Starting over AGAIN.....

We made it to Arizona! It is beautiful here and the sunsets are amazing! Getting here was nothing short of a challenge...like pretty much everything our family tries to do, seems we always take the harder road, that's how you learn right!? At least that's how I like to think of it. The decision to move out here and start over was really hard we went back and forth with our decision, we had our worries and concerns for sure, but when you feel prompted by the spirit to do something even though it seems crazy and ridiculous you just do it! Things weren't exactly going the way we wanted them to in Joplin so we decided to take the leap of faith and move to Arizona my parents offered to let us stay with them while we settle in and figure life out...life is too short not To try new things and go new places. So we sold pretty much EVERYTHING fit the rest of our families belongings into a small trailer that we pulled behind our car, with no jobs in Arizona which was terrifying especially when you have three kids to take care of! We were so sad to leave our friends and family in Missouri our little duplex and neighborhood we really did learn to love Joplin it will always hold a special place in our hearts! So we said our goodbyes and headed west!!
         We left early in the morning and it was pouring rain as we loaded odds and ends into the trailer and the car, last but not least we loaded the kids that were half asleep in the car. The first 8-10 hours went really smoothly kids slept most of that time, then we came to a little town in New Mexico tucumcari and the car just stopped!! Derrick and I shared looks of concern...now what!? Soo we said a prayer that we would receive the help we needed, Sam thought we would have to walk the rest of the way to Arizona haha I assured him that would not be happening! Derrick started to call the tow truck and insurance company, as he was on the phone taking care of that a couple stopped and asked if they could help us I was a little apprehensive but accepted the help, they took the kids and  the hamsters who were also traveling with us and I to a hotel, where we could wait out of the heat. He went back to wait with Derrick for the tow truck he let him wait in his air conditioned truck out of the heat! After the car and trailer were towed off they came and picked us up took us to another hotel were we would await the news from the mechanic... That couple was an answer  to our prayers, God is in the details of our lives and is watching out for us he helps us through other people. I don't know what we would have done without their help! I woke up that morning with a very swollen eye I don't know why so that was fun I looked a little crazy but wasn't going to let that slow me down. Then the next afternoon we received the phone call from the mechanic, who knew you weren't supposed to put cruise control on when you are towing a trailer....so the engine overheated and we needed to replace some filters! Whew that was a relief, picked up the car and we were off on our second leg of the journey in our Dodge Journey...we were trucking along telling jokes and playing music having a pretty good time traveling and then we stopped AGAIN noooo not AGAIN so this time we had just got out of New Mexico and into Arizona we broke down in the middle of the desert, we had ran out of gas, our gas gadge had stopped working it read half a tank but we were empty.........with no gas stations in sight. So Derrick was on the phone again with our insurance and tow truck companies it
was going to take at least an hour for them to get to us, it was starting to get dark and the kids were very anxious to get the trip over already they were upset that the car had broke pin down again. Then a highway patrol officer came by and helped us! He took Derrick to the nearest gas station which was  probably 30-40 min away while I waited with the kids, the kids kept  crying thinking that the officer took daddy away and when is he coming back...my stress level was off the charts guys! Finally after what felt like forever Derrick came back with liquid gold GAS! Yay now we can continue our trip so off we went it was dark at this point we had stopped for some dinner we were all sick of cheeseburgers but there were not any other choices..I thought my kids would never get sick of hamburgers but it happened! We got back in the car kids fell asleep for a little while and then Jack woke up moaning his tummy hurt nooo please no, so we stopped at a rest stop he wasn't felling well  we hung out there for about an hour finally he felt OK to drive to a hotel in flagstaff AZ. We arrived at the hotel after driving around trying to find it forever did I mention we don't have smart phones so we are working with a paper road map and our own sense of direction. We find the hotel and no parking spots left, Derrick ended up finding a spot to park on the street. We literally just checked into the hotel and slept in our clothes we are done at this point we just want to get there!!! We headed out the next morning and finally arrived in Goodyear Arizona hellaluja!! I'm so thankful we made it safely it took us three days we went through 5 states and we are finally at our final destination but our  new adventure is only beginning!!