We're HERE!!!

Well folks, we are SO HAPPY to finally be in Indiana!  We left last Monday (4/27) to drive down to my parent's house in Alpine, UT so that we could see them one last time before heading East.  After spending the night there and eating breakfast as a family, we left Tuesday morning for the first leg of the trip.  It's about 1600 miles from Alpine to Indianapolis, and Ross really wanted to cover about 1,000 miles the first day.  I figured that he would be driving most of the way anyway, so I let him do what he could do.  We ended up pulling into Salina, Kansas around 1 am and we were SO TIRED!  It took quite a bit longer to get there because we started losing air in one of our tires and had to stop several times to fill up the tire.  It was stressing both of us out because we thought the leak stemmed from my accident a while back (sliding perpendicular across the highway wore down my tires a bit...).  Ross woke up early the next morning to take the car to a shop (thank goodness for GPS!  We were in the middle of nowhere!), and they were able to fix the tire because we had only run over a nail.  PHEW!  We were VERY happy that it wasn't anything worse than a nail, although the guys did tell Ross that we should replace all 4 tires, and it would only cost us $650.00.  I DON'T THINK SO!  The tires might have been worn down a little from the accident, but we definitely did NOT need to replace all of them.  I think those guys were just bored and wanted to make a quick buck.  Anyway, back to the journey...

We left Salina after Ross came back with the fixed tire, and we hit a torrential downpour just outside of Topeka.  It was scary!  We turned the radio on to listen to the road report, and they were calling for flash floods in the exact area where we were driving.  There was standing water on the freeway simply because the rain was coming down so fast and so hard that it couldn't drain off the road fast enough.  We drove through the rain for about an hour, but after that we enjoyed rainless weather for the rest of the day:)  The only detour we made was to Independence, Missouri.  We hadn't ever seen the church historical sites there, and since it was so close to the freeway we decided to stop.  It was fun talking to the Sister Missionaries at the Visitor's Center, and I actually ran into a few who know some of the same people I know.  There were quite a few who spoke Spanish, so I took the opportunity to practice my Espanol.  And there was one Sister whose younger sister is leaving next month for her Spanish speaking mission to Anaheim, California!  My mission!  It was awesome to feel their beautiful spirits, and it was by far my favorite part of the trip:)

We finally pulled into Indianapolis around 10:30 on Wednesday night, and I was SO ready to get into our apartment and SLEEP.  HOWEVER, our apartment had been used as the "back up" apartment for when others had arrived and their apartments weren't ready yet.  I didn't really care that other people had stayed there before us, but because the keys had been passed around so much between several people, nobody knew where the keys were... THUS, we couldn't get into our apartment.  I wanted to cry.  BUT, our friend Chris (the sales manager) reserved a hotel room for us nearby and we were able to get some rest Wednesday night.  It felt GREAT to sleep in and take our time getting ready Thursday morning, and by the time we got back to the apartment complex, the leasing office had made us a copy of our key.  We have an awesome 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom apartment with a balcony that overlooks a lake.  It has a washer and dryer in a separate utility room right off the kitchen, and a cute little fireplace and mantle:)  And now that we have the internet set up in the apartment, life is pretty much complete!  I don't have pictures yet, but I will soon!  Ross shadowed some installs for the first 2 days, and now he has a few of his own installs under his belt.  It's amazing the stuff he's learning!  He'll be able to wire just about anything by the time this summer is over with!  As for me, I've been setting up house and getting things underway for having this little baby boy of ours.  There's an awesome hospital called St.Vincent Carmel Hospital, and not only is my insurance accepted there, but it is highly recommended in this area.  And it's less than 10 miles away!  Ross' manager's wife is a friend of mine, and she wants to go with me on Monday to take a look at the facility.  I have a good feeling about it, so now I just have to find a doctor!  Gabey is growing and his kicks are getting powerful enough that they sometimes throw me off balance.  He still gets the hiccups multiple times a day, and when he stretches I can feel pressure on both my bladder and my ribs.  It isn't the most comfortable thing I've ever felt, but I just love this little man!  I love feeling him move inside me, and we can't wait to have him with us.  Ross and I think that Gabey will look like his daddy, but that he'll have my eyes.  It's just a guess, but we'll know for sure in 8 short weeks!  The time is flying by and we can't wait to hold our little Baby Gabe!  

We are loving Indiana and it reminds us so much of our Virginia home.  We're having to re-acclimate to the humidity, but we are L-O-V-I-N-G the green lushness of this area!  Overall, life is good and we are blessed!  

*T