Sunday I got to sleep in!! I got up at 6:30am with the kids, and feel asleep on the couch downstairs while they played. Scott came down (not sure when) and I told him I needed to go back to sleep. I finally got up at 10:30am (yay for late church!!). We enjoyed Kevin and Torry’s church and the kids all seemed to enjoy their classes (Afton even went to nursery). After church, Torry, the kids and I went on a little drive to meet up with Camille’s sister in law again to pick up one more thing and then went home. The kids all slept in the car just how I planned. The “men” went back to the house to finish up dinner. By the time we got there, Grandma, Dave and Doreen (Scott’s uncle and Aunt) were already there. We had a wonderful meal and even better conversation. Phillip (Scott’s brother) and Lexy (our niece) showed up too. The kids had fun wrestling with their uncles and each other. We played trivial pursuit (my team got hammered, I’m not surprised) and then everyone said goodbye. We put our kids to bed and had good intentions of playing another game. But we ended up just talking and enjoying each other’s company. We all went to bed with intentions of us leaving in the morning.
Monday February 9 was a snowy day in Utah and up at Donner’s pass. Chains and snow tires were required and so, being the good Californian’s we are, decided to wait out the snow.
I’m glad we did. Not only did we miss the ugly weather, but we had a fun day as a family at Kevin and Torry’s. The kids were VERY excited to get out into that snow and so we obliged and got them all dressed.
[Our real snowman, Frosty]
I finally remembered and did Mandi’s “cold feet cure” and put socks, plastic bag and then socks, on the two little kids. They lasted an hour in the cold without one complaint.
Yay for me! Scott was so good about going outside with the kids even though he didn’t have proper snow gear. The kids had so much fun building a real snowman in real snow.
After our snow fun, we spent the remainder of the day staying warm inside, cleaning and packing. It was a great day for all. We got the kids to bed early, the car packed and ourselves to bed at a pretty decent hour.
[Our third and finally snowman of our trip. We asked Afton what his name was. In her super cute voice and body language she said ‘Hmmmm, four.’ Guess our 3rd snowman was called Four.]
At 3 am Tuesday morning we started the car. We pulled out of the driveway by 3:30am all toasty warm. We didn’t even make it down the street before we had our first snow scare. I realized right away that I needed to be even more careful than my most careful. We made it away from the main cities of Utah and out to the salt flats with no incident. The morning was black, the roads slick and the snow falling. Everyone was asleep and it was me, the van, the road and my praying. We made it through the worst and finally the dawn broke. Somewhere in the middle of that dark morning, I tuned into a SLC radio station. It was talking about all the accidents that had occurred already that morning and I was sooooo glad we bailed early. I can’t imagine being stuck in that mess. We made it to Elko NV and stopped. I was sooo tired. As soon as I pulled into the McDonald’s parking lot I put my head on the steering wheel and was out! I guess it took a lot of energy to drive! I only got a couple minute nap and then we had to get the kids in and fed. Niah decided to get car sick, out of the car (thank goodness!!). Our first stop was 2 hours, but it was needed. By the time we got back on the road the sun was shinning and the snow was melting. About 30 minutes out of Elko, till home, it was dry and beautiful. I had to turn the wheel over to Scott when we left Elko and then again after Donner’s pass. Just too tired to drive. Scott brought us home. That is unusual for us, but I was grateful for it. We unpacked the car and had dinner. All the kids went to bed early except Jaime who went to an activity at church. All in all we were happy to be home and away from the snow (as fun as it was to play in).
Wednesday February 11 we spent cleaning and unpacking. Unpacking was easy since all the clothes were clean! We did have to do some school, but it was a low key easy day. The kids needed the time to adjust back to “real” life. The rest of the week we spent getting “adjusted” back to life. Lots of catch up cleaning, school work and activities. Lots of early bed times and late mornings as we recovered from our fun time in Utah.
[Bet you can’t guess who didn’t want to dress like her siblings and take a picture….]
Saturday February 14 was a fun day. Scott helped a family with some computer problems while the kids and I cleaned. After Scott got home we finished our chores and Scott and I got “pretty”. We had two young women come from the ward to babysit for us while we did a lunch date (wanted to avoid the dinner crowd). The young women are trying to raise money for girls camp so they volunteered to babysit on Valentine’s day. The money they earned would go toward camp. It seemed like a worthy cause on all ends, so we went. We had a gift card to On the Boarder……I don’t recommend that restaurant to anyone. We were less than impressed and are glad we did not actually spend our own money. We made up for it by getting some ice cream to enjoy together later. After we got home, Roberta brought her kids over so they could go out. Jaime was the official babysitter and enjoyed every minute of it. Especially the getting paid part. I enjoyed helping out my neighbor but leaving the “hard work” to Jaime. It was a great day and I am grateful for a husband who loves me enough to want to spend time with me. I’m especially grateful for our marriage and that, even though we have our hard times, it is a happy, wonderful marriage.
[February 15, Keri is 8 months old]
Monday February 16, I made a special trip to my mom’s. Mom and Sara have been sick and so I went to help get things under control a little bit. Mostly to clean and give Sara a bit of a break. I think both things were accomplish successfully and it was a good trip. I took Jaime and Niah and left Scott home with the rest. He managed alright until Milo got the idea to lock our bedroom door and then close it. Scott’s keys, wallet, and life was behind that locked door and me with the only other key 2 hours away. For a guy who spent the day in his p.j.’s he did very well.
Friday, February 20, Jaime participated in a spelling bee. It was one sponsored by K12. Now mind you, I have never participated in or been to a spelling bee before. But I’ve read enough kids books about spelling bee’s and seen it on T.V. This was NOT what I envisioned. For starters there were only 8 participants. That’s ok, small, quaint. The amazing part was that the first 6 kids got their first word wrong. Yep, every single one of them. The last two spelled 4 words each before the winner was declared. The spelling bee took all of 10 minutes (actually 8 but whose counting…..). I came to the very important conclusion that it had nothing to do with the ability of these children. It had to do with experience. I’m pretty sure not one of them had ever gotten up in front of a group (no matter the size) and expected to spell a word correctly knowing it was a competition. But the other thing I LOVED was that each and every one of those kids went away smiling. Not one was bummed out or crying or even cared. They tried, had a good time and went away happy. Even Jaime (who tends to be a little hard on herself). Anyway, the spelling bee was held at the library and so we checked out a few books in preparation for Jaime’s upcoming field trip to Sutter’s fort. After picking up Alix from Kyle’s (she was there during the spelling bee) we met everyone at the park. It was fun for the kids to play and for the mom’s to get some adult time. After dinner and putting the little kids to bed we had a family movie night (I know, how is it a family movie night when half the kids are in bed? They were sooooo tired though!).
Saturday the girls and I left the boys at home and went back to my mom’s. This time it was more for a regular “fun” visit but we did more cleaning and gave Sara a break (I think! She helped with the girls a lot and I think that wore her out more…..). We again had fun and it was nice to see both mom and Sara feeling better.
Sounds like you guys had so much fun in UT. Snow can be fun, but certainly not when you have to drive in it! I am really enjoying our mild winter here, but I am sure there is more snow to come in March and April. Love the picture where they are all matching… I didn’t even notice that one was upset until I read the caption! Thanks for the update!