With Milo having so many appointments my week went by FAST! We had arranged for the girls to go hang out with family while Scott and I dealt with life here. I spent Thursday packing and getting things ready for the Friday trip to drop off the girls. We packed everything on Thursday so we could just get up and go. On Friday January 15 we left at 10am. We had a pretty good go of things. We wanted to be in L.A. by 6pm. We hit Buttonwillow (our favorite stop on the 5) and had lunch.
That was fun times. After lunch we used the grassy area out in front of the Subway to play tag. That lasted a good 30 minutes before we realized it was getting late and we should press on.
After our lunch stop we pressed on in silence. 5 of the six kiddos napped and I just drove. We ended up hitting L.A. by 4:30pm. Scott’s parents were pulling in about the same time. However, we had NO idea that Dean lived near the L.A. temple and so we took the time to pull in and see the ground. Of course the first thing little children need to do after being in the car for 3 hours is go potty. The temple had some porta potties in the parking lot and so we decided to use them. I don’t normally comment on bathrooms, I mean really, who cares. But these are the nicest portable restrooms I have ever been in. Almost nicer than some regular restrooms I have been in. I was going to take a picture but didn’t have the camera with me. Bummer!
After going potty we walked all the way around the temple. Looking at the beautiful grounds, talking to the kids about eternal life and temple marriage and just enjoying oursleves. It was a good 30 minute stop. I think we all needed that final togetherness before we said our goodbyes.
By the time we got to Deans and had dinner and some very special priesthood blessings, it was time for 3 of my girlies to say goodbye. They were going back home with grandma and grandpa. We said all our goodbyes about 5 times and then they drove away. Sad times for all!
After that we went back in and got the other 3 ready for bed. While the kids watched a movie us adults just talked and laughed. It was so fun to chat with Dean and Ally. They are great people and we really appreciated their hospitality.
We got to bed a bit late but it was worth it for the fun memories we made. We all got moving about 7am and we were gone by 7:40am. We took the last two girls to the airport to meet up with their Auntie Joy so they could fly home with her. Again, lots of goodbyes and a few tears and then we parted. We came home in a VERY quiet car (well the car itself is fairly noisy but the voices in the car were quite quiet).
We had lunch again in Buttonwillow and then made the rest of the trek home. We arrived about 3pm. My goal for the day was to spend it cleaning. I figured Scott and Milo could do the outside stuff and I’d do the inside stuff. From 3:30pm – 6pm that is what we did. After feeding Milo and putting him to bed, Scott and I worked on the inside together till 12:30am. Guess what……we only got the downstairs done! I was SHOCKED!! I was sure I could get all the cleaning done by myself upstairs and down by the end of the night. Nope. Just too much. I did everything. I wanted everything organized and scrubbed and just clean so that while we are gone we don’t have to worry about anything growing or inviting critters inside. I guess I bit off more than I could chew. But eh, the house is looking pretty good!
After going to bed so late we had planned on a little bit of sleeping in (since we weren’t going to church because Milo is suppose to be in a little bubble). But my body will have none of it. I was bright eyed and bushy tailed by 7am. We spent the day watching church videos and puttering here and there on our bedroom. I got all the laundry done too. It was the perfect day and just what we needed before the surgery and the craziness really begins!
We had such a wonderful fast today. Thank you to all who participated. We feel at peace, all of us. Even little Milo is taking this all with stride and humor. He sure is teaching us more than we could ever learn ourselves. What a GREAT boy!
Wow! I bet it feels weird to just have one kid temporarily! Our thoughts are with you!!