On the Road Again...

After an unplanned stop in Boise for the night due to throw up and a closed freeway (lack of visibility from a wildfire) we are finally on the road again.

Poor Glenn, so sick!  Threw up once yesterday and then another 5 times today

Girls are so excited to be near each other in the back.  Addie's first time sitting in the back.  She LOVED it! We needed to move Glenn up closer to us so we could help him when he threw up.  Poor kid!

Home at Last

We made it home today. We got home 45 minutes later than expected because there was so much construction just a half hour from home. It was so frustrating to be so close yet so far away. The kids did fairly well on the drive. I'm so glad they travel fairly well especially with them being so young. We are so blessed there.

"Daddy/Mommy please find a cow/windmill/wind surfers/train/boat..."- DD

It's so nice to be home. I've done 2 loads of laundry already, all bags unpacked, and cleaned parts of the bathrooms. The house is a little behind in cleaning from my back being out before leaving. It's wonderful getting home earlier in the evening to get stuff finished.

All my family is officially in Oregon now. I can't wait to see everyone tomorrow. DD was a little hot before going to bed though it was a fever of only 99 but she felt still warm and said she was sick. We gave her some Tylenol which she fought taking (one of the first times she's fought taking anything). I hope she feels better tomorrow to play with all her cousins. I'm going shopping tomorrow with my sister for some 4th of July outfits for the kids. I just realized we didn't have anything. DH's working tomorrow (got two jobs offered to him while we were in UT...we have been so blessed). It should be a fun day!

Boise at Last

Today we made it to Boise, ID. It was a hard last 20 minutes. I'm not really enjoying this 3 year-old stage. She can be so sweet and then throw the worst temper tantrum over the silliest things. It's going to take more patience than I have I'm afraid...


It's nice to be here with my brother and his family. I'm really excited to sleep in my own bed tomorrow though I'm not looking forward to a longer drive tomorrow. LM is sick of being in the car now. I don't blame him. It seems like we are always driving some where. Thankfully tomorrow is it! DH wants to leave early so we will see how that all goes. I can't wait to see all my siblings who are flying or driving in tomorrow. We leave one family reunion to come home to another. It will be fun. I hope the kids will be able to adjust.

Heading to Utah

DD and LM's first Trip to Utah...

I realized while we were driving along that this is the first time that DD has been to Utah...she went while in my tummy but this was her first time seeing it. We stopped in Twin Falls on the way to see the new temple and play on the church grounds next door.

The kids loved it and thankfully there were port-a-potties there for us to use since they were doing some renovating (insulation stuff). The kids love the 15 minutes for running around and chasing the balls DH brought with us. We all enjoyed our snacks once back in the car (cantaloupe/plums/and crackers along with lots of water).

Road Trip...here we go

(Sunset while Driving)

Well, we finally made it into ID. It took us a lot longer to start our trip than we hoped. We got out and then I found out the cigarette lighters weren't working and we borrowed my parents cooler than worked off of it. We had to figure out the fuses and go and buy them and then discovered it was blowing the fuses. We had to change that out again and then we had to go back home and get ice packs to keep it cool while we were traveling. Overall it was 2.5 hours later than we wanted to leave. Sadly the kids were already in the car for an hour before we got going and then DD was in one of her "lovely" moods. She was screaming for 15 minutes before we even hit the freeway...it was an interesting trip but thankfully we all survived it and enjoyed some of it. We played the game "find a tractor, bird, motorcycle, red car, cow, horse..." DD even started telling DH and I to find things. It was fun. We made two stops one at the city park and McD's for dinner. We wanted the play place but it was LAME. They didn't have really anything to play on so we left after a little bit.

Tomorrow we will have a 6-8 hour trip since there is construction for an hour. That will be fun but hopefully the kids do okay with day two of traveling. I'm so excited to stay some where for a few days before getting in the car again on Sunday.

End of our Cali Trip

March 28, 2009

Having some fun before hitting the road for the long drive.

DD has finally learned how to walk down the stairs like her cousins. She LOVES it.

So we survived the car ride home. We didn't even use the DVD player until we were an hour or so into Oregon! I'm so proud of DD. She did a great job. I did climb in the back in between the car seats once because LM was having a really hard time and was so fussy. He calmed down once he saw me though. We made two longer stops for an hour and let DD run around and play while I fed. Overall it went well. DD woke up 45 minutes from home and couldn't get back to sleep so we turned a video on for her again and she watched that till we got home.

Our first feeding stop. DH went in and got us some drinks and DD LOVED her little soda. I also love the while driving pictures. DD's form of entertainment was picking her nose. Lovely. It started out only happening when she was tired in the car but now is all the time.

DH had to get his Inn-n-Out fix before hitting Oregon so we ate at the last one on the way. They gave DD a cool sticker sheet while we waited for food and brought the kids these hats. DD LOVES her hat. It was great entertainment for a while in the car.

I need another vacation. I came home to a big mess. Our house was left like a bomb blew up since I had been sick. Today I got a little bit of unpacking done. I did three loads of laundry and picked up the house a little since it was left in chaos. I think it will take me a week to get everything cleaned and organized. I'm so happy to be better though. I'm hoping to tackle LM's room and get the wallpaper paste off the wall and paint his room and get it ready for him. I got him sleeping 9 hours straight in CA though the last two nights we were there he was at 8. I figured that's close enough and I could get up once to feed him and that's not so bad. Watching all the kids two days in row in California did tire me out though so I don't think I will be getting much done (at least not quickly). I think it might take a whole week to recover.

We went over to my parents around noon to visit with my brother and his family that came for the weekend from Boise, ID. It was so fun to visit with my brother and SIL. Her littlest is a few months younger than DD and they had fun playing with each other though DD also played with her cousin who's 3. We are blessing LM tomorrow so they came for that and to visit everyone for part of their spring break. We will have a full day tomorrow with the blessing at 11, lunch/dinner at DH's parent's at 3, dessert with everyone at 4, and back to my parent's house till bed time. It will be a busy but fun day.

My brother's daughter just LOVES babies and was so happy to be able to hold LM. It was so cute to see. DD had a blast playing with her little cousin too that's so close in age. It will be fun watching them grow up together.

March 15, 2009

DD wouldn't fall asleep in the car until 11pm! Crazy child. Then she woke up around 2am and was just fussing in her seat. I pulled over at a rest stop. DH thought about letting her nap with us reclined in the front to help her get some sleep. She laid down with me in the drivers seat but found the steering wheel with her feet and then decided to play. At 3am my child sat on my lap (I'm still trying to sleep) and played with the steering wheel and pretending to honk the horn (I didn't even know she knew where the horn was...probably from Barney or "The Wheels on the Bus" song). Finally after awhile we told her if she wasn't going to sleep then we were going to put her back in her seat and drive. I feed LM and changed him (of course he has to have a blow out and I'm trying to deal with that on the front seat of the car with the cold night air blowing on him). DD finally fell asleep with my hand holding hers. I think I actually fell asleep before she did. We switched drivers again and I drove across the boarder and watched the sun come up (though the clouds were so thick there wasn't a beautiful sunrise to see). I had to pull over to feed LM again and we switched drivers again. DD woke up at the stop but went back to sleep. We stopped for breakfast a few hours later at Denny's. It was so nice to get out of the car. DD was so excited and did really well at the restaurant. She loves there new pancake poppers (rolled in sugar and cinnamon). Only about 30 minutes after leaving the restaurant LM woke up needing to eat so we had to stop again but it was nice for DD to get out and play on the grass with DH while I feed LM. We finally made it to San Jose at around 10:30am! The last hour was rough. DD was finished being in the car and so were the rest of us. It was great to get out and stay out. DH and I took turns napping throughout the day.

My sister came over to hangout with us that night and meet LM. She hadn't seen him yet. It was so fun to hang out and talk/visit with her. Her husband is out of town right now too so she didn't feel the need to hurry home. My SIL came down and visited with us too. It was fun to have them get to know each other. The funny thing was LM was having a really hard time (being very fussy) and he was so calm and quiet when my sister had him. I had to leave for a little while to help DD get to sleep and she handed LM back over to me when I came back and he started fussing. She said to hand him back to her and he calmed right down. It was funny but I was happy someone was able to help him calm down.

March 14, 2009

So Saturday was an extremely busy day for me. I had the baby shower for my friend with the 10lb 13oz baby. I got picks of LM and baby K together. I'll have to post those. Then I came home and downloaded all the pictures and videos from both cameras. We had a dinner at church where everyone brought a food from where they served on their missions. It was so yummy. I was feeding LM so DH got me a plate of food and I was just eating some and asked DH what this one rice dish was. He said it was his. It was the best! I asked him why he has never made it for us before. He's definitely going to be making that again! We got home from the dinner and my mom had cleaned our kitchen, was washing the dishes, and helping me pack up while my dad watched DD. It was so nice of my parents to help. We left 2 hours later at 10pm and still had to stop by the store and get gas too. Then we were off for a long night of driving.