayed the night at a Holiday Inn Express and woke the next morning with renewed vigor...OK, I was still dreading the long day of driving, but at least there was an end in sight!! We left Albuquerque around ten. FINALLY, around FOUR in the afternoon, we reached (cue "Allelujah Chorus") THE TEXAS STATE LINE!! OK, I have two pictures for this one, because by the time we reached this point, it felt completely momentous!!

After we arrived in Amarillo, we celebrated with the traditional meal that consists of a Steak Finger Basket at Dairy Queen. Every time we've driven into Texas, we stop at a DQ for this meal of fried beefy deliciousness! It's a tradition that will live as long as there is a DQ in Amarillo!OK...this post has been long enough. Rest assured that there are plenty more pics, and maybe a few stories. Love to all!!

Tenney, out!