We headed out to Utah on Thursday, the 17th, before Thanksgiving. Here's a quick wrap up of what we did each day and some memorable moments.
- Thursday: Cami woke me up at 4:30. I took her back to bed but when she was still awake at 4:50, we got up. The kids and I were out the door by 5:58 to drive to Provo. The drive went well. We stopped twice. We listed to Magic Tree house and Cam Jansen books and watched a little magic school bus. I gave the kids each a bag of snacks that they could choose and eat whenever they wanted. Cami screamed her head off in the parking lot of Walmart because she didn't want to wear shoes. Overall, it went well. We made it to Morris' house about 5:30 their time. 10.5 hour trip.
- Thursday night: Cade was not feeling well. He had a croupy cough and a fever. We had a rough night but by morning he was doing much better.
- Friday: Relaxed in the morning. Cami had fun playing dolls and Cade loves Grandma's playmobil stuff. After lunch I left and went to see my parents and Lindsey and her kids. I had a lot of fun talking to Daniel and Josh and Luke. Lindsey and I snuck away for an hour and went to Kohls. I found some boots for Cami. The kids had a great time playing with Grandma and Grandpa Morris
- Saturday: Lisa and I went to Target in the morning for some Christmas shopping. It was a warm afternoon and we went for a "hike" up in Provo canyon and then watched the BYU game. Tom, Connor, Cade, Lindsey, Daniel, Josh and I went to the BYU basketball game that evening.
- Sunday: Church in the morning. Cade, Cami and I went to my parents house for dinner. The kids had a great time playing outside and climbing trees.
- Monday: I met Lindsey at Grandma Water's house. Kate and her kids were there. I haven't seen them for years! We played for a long time. Grandma and Grandpa were so happy to have us there. They made sure we had lots of toys, got some lunch and were very comfortable. I brought lunch for my kids. Cade and Cami were sitting in the kitchen eating by themselves. I was playing with Ellie. Grandpa Waters went in and talked to them for a while. They made me promise to come back when we were in Utah at Christmas.
- Tuesday: We met Lindsey at the BYU museum of Palentology. The kids loved seeing the dinosaurs. Tom was with us and his friend gave us a little tour of the back of the museum where they dig fossils out of plaster and keep the extra bones. We walked across the street and saw the football stadium. They were repainting the lines on the field. We climbed up to the top of the stadium. It was pretty cool. That afternoon we went to Gymboree and Columbia outlets. We (mostly me) wanted Chick-fil-a for dinner and we stopped there but ended up doing the drive through cuz it was getting late and Ellie was tired. It was still very tasty.
- Wednesday: We spent the morning at my parents house and met their friends the Winders. She brought a peach pie that was delicious. We were able to see Melissa too. We spent the afternoon at Morris' and visited with Marsha, Steve and Great-Grandpa. They drove all night and got in around noon.
- Thursday: Thanksgiving! Tom picked up Kirk from the airport and dropped him off at my parents house where we spent the day. We watched football. The kids played knights and ninjas and whatever else they like to do. After dinner we went to the park and fed the ducks and went for a little walk. I made pumpkin cheesecake and brownies for dessert. It was a fun day.
- Friday: Kirk, Lisa and I went to a piano store in the morning. I want to get a piano, but I don't know what we're going to do yet. Cade, Kirk, Steve and I went hiking up in South Fork in the afternoon and saw a herd of elk (with the binoculars) We all went to Cafe Rio for dinner. After dinner we came home and got the kids ready for bed. Kirk and I left them watching a movie and went shopping. I ended up with a different coat from Columbia. We spent a bunch of time at Cabelas too. Kirk wanted to see shotguns and fishing line.
- Saturday: Ellie's birthday! We went to see my friend Jill and her family in the morning. We met them at my parents' house. On the way I stopped at the dollar store to get Ellie a balloon and let Cade and Cami choose a present for her. When we got out of the car at my parents house, the balloon came off the string and floated away! Cami felt bad so we stopped on the way back and got Ellie another balloon. I packed up the car that afternoon. Kirk went fishing for the middle of the day and had good time on the river. We had a party for Ellie and she opened a few presents: puzzle, doll, teddy bear, singing card, microphone and magic wand. She ate some frosting off her cake. After the party Melissa stayed with the kids and all of the adults went to Kyle and Becca's wedding. It was a short ceremony and then a big break and then dinner. We learned a lot about Becca from her dad and brother. We went home and finished packing.
- Sunday: got up and left before 6:00. We ended up stopping a few extra time because Cami needed to go. But, we made it home in good time with good roads. Great trip, get to go again in a few weeks!
Moments:
We had a big storm. There was thunder and lightning, hail, wind and snow. It was crazy.
Cami--Tom was helping Cami tie a belt on. He commented that her tummy was kind of big. She explained that her tummy was getting big because a baby was growing in there. I found Cami a few nights in bed without her pants on. When we were at Costa Vida, I helped her go to the bathroom and found out she didn't have underwear on. Crazy girl. She loved shopping at Gymboree. She wanted to buy everything. She loves sitting on people laps and reading stories. She didn't want to play with her cousins because they are boys. She wanted to play with Lindsey a lot. We are trying to get Cami to drink more water. Lindsey convinced her that she needed Cami to help her drink water so they drank together a lot. Cami did not like the ducks at the pond, but when we saw a bunny she wasn't scared at all. She LOVED the boots I got her that my mom gave her for Christmas.
Cade--He came in my room one night at like 2:00. He thought it was time to wake up and was all dressed. I put him back to bed and he slept the rest of the night in his clothes. He loved playing with Daniel. They found some big rocks in my parents sandbox and were convinced they had found dinosaur bones. We gave them toothbrushes to clean them off. I'm glad that Cade wanted to go hiking with us. Sometimes he can seem so grown up. He LOVED going to the BYU game. Cade, Daniel and Josh were all smiles the whole time. They just stared and tried to take it all in--lights, players, music, cheerleaders, big screen, fans. It was so fun to watch them. Cade made a special birthday card for Ellie. He also had fun watching football with Grandpa and Connor and made a score card for Grandpa to keep score with him.
Ellie--She is awesome! she wasn't scared of people and it didn't take long for her to get used to new houses. She just wanders around and finds toys and follows the kids. She loves to be outside. She loves skeeter's bed. She loved to play on the stairs. She finally figured out out to go down backwards. If I try to get Ellie to go somewhere, she runs away. We got her hair in a pony tail for the first time. She loves eating and sitting in the high chair watching everyone. She is a good girl. Very adventurous, independent, and determined.
