Utah trip 2012

Caleb was gone elk hunting in Colorado and we had this great idea that I would drive our kids to Utah and meet him there when he was done hunting. Then, my sister decided to come with her kids, but she had a school final that didn't allow her to leave until late Friday night. I didn't want her kids to be stuck in a car and getting to Utah super late on Friday night, so I volunteered to take them too. I borrowed her huge SUV, slammed my two kids, and her four girls in the car, and we hit the road. They all stayed the night at my house the night before, I got the car loaded, and we left around 4:45 am. The trip is usually 13 hours, and we made it in exactly 13 hours. No extra stops, no fighting, a little drama, and the trip was great. Seriously, sometimes more kids is easier. They played so well together. The only melt down was when I had to use the bathroom super bad and I couldn't find Shelby or Calvin's shoes. So I carried them both into the bathroom while Rhoda's kids walked. There was a lady mopping the floor so I had to hold both of my kids and use the bathroom. Not cool. They screamed. I probably did too. But the rest of the way was full of coloring books, iPad games, book on cd for me, movies in the car and good music!

We first got into Logan Utah where Caleb's sister Jenny lives. She lives a farm with everything from horses, ponies, chickens, goats, cats, dogs and every possible animal a kid could love. We immediately dress up for snow and went outside and the kids never wanted to leave. They are already counting down the days before they can go back again. But look how cute this is, why would anybody want to leave? Calvin fell in love with their kitten and he took that poor thing with him everywhere he went. It could not escape his love. The ponies let the little kids pet them, ride them, and feed them. The bigger horses were just amazing and hauled around a whole sleigh full of people.

Then we headed to Salt Lake and went to the temple with my uncle and his bride. Very cool they could be sealed together as a family. Shelby loved the temple and thought it was a princess castle. She ate so much snow she was frozen solid. Calvin wasn't too sure what to think.

Next up, Ogden. My cousin Jessica just bought a huge old house that she is fixing up. We went to her sons baptism and then to a party after. We made a huge meal for everyone the next day and helped her organize her new kitchen. The kids had a big unfinished basement they could play in all day long. We also got to see a ton of my family, including my cousins new baby girl who is only two weeks old.

We went to a new store called Scheels that had an indoor aquarium and ferris wheel. Calvin refused to ride it but Shelby was in heaven.

We headed back to Logan and spent more time with Caleb's family. After riding the horses one last time we packed up and came home. This time it was Caleb and the kids in the Jeep with me. I think the way there was better. The kids were a little more tired, a little more bored, and we were all sick. We got sick on the way to Utah but it never went away. We are very glad to be home but sad to leave so much family behind. I think we have more family in Utah now than we do in Oregon. Hopefully we can visit more often.