Arizona Trip

Road Trip

Tuesday morning was the typical frantically throwing last minute things into the car so we could head out on schedule. We did it and were able to stop and play at the Springville splash park and eat our lunch. It was perfect. After that we were on our way to the Whitehead's. We got pizza that night and ate with Uncle Kevin (Aunt Shari was with Aunt Launa because she had to go in last minute for some surgery.) The kids were so excited to be there and to discover all of Shari's toys. It was difficult to put them to bed knowing that we'd have to leave first thing the next morning. (little did we know that we'd get to stay and play for almost a week on our way back!)
Wednesday and Thursday were full of wedding fluff and I'll write about that in a different entry. Friday, however, was real again! We went out for breakfast with the whole gang (besides Rachel and Eric....) Mom and Dad had to get to the airport as well as Rachel and Eric to fly to VA for the Open House there. Meanwhile, the rest of us spent the day at the waterpark! It was fantastic!

Family Breakfast

Family Swim

Becky and Esther

Natalie and Miles
Marcella's kids were so good to take care of my little ones. They always had a buddy everywhere they went and it was awesome! My kids loved all the cousin time.

Justin, Jenny and Lexie

The coolest Brittany and Lydia

William!

Hannah!

Natalie!

This was the one and only time William got to go on the slide. The lifeguard let him go, and then at the change of shifts, the other lifeguards said no. Doesn't he look so thrilled though? I love it. 

Hannah's Flying! 

Zoey's ROCKING that air guitar! 

Lydia going on the slides with Aunt Marcella and Kaleb!

Came across this cute scene and fell in love! 

Aunt Nic, Garrett and Miles

And there's Gabriel!

Tyler!

Oh Esther is just the cutest thing ever!

Diving Board "Showdown"

Justin: Swan Dive

Becky: Karate Kick

Tyler: Forward Flip

Gabriel: Feet First Dive

William: Macho Man Jump

Kaleb: Abandon Ship Jump! This was Kaleb's first diving board
experience as well as Lydia's! Go kiddos! 

Ryan: Cannon Ball

Matthew: NO NAME FOR THIS TRICK

Lydia: Cannon Ball, She did SO good jumping off all by herself
For the first time ever! 

Chris: Pre Cannon Ball

Faith and Brittany were an excellent audience.

...and me...

These chicks were just too cute not to freeze in time!

Cousin down time. I just thought it was soo cute how they all gathered in there like that all on their own.

Lydia misses Gabe. 

And Miles misses Will.

Good Friends

So fortunate to be acquainted with this awesome little family! Love you Lisa Michelle and your beautiful family. 

We got to spend an evening with Lisa and her husband and kids. They fed us an amazing meal and we played some games. It was fun and it made me, again, wish that we didn't live so far away from each other.

Oh how I love this girl. Such fond memories with her! 

Car Troubles

Just before leaving the Miles's house we notice some water leaking from the engine, saw that it was water and so we didn't think much of it. I don't know if what was wrong with our engine just outside of Kingman, Arizona had anything to do with that leak, but our trip took a dramatic turn! We were stuck on the side of the freeway. The engine had overheated and burnt up all the oil. Matthew made a sign that said OIL and was flaggin down drivers. We finally got some (one family drove all the way to the next exit, bought some at the gas station, and turned around and came back to give it to us! So generous!) and we made it to the next truck stop station. Becky and I set up a mini movie theater right there in the gas station/rest stop and we watched Tangled. After the movie was over or the kids lost interest, we played with toys, we read stories, we played games, all while the boys took our car to get diagnosed. After it was decided what was wrong, we made a call to reserve a hotel room for the night until we could make some further plans. Our car was not making it much further. We took it slow and got to Kingman, AZ where our hotel was.

We enjoyed a good nights' sleep and got up and got ready for church with the thought that maybe we could meet someone or talk to the bishop about people who may work on cars. It just so happened that the ward we attended had a skilled mechanic in it. He was so kind and generous and offered his services. Justin and Jenny ended up making a detour over to where we were to make sure that we worked everything out. The man took our car back to his place and told us it would be a couple of days before he could get it fixed. So we called up Shari and Kevin and they drove all the way to Kingman and picked us up. Between the suburban that they picked up in St. George and Justin and Jenny's car we had enough seats to fit us all and all our belongings. Chris cleaned out the Expedition and wrote "For Sale" on the windows out of pure frustration. He was ready right then and there to be done with that silly car. Shari and Kevin brought some taco salad for all of us and we had a fun little picnic at the pavilion next to the church building. We headed out and finally made it to Shari and Kevin's at about 12:00 midnight! Becky, the kids and I all settled in for the night while Justin, Jenny, Chris and Matthew drove on. They all had to be back at work the next morning. Justin and Jenny drove them to Nephi, where they were picked up by Jared Webb, who drove them to Provo. They borrowed Matthew's sister's car and drove to Salt Lake. Chris then borrowed Becky and Matthew's car to drive the rest of the way up to Logan! WHAT A LONG HAUL! He made it back at about 6:00 a.m. just in time to get ready and leave for work....! AHHHHH! What a man that guy is!


Trip Extension

Shari and Kevin took us to the "Green Show" at SUU. We got there a little late, but the kids loved it! And it was a different activity to experience.

These two were just so kind to let us hang out at their place until our car was fixed. I sure love them. My kids adore them and still talk about staying at their house.

MONKEYS!

I'm really glad that Becky and I were together. If I was all by myself, I think I would have had a melt down and just cried. But because she was there with me, it really made it feel like it was just a little extension in our vacation, despite the stress that came with everything. Let alone we got to see this adorable little niece of mine for several more days than anticipated!! Who would complain about THAT?! One day Shari watched Esther and Faith for us so we could take Miles and Lydia to the movies. We saw Inside Out, which turned out to be quite emotional! Lydia left the theater in tears and hardly stopped for the next thirty minutes or so. hahaha One day Becky and I each got a little run in as well, which was greatly needed! :)

Hiking

They were so ready to hike and release some energy!

 Becky and I got adventurous and decided to take the kids on a little hike one day. It was completely rewarding. I forget every time how hard it is to hike with little kids, but, also, how much I love it! We made it. It was definitely a challenge toward the end, but I think the kids still enjoyed it and we all had a great time. 

 For part of the hike, you actually just walk right in the stream for quite a ways. The kids were excited about that (at least Lydia I guess). Miles is unsure and skeptical about getting anything wet unless he is in his swimming suit, so I was a little nervous about him. He did all right. He complained; but it wasn't terrible.  

The kids were just being so goofy and making all sorts of funny faces and poses, I just had to keep them all. 

 We got home and I got the kids all showered and changed, but struggled getting cleaned up myself....they wouldn't let me go! :) We were just enjoying a little wrestling/tickling match. 

HOME

I didn't really think my kids really were aware of much of what was happening or going on, until we made it home and this is what they did! It gave me some assurance that I'm doing something right to think that they feel this special bond with their own "home". They went through the house expressing their gratitude and excitement to see each thing again (i.e. the couch, the piano, their beds, their bikes, etc.) It had been a full week before we made it back home. We had originally planned on only being gone Wednesday through Sunday (returning Sunday evening), instead we did not make it back until the next Thursday. I was scheduled to start school the following Monday and had several things to take care of before that could happen, because Saturday was July 4th, the schools and everything were closed on Friday so I wasn't able to do any of it. Making it impossible for me to start school. Chris started his new job at GE Healthcare that Monday also, so it was a busy week full of change that was made much more difficult with an unexpected trip delay and car troubles. But we made it through and Chris is really enjoying his new job at GE and we are benefiting from insurance and such. We are very glad to have come across so many angels along our journey who helped us and got us back home.