Our Tri-State Trip

I decided to do one big post with a slideshow instead of a bunch of little ones about each event. All of the pictures are out of order, sorry.
Despite the miserable car rides we had a great time on our trip. The girls were so excited to get to play with their cousins. When we first got to my sister's house in Syracuse my brother-in-law Steve had poked his head into the car to say hi. Then my neice Megan walked out of the front door, so instead of saying hi to Uncle Steve the girls jumped off their car seats and yelled "Megan!!!" We just hung out with everyone for a few days and I went and got a haircut while Amber took on all of my kids (Thanx Amber!) On Tuesday all of our family from nearby came to my mom's for dinner and we got to have an awesome visit with everyone. Jake had a lot to do in Utah and I joined him in Tooele for one of the days so we could look around at houses and such. We are so glad that my brother-in-law is from there, as he was able to hook us up with his parents who were so awesome in showing me around and telling me all I needed to know about Tooele. Our Utah trip was fun, I'm glad I got some hangout time with my sisters and the girls got play time with cousins.
On the last night in Utah we all went to the Oquirrh Mountain temple open house. I am so glad that we had that opportunity. My girls have been asking if they could go inside a temple and have been so curious about it. They really loved getting to go through the temple and learn more about it. I think that it is a good experience for kids if you ever get the chance. The lines were long and moved slowly though, so by the end of it we were all starving to death. It was a good thing they were serving cookies at the end.
As we headed out across Nevada, our first stop was in Wendover. They happened to be having a big car show so we went around and looked at all of the cars. Jake loves cars and has apparently passed that trait to Jaxon. He is a car guy all of the way. Right after he started crawling he used to crawl into the girls room and steal their pink barbie car and drive it around making car noises. Now he is car crazy as ever.
After a long hot drive, we did make it to Tahoe. It is such a beautiful place. They have gondolas that go to the top of the mountians. They are pretty expensive, but I think it is one of those things that everyone who goes to Tahoe does. It is like if you go to St. Louis you have to ride to the top of the Arch, or if you go to Niagra Falls you have to ride out on the boats. The experience isn't the same without it. It really was an amazing sight and a pretty cool ride, though a bit freaky to be suspended in the air like that.
The wedding was really beautiful. Congrats to Joey and Ashley!!!!! It was a struggle though because since Jake was in the wedding party I had to keep the kids on their best behavior on my own. Not only during the ceremony, but during the reception as well. After more than 3 hours of being told to sit quiet and be on best behavior, my kids were ready to let loose on the dance floor. And they did. They all partied hard at the end, which was good because we were driving that night and they were so exhausted that they didn't last 2 seconds before they were all completely out.
The wedding was last sunday which was father's day. We had gotten some presents for Jake to open in the hotel room, plus he got to sleep in as late as he could. I think I paid good homage to him on my mother's day post, so let me just say that he is an awesome father and we all love him so much!!! So that is the end of our latest adventure. We are already gearing up for our next summer trip which is only in a few weeks. and then just a week or so after that school starts again and we are stuck at home. Wow, summer has gone by so fast!

A Movie Review

It is a very rare occasion for us to go see a movie in the theater. We usually just wait until it is on DVD. But neither Jake or I had ever seen a 3D movie before so we decided to take the kids to see UP. It was a really cute movie and had some funny parts. It was a little sad though. I thought it was entertaining, but it probably won't be one that we buy and watch over and over. That was the way we felt about Wall-e too. At first the girls were freaking out about the 3D. They kept pushing way back into their seats saying that something was going to hit them. But the weird thing about 3D is that at first it was a big deal and so obvious, but as the movie goes on you just get used to it and it is just like watching any other movie. Here are some shots of us in our 3D glasses:

Happy Mothers Day to me!

I figure in all of the catching up to do I will start with mothers day. It was pretty awesome. I got to sleep in for a little bit and Jake and the kids made me a big breakfast. Then we went to church. To my surprise, when we got home from church my presents were sitting out for me! Jake had gotten a patio set we really liked and a few barstools for the kitchen. Our friend Rich had put them out while we were at church. Then Jake and Jono made a big delicious meal for us to enjoy outside on our new patio furniture.
I have to say how much I love being a mom. It takes a lot of sacrifice, and sometimes that can be very trying, but it is my life. I love my children and I love the priviledge I have to raise them and help them grow. I also have to say how much I love my husband. He is such a wonderful father and it is so awesome to be able to raise a family with him. I am glad that I found someone who is so like-minded with me so that we are usually on the same page with our child-raising. He is a hands-on dad and views child-raising as a combined effort. I am so grateful for him and all of the support he continually gives me. Here are some pictures of the day:

Lyla at the big breakfast:

The morning spread:

Jaxon being a cutie:

Mckayla showing off the gift she made for me at school:

Lyla showing off her handiwork: (get it?)

Jono slaving away in the kitchen:

My good-lookin hubby modeling our new patio set and awesome mother's day spread:

Thank you family!!! I love you all!!!!

Your getting warmer....no, no colder now...warmer again...

Well. After a long break I am back and I hope there will be a lot to come in the next few days. We have been out of town and a lot is going on in our lives right now that has prevented me from making it to the computer. Though I will be back tracking and posting about the rest of May a bit later right now I am going to briefly tell you about our trip.
Two friends of ours got married last weekend at Lake Tahoe and Jake had been asked to be one of the groomsmen. But the week before the wedding he was sent on business to Utah (note: we might be moving there, but that is another story) and he wasn't going to be back until the day we were supposed to leave for the wedding. We were going to fly. So I decided that I would drive up with the kids (my sister Angela flew down to drive with me THANKYOU!) and hang out with my family while Jake was in Utah. Then we could drive to Tahoe from there and then drive home. No biggie. Right?
We discovered that my two younger children are not good road trippers. Especially Kailey. She is not one of those babies that falls asleep while you are driving in the car. Neither is Jaxon. So the drive up was miserable and long because we had to stop frequently. I felt like the worst parent just letting them scream it out at times.
When we got to Utah we wished we had brought some warm clothing. I had stuck in a light jacket for each of us and only one pair of long pants for the kids at the last minute. But it was pretty cold and rainy in Utah and we weren't super prepared. Towards the end of the Utah stay our A/C went out. FOR THE FOURTH TIME!!!!!
So as we headed out on our drive across Nevada all the windows were down and we were sweating, but we survived.
We got to Tahoe and did many fun things there (pics and details to come later), but were again found wishing for warmer attire. It was cold! We went there expecting to get to play on the beach of the lake, but that water was about 50 degrees and we didn't see anyone playing in it. We went out on a boat on the lake and were wrapped up in blankets to try to keep warm. We ended up heading in early because we were too cold to have fun.
After that fun and chilly weekend we left sunday night right after the wedding for home. That night our headlights both went out. We had to drive all night with the brights on and we really ticked a lot of people off. It so happened that because we left at night we ended up in the death valley area of CA at around 1:00pm with no A/C. Our car thermostat said it was 115 degrees outside!!!! Our poor children were soaked with sweat and having the windows down just made it feel like we had put the heater on full blast. We did some redneck air conditioning by filling our little cooler with ice water and soaked wash cloths in the water and laying them on ourselves to cool off. We just did that and made sure we were all drinking lots of water all day. We ended up driving through the hottest, dryest part of the country during the hottest, dryest part of the day, during the hottest, dryest part of the year without A/C. Not fun. I don't recommend it at all.
We all made it home in one piece and are now contemplating getting a new van instead of paying to get the A/C fixed because we have an inkling it will go out again, probably in the middle of a trip again. Not fun. Sorry to share the complaining parts first. We really did have some fun times on our trip and I will be sharing those in the near future. But we have definately decided that road trips are out of the question until our kids can handle it better and our car is more reliable.