17 Days, 8 States, 4133.1 Miles, One GREAT VACATION!!

The hotel we stayed at didn't have breakfast so there was no hurry to get up this morning. The children were surprised when we didn't wake them up. We looked up info on the butterfly house in Grand Junction and found that the one day a week it is closed was today, Monday. The children had been looking forward to it since the last butterfly house. They were very understanding though.

We took our last State Line picture. Geremy and Tanner couldn't believe that it was so close to the hotel. We all celebrated to be back in Utah.
Aaron and I talked last night about why I don't let him drive more. I told him I don't have anything to do in the passenger seat. This morning he decided I could play games on the computer while he drives, so he drove to Richfield. I loved playing on the computer. It sure made the time fly.


We stopped in Richfield and looked at ReNee's grave. The children asked who she is. It was nice to stop for a little bit. We then drove on to St. George. We got home about 5:45. It was so nice to be home. The children helped clean out the car, we had dinner, children played the Wii, and now off to bed. We had a great time, but it's great to be home.
Aaron made the map of where we went. The children were surprised to see how far East we went. I am a little too. Each star tells of a hotel stop and each colored line stands for a days trip. Now it's back to regular life for a few days. Yeah!

WILL WE EVER GET THERE?

We gave Aaron his Father's Day gifts this morning. It was kind of hard to travel for two weeks and not let him see his gifts in that time. I think he enjoyed being remebered though. I had forgotten to get a pancake griddle from Tanner for Father's Day. Tanner remembered that and was very upset I didn't get it. OOPS!!!


Tanner Loves his Dad!!
We went to Sacrement meeting in Sterling Colorado. It was a nice meeting. They were having ward conference. The Stake President said that the people chose to live their so they chose to drive that far to go to the temple. "There are people who drive farther than you." he said. I'm glad we live so close.
Their ward had the primary children sing in Sacrement meeting. Our boys got up and sang. They all did a great job. That ward gave Aaron M&M's and a poem. It was a nice visit.
We then drove to the Denver Temple. The plan was to each lunch there. After we got situated, a worker came by and said that the Temple President has asked that we don't have picnics there. We packed up and headed out of town. We finished our lunch in the car. We drove all the way to Grand Junction. We are so ready to be home. The boys keep asking if we are ever going home again.
We went swimming tonight for about an hour. The children didn't make it to bed until 11:30. What a late night. It's called VACATION!

Long Day!

I took some pictures of the Missouri River just outside our room because I loved it so much. I just hope they turned out. We then went to the Winter Quarters visitor center. They took us from Nauvoo to Salt Lake in a video. We all dressed up in pioneer clothing. AJ, Rustin, and Mattina Ann tried to load a wagon with blocks, see who could do it fastes, and get it all to fit. AJ stacked it up really high. Mattina Ann simply won. Nice job.
We then went over to the cemetary and the temple. When we first got there Geremy pointed out that it wasn't the same temple as we had seen all week. They had a display of the Nauvoo Temple in the visitor center. Tanner and Geremy went straight to it. I couldn't believe all the names at the cemetary.
We then drove for what seemed forever. I will try to never drive I-80 on a Saturday afternoon again. It was so busy with tons of trucks. We stopped and had lunch and it was better when we got back on. We stopped in North Platte because we thought Brenda was wanting to see the Buffalo Bill Ranch. When we got to the ranch, it was closed. Off we went again.
At the Colorado border we got a picture and then told the children to never run across the freeway the way we were doing it. They had construction so it wasn't so bad. Only 2 lanes. We had to run across because we didn't get the Nebraska picture on the way into Nebraska. It was over the Missouri River on the freeway. That picture wasn't going to happen.
We finally made it to the hotel and got dinner and food at Walmart for tomorrow's lunch. We also got gas. Now the children are sound asleep. With the time change they were up really late. They didn't go to bed until 10. All of us are exhausted and can't wait to sleep.
We are on our way home with nothing to look forward to other than our next destination and being home. That makes it hard to travel.

Omaha Zoo

I forgot to tell you yesterday about driving to Des Moines. Rita got a little lost. We were driving out in the no where land for about 10 min. She just kept saying "recalculating". It was crazy. Our car has stopped telling right direction as well. Coming home from Carthage it said we were going North when we were going West. Then when we turned North it still said North. All the way here it said North East. I know we came West to get here.
We had a great night sleep last night. Best one the family has had since Grandma and Grandpa's in Minnesota. My back hurt but everything else was nice. We had a nice breakfast with omelets, sausage, and fruit. It was a good morning. As we looked outside, the wind was blowing, the rain was coming down, and it was dark. By the time we left to go to the zoo in was nice.
It was crowded going to the zoo. They are having the College World Series right next to the zoo. The zoo wasn't too crowded. We first went to the Desert Dome and Kindoms of the Night. After spending quite a while there we decided we had better go faster or we'd never see everything. We then went to the orangutans, gorilla's, bear's, tigers, and lions. (Oh my!) We had lunch and then off to the aquarium, giraffe, seas lions, and elephants. If you know anything about the Omaha Zoo, you know that is a lot. On our way back to the car we found a spray of water. The children loved that. I made Tanner take off his sweat shirt and cool down. (I didn't realize he didn't have a shirt on under the sweat shirt until after we got to the zoo. He was really hot.)
Everybody but me and Brenda went through the Aviary and then we left. On the way out Geremy got a stuffed lion in the gift shop. He finally got his souvenir. It was when we got back to the car that I saw the sign for the zoo. I wanted everyone to get out and go get their picture one more time. They didn't like that idea so Aaron said he'd take a picture of me and leave the kids there. I thought that was so thoughtful of him.
We got ice cream sandwiches and went back to the hotel. Everyone was exhausted. We went swimming for about 2 hours, took the children to dinner, and then went out to dinner with Brenda. She was told of an all you can eat buffet of crab; but that was moved to tomorrow night. We went to Applebee's and then back to the hot tub. They had fireworks at the baseball field that we could see from our hotel. That was fun. We could see them reflecting in the river. It was nice to relax tonight. I'm not good at doing nothing. I usually go go go and have to recupe from vacation when I get home.
We are starting to look at the end of our trip. I'm not ready to go home yet (Is anyone?)but I'm so looking forward to my bed and better food.

On we go.

We were so glad to leave that hotel. We didn't sleep well at night. The AC was way too loud. It didn't hurt my back though. That was about the only good thing about that hotel.
I REALLY wanted to go to Nauvoo this morning and see about 3-4 more sights. During the night I got this feeling that we should just head out and not go to Nauvoo. I was disappointed but knew I had to follow the feeling. We drove to Council Bluffs with a short stop for lunch in Des Moines. It was a nice drive. The wind was blowing like crazy, but nice.
We got to our hotel about 4. The children went wild with how nice it is. Aaron, Brenda, and I decided to go to the temple tonight. That's number 31 for us. Aaron and I were the witness couple again. That was nice. There were 12 women and 7 men. Seemed like a lot in comparison to Nauvoo. Brenda had a wonderful experience as well. When we left we were in a down poor. We loved it. Wow!


We got back to the hotel and our children had stayed in the room, got their pajamas on, and just played the wii all night. What good children. It's nice that this hotel actually has the capability for us to hook up the wii.
Brenda, Aaron, and I went on a walk. I forgot to mention that the Missouri River is right out our window. It's cool. We walked by it tonight. Aaron looked at the fireflies and the river. We watched some trains crossing on a bridge. We also watched the logs going down river. We talked for a while and then came in to go to bed. What a nice feeling we all have here. Everyone is happy.

Day of Tears!

We got up and got going as fast as we could this morning. After getting neccessities and lunch food, we went to the toll bridge where we had to wait for it. That was kind of fun for the chilren to see. The toll bridge was only a dollar. A lot faster and cheaper than driving to Keokuk.
In Nauvoo we saw the movie "Joseph Smith-Prophet of the Restoration". That made me cry. We then drove to Carthage. (On the way there I hit a dead animal. Yuck!) We had lunch on the jail grounds and then took the tour. We saw a short movie about Joseph's life and then went into the jailhouse. My stomach was sick. I didn't like thinking that men would come into that place and kill a wonderful man. I found it interesting that somebody lived there. We saw the "dungeon" that was dark with little light or air. That was also where John Taylor waited until the next morning on hay and under the bedding. We also saw the room where the men were murdered. In that room we listened to a recording of what happened there. I cried. All of it just made me cry. I felt like I was on holy ground.
We then went outside and stood where Joseph's body fell. Mattina Ann, Aaron, and I talked about our feelings. Aaron and I shared our testimonies of the experience. Still I was crying. The boys were running and playing. When we got into the car, I thanked Aaron for his testimony. AJ said he wanted to bear his testimony. I stopped the car and listened to him bear witness of Joseph Smith. Even though I thought he wasn't listening, he got something. What a special place and experience for us.
We then drove back to Nauvoo and went souvenir shopping. Mattina Ann sent another card to Amyee and got her a charm for her necklace. Tanner found a sunstone tie clip. He is so excited about it. He was so impressed with the one in front of the visitor center. He noticed that some had different smiles. AJ got a pocket knife with the word Nauvoo on it. Boy are we in trouble now. We couldn't find anything Geremy wanted. He wasn't happy about that. We'll find something before we come home.
We looked for temple pictures that dad might like. I found one I really like. Too bad it's $244+. We tried to find a 5X7 for our wall but didn't settle on one.
We went into a store called "Pair-a-Bowls". We were looking for frozen custard. Oh well. I got mississippi rock candy and dip flavoring. I can't wait to try it. I can't believe I bought something there. Then we went next door and got our frozen custard. It was really good.
I really didn't want to go back to the hotel yet. It was about 5:15. We went to the Lucy Mack Smith home. I found a quote I really like and would like to put in my home. I cried at her home too. She was such a neat lady. She may have been small but she had spunck. We then went to the Brigham Young home. I realized that we've been to the home in SLC and St. George, now to the one in Nauvoo. So many great decisions there.
We then went down the "Trail of Hope!" We read every sign. Aaron read the men and I read the women. Mattina Ann hung out with us and really enjoyed it. We had some really nice talks. Just trying to imagine what went on there is incredible. When we got to the river the children had to touch it. They threw anything they could into it. I read a quote from Sheri Dew there. I think I did pretty good through it, even with the tears. Aaron and I bore our testimonies again to the children. I love the statue of Joseph talking to Brigham about going west.
We then ran back to the car. It was 6:52 and the play in the Cultural Hall started at 7. We walked in a little late. The children still got front row seats. We saw "Rendezvous in Old Nauvoo". It was really good. I really enjoyed it. Again I was crying.
Tanner had been asking to go see the sunstone by the visitor center again. I almost forgot but got him there before we left town. He had to see if the smile on his tie clip was the same as that one. It was. He's so excited by that. He loves that the sunstone is on the temple. I hope this built his testimony somewhat.
We than met Brenda and children for dinner. It was so nice to sit down and actually take time for dinner. We've been going so hard all week, we really hadn't had much time.
We are leaving tomorrow. I'm sad about that. We aren't sure if we are going back to Nauvoo in the morning or not. I don't want to leave. Nauvoo had really touched me. I have a lesson to teach in RS the first Sunday in July. I'm thinking about that a lot today. There were so many lessons today. I may have cried all day long, but they weren't neccessarily sad tears. Just tears filled with the spirit and love for all they did. I'll go get a Kleenx now.

Day 2 in Nauvoo

After a late night last night we got off to an early start this morning. The first place we went to was the Family Living Center. We learned how to make wool thread, bread, candle making, weaving, rope making, pottery, and then the barrell making (Coopers). The children got candles and made a rope together. I really enjoyed the bread. It was good.
Then we went to the Scovil Bakery and got a gingerbread cookie. Afterwards we went to the Pioneer Pastimes. We spent quite a while there. We loved it. There were all kinds of games. We got a lot of it on video. It was there that Brenda and her children caught up to us. We got her kids to participate in the games as well.
We then went to the Stoddard Tin Shop. They used so many patterns to make things. Then it was off to the Browning Home and Gunsmith Shop. Geremy was tired and hungry at this point. Brenda and Ryan had gone to a play at this point. I was told that I had a lot of Grandchildren. Aaron just laughed. I didn't think it was that funny. If I'm the grandma then isn't Aaron the grandpa?
We ate lunch in the car. It was raining pretty good. Then we went on a Wagon Tour of Old Nauvoo. I tried sleeping through that. It was interesting and relaxing. Brenda still had to get lunch so we went our separate ways again. We went to the Brickyard. That was interesting for all. Each family only got 1 brick. Lucky me.
We then went to Riser Boot and Shoe. That was interesting as well. They made shoes on the way but it seems to me like they still didn't have enough. Then we went to the Webb Brothers' Blacksmith Shop. There were a lot of people there. We sat in the back and the missionary giving the tour asked that Tanner and Geremy sit in the front so they could see. We learned how they made wheels for the wagons. Then in the next room we watched the missionary make a horseshoe from a straight metal. He handed out praire rings. When they got to Tanner he dropped them. I just shook my head. He asked if anyone had questions; and there's Geremy with his hand up. He asked 2 great questions. It's amazing how well he was paying attention. Tanner too had to ask a question. When the missionary was done with the horseshoe he asked a question. The person who got the question right got the horseshoe. The question was, "What did Joseph Smith say the saints needed most?" Somebody said faith. Wrong. Mattina Ann said the temple. She now has a horseshoe. How appropriate that it was her.
We then had Mattina Ann take some pictures of Aaron and I at the temple. We dropped the children off with Brenda and Aaron and I went to a session in the Nauvoo Temple. That is 30 temples for us. Aaron and I were the witness couple. It was a really nice session. 5 people including us. When we went into the session it looked like tons of rain coming. When we left, it was so clear and beautiful. We met up with Brenda and watched Sunset by the Mississippi and another performance by the BYU Young Ambassadors. It was really nice.
We didn't make it back to the hotel until after 10. A long day, but very nice and eventful. The children did a lot and all of us learned tons.

This is why we are here!!

Today we went into Nauvoo. We took the long way there. Rita took us to Keokuk. I was frustrated with that because I knew that was longer. I later found out there is a toll bridge the other way and Rita has been instructed not to take us on toll bridges. It worked out in the long run. We went to Walmart and got a tripod(Ours broke yesterday.)and lunch to go. We also took the scenic route on the Mississippi River. Yes!! We finally got to see it. We were so excited.
We got pictures by a water fall. We took pictures at the State Line and the City of Nauvoo. We drove past the temple and went to the visitor center. Mattina Ann and I enjoyed a visit with a sister missionary and heard some interesting things. That sister was from Park City.
We then heard the BYU Young Ambassador's sing in the Women's Garden. They did a nice job. They talked to us afterwards. We found that some were from St. George. One even has a brother that Mattina Ann goes to school with.
After the Young Ambassadors we went on a carriage ride. We even went thru a creek, twice. That was fun. We saw a place where Joseph Smith would ride to and onder on things. Geremy fell asleep. We had a nice ride. We found out that the rier is now wider than it was when they crossed it. When they crossed the river it would have only been 2 feet deep. Now it's deeper and wider because of the dam just down from where they crossed. (It was during our ride that Expedia called twice to tell me that we will get our money back for being charged twice. Bad time but at least I'm getting my money back.)
After our ride we had lunch and watch a show called "High Hopes and Riverboats". They did a nice job. We then wandered some of Nauvoo and their shops. Most of them were closed because it was after 6. Tanner really wanted to touch the temple. Tanner and Geremy rolled down the hills from the temple. They loved it. Aaron and I can't wait to go inside this week.
We finally made it back to our hotel. It's late. Aaron and I both have headaches. I think from not drinking water and it's late and we needed to eat. We both feel better now that we've taken care of some of those things.
Tanner had 2 really rough days. Yesterday he fought a lot in the car. Today he had an attitude. We hope he gets over it soon. We want to have fun being out and he just wants to sit in the hotel doing I don't know what. We keep telling him vacation means being out exploring new things. Hopefully he'll figure it out soon. I keep telling him, "This is Why we are here. To see these places." Maybe he's just homesick. When he is happy he says things like, "We should ignore Rita when she says make a U-turn." Or..."We could split the car in two and go both ways." We love you Tanner.

Our Weekend

Thursday we woke up to a down poor of rain. Tanner still wasn't feeling that great. We went to the store and got him some medicine. Then we went to the butterfly house of Sioux Falls. None of us knew what to expect. We had a blast. We spent about 2 or more hours there. Geremy really wanted one to land on him. We told him they had to choose him. Just as we were getting to leave, one landed on him. He was so happy. I missed the picture but he did get one. I'm the only one that didn't have one land on me. I wasn't chosen. The kids keep asking to go back. We've told them we'll see another one in Grand Junction.
Next we went to Sioux Falls. We had lunch at the falls. It was fun. We then drove to Grandma and Granpa Reep's home. We got in late and had a wonderful Macaroni and Cheese dinner. It was nice to know we didn't have to get up and go the next morning.
Friday Grandpa took us to see where Grandma grew up. We saw where she went to school too. Then Aaron did the laundry and took the kids swimming. Grandpa was amazed at how well the kids and Aaron swim. I stayed back and made dinner with Grandma and had a nice talk. We had ham and cheesy potatoes and pretzel jello. Yum. The kids were all wound up so we went to a park. Don't go to a park at dusk. Anyway, they had a lot of fun. We found a walking trail. That was nice too.
Saturday we had to take Geremy's sleeping bag to a laundromat. That was frustrating. We got off to a 2.5 hour late start. We then went to the houses that Grandpa and Grandma raised their kids in. We also saw the church where they were married and Aaron's dad was "baptized". We then went to the "Mall of America". Good grief. The kids went in the ghost shooting ride and the 6 of us went on the roller coaster. We had 10 points left (because the chaperones on the roller coaster were free) so Aaron and I wanted to go on another ride. Tanner wouldn't let me go so the 4 of us went on the roller coaster again. Mattina Ann and AJ were very patient and good about it. All those rides cost about $50. Oh well. It was the first big roller coasters Tanner and Geremy have been on. They loved it.
Saturday evening we recorded Grandma Reep on video. She did a nice job. Then Grandma wanted the kids to settle down and go to sleep. She didn't know how to settle them. I told her to sing so Grandpa sang some songs while Grandma held Geremy. Geremy then asked if he could sing a song. He sang "I am a Child of God". Grandma was so impressed with this song. She couldn't believe the feeling it brought into the room. She asked us to sing it again so the whole family sang all the verses. The spirit in the room was amazing. Geremy started a wonderful missionary experience. Nice job little man.
Sunday said good bye to Grandma and Grandpa. She said that she probably won't see us again. I told her that she will one day. We then went to Minnehaha Falls and off to Ft. Madison. We followed Rita. She took us a different way than we thought we should go but we made good time and got here. Thank you Rita.
Brenda and her kids are with us now for the rest of the trip. We went on a walk last night after the kids went to bed. Aaron and I saw Fireflys for the first time. Aaron even had one crawl on him. It looked like it was under his skin. It was fun to see.
This hotel is frustrating for us. It could be a nice place. It's just way run down. The air conditioner is super noisy and Aaron can't sleep with the noise or without the cool air. We've talked about moving to another room. We'll see what happens.
I found that we were charged twice for our first hotel. That didn't sit well. I called Expedia late last night to fix it. They put me on hold for about an hour. I'm still waiting for another call to take care of it this morning. I WILL get my money back.
The video's are a little out of order. I hope you enjoy them. I will put more video's on tonight. We are off to have fun now.

The fun continues...

We got up early in Rapid City South Dakota and went back to Jewel Caves. We arrived 5 min. earlier than scheduled. We felt really good about that. We had a great time at the caves. We down in the ground at least 350 feet. The children really enjoyed it. Geremy had a hard time not going to the bathroom while in the cave. He started dancing about 1/2 way thru and the guide gave Aaron a bag about 3/4 way thru to have Geremy go in. Poor Aaron had to carry it out. Geremy wore a diaper the rest of the day.
AJ told me I have to blog about the bathrooms there. When we would flush it made a sound that was loud and sounded like it was going to suck you up. It was a grinding explosion kind of sound. It's hard to describe. All of us were talking about it when we came out. Mattina Ann was laughing because it scared me out of the stall and Aaron was laughing because it scared Tanner out of the stall and Tanner wasn't even "dressed" yet. You can see why AJ wanted me to blog this.
After the cave we went to Mt. Rushmore. We had a wonderful time there as well. Geremy kept wanting to get closer. He was happy with how close we got. Aaron got a picture of some of the rocks that had been blasted away.
Aaron's mom told us to stop at "Wall Drug". We saw signs for this in Wyoming but hadn't seen them since. We figured we missed it in our hurry to get to the Caves yesterday. When we left the Black Hills National Forest we started to see more signs for Wall Drug. We stopped and spent 1 1/2 hours there. It wasn't our thing when we first got there, then we found a place to take pictures etc. There was a really big dinosour that "fed" every 12 min. When it started to eat Geremy took off. He was so scared. Tanner took off too but was still interested in seeing it. Geremy wanted nothing to do with it. Even when the dinosaur was done Geremy clung to Aaron.
We went into a store and I was helping Mattina Ann look at a horse shirt she wanted when AJ and Aaron threw BIG Snakes at me. I freaked out. They got a good laugh out of it. We crossed the Missouri River. We couldn't believe how big it was. We can't wait to see the Mississippi.
We tried to return our redbox movies and couldn't find anywhere. That was frustrating. When we finally found a place, Aaron and I were frustrated with each other. We must have been tired and hungry. We went to the Corn Palace, but were too late. It closed about 20 min before we got there. I took some pictures of the outside. It was cool to see how they made pictures and the building with corn.
We finally made it to our hotel at 11 pm. We got dinner and went to bed.
What a long night. It took me a long time to get the video to work so I went to bed at 1:30 and still didn't have anything posted. Then Tanner woke up all night long. He has a fever. Of course I don't have any medicine that he'll take. We gave him a bath this morning and he seems to be feeling a bit better.
We woke up to a LOT of rain. Our plans to go to Sioux Falls might be quick. We'll have a great day though. Hopefully the pictures will continue to go on and this will get easier and easier to put together.

Where are we?

We got up early but we left about 1/2 hour late. "Oh Well. We'll make it up." Then we went to Martin's Cove. We the cabin, visitor center, museum, pushed handcarts around, and the blacksmith shop where each of the kids got a "prairie diamond ring". After that we found out about the 20 min. hike to the actual cove. We didn't have time any more so we left. We were sad we didn't see more but what do you do? Aaron and I hope to go on a Trek with the youth or our kids or somebody one day.
We were out of time so we didn't stop at Devil's Gate. Boo Hoo!! We did stop at Independence Rock. We had about 15 min. to spend there. We spent 45 min. Oh well. Everyone had fun there. I spent a lot of the time pondering not only the pioneers but the Oregon trail people, pony express, and all the many people that went on those trails.
We then went to Casper and bought a new camera. We had been taking pictures today with our camcorder, but we don't know how to take them off of there. I just couldn't see going this whole trip without a camera. It was less than $100, thank goodness.
Now we were suppose to leave Casper at 1:30 and no later. We decided at about 1:25 to make lunch. We did that and instead of eating in the car we ate on the grass. OOOPS!!! We didn't leave Casper until 1:50. Now we were playing the catch up game big time. We had reservations for Jewel Caves at 5:20 and needed to pick up those tickets at 5. On our way we followed Rita (our GPS) and sometimes we wondered if she wasn't lost. Once we were stopped for road construction. We would turn Rita off so not to run her battery. When we'd turn her on we had passed the turn already. Sometimes Rita wanted us to turn around when there wasn't even a road. We were in the middle of NOWHERE. I tried to call Jewel Cave but there is no reception anywhere. AAAAHHHHH!!! Rita kept telling us that we weren't going to be to the cave until 5:30. That was irritating too.
After speeding about 10 miles (which I seldom if ever do) we made it to the Jewel Cave at 5:25. I ran to the ticket lady and asked if we could move our already paid for tickets to tomorrow. She said yes and I started to cry with relief. It's sad that we didn't see more of what we wanted to see (Devil's Gate, Martin's actual cove, etc.)and tomorrow is busier, but we do get to go to the cave. It all works out in the end. Busy Busy. Isn't that what vacation is all about?
We didn't get a picture at the state line because we were so late. We plan to get one when we leave the state. That's not really cheating? Geremy keeps asking if we are in St. George yet. All the other children keep saying "NO!!" Geremy is the one that has to go to the bathroom every 30 min and we don't dare make him wait. When we pulled into the town he was complaining he needed a drink. He had drank everyone's drink and we had nothing left. He'll have to figure out how to do this traveling thing.
We found an old restaurant with the Flintstones as the theme. The kids have never heard of the Flintstones. How sad.
Tonight we went exploring while waiting for our pizza. I found a place on Rita and went. It was some kind of memorial for the Berlin Wall. It was cool. We are happy to have Rita.
After we got back to the hotel we went swimming. We all had a blast. The pool was small, but oh well. It was warm and fun. Now hopefully for a good night sleep. We could use it. I'm glad all of us were happy today. Even with being late it wasn't too bad. I'm going to bed now. You'll get pictures tomorrow after we've figured out how to get them on here. It's too late to mess with it now.

Vacation Time

After a very long week, we finally made it on vacation. Aaron worked at the school last Wednesday thru Friday, plus Arby's Wednesday and Friday and Saturday. I had a piano recital for all my piano students on Saturday. The recital was suppose to be at 3:30 and I moved it to 4:30 so Isaac could be there. He still didn't show up until 5. It was frustrating because we wanted to get out of town. The recital went really well. I am proud of each of my students.
We finally got out of town at 6. We went to Salt Lake and made really good time. We got there about 10. We spent Sunday in Salt Lake. Aaron kept trying to meet up with his brother and mom but it didn't work out. Aaron's allergies were way out of control. He slept a good part of the day. We played some games (dancing something or other on a mat) and had a home evening. It was nice.
Today we had a nice visit with Aaron's mom and finally left Salt Lake at 1:00 for Rawlins Wyoming.

This picture is the last one that camera will take. The wind was blowing like crazy and the wind blew the tripod over right after the picture snapped. The camera landed face down in sand. Now there is sand in the camera and it won't adjust or anything. Boy was Aaron mad. We also don't know where some hook up thing for the GPS is. I'm guessing at home. Aaron thought it was in the car. Nothing seemed to be going right. The good news is, we finally made it to the hotel. The children are wired. The tv at this hotel won't accept the WII and the pool is being repaired. We walked to Taco Bell for dinner. We figured if we walked we'd get the kids worn out somewhat.
On the way here we found a storm. We think it is the same one from the night before in Salt Lake. We never hit rain but it was fun to see the lightning and watch the sky divide black and blue. The children also really enjoyed counting the train cars every time we saw a train. There were quite a few.
The children aren't exactly sure where we are and where we are going. I'll have to pull the map up on the internet and let them see our route. Geremy keeps asking how far from St. George we are. I think if all of us can be happy this will be a fun trip.

Where did May go?

I'm so glad May is over. It gets so busy at the end of the school year. Mattina Ann had an awards assembly and received 8 awards. She is doing so well at school. She worked really hard to get an A in math. At midterms she had a B+. She ended up with all A's again. 6th grade ended with a 4.0. Smart girl. AJ had an awards assembly as well. He got 100% attendance and the Honest Abe award. His honest abe got him $25.73. I can't believe he found that much money and turned it in. Good job AJ.
Tanner finished preschool. He did 2 years at Watch Me Grow Preschool. He made some great friends there and learned a lot. I'm very proud of him. He now gets to go to Kindergarten. I think he's very excited and not sure of what to expect all at the same time.
Our family went to Pine Valley for Memorial Day. Brenda and her kids came with us. It was a nice day in the mountain. Aaron barbequed some corn and chicken. It was so good. I'll have to get him a grill some day. Aaron told the children we couldn't bring anything back with us. Mattina Ann said, "But there are microb's everywhere. We'll take some of those back for sure."
I'm excited to have the kids home. It'll be a nice summer. It'll go way too fast. I'm planning to blog every day of our trip, with pictures, to have a good record of the trip. It'll be nice to be together for a few weeks.
Welcome June.