We are back from a WONDERFUL vacation. So wonderful, in fact, that there was a point about midway through the week when I actually forgot that we had to come home at the end. Thanks so much Mom & Dad, and Grandma & Grandpa for working so hard to make it such a memorable week. For my own journaling purposes, here's a rundown of the week's events.
Sunday: Drove to Jackson, unloaded & got settled at the cabin, had dinner, played games, stayed up too late.
Monday: Ate too much fry-bread at breakfast, went white-water rafting (DANG FUN), had an awesome Family Home Evening that Mom prepared, played more games, stayed up too late again.
Tuesday: Ate even more fry-bread at breakfast, took family pictures, did some shopping in Jackson, went to Bar J Wranglers dinner show. I was standing in the back when the show ended (Londyn's fault) and as people were filing out a man stopped me and said "I was watching the way your husband interacts with your little girls - he is really a good father." I've known that about Will for quite some time now, but it was pretty cool to have a stranger notice it and take the time to mention it to me. (This picture is while we were waiting for the dinner to start - Will is showing Jacey how to . . . actually I have now idea what he is showing her how to do. But he's entertaining her.)
Wednesday: Will & Londyn rode horses (I told Jacey I would if she did - I knew that was a pretty safe bet, knowing how much Jacey loves animals), went for a hike around Jenny's Lake and up to Hidden Falls. I was pleasantly surprised at how well Jacey and Londyn did on the hike. Of course they each rode on Will's, Bryan's, Nathan's or Grandpa's shoulders the whole way, so that my have had something to do with it. What a beautiful part of the country that is. All week long I just kept looking around at the landscape - I couldn't get enough of it.
Thursday: Maxed out on fry-bread (it was the last day, I had to get my fill), packed up and drove to Grandma & Grandpa's house in Aberdeen for their town days, "Aberdeen Daze". Stopped and had a picnic lunch near the Idaho Falls Temple. That night we went to the melodrama which some of my cousins were in and I must say they did a great job. I thought Jacey would dig booing at the villain and cheering for the heroine, but she was a little unsure about it all. Still, she said she liked the show.
Friday: Dwight and Andrew took us waterskiing. Neither Will nor I had been skiing for at least 3 years, so I was surprised that I could even get up. Will wakeboarded and the girls just rode around in the boats. Andrew (my cousin, who wakeboards competitively) gave us a little show which was awesome to say the least. I wished I had my camera - that kid flies. Grandma made us a yummy dinner that night.
Saturday: Pancake breakfast in the park (they feed the whole town for free), Will went golfing and the girls and I went to the parade. Later that night we went to the Fish Fry, which the scouts put on as their fundraiser. Londyn loves fish, apparently.
Sunday: Packed up again and headed home. We missed our ward so we went to the 2nd ward's Sacrament meeting. Mom & Dad headed on to Vegas and Nathan stayed with us so he could go interview at the MTC on Monday.
We talked Nathan into going with us up to Glen & Liz's house for dinner. About halfway through dinner we noticed that Londyn's lips were white. We were looking at her food and wondering if maybe she had a food allergy. She was acting fine though so we shrugged it off until after dinner when we went inside (we ate outside) and found her sucking on a bottle of medicated eye drops. Will called poison control and they said to take her into the hospital to have her monitored. She was still acting fine but we got packed up in the car anyway and headed toward the hospital. As Will was buckling her into her car seat, Londyn blacked out. Nathan was in the backseat trying to wake her up. Her eyes were open but she was totally unresponsive. Luckily Will's folks only live about 5 minutes from Jordan Valley Hospital, so Will ran a few red lights and we got there pretty quick. Nathan gave her a blessing from the backseat while we drove. We ran her into the emergency room and they rushed her back. She started kicking and screaming as soon as she had all of those strangers around her, which was actually a huge relief to me because we hadn't even been able to get her to respond at all in the car - not laugh or cry or smile or anything. They got her hooked up to a bunch of monitors and on oxygen and once we got her calmed down they let her fall asleep. The doctor said they just needed to watch her for a few hours until the medicine wore off. So we stayed in the ER until 11:00; I sat there and watched her sleep. She was so pale. But as the hours went by I watched the color slowly come back to her face, first to her lips then her cheeks and eyelids. So everything was fine. But man, I have never been so freaked out in my life. We have had our share of ER visits over the years, but this was definitely the most panicked I've ever felt. If I ever have to take my child to the ER again it will be too soon. Londyn slept late on Monday and had a long nap that afternoon, but she's been back to her usual stinker self since then. Thank goodness.
So not the best end to a great week, but I'll take it. It's been hard to get back in the swing of things since we've been home. I'm finally caught up on laundry, and we went grocery shopping last night so we actually have something to eat in the house. And I finished the worst book ever, which I started reading in Jackson and I should have left it there. I kept waiting for it to get better, but it ended just as stupidly as it began. I really wanted to go see the play but now I'm not so sure. I hope it is more entertaining and up beat, because the book was thick, heavy, boring, and (at times) dirty. Obviously, I don't recommend it.
A few more pictures from our trip to end on a happier note. :)