More from the Road

We're one time zone closer to our destination--in Iowa now, after a pretty long drive from Denver on Saturday. Did you know that Nebraska is really the longest state in the country? Because of the way maps are drawn, Texas appears bigger. But in reality, Nebraska's nearly six thousand miles wide. So says our recent experience.

Well, before this long drive we had a great time in Denver with Brian's dad and brother. Spencer taught Felix Cat language, and they're now working on Cow. I wonder what will come next? This kid is going to want to be a zookeeper! Since Dave is self-employed he was able ot take a few days off and drive us around to explore the area. We went to Pike's Peak and the Anasazi Manitou Cliff Dwellings (real sandstone 'apartments' built ~700 years ago that visitors can walk around in)! Both were incredible!

On the way up to the peak:

At the top!
At the Anasazi dwellings:
Peek-a-boo!

Luckily, Felix found a fast food place... (aka, mom)

So well preserved for how old they are, and how much traffic they get! We can hardly build a home to last 100 years now.

Now we're in lovely Cedar Rapids for a while. Felix met the LAST close relative on his list: Aunt Christy! They had fun together, and when we first arrived Felix showed off his new speaking skills by saying, "ma ma ma". He had been working on that in the back seat in Wyoming (another deceptively LARGE state!) Way to go Felix!

Of course Felix and Grandma Hall can't seem to get enough of each other, which is just the way it should be. Felix love to rock with Grandma, and he even made up a little jig for her! Hopefully now that we'll be living closer we can make more trips to visit family out in this area.

Onward Ho to Michigan!

So we're all packed up and on our way. All of our worldly posessions are the truck of a man named Steve, hired through uship. We're praying we'll see it again. If not, oh well. We can start over. :-)

For sanity's sake we've decided to take our time driving east. It will be a 5-stop, 10-day trip.

It helps Felix to not have to stare at the back seat for more than one day at a time, and plus it's been GREAT to visit family. We went to a Barnes family reunion in Standrod, ID, effectively quadrupling the population of the town for the weekend. We loved spending time with close family, Aunts, Uncles, Cousins, and of course Felix's Great-Grandma Barnes!

Felix LOVES great-grandma!!MORE DADDY TIME!!

Felix got to meet Aunt Rachel!! (finally!) They hit it off well :-)

And a Hall family trip would never be complete without a little hiking.

Felix met a kitty at our fiesta on the last night of the reunion.
I think blue is his best color...

Someone loves grandma!!
What a sweetheart!!

After leaving Idaho, we drove to Yellowstone in Wyoming. And a trip there would never be complete without a visit to...


There are other guisers in the park too, and beautiful pools colored by mineral deposits:
That's my favorite. It's called sapphire pool. It made me want to jump in. But, the water's like 200 degrees. OUCH!
Some more hiking.
Nature baby!
AHHH! You'd never believe it, but Bigfoot came out of the trees and tried to run away with Felix. Good thing I caught it on camera.
Just kidding, I LOVE YOU BRIAN!! AND YOUR BEARD!!

Surreal, isn't it?
They totally just walk right in front of your car. COOOL.
More later!

The Big Move

Our time in sunny St. George is drawing to a close as we prepare for our move to Ann Arbor to begin Brian's grad programs. It's funny to think that "someday when we're in business school" is here, and that "someday after business school" is just around the corner!

Well, in between taking care of Felix, I have been spending my time packing, packing, and--you guessed it--packing. This also means dejunking, restocking the shelves at DI, and cleaning my apartment to a level that could only mean I soon won't be living in it anymore.

Unfortunately, Felix didn't seem to be a big fan of this work, since I can't do most of it one-handed. So he was acting a little more fussy than usual. That is, until the other day when he discovered a new, handsome playmate.

They've been best friends ever since.