Well, it has been quite a while since an update and therefore, this will once again be VERY long. After tonight it will be a while before you hear from me again. We will be going on our camping trip tomorrow morning.
Monday August 6 was suppose to be a day of getting the car ready for our Vegas trip at the end of the week. I was suppose to get the tires balanced, some errands run and home by noon for lunch and naps. Best laid plans!! To make a VERY long story short…..After going to the same tire place three times and getting a second opinion two times, I found out a very interesting thing about tires. When shopping around for tires or for a car and you look to see if the tires still have tread, you also have to find out how old the tires are. Apparently tires have a shelf life. The rubber that tires are made out of, over time, gets hard and therefore will cause a pretty good shimmy in the car. Because of the hardness of the rubber, the tires have no give and ride really rough. And, just because your car was manufactured in a certain year, doesn’t mean your tires were too! Tires are suppose to only be good for 5-7 years and then you get this hardening of the rubber. Anyway, we have a fairly permanent shimmy until we can afford four brand new tires for our big old van!! So, after getting home at 4 I was not in any condition to feed the sister missionaries that were suppose to grace our home with their presence. So we gave them some money and told them to enjoy dinner on us. We ate a simple dinner and sent all the children to bed (none of them had had a nap all day!!!).
Tuesday was a better day. I got my errands done that I was suppose to have done the day before. It was looking like a “normal” day when I got a call from a young woman in the ward. She was having a hard time and asked that I come “rescue” her. I found her and was able to give her some comfort. I contacted her parents and they were glad she was with me. We agreed to have her stay one night with us and then they would come pick her up the next day in the afternoon. Once she got settled here I left with the kids to meet up with a friend for a play date. I came home and made dinner and picked up Scott and got all the kiddo’s to bed and we all retired too.
Wednesday was a busy day. We went swimming in the early afternoon with some friends. We all had a great time doing that. In the late afternoon we met up with another set of friends and swam again. It was a VERY fun day of swimming. The kids were all pretty much wiped out, but that is good!!
Thursday, August 9, we cleaned all morning. At 11:30 some friends came over with lunch and we all ate and talked and had a great time. At 3 they all left and we cleaned the house again, packed and left by 4:30 to pick up Scott from work. After we picked up Scott we headed down the 101 freeway to go to Grandma Ackermans house for the night. We got there in about 3 hours and were glad to get out and stretch our legs. We had a late dinner with grandma and then a birthday party for Alix. She was very excited to play games, get presents and a cake. She felt very special. She beamed from ear to ear. All the while, Scott installed grandma ackerman’s comfort acessories. He was able to do it fast enough that he did not miss the festivities. After a shower and bedtime activities, all kids were asleep by midnight, closely followed by the adults.
Friday morning was early for all of us. I was up by 5 am and had Scott up a few minutes later. We had the car packed and all the kids in place by 5:30 and were on the road. All of a sudden I realized that perhaps I did not have my wallet. Upon investigation, I was right. Seems easy enough, turn around go back and get it. But my mom lives in a gated community now. So I had to call the house enough times to wake someone up. But, they don’t have a way of letting anyone in (they lost the code), so we had to wait outside the gate while my sister searched for the wallet. She was able to find it and get it to us within a reasonable amount of time, but by then all the kids were pretty much awake and decided they needed a second round of going to the bathroom. We officially left Fresno at 6:30 am. Anyway, we got to Vegas by 12:30. We just missed lunch so I made the kids left overs and everyone talked and had a great time. Since it was Kenneth’s baptism, lots of family was in town and even more expected to arrive. The group of us that was there, decided it would be fun to visit M&M world. So we all loaded up and headed to “the strip”. I personally avoid the strip because of my experiences there as a youth. I thought perhaps things would be better. We parked at a hotel and walked through their lobby area to the street. It was just as I had remembered it; smokey, smelly and inappropriate things everywhere you go. You just look at the ground in front of you and breath through your mouth!! Once we got to the street it was a bit better. M&M world was pretty fun. We had a good time taking pictures and seeing all the fun stuff they have their. It’s four stories high and we were loving it. The kids had a good time too. They had a 3D movie you could watch for free. Alix ran screaming out of the theater about 1 minute into it. I followed with Afton. The three of us just looked at more stuff till the movie was over. Poor Alix still talks about how scary she thought it was. After going back through the casino to get to our cars Jaime turns to us and says ‘I don’t like this place, it makes me feel icky inside’. Scott and I both told her that was good and that smoking and drinking and gambling were bad and it should make her feel icky inside. We told her it was the Holy Ghost telling her this was not a good place to be. Back in the cars we headed back to Steve and Joys place. They had planned an amazing dinner of beef brisket (best I’ve tasted), potatoes, rolls and brownies. It was a wonderful meal. Including kids there were 35 people there. Before things calmed down Scott and I thought it best to put our kids to bed. We were not so hopeful that it would work since there was so much going on around them, but we tried anyway. Not a word of complaint came from any of them. They all fell asleep in minutes and didn’t peep till the next morning.
Saturday was the day of Kenneth’s baptism. We all got up early and did breakfast and bathing and dressing. His baptism was at 10 am. It was so wonderful. We had a great time feeling the spirit and watching Kenneth become a member of God’s church. Steve did a great job both baptising and confirming Kenneth. As soon as the service was over, we jetted and put three of our children to nap before anyone else reached the house. Kenneth was having a birthday party after the baptism and so as soon as everyone else arrived they prepared for that. It was at a park with water and so we got bathing suits on, sunblock on and headed over. Scott stayed home with the three sleeping children while I took Jaime and Alix to the festivities. We had a great lunch of pizza and breadsticks and the kids ran and played and got wet. They even complained of being cold (not sure how!!). We were all back home by 2. The little kids were awake then and so we thought we should take them out to do something fun. The other guests of Steve and Joy either went back to their homes or went to the strip again. We weren’t interested in either of those activities so we took the kids to the children’s discovery museum. We all had a great time and even got to watch science in action. Jaime and Alix both got a turn to go up and help the scientist. They thought that was pretty cool. We made it back to Steve and Joy’s by 6. We had a wonderful dinner and the kids played and we just talked and relaxed. We enjoyed dessert with the group that went to the strip and had some fun conversations with them. They all left and we four adults had to decide what to do. So we rented a movie. We rented Happy Feet. No offense to anyone, but I thought it was an AWFUL movie! The company was awesome, the movie not so good. It was fun though to spend some time with Steve and Joy. They are great people.
Sunday morning (August 12) was a bit chaotic. We had three families to get ready for church. It turned out quite well. We all ate and dressed and left for church on time. When we left we said our goodbyes and went to meet up with Jacob and Maranda. As soon as we got to their church we realized we left the diaper bag back at Steve’s. So I volunteered to go back as I was not going to go through three hours of church with no ammunition. When I got back no one was there and so I thought there was a slight chance the back door might be open. You should have seen the spectcle of me trying to climb the fence in my dress. I was able to get on the dog house and Tasha wasn’t too sure what to think of the whole thing. Lucky for me the door was open and I was able to get the bag. Sorry Steve and Joy, I REALLY needed the bag. Anyway, church was great. We got back to Jacob and Maranda’s with 8 very hungry kids. We fed them a quick lunch and put some of them down for naps. The others relaxed with a movie and the adults napped and talked and enjoyed the afternoon. Since this was Alix’s acutally birthday we had planned a birthday party at Jacob and Maranda’s. Maranda had gone out and purchased all of Alix’s birthday food requests. We had hamburgers, hotdogs, chips, cooked peas, raw carrots and beans. It was the perfect dinner. She requested chocolate cake with chocolate frosting. Jacob and Maranda made it from scratch, it was AMAZING. Alix once again felt very special and loved all the attention. After putting a couple of kids to bed, Scott and Jacob left so that Jacob could show Scott what he does for work. Scott said he really enjoyed seeing the fruit of Jacobs labors and driving down Janesville Lane. After they got home Maranda and I went out for a long walk. It was nice to be out in the “cool” of the evening and talking with Maranda. She is fun to talk to and share ideas with. After out jaunt we put the remainder of the kids to bed and played a card game. It made for some great laughs and I won.
Monday was suppose to be an early day but Scott was interested in visiting Steve at his work. So he got up and got dressed and headed out to visit with Steve. The visit ended up going so well that Scott was gone 2.5 hours. Maranda and I talked more. I cleaned up and packed as much as I could. The kids played outside in the hose and with the swing set and in a little pool. They seemed to have a good time. By the time Scott got back Jacob had come home for lunch so we joined in too. The cute young woman who had accompanied me to Las Vegas the month before was there to meet up with a boy. Well, when he heard we were in town he asked if he could hitch a ride back with us. We didn’t care so he met us at Jacob and Maranda’s and became another passenger. We finally got out of Vegas around 1. It was a long, uneventful drive. We made one really long stop for dinner and stretching legs. Other than that we just pushed through. We pulled in about 10. We unloaded everyone and everything and crashed by 11. It was a welcoming relief.
Tuesday, I had planned a visit to Happy Hallow with one of my friends. We left here about noon and stayed till after 4. It was a fun day and the kids really enjoyed themselves. I am really glad I have such good kids that obey and stay with me. We did loose Niah a couple of times but she would just stand there quietly calling ‘mom, mom’. It was kinda cute. Once we got home it was time to make dinner and then pick up Scott from the shuttle. I was suppose to go to a baby shower but decided I was too tired. So I just stayed home and went to bed early!
Wednesday I decided to go to the beach. We have a group of moms here that get together at the beach every week and so I decided to join them. It was so much fun. We left the house at 10 and stayed at the beach till 3:30. It’s about an hour drive but it was worth it. The weather was great, the company was fun and the beach was not crowded. The parking was close and bathrooms and showers too. Couldn’t ask for much more! We saw a group of dolphins, about 6 of them. They were jumping very high out of the water. It was cool. We saw a couple of seals too. Plus there were tons of sea gulls, pelicans and other birds. It was fun to watch all the wildlife. We got home in enough time for me to realize we were suppose to have the Elders over for dinner. I hurried and cleaned everyone up and cleaned up a bit and picked up some pizzas and Scott and we got home in just enough time to set the table and sit down to eat. We enjoyed thier company very much. They didn’t stay long because they had an appointment, that was fine, we were able to get our kiddos in bed on time.
Thursday, August 16, was a sick day. I was feeling sick the night before and was really not doing well by the morning. Niah had an awful night and Scott did most of the care since I was so out of it. I made Niah stayed in bed all day watching movies and drinking fluids. She was pretty good about it. By 1 I needed a nap and so I informed everyone that they were not to wake me up and they could watch a movie. I slept for two hours. I felt better but not for long. By the time Scott got home I was not well. I finally realized that I was not pregnant or nursing and there was no reason why I shouldn’t drug myself. So that is what I did! Good thing too cause I had promised Alix a birthday date and I was meeting a friend at Costco so that I could buy the food for our camping trip. After dropping Scott off at home, Alix and I headed out for our date. She got money for her birthday and was ready to spend it. We started at 7-11. She wanted a slurpy. She wanted to get the biggest one so she could share it with her friend that was going to be at Costco with us. We had a great time running around Costco and getting the things we needed. We then invited our friends to enjoy a birthday ice cream with us. The girls were too interested in playing and didn’t end up eating much ice cream. Alix and Rachel played hide and seek, tag and doggie. It was fun to watch them interact. We said our goodbyes and Alix and I headed to Wal Mart. Once we got there she realized she was hungry and so she wanted a happy meal. After eating that we went to the toy department. She budgeted wisely and was able to purchase three things. I was quite impressed. Jaime usually heads directly to the toy department and picks out the most expensive thing she can with what she has. Alix spread her money out over several things (including food). She also just didn’t want to go home. She was enjoying our time together so much that she kept proloning things. Finally at 10:30 I told her we had to go. She was reluctant, but agreed.
This post is long enough, I’ll post more in a week when we get back from camping. Much love to all.
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