XMP files: how to re-associate them with moved CR2 files

Though I have Adobe Bridge, I have been importing all of my raw photos into Apple iPhoto. It's easy and I like the simple, visual interface.

I have my setting such that when I click "Edit", it opens Adobe ACR and from there Photoshop for final editing/jpeg production. Many times I will work on a photo save a few snapshots that I like within ACR, and then come back later to make final edits and save a jpeg version.

The problem is that I am constantly re-organizing my iPhoto library by merging existing folders, and apparently the XMP files are not coming with. I get how to do this on an image by image basis (find the XMP file and apply it), but is there a way to do this en masse or better yet have it permanently attached to the CR2 file so that no matter where I take it, the XMP file stays with it?

Sorry if this has already been answered elsewhere. I tried searching briefly but a lot of the discussions seem to be for Bridge/Lightroom users, which I am not.

I don't know of an automated way to do this, you'll most likely have to do it manually. If I had a LOT of images that I'd done this with I'd write a Java program to do it for me.

If you use RAW and Bridge you have to do all your file management using Bridge. You can process or view using other programs, but all image movement must be done with Bridge. If you can't live with this limitation convert the images to DNG, which keeps the metadata inside the image file.

Any file moving you do with windows can also be done inside bridge, negating the problem right from the beginning.

All my image files are converted to DNG format, so where the file goes, also goes the metadata.