Well, here we are!!!!!!!

We wanted to update everyone and let you know that we made it safe and sound and without too much drama. Just a little in the beginning of the trip :) but what kind of a road trip would it be without something. The picture above was taken early today by Shay. We tried to find Jack for the family pic but he was in a hidey-hole and was no where to be found until later.

Earlier this week we had a great crew of muscular men, women and babies to help load the truck on Thursday which really helped us out a lot and Friday was much less stressful in that aspect. Friday evening, some of our buddies came over for a last supper feast consisting of left overs that we were trying to eat before we left and a few more moments of fellowship together before we moved! Then some more family came in to help finish loading things and cleaning. I hated saying bye to my best bud Katie but I know she will visit soon so it helped but it was still sad.

We woke up SUPER early in the morning to finish everything up before the vet came to give Jack (our cat/panther) a sedation. That was quite the event and one I hope I dont have to do again. We had to not give him food and water after 6ish and so he was starving and confused about what was going on and really fought the vet to get the injection. She had to stick him 4 times before she was able to administer it she got it finally and then we hurried on our way. It was creepy too because I thought it would be more like an anesthetic and he would be sleeping but instead it was more like Michelle Pfeiffer in "What Lies Beneath" when Harrison Ford sedated her with a chemical and she was fully aware that he was trying to kill her and of what was happening but couldnt move her body!!!! AND his eyes were open the whole time!!! I told Matt that it was his turn next time!

Unfortunately, I was in the animal car by myself the whole time to Tulsa because Shay was in her car and was kind of freaking out the whole time that the cat was dead and that his eyes were drying out and that he was going to wake up in an hour. It was a bit of mass hysteria but then I got myself together when I stopped in Tulsa and the rest of the trip was better. I got to see my mom one more time before the move, acquired Shay to assist in the animal car for the rest of the way and continued my mission to hurry up to St. Louis before the cat could move around! We stayed ahead of the rest of the pack and made it there at 3:30 which was amazing (8 hours total even with our stops so really like 7 hours driving time). I made shay "blink the cat" like every 5-10 minutes because we were afraid his eyes were going to dry out and make sure he was still breathing along the way. Amazingly enough, he made it the whole way before he really started being able to stir which in hindsight was more enjoyable for him but very traumatic initially. He came around later that evening and is already back to his normal self but a little more loving than his norm.

We unloaded the whole truck by 8:00 pm on Saturday just in time for dinner and in time to go to bed early. My grandpa and cousins left in the morning and Shay and Janoah got to stay until today. We dined on some local pizza at Imos for lunch and cooked some turkey meatballs for dinner and Shay and I made some trips to Trader Joes before she had to go.

This last week has been an emotional one for Matt. He has been trying to be tough on the outside but crying himself to sleep at night because he is missing everyone at OKC. I have been the strong one and consoling him but sometimes he is an unstopable crying machine......NOT!!!!

But seriously, last week was tough for me especially and sad but we are really looking forward to this new stage in life. Our moving experience was about as good as it could be. Not too much furniture damage, no wrecks, no tickets, no close calls, no moving injuries or anything. We are so blessed to have such great friends and family to help and we cant thank you enough. We will miss you all like crazy so you better come visit us when you can. We have lots of room and want you all to visit when you are able and we will be back often as well. Matt starts his new job on Wednesday so please keep him in your prayers. We love you all, thanks for everything and keep in touch!!

p.s. this is the last official post on this blogging website and hopefully we will get internet in the next week or so and I will post a link here to our new blog address.