Jared and Melissa Jones Family: The Big Move

Moving Day! May 9th. Of course it was pouring rain the entire day. Jared tried to use a tarp to cover the path into the truck. It worked for a while until too much water collected on top, and it pulled the can of paint that was holding it down off of the roof. It splattered all over the grass. I was mostly in the house, but Jared was completely soaked and frozen all morning. We had flown Jason up to help us load and help Jared drive the truck to Yakima. He was so much help, and it was great to have him there. We didn't have as much help as we'd have liked, but did have a handful of nice neighbors that showed up that morning to help us. We weren't sure if everything was going to fit, but with a little bit of magic, and Jason's mad packing skills, we did it! We had to leave a few things behind, but not too much. The Nelsons came by around noon to help, and brought us some pizza for lunch. All of our help was gone by the afternoon. We had to quickly clean the house the rest of the way, and then took off by early evening to drive to Boise. It would have been nice to take some more time with final cleaning and saying goodbye to the house, but it was just too hard on Mackayla. It was like pulling a band-aid off fast, we just had to hurry and get out of there.

Our empty home

Her beloved pink wall

A couple of quick final pictures in our wonderful home.

This poor girl had cried for months about the upcoming move. Moving day was torturous for her. However, as soon as we got in the car and started the drive she did really well. There were definitely a few more tears in the months to come from missing Utah and our home there, but overall she did so great. She was brave and tried her best to be happy as we made these new adjustments.

Leaving Lehi

We stayed in a hotel in Boise, and that next morning was Mother's Day. The kids gave me a few gifts, and had made some wonderful cards. They also sang me a song that they had been practicing for this special day. It was a great morning. Then we buckled back up and drove the rest of the way to Yakima.

This was my view for two days as I followed Jared over 700 miles to our new home. I'd follow him anywhere. :) I'm so glad that he has the courage that I lack to lead us on this new adventure.

This was a post I put on facebook with a picture of our house in Lehi.

Goodbye! I remember moving into this house and feeling sad. I wondered how long it would take for this big empty house with no yard to feel like our home. Now, six years, two more kids, four wards, hundreds of new friends, and innumerable memories later, we were heartbroken to leave yesterday. I wish we could have had time to say goodbye to everyone. Thanks to everyone who helped us with the move! We've made it to Washington and are super excited about this new phase of our lives. Come visit us!

Grandma and Grandpa were in Pennsylvania for Ethan's baptism when we arrived, but they had the place all ready for us to move in with them. Caitlin loved the Frozen bedding on the bunk bed. The first night we were there Caitlin found a razor on the shelf in the bathtub and tried to shave her face like Daddy does. She had several small cuts around her lips. Poor girl!

This is a letter that Mackayla had wanted to leave for the new owners of our Lehi home. It was to discourage them from repainting the pink wall in her old bedroom. She is such a sweet girl, and this letter shows just how difficult losing her pink wall was for her.

Unloading at the storage shed. There were a lot of people from the ward that showed up to help us unload. We really appreciated all the help. We first unloaded all the stuff into the living room that we were going to try to fit in the basement with us.

Jared and Jason got the trampoline set up on the backyard, and posed for a few pictures for me. Before we had to take Jason to the airport to head home, we drove up to Whistlin' Jacks to look around. He was such a big help with the move! We're so grateful for him.