There and Back Again: A Fall Break Tale (Part 2)

In Idaho Falls we stayed with the Jones family.  I love them! It was so fun to live close to them while we were in Pocatello and I've missed them terribly. Aunt Mary is like my Idaho mom, and my cousins and Uncle Jeff are darling. We spent time catching up and hearing about all their fun school activities. Mary and I went to Kristin’s volleyball game and watched some of her impressive spikes and serves.

 After dinner, I took Joseph to his hunting rendezvous point. John, Joshua and Joseph were going to head to the campsite to meet everyone else and then start hunting early in the morning with the rest of the boys: Alan, Luke, Luke’s dad, Cody, James and McKay.  They met at a little restaurant in Idaho Falls, exchanged hugs that looked remarkably like wrestling moves and then they were off! To the wild! I admit I was very excited for them. It seemed kind of picturesque in a manly sort of way.

The next morning Mary and I went walking in the mall and out to lunch. What a treat! Then Hyrum and I went to Rexburg where Joseph’s mom and sister, Chrystal, were holding down the fort. We went to the farmer’s market, to Downeast and then we came home to watch a chick flick, well…half a chick flick. You know how tired mamas get.

The next day the boys came home, and topped off their incredible weekend with some intense backyard football. It was really heartwarming to watch them play together. So fun. Such good brothers, nephews, and friends.

After delicious dinner made by the talented Chrystal, our family took off for Casper, Wyoming where Joseph’s sister, Linda Lee lives. According to Joseph, we drove through the most beautiful part of Wyoming in the dark. I've noticed that when it's really beautiful countryside the roads are really curvy so I believe him.

We spent just a little bit of time with Linda Lee and her sweet kids at breakfast and then at church. Hyrum and Anna swarmed Linda Lee for snacks during church. Both stuffing those little puffs in their mouth as fast as they could, cousin bonding. 

Then we hit the road. At this point I should probably mention that Hyrum had been a really good traveler the whole trip and I was very appreciative. He was pretty content most of the time. He took good naps, kept the complaining to a minimum, and was so contagiously smiley and excited to get out of the car at each stop.

On our way through Nebraska we didn't have any family to visit, but we made one of our pit stops in Alliance to see Carhenge. I read about this magical place on one of those “15 things that make Nebraska the most awesome” kind of posts. It’s like Stonehenge except it's been built with cars. There aren't myths and theories surrounding it, and it's not necessarily historically significant or celebrated world-wide, but let's be honest. It does make Nebraska the most awesome. 

When we got out of the car at Carhenge, it was surprisingly cold and the sky was threatening to rain. So we wrapped Hyrum up and quickly ran around the place looking, ooohing, aahing and taking pictures.

 Us running around was totally cracking Hyrum up.

 Not long after, it did start to rain. We jumped back in the car with a newfound appreciation for the prehistoric car formations in Nebraska:) 

We arrived safely home at about 10 o'clock. Hyrum and I went to bed.

 Joseph stayed up a little later putting some things away. In the morning I was looking for the milk, but I got this instead. It startled me enough that I closed the fridge door, forgetting what I had opened it for in the first place. 

When men go grocery shopping

Thanks to Cody, who shot it, there was a deer in our fridge. 

There and Back Again: A Fall Break Tale (Part 1)

Road trips with babies can be a little crazy. I know that, so does Joseph, but with a brother-bonding hunting trip on the line I only had a few options. Stay in Omaha with Hyrum, which is mostly boring and also husbandless, or venture onto the unknown 15 hr trip where the odds of a screaming baby are pretty high. After much deliberation, we decided the risk was worth the reward and we all loaded in the car for an adventure.

This is pretty much the path we traveled

On our cross country voyage, Robert Jordan was the narrator. We started listening to the first book of The Wheel of Time series. Ironically, much of the novel centers around travel as the main characters run, gallop, and walk hither and thither trying desperately to get to their destination safely. I had a tendency to drive faster when we…I mean the characters…were being chased by trollocs or dark things (which happened frequently), and it's also hard to drive slowly when Hyrum is acting fussy... so we pretty much sped all the way to Idaho:)

We made several stops along the way to visit people we love and to keep Hyrum (and ourselves) from going crazy.

On Tuesday, we left after school in our usual haphazard way, throwing this and that into the nooks and crannies of our car, vowing to be more organized on our next trip, you know the drill. We drove to Denver, CO and stayed with my Aunt Cathy, Uncle Nathan, Cousin Michelle, and much to Hyrum's delight, their dog, Jenna. He was enamored with her. As kindred four-legged movers I think Hyrum felt a special bond with Jenna. He enjoyed crawling after her while she tried to run away. The two-legged movers also had a good visit with each other and then in the morning we left for Manti, UT.

Joseph and I were married in Manti, which makes it one of the most romantic places in the world. It was so fun to bring Hyrum there. Our little family together in the place where it all began.

My grandparents live quite happily in a little house in Manti. I was excited to introduce them to Hyrum. Both were impressed with his solid chunky build. Grandma said, “Oh those chubby cheeks and bright blue eyes!”

 My grandpa has been struggling with some health problems, but he eagerly entertained us, and walked everywhere. When it was clear that his breathing was becoming more labored, I urged him to take it easy, a suggestion he ignored because “life is worth living to its fullest.” I admire the life my grandparents have lived. They are such good examples, and put the most important things first.

It is well known that my grandma and grandpa are madly in love. My grandpa is a hopeless romantic and adores my grandma more than anything. Love notes litter their scrapbooks and in his art studio he has painted, sketch, and sculpted her likeness over and over again. My grandmother is the most important thing in the world. 

My grandpa was a dentist, but he loved art. In his retirement, he took art classes at the college near their home. Recently he stopped going to classes and instead works in his studio at home so my grandma wouldn't be lonely while he was gone.

During our visit, my grandma was anxious about some of Grandpa's lab results, and she was encouraging him to go to the hospital. My grandpa wasn't too keen on the idea. Speaking about a doctor my grandpa said, “I don’t like him. He always puts me in the hospital!” They did go to the hospital later, and Grandpa is now on kidney dialysis 3 days a week, but feeling better. It is a comfort to know that despite their failing health my grandparents still have each other.

We left Manti and headed to Provo to have dinner with my brothers, Jacob and Andrew, and my sweet sister-in-law, Alexa. She is expecting a baby girl soon and I am so excited to meet the little lady. We did not have nearly enough time with these sweet siblings of mine, but we talked and laughed and ate and then I blinked and it was time to go, even though so many things were still unsaid. Being with them is so easy and fun. It's like we've known each other our whole lives;) I've truly been blessed with amazing family members.

We spent the night at the Bradshaws family house; we adore them. Then we headed to Pocatello and had lunch with my friend Jennie and her darling baby, Clara.

Making friends

On the way to Idaho Falls we stopped at a rest area. It was such a beautiful day. There were dandelions on the ground and Hyrum and I both made a wish and blew. Okay, I blew, and Hyrum squished and then ate them. It doesn't get any better than that.

To be continued...

Hyrum's First Camping Trip

In our attempts to introduce Hyrum to the finer things in life we've pushed him out of his comfort zone on more than one occasion. We took him on his first family bike ride a few weeks ago. He sat in a bike trailer attached to Joseph's bicycle and screamed! The. Entire. Time. "Forced family fun" is a real thing.

Needless to say, I was a little apprehensive about Hyrum's first camping trip, but he surprised me by being an excellent camping companion. He was happy to be outside and enjoyed playing in the grass and the dirt. He was excited about the tent, and he actually slept pretty well. I was quite pleased.

Camping is so fun. I love sitting around the campfire. I love talking to friends and telling stories. I love singing camp songs. I love how food always tastes more delicious when camping. I love snuggling up by the fire in a sweatshirt. I love how brightly the stars shine when electric lights aren't there to dim them. I love being in nature with the people I love. 

Don't get me wrong, camping has it's downsides. In the Midwest, mosquitoes are a big one. We had a mosquito in our tent with us, and he managed to take a bite out of everyone including poor little Hyrum. Collateral damage.

We camped near Memphis Lake, which is about halfway between Lincoln and Omaha. It's not the mountains, but it was beautiful in a mid-westy kind of way. 

It is also about 10 minutes from the outlet malls. We definitely stopped by the Nike outlet on our way home in all our camping glory.