I have been home almost a week now and have not reported on the last days of the trip. Here goes.
Thursday July 5 found us in beautiful Blanding Utah. We had a whole day of nothing scheduled and we loved it. After such a long night we decided the kids would need a nap in the early afternoon. So we played with cousins for a little while. Then we took the kids on a walk to Tri-Hurst construction. We let them explore the shop and the yard. They enjoyed that very much, Scott did too. We then headed over to Joe and Shauna’s to retrieve the shoes we had left there the night before. After a quick walk home we headed back to the Bed and Breakfast for naps. Four of the five kids napped for 3 hours (Scott did too). Upon waking up we took them all over for swimming. They enjoyed that for two hours. Jaime jumped off the diving board (I jumped off the high dive). All the kids went down the water slide and we all had a good time playing and swimming with cousins. After swimming we went over to Aunt Fawn’s house and she taught the kids how to play some music and let each kid put their name to song. It was fun. I bailed early to put Afton down for a nap. That night we all met at Joe and Shawna’s for Navajo Tacos and movie on the lawn. They have a movie projector that they set up and then put a white sheet on their Trampoline. It made for a great movie spot. We watched the new Charolette’s Web. It was cute, everyone seemed to enjoy it. Again, the kids didn’t get to bed till midnight, they were pretty tired.
Friday, July 6 was going to be a busy day. We got everyone up and dressed cute and headed to the cabin. We had breakfast at the cabin and then some playing and then family pictures and then more playing and then we ate Cabin burgers in the afternoon and then more playing! The kids road four wheelers and motor cycles. They used knives and carved wood. They built a fort. Made a family history book. Took rides on several different kinds of swings and just had a great time playing with cousins and aunts and uncles. It was really relaxing for me to have so many helping hands ready and willing to entertain my children. We got home “early” from the cabin and met over at Aunt Shauna’s house for home movie night. My four youngest were too tired though. They went to sleep. Grandpa stayed with them while I went and did laundry. Scott opted not to go see the home movies and helped me with laundry instead. That provided the perfect situation for the two of us and Torry and Kevin to play Catch Phrase. It was very fun to play with them. We need to have a rematch. However, Kevin and Torry seem a little apprehensive to play with us again since we beat them pretty bad……. By midnight Scott was tired and went home. I stayed another hour to finish laundry and watch Jane and Kate make Jaime’s birthday cake. Those two are pretty funny together at 1 am.
Saturday July 7 came too soon. Our last day in Blanding. We attended a temple session in Monticello as a family. It was a great experience. The kids all stayed home and reeked havoc on the aunts and uncles that were unable to attend. We really appreciate their sacrifice. Scott was able to go. He wasn’t sure if his back would allow him to sit through a whole session, but it did. He said he was pretty tired though. After the session we all headed back to Blanding, changed quick and went back to the cabin. This time we had Carne burritos. That was Yummy!! We also had a birthday party for Jaime. Since her birthday was the next day we decided to celebrate it early with all her cousins. We had a pinata, ice cream cake and presents. We had a good 20 people sing Happy Birthday and all the cake was GONE!! I didn’t even get to try a piece. It sure looked good though. Grandma Thompson baked a white cake and a chocolate cake. She cut each one in half. Then she did a layer of white cake, mint chocolate chip ice cream, chocloate cake, ice cream,….. then topped it off with Chocolate frosting. It was TALL and smelled and looked good. The kids did more playing and we all had a lot of fun during our last night in Blanding. After leaving the cabin we bathed all our children and put them to bed. They fell asleep fast. Scott went over and watched home movies while I cleaned and packed up the car. It was an “early” night. We got to bed around 11 pm. Sleep was deffinitly a welcoming thing, but sad too.
Sunday morning started early for us. We woke up at 4:30 and were on the road by 5:30 am. It was early but already light. The kids slept really well till about 7 am when we had to stop briefly. The next three hours proved interesting as all the kids were awake and chatty. We were giving Dean a ride back home and I think we once again reminded him why he doesn’t have children. :0) We got Dean home around 10 am. We got to Grandma Thompson’s (Scott’s grandma) around 10:20 am. We unloaded fast, got dressed fast and made it to 11 o’clock church. It was a nice service. After Sacrament, Scott headed back to his grandma’s with Afton, they both needed a nap. The kids all went to primary and I stayed in the library to “help” his grandma with her calling. It was fun to chat and catch up on old times. After getting home and changing and feeding kids Scott went with his grandma to visit Uncle Rick. They both said they had a nice visit. We had chicken for dinner and then put all the children to bed. Scott and grandma started a movie, I didn’t make it through the opening credits. Jaime snuck out at one point and ended up watching the movie all the way through. We all went to our respective beds by midnight. It was a fun, relaxing day.
Monday was going to be another busy but fun day. It was planned to the last minute…… We got up and ate and dressed and had everyone in the car by 9:20 am. We went to the TRAX station (Utah’s “train” system). We wanted to visit Temple Square and figured that would be the easiest way to get there. The kids LOVED riding “the train”. The temple was beautiful. We went into the visitors center for a cool down and to let grandma rest. Ally met us there. It was so nice to see her. It was a short visit but I was happy she made the effort to come over and see us. After walking around the visitors center, looking at the temple, rippling the reflection pool, swimming in the reflection pool and reeking havoc on poor unfortunate souls, we realized that perhaps the kids were all done and so we headed back to the TRAX station. Upon our return to Sandy we got in the van, picked up Dean and headed to Provo to eat at a resturant that was opened by some friends of ours that used to live here in California. They are Chinese and had decieded that there were no good Chinese food places in Utah. So they sold out here and opened up a resturant there. It was good. They were there and so we had a good time catching up on old times and eating good food. Grandma and Dean seemed to enjoy it too. After eating we went to Dean’s house and swam. Well the kids swam. Scott and grandma took naps in the club house and I sat in a chair and made sure that Dean didn’t get too rough with the kids. :0) After swimming we went to Phil and Jenny’s house. It is a beautiful house. We are so excited for them. Torry met us there and we had bbq’d hot dogs and hamburgers for dinner. We had a great time visiting and enjoying eachother’s company. We left there, got gas and went back to grandma’s. We didn’t get back till 8:30 pm. I think everyone was exhausted. Thanks grandma for enduring our long day together. We got the kids in bed and then Scott and I cleaned and packed the car. We made a 10 pm run to the grocery store for some snacks and then we too retired.
We had planned to leave early but alas, got out late. We left Utah at 9 am (8 am Cali time). We pushed the kids for the first 5 hours, almost 400 miles. We made a two hour stop, which they really appreciated. Then we stopped again 3 hours later for another 2 hours, then we pushed on in. We got home around 10:30 pm. We put all the kiddo’s to bed and we emptied the car. We crashed sometime before midnight, I think.
All in all it was a great trip. It was fun to see everyone, to do new things and to have memories to laugh about for years to come. The kids seemed to enjoy the driving and endured it well. I hope that as they grow up, our road trips will be the binding of our family ties. They were in my family. Road trips are what I remember most about my childhood, I hope our road trips leave the same happy memories for my kids. Much love to all. We miss you already. Till next time, may the Lord bless you for your generosity.
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