Hello!
We have had two little trips back-to-back and between packing, unpacking, doing laundry, packing again, and our busy life in general, time has once again slipped through my fingers! Two weeks to catch up on...I will start with the trips!
On Friday, October 7th, the girls had early-out, Richard had the day off of work, we checked Marshall out of school at 2:00 pm, and hit the road for Vegas. The kids traveled great. We stopped in Cedar City for dinner at a very sub-par Denny's, and then got back on the road and made it to Las Vegas about 9:00 pm. Other than some traffic going through the Virgin River Gorge our drive was uneventful and things went great. We were at a Residence Inn close to Allegiant Stadium, which was a great location. We unloaded the van, took a bit of time to relax, and then everyone went to sleep great-this is the biggest perk of traveling with older kids! No more dealing with crying babies and begging hyper toddlers to settle down and be quiet! Ha! None of the girls wanted to share a bed with Marshall, so he lucked out and got a queen bed all to himself in his own bedroom. The girls all slept in the living room with Bridget and Rachel sharing the pull-out couch and sweet Gretchen opted for cushions on the floor. Both Richard and I were shocked, completely shocked, at how well she slept there both nights! Bless her little soul.
We all slept in the next morning, which is exactly what I needed. After some morning snuggles with the girls, we went down to breakfast along with a throng of many other BYU fans. :) It was fun to see BYU very well represented in all sorts of apparel. It was a good breakfast and all the kids were able to find multiple things that they liked. We were in the pool at 10:00 am! It wasn't quite as warm as we thought it would be given how hot Vegas was, but we eventually got used to it and had a lot of fun. For the next two hours, we were back and forth between the pool, hot tub, and pool deck. There were a handful of other adults in the pool area, but ours were the only kids and that was great! We had a lot of fun. After showers and baths for everyone, we drove a few minutes to Shake Shack for a late lunch. By miracle of miracles, everyone ate at Shake Shack and was HAPPY! We had a delightful lunch eating and talking, and then got shakes to go. I had their pumpkin pie shake and Marshall tried their apple cider shake-we would recommend both! When we got back to the hotel, we napped and watched shows before Richard left with the three oldest kids at 3:15 for the game. The only angst of the trip was Marshall was dying to get over to the stadium, and started getting a bit testy about it at 2:30-two full hours before kick-off! But, Rachel was asleep, and with her being the wild card of this game for Richard, we made Marshall stick to the 3:15 plan! We still had to wake Rachel up, and then she was crying because she didn't want to leave me. I sent Richard out the door with an anxious Marshall and a crying Rachel! It definitely tugged at my heart! Thankfully though, Richard said it took just mere minutes for everyone to settle down and find happiness again. Great report. While they were at the game, I had the BEST time with cute Gretchen. She watched a Barbie movie while I read a book, we did homework, played games, went on a walk around the hotel, ordered Dominos for dinner, and had delightful dinner conversation. She is a little gem of a human, and I loved those hours I had with her without the interruption of regular life. As for the BYU game, lame that they lost, but Richard and the kids still had a fun time. They were very impressed with the stadium itself, but very disappointed with the concourse around it! They reported that it was so narrow, and really only allowed single-file walking in each direction, plus you had to make your way around big support beams and Richard said it was crazy trying to navigate it with three kids. Rachel reported that she was smashed up against too many people's backsides! Once they got back to the hotel, it was great hearing all of them talk about the game and the stadium, and they helped me and Gretchen finish eating the pizza! It was fun to all be back together again for the rest of the evening. We just had fun talking, playing games, and watching more football before going to bed.
Sunday morning we slept in, probably longer than we should have, had breakfast at the hotel, and were on the road by 10:00 am. We hit traffic in the canyon again, stopped for lunch in St. George and finally made it home a little after 6:00 pm. We all went to pick up Ziggy at our friends' house and he was over the moon to see us. No other greeting/reunion beats that of being reunited with your dog...call me crazy! But their joy over seeing you is just the sweetest,most heart-warming and happy thing. Love Ziggy.
This last Wednesday began Fall Break for the kids. They get a measly four days, and I very much wish it could be a week long. That would be wonderful! But, we made the most of it and the kids, Ziggy, and I went to Vernal. Unfortunately, Richard had to work through the week and weekend, so he could not come. We were on the road by 4:30 pm on Wednesday and had a safe drive to Vernal. I packed a dinner for us to eat in the car, so we wouldn't have to stop with Ziggy in the car. The drive through Daniel's Canyon and up by Strawberry was breathtaking. So many beautiful fall colors! If Richard was with us and driving I would have been snapping a picture of the scenery every three seconds. We all traveled great and made it to the Leake's about 7:45, very happy to be there. That evening we talked and the kids played and Ziggy roamed before we all went to bed. The three girls slept in the bedroom upstairs and per their request, Ziggy slept in the same bedroom in his crate. This went pretty well, except he would wake them up with his whining in the morning earlier than they wanted. :) Marshall and I shared an air mattress in the basement.
Our Thursday in Vernal was dreamy. We spent so much time outside in the beautiful fall weather. We played outside that morning, Bridget rode Fred, and then after lunch Katelin came over and we picked apples, hundreds of apples. All the kids were fantastic helpers. We filled a wheelbarrow, a sled, and a horse trough full of apples! Obviously the horse trough was too heavy for us to move, and we wanted to make the apple cider in the backyard, so Bob started up his tractor and moved the trough full of apples to the backyard! Once we got everything set up, we got a great system going. Gretchen, being the best little helper, cleaned each apple. She would take apples, dunk them in a pot of water, and then put the apples in a bowl on the table. Gretchen did this job with the most cheerful little spirit. Rachel helped her some with the apples in the sled, but Gretchen emptied the entire wheelbarrow full of apples all by herself! I am guessing there were 300 apples in there! Becky, Katelin, and I cut the apples into halves or fourths and then Bob, Marshall, Bridget, and Rachel all worked the press. It was the most delightful process and so fun. Everyone was happy, everyone was helping, the weather was beautiful, the light coming through the tall trees in the backyard was magic and it was a slice of heaven. At about 5:00, we stopped and went to Freddy's for dinner and then came back and worked for another bit before it got too dark and cold. When we finally went inside, we warmed up some of the cider on the stove and enjoyed the fruits of our labors, literally. It was delicious! The Leakes don't add anything to their cider, it is just chopped and pressed apples, all varieties from their trees, and it is just the sweetest most tasty apple juice, served warm or cold! After all of that, Katelin went home, the kids got in pajamas and watched a movie, "The Haunted Mansion" and I enjoyed visiting with Bob and Becky. It was the perfect day.
On Friday morning Rachel slept until almost 9:00 am! Haha! Ziggy's whining and him jumping on her didn't even wake her up! Once everyone was up and moving and after breakfast, we went outside to finish the apples! It took about one hour and by the time we were all done, we had 24 gallons of apple cider! We were all so happy with our accomplishment! After cleaning up, we played outside for a while and then packed a lunch and drove to Bluebell to go to the corn maze. Joe and his family also joined us, and we also took Ziggy! Bridget was thrilled that we could take him, and he actually did better than I thought! After the maze, the kids enjoyed all the other activities there-a big slide, shooting the pumpkin cannon, feeding goats (of course!) jumping on the giant pumpkin pillow, and other things I know I am forgetting! We stayed for a handful of hours and had a great time. We got back to the Leake's about 5:00, stayed for a bit, and then went over to Joe's. We played outside in their yard until it was too cold and dark and had the best time. Joe lives on an acre of land, and it is a fun acre. Trampoline, swing set, jungle jim, and a zip line! The zip line is the newest addition, so of course we all had to try it. I even got up there and then screamed the whole time! The kids loved it though and it was so much fun. Ziggy was having the time of his life with their three dogs. They ran wild around the yard and played and swatted at each other. Joe also brought out their bearded dragon. All my kids were brave enough to pet or touch it. I barely touched it once and almost gagged. A reminder, once again, that 99% of animals are not my thing-especially anything with scales! Gah! It is making me shudder just writing this! Once it was cold, we sat around the fire which felt lovely. We eventually made our way inside for pizza and enjoyed an evening of pizza and games. Joe always has hilarious games to play, and there was lots of laughter, even from Marshall, which I always love. :) We got home late and went right to bed-big day!
Saturday morning we had to be up early. Bridget got a brief ride on Fred and by 9:30 Bob, Becky, Marshall and Bridget were on their way to Provo for the BYU game. I was on the road with the younger girls and Ziggy about 10:30 and we were home about 1:30. It was another gorgeous drive home, those aspens above Strawberry are glowing and it is gorgeous! Bob and Becky were so kind to drive the kids all the way home after the BYU game, which was a loss! Despite BYU's poor performance, Marshall and Bridget said they still had a fun time. I was happy that all of us were finally home together about 7:00 pm that night.
Those are our travels! I am glad we can put the suitcases away for a bit! Here are some other highlights from the last two weeks:
I turned 39 on October 5th! Yikes! Last year to live it up in my 30s. :) The Monday before my birthday I organized a hike with friends in my neighborhood and we spent a lovely morning together. Can you tell I love fall colors...and they seem extra bright this year! My actual birthday was great. We opened presents before the kids left for school and then once all the kids got off, Richard and I went to breakfast at Roots. So, so delicious. A friend was kind enough to keep Gretchen for me for a while after kindergarten, so we did not have to rush back. We stopped at Nothing Bundt Cakes on the way home, and then after picking up Gretchen, we came home, and I promptly fell asleep for a long nap and didn't even set an alarm! It was glorious. Our girls had early out that day, so once they were all home, I took them and Ziggy to a new park we have discovered and love. Richard did have a work meeting/dinner that night, so I was on my own to run the show with dinner and carpools, and helping with a teacher dinner, but it was just fine. My friend did all the dance driving, and we had an easy dinner, and even though I was in and out of the car, it was a laid back evening with people eating cake slices at all different times. :) When Richard got home I made him dance to two songs with me out on the deck-a lovely way to end a lovely day. Here's to another year of life!
The girls had parent teacher conferences the day after my birthday. Their teachers all had glowing reports and the school year is off to a great start for all of them. According to testing, Rachel is reading on grade level-she has never started the school year that way, so we are all so happy for her! Marshall also had a band concert that night. Rachel couldn't go because she had piano, but the rest of us were there to cheer him on. It was fun to hear the progress the band has made since they are all playing their instrument for the second year. Richard snuck out after Marshall's band to pick up Rachel and then we all met up at Culver's for custard-a great way to celebrate!
We have been busy the last two weeks finishing Bridget's new bedroom. Richard and I finished the painting two weeks ago. I love the color choice, but a bold color with white trim is not my favorite thing to deal with! Ah! Last Tuesday her new closet was built and it looks great. It is the smallest bedroom in our house and the smallest closet, but the space has been maximized! While we were in Vernal, Richard set up her bed frame and she spent almost all of her time after church on Sunday moving things down. She had her upstairs closet completely cleaned out before dinner! After dinner last night Richard and I moved her mattress and nightstand down and she slept down there last night! She is in heaven organizing everything and making the space her own-and I am loving that she can do so much of it on her own! Soon we will have four kids in their own four bedrooms with only the two youngest upstairs by us. It makes us feel old and that these kids are growing up SO fast. Honestly, Richard seemed more affected by this than me last night-it was a tender moment for him last night down in her room. Time flies!
Okay, to end the email I just have to write two adorable things about Gretchen, both from Vegas. She started calling her suitcase her luggage, which I don't think she has ever done before. When we were unloading the van at the hotel she said, "Can you help me with my luggage please? I can't carry my blankets and my luggage at the same time." Then the next night, when she and I were getting ready to eat dinner, I opened the cupboard to get down two plates and she was completely taken by surprise. She exclaimed, "I didn't know this hotel had dishware!" Haha! Dishware! Where did she hear that?! I love her.
That is it! Thanks, as always, for reading. :)
Love,
Richard, Jenny, Marshall, Bridget, Rachel and Gretchen :)
