Driving Out to Utah!

A year or two ago I had the bright that I could drive out to Utah.  Back when I was younger, my family did it almost every year.  Dad would take 2 weeks off work, we would spend 1/2 a week driving out, 1 week visiting, and 1/2 a week coming home.  We did it almost every summer.  Sooooo, why couldn't I do it?  It is cheaper to drive than fly certainly.  And if I used all the points that hubby has accumulated over years of spending nights in hotels for business, then it would be even cheaper.  Hotel = free breakfast, so that is one meal covered.  I packed sandwich stuff for lunch, so that only left dinner as a fast food meal.  I could do this!  On a budget even!  The difference between driving from Alabama to Utah and from Utah to Virginia was only 7 hours, and when you are already in the car for 3 days, 7 more hours doesn't matter.  So we would stop by Virginia on the way home.  So the entire trip would last about 3 weeks.  And I knew that I couldn't get hubby away from work for 3 weeks. so that meant I was going to tackle it by myself.  

This summer it became increasingly obvious that my grandparents were ailing, and this would be the summer to make the trip.  So, after we cleaned up the house and made sure it was listed, we packed up a weeks worth of clothing, plenty of entertainment for the kids (provided earlier for our trip to Disneyworld), and away we went!

 The first night we got to St. Louis.  And the kids got to drive by the arch!

 The hotels we stayed in generally were quite nice, though there wasn't always enough beds for everyone.  Sometimes, some of the kids had to sleep on the floor.

 It became a bit of a game to get everything inside the hotel everynight: clothes, coolers, chargers, etc....

 There was quite a bit of plains driving that was less than thrilling before we stopped for night #2 in Nebraska.

 And the kids were always happy to finally get to spread out.  Though we never got there early enough to really enjoy the hotel.  Mostly it was go go go until you drop drop drop.

 Our third day driving out was booooooooor-ring!

 I was a little bit concerned about staying awake.  I downloaded some of my favorite books (that are super long) and that was enough to keep me awake through bugs and windmills....

 And a few interesting rock formations.

 But there were times when it was pretty boring, and there was nothing to see for miles!

 By dinner time on the third day, we finally reached our destination!  La was nice enough to have dinner ready for us, and the cousins were thrilled to be able to play with each other.

The drive was not the most pleasant thing I've done, but it was certainly accomplish able.  Phew!!!

Grandpa Paul's Funeral and Thanksgiving

 The week before Thanksgiving, I had the opportunity to fly out to Utah.  Unfortunately, it was not for a particularly happy occasion.  My grandfather (my mom's dad) passed away after a decently long battle with COPD.  He was a tough old bird with 9 lives, and he is dearly loved and will be sorely missed.  My lovely hubby was able to rearrange his work schedule to take care of the children, while I spent some time with my family.  

Cute Bethany really took a shining to me, and it was lovely to have cute kids to sit in my lap, while my own were at home.

 The funeral was lovely as funerals go.  My sisters and I sang a beautiful arrangement of Oh My Father.  Of course there was crying.  But, really, he looked so much like himself, and we had been expecting it for so long, that it was a fairly peaceful experience.

It was bitterly cold at the graveside.  But thankfully I was able to borrow a coat.

 I said goodbye to my family, and flew home, and then was able to see my parents again 3 days later!!!  For a wonderfully filling Thanksgiving!

And what Thanksgiving is complete without a little football?!?

 Or without some crafting with grandma?!?  But glitter?!?!  I mean, really?!?!

I'll be finding that stuff for months!!!

Happy Late Thanksgiving!!!  May you be aware of the many things you have to be grateful for!

Selfie

Sometimes, when you give your ever present buddy your phone, just to keep them quite, you find a few gems on it afterwards.

Because everyone like to explore with their face every once in a while.

I mean, this one is a classic, AmIRight?!?!

And sometimes, when you are just not feeling up to it, and you are still in bed when maybe you could be up and doing other things, and your child is bored, you do what you can to keep them entertained.

Like let them bring games onto your bed....

And, occasionally, when there are tornado sirens going off, and you are forced to hid in the laundry room, you take pictures, because....  That's life!

And who wouldn't want to document that?!?

Besties

We have some really fabulous friends around here that we get to spend a lot of time with (or used to back when I wasn't in school).  

And, not only do the kids get along great, but the mommies do too.  And, sometimes, we switch kids when things need to get done.

And sometimes, that requires getting our energy out....

But sometimes, that just includes hanging out together.

And doing fun things!

Because it is not always about going out and spending money.

Or having big extravagant outings.

Sometimes its about being with friends.

And maybe catching a few rays while you are at it.

Because that is what friends do!

Iceskating in June

Knowing we were moving, and knowing we were building a house, we started looking around at our furniture and thinking how old and worn out it looked.  Thankfully, we had been putting money aside for just such an occasion.  We called it our furniture fund...  I know, creative, right?  But it turns out we are kind of picky when it comes to furniture, and many a weekend was spent looking.  And looking.  And looking.  One weekend, after spending most of the morning doing things that are particularly unfun for children, we decided to give them a little something more exciting to do.  So we took them skating at an indoor rink!

It may or may not have started out as ice walking....

And there was a fair amount of holding onto the side for support.

Kelsey did a decent job being that she has the least experience.

Hi Kels :)

And the kids seemed to have a good time!

And they did get better!

Hubby, who is kind of an expert at everything, also seemed to enjoy himself.

Hi Dyl!

And he was nice enough to take the kids around the rink a time or two...

And maybe even give them a few pointers.

I went too.  But there are no pictures, so you can't prove anything :)

Furniture Shopping

I won't bore you with every store we went to or everything that caught our eye.  More often than not, we walked out empty handed.  Every once in a while, something would catch our eye...  

Or, maybe it would catch the kids eyes.

 And the kids, bless their hearts, spent a lot of the time trailing behind us, being told not to touch things or run or sit on, or do anything fun ever.  Sometimes it was easier to pick a place for them to sit down and just come back and pick them up.  Hubby has this kind of whistle that he does for the kids.  It isn't very loud, and sometimes it amazes me that the kids hear it!  But in one store, the kids were towards the back, and hubby and I were ready to leave, and he whistled.  The 3 store workers turned around at the noise and started counting as one, two, three, four children came up between couches and started to follow hubby out the door.  The look on their faces was impressed :)

 Sometimes we took pictures for reference sake later.  But if you have models, you may as well include them.

 And sometimes, the kids picked things out of their own that they wanted.

In case you are wondering, I am a horrible decorator.  I don't like to make decisions.  I don't like to spend money.  And I don't have any sort of vision that would allow me to see what certain things would look like together.  This was probably as much torture for me as it was for the kids!  But...  The house finally is starting to feel fuller, and certainly more comfortable.  So I guess it all works out.

Happy Halloween!

 As we have done in the past, we got together with some friends to go trick or treating.  I'll admit that I am glad that they finally wanted to come to my neighborhood to trick or treat instead of us looking to get out of ours!  After we had walked around, we had a small picnic at the end of the driveway while we waited for the last few stragglers to come get their candy, and while we let the kids pig out.

Then, there was just enough time for a picture or two before it was time to go. (The Hulk may or may not have decided it was past time already).

 These girls really are just the bestest of friends!

Kaitlyn and her friend L decided to dress up as characters from the Disney movie Descendants...  which Kaitlyn has not seen.  There was a different costume for the blue one, but it was more expensive, and this coronation dress seemed to me more up Kaitlyn's alley.

Kari put very limited thought into her costume.  She recycled one from several years ago....  It is amazing it still fits her as well as it does almost 5 years later!

Dylan wanted to be a black ninja...  Because last year he was a white ninja, and everyone know they are different.

And Kelsey decided to be a white ninja, because all the other colors were taken, and I wasn't dying the costume purple (her favorite color).

So I had a pack of ninjas...

And a queen in a coronation dress.

Yup.  That's about right.