It's easy to neglect the blog when there's Facebook to play on. It's silly that I haven't written in almost a year. Here I am planning the sugar cookie insanity for this season, and that's what I wrote about the last time I blogged, almost a year ago. Silly.
This year has been busy and of course, the blog is the last thing to be tended to. I should try to remember that this is my online "journal" of sorts. I don't want to forget things just because I didn't take the time to blog them.
So, here goes the updates..oh, the toddler just woke up from his nap. Maybe later blog...
Friday, November 21, 2014
Thursday, December 26, 2013
The Sugar Cookie Insanity Part 2
Fast forward from the flour disaster to a few days later. My sweet husband...who by the way got a good laugh at my expense when he was told about the dough issues I had...asked when I was going to cook those cookies. (This man LOVES frosted sugar cookies, so when I only make them once a year or so, he's very anxious to get them cooked and frosted.)
I set aside another day to cook ALL the dough. I just wanted it over with and I don't want to look at dough again after this. So, I got all ready and thought it would just be easier to slice off the dough and cook it all round. Well...NO, that would make me Mrs. Scrooge or something, if all the cookies didn't resemble some significant Christmas shape.
Yes, I rolled out and used cookie cutters on all twenty-five million tons of dough. Right when I got started I had told my mom about this debacle with the dough and she was laughing so hard. She said I should blog about this. (Certainly so she can show it to her friends and everyone could get a good laugh at my expense...oh well. Bring on the laughter).
Anyway, at the beginning of my baking, I decided that I would make my own day by counting exactly how many cookies I would make. That way I could be the winner of the dough, the woman who made a million sugar cookies...like, "remember that Christmas when Mom made a ton of sugar cookies?" Yep, I was going to chronicle this.
So, I kept a count of every single cookie that was cut and decorated. See my lovely tick mark sheet? I taped it to the wall and kept track of every pan that came out of that hot oven.
Grand total?
I set aside another day to cook ALL the dough. I just wanted it over with and I don't want to look at dough again after this. So, I got all ready and thought it would just be easier to slice off the dough and cook it all round. Well...NO, that would make me Mrs. Scrooge or something, if all the cookies didn't resemble some significant Christmas shape.
Yes, I rolled out and used cookie cutters on all twenty-five million tons of dough. Right when I got started I had told my mom about this debacle with the dough and she was laughing so hard. She said I should blog about this. (Certainly so she can show it to her friends and everyone could get a good laugh at my expense...oh well. Bring on the laughter).
Anyway, at the beginning of my baking, I decided that I would make my own day by counting exactly how many cookies I would make. That way I could be the winner of the dough, the woman who made a million sugar cookies...like, "remember that Christmas when Mom made a ton of sugar cookies?" Yep, I was going to chronicle this.
So, I kept a count of every single cookie that was cut and decorated. See my lovely tick mark sheet? I taped it to the wall and kept track of every pan that came out of that hot oven.
Grand total?
THREE-HUNDRED EIGHTY-ONE!!!!
And that is with about 3 pounds of dough that is still in my freezer. Yay me.
Now, you might be asking...how does one make frosting for over 300 cookies?
ONE stinkin batch at a time. I wasn't about to be in a cloud of powdered sugar. Nope. We were going to do this in shifts.
But do it we did. We frosted, delivered, ate, and enjoyed 381 sugar cookies. Jacob's class got some, Abby's class got some, Jackson's class got some, David's work got some, the sisters at church I visit got some, the families from church that we visit got some. The kids took them in their lunches, and David had all he could want.
Notice the pizza box on the table? On baking day, there was no other cooking, preparing or messing with food in this kitchen. The Dominoes man was called in for reinforcements. Ha ha.
Cutting cookies and eating them at the same time...skills.
I knew we were in the thick of sugar cookie decorating season when I was trying to figure out why my 10 month old baby boy had little colored dots all over his feet. Yep, he was stepping on all the food-colored sprinkles that were ALL over the floor, and he was left with a rainbow of colored dots on his little sweet feet.
We are done. A few sugar cookies remain, un-frosted. They are the remainder of the insanity, but there will be NO MORE frosting. So there they sit, kind of haunting me; a reminder of the many reasons why my kids will have killer memories of the holidays...and why I should never, ever do this again.
Happy holiday baking! I'll be in the bacon isle.
The Sugar Cookie Insanity
One of our favorite Christmas-time traditions is making, decorating and pigging out on homemade sugar cookies. This year we decided to give a bunch away, too. So, I set aside a whole day to knock out a bunch of cookies.
The recipe I have calls for 7 cups of flour. It seems like a lot, but when you're making sugar cookies, the thicker they are the better...that way they "need" more frosting. So, this one recipe doesn't go very far. I usually double it for our family. Yes, we eat lots of them...it is Christmas after all.
This time I decided to triple the recipe, which would mean 21 cups of flour. I figured I would save some time by making all my measurements in the biggest capacity I could. For example: if I needed 3 teaspoons of something, I could just use 1 tablespoon instead (because that's the RIGHT conversion).
So, I go online to my trusty Google search engine and type in the conversions I needed and wrote down everything in my recipe as converted to triple it's size.
Well...I should've paid more attention to Jacob's homework the week before from Science about mass/density and volume. My conversion for flour was not really for flour. I got a conversion for water or liquid. Because flour doesn't weigh as much as water. DUH.
So, what I though the conversion said was that 21 cups of flour equals 11 pounds...but it meant WATER equals that.
YES, okay...I added 11 pounds of flour to my recipe...which, for those of you who know how to do math, is 42..yep...FORTY-TWO cups of stinkin flour.
Before I caught my mistake, I got all the ingredients added, which also include 12 eggs, 6 cups of sugar, 6 cups of shortening and 3 cups of milk...and some other things. I still had not figured out my mistake, until I could barely get my hands out of the flour mixture because it was so stiff.
I was probably all shades of purple and red by the time I figured out what I had done. Really? I'm that out of it? I DOUBLED THE TRIPLE RECIPE.
Well, I was going to beat that dough. Not literally as it smacking it around, but as in WINNING. I was going to save those cookies and make all of them. Take that google search and 11 pounds of flour. I'll show you.
But that means I had to add all the other ingredients, AGAIN. I was out of shortening and eggs. Cleaned up my mess, ran to the store, in the snow, and got my stuff. Back to the dough. Added 12 more eggs, more milk, shortening, sugar and the other stuff.
If at this point you are wondering what stinking large bowl I would have to own in order to pull this off...well, I do have a pretty big bowl, but not big enough for this to be very easy. I was going at snail's pace and working all this in very slowly to avoid total explosion. Well, I did pretty good, but I was wearing some by the end and of course, it was all over the floor.
After adding all the necessary ingredients for a 6x recipe, the dough still wasn't right...too sticky now. Really...will it ever end? So...yes...I'm going to say it...I added MORE flour. Not a lot more, I was getting leery of flour by now. But just enough to make it the right consistency.
And when it was all over, I had the perfect dough. It was about 6pm and the kids were wondering if we were going to eat sugar cookies for dinner. So, I stopped. Put all the dough in bags and into the freezer. Someday in the future I would look at that dough again and maybe cook it.
But, I did it. I saved the dough. I beat the flour. And next time...in ONE whole year from now when I attempt this again, I will measure the flour, ONE CUP AT A TIME.
The recipe I have calls for 7 cups of flour. It seems like a lot, but when you're making sugar cookies, the thicker they are the better...that way they "need" more frosting. So, this one recipe doesn't go very far. I usually double it for our family. Yes, we eat lots of them...it is Christmas after all.
This time I decided to triple the recipe, which would mean 21 cups of flour. I figured I would save some time by making all my measurements in the biggest capacity I could. For example: if I needed 3 teaspoons of something, I could just use 1 tablespoon instead (because that's the RIGHT conversion).
So, I go online to my trusty Google search engine and type in the conversions I needed and wrote down everything in my recipe as converted to triple it's size.
Well...I should've paid more attention to Jacob's homework the week before from Science about mass/density and volume. My conversion for flour was not really for flour. I got a conversion for water or liquid. Because flour doesn't weigh as much as water. DUH.
So, what I though the conversion said was that 21 cups of flour equals 11 pounds...but it meant WATER equals that.
YES, okay...I added 11 pounds of flour to my recipe...which, for those of you who know how to do math, is 42..yep...FORTY-TWO cups of stinkin flour.
Before I caught my mistake, I got all the ingredients added, which also include 12 eggs, 6 cups of sugar, 6 cups of shortening and 3 cups of milk...and some other things. I still had not figured out my mistake, until I could barely get my hands out of the flour mixture because it was so stiff.
I was probably all shades of purple and red by the time I figured out what I had done. Really? I'm that out of it? I DOUBLED THE TRIPLE RECIPE.
Well, I was going to beat that dough. Not literally as it smacking it around, but as in WINNING. I was going to save those cookies and make all of them. Take that google search and 11 pounds of flour. I'll show you.
But that means I had to add all the other ingredients, AGAIN. I was out of shortening and eggs. Cleaned up my mess, ran to the store, in the snow, and got my stuff. Back to the dough. Added 12 more eggs, more milk, shortening, sugar and the other stuff.
If at this point you are wondering what stinking large bowl I would have to own in order to pull this off...well, I do have a pretty big bowl, but not big enough for this to be very easy. I was going at snail's pace and working all this in very slowly to avoid total explosion. Well, I did pretty good, but I was wearing some by the end and of course, it was all over the floor.
And when it was all over, I had the perfect dough. It was about 6pm and the kids were wondering if we were going to eat sugar cookies for dinner. So, I stopped. Put all the dough in bags and into the freezer. Someday in the future I would look at that dough again and maybe cook it.
But, I did it. I saved the dough. I beat the flour. And next time...in ONE whole year from now when I attempt this again, I will measure the flour, ONE CUP AT A TIME.
Thursday, October 24, 2013
School Makes a Mommy Lonely
One of our first homeschool field trips, we met a real life astronaut
at the Air & Space museum in Virginia.
For the past four years, I've had all of my kids at home all day. I've been homeschooling all of them. I'm not the best teacher, I'm not the most organized, (it's true) and I'm sometimes not that fun. The past year was kind of a lame homeschool year because I was on the couch trying not to throw up, pregnant with baby number four. So, they did their work and then learned how to cook, clean, and fold laundry, so they could help me. We moved back to Newport, Rhode Island in May. It's a small town, not very many schools and we moved into the same housing that we lived in when we lived here in 2007-2009. So, I am familiar with the schools, principal's, etc. Jacob is getting to the point where he wants to play basketball on a team, and both Jacob and Abby want to be in band. So, we decided to put them back in public school.
I was, am, and always will be hesitant about public school. It's just not what it used to be. It's dangerous, liberal and in my opinion...mostly a waste of time. But not all schools or teachers are this and, there are certain experiences I want my children to have. One of those is to have missionary experiences. I want them to know how to stand up for what they believe in the face of adversity, even teasing. They've got to be solid and immovable in their beliefs. It's time to share those beliefs and learn how to deal with hard things.
I think I could give them experiences like this even while being homeschooled, but this was just a decision we made at this time. But one thing tips off my mama senses...or the Spirit speaks to my heart, and they are OUT of public school again.
This decision has been hard for me. Some have asked how I can handle my kids with me all day long all the time. Well, I have great kids. No, it's not the Little House on the Prairie around here, some days I pull some hair out one painful strand at a time, but for the most part it's pretty darn good. They are mine, my responsibility, mine to mold and teach. I love to be around them.
On the first day of school back in September...I dreaded every minute of that morning, but I was also excited for them. Jacob and Abby are strong people and were getting very excited about school. Abby loves school supplies and backpacks, and Jacob loves having friends and being involved in fun activities. So, they were out the door and waving goodbye. I cried a little...
Jacob, 7th grade & Abby 5th grade (both at Middle School!)
Jackson....my little seven year old sweet love. He has never been to public school at all. He's been homeschooled from the beginning. We've been talking it up...helping him get excited, going to open houses, meeting his principal. Everything we could do to make him feel comfortable and not afraid.
He's a strong little guy and trying to be brave. But I can't imagine how scared he was, to go to public school for the first time and get shoved into second grade. He's smart, so I don't worry about the school work, but he's quiet when around other people, and he's emotional. He wears his heart and spirit on his sleeve. He worries about a lot of things. He thinks very deeply.
First day of school...he rode the bus all by himself. I followed in the car to meet him at the school and help him find his class line. He stood in line, shook hands with his teacher and waited to go inside. When it was time to go in, I asked him if he wanted me to walk to his class with him. He said, "No, Mom, I'll be okay." So, I watched him walk into the building and disappear. My heart pounded. I tried not to lose it.
Day one seemed to go pretty well. Everyone was happy when they came home. Jackson was a bit quiet, but okay.
I missed them horribly. Even with baby E at home, the house is so quiet and lonely.
Day two: Older kids on the bus and both happy campers. Jackson got on the bus and as I was waving goodbye, I could see his quivering lip and little tears run down his cheek, but all the while a fake brave smile. He was terrified. I went back in the house and got down on my knees and prayed with all the mama power in me for my little ones...and cried some more.
I know I can't be their body guard for the rest of their lives, but I just want to hold this little boy and tell him he can stay home and be with me. But, I have a great husband who helped me know that everything was going to be okay. My senses and my heart are still perked to anything that will change my mind and bring them home again. I will do it in a heartbeat if needed.
A few weeks ago, I was going to have lunch with Jackson and then take him to the book fair. They were already in the lunch room when I got there. Jackson had gotten out of his line somehow and didn't know where to sit. They are very strict in this lunchroom. So, he was so scared to sit somewhere wrong, that he didn't sit anywhere and he was just walking back and forth next to the tables. When I walked in, I saw him pacing with his lunchbox in hand not knowing what to do. I went to him and the look of relief on his face sent chills through me. The image of him standing there not knowing what to do and looking like he was the most alone person on the planet, haunts me. It breaks my heart.
Now, almost two full months into school and it hasn't always been easy to send him off to school, and there have been a few more tears and trembling bottom lip, but I'm hopeful that he's going to be okay. But, I still get a pit in my stomach every morning when he gets on that bus. He's trying so hard to be so brave! My heart is totally wrapped around this little boy's soul. I'm the luckiest mom in the world.
Being a mom is hard, amazing and blessed. I'm so thankful for them.
Sunday, September 1, 2013
Six Thousand Three Hundred Twenty Six Part 4
August 7, 656 miles. A very long day. We arrived in Columbus, Ohio and checked into our hotel. We decided the area was a bit sketchy, so we unloaded the ENTIRE truck just to be safe. It was a good choice, but the truck was very full.
We ate late that night, mistake number one. I woke up at 4 am and fed Eli. I got him back to sleep and jumped in the shower. Right when I got out of the shower, I heard a loud splashing sound and then crying. I ran around the corner from the bathroom to find Jackson throwing up all over the floor, wall, bed, himself. Are you kidding me???? More throwing up. I called next door and woke Shelle up and sent the two older kids to her room because of the nasty smell. I finally got the truck loaded up, Jackson cleaned up and started on cleaning the floor and wall. As I was pulling the bed skirt off to rinse it off the best I could, a large, scary bug with a million legs came flying out from between mattresses. I dropped everything and went straight to the front office to tell them what happened. Gross. I hate bugs, and I hate throw up and it just was a lovely beginning to another long day.
We drove to a Walmart, and bought saltine crackers, towels, a garbage can, Ginger Ale, and a new pillow for Jackson (because right after we got in the truck he threw up again all over his pillow. It went in the garbage.) When I came out from Walmart, Jacob was throwing up, too. And Abby looked like she was going to cry as she was holding it all in. She felt nasty, too.
Unfair, to me and Shelle and the poor kids. At this point, it's not fun anymore. We just wanted to get home.
August 8, 575 miles: We drove to Fishkill, NY where Shelle lives. The kids were doing a bit better, but still feeling yucky. No more throwing up, thank the stars. We crashed at Shelle's home for the night. It was raining and I couldn't go on another mile.
August 9, 177 miles: It poured rain all day. But we didn't care, we just wanted to get home. We arrived home around 1:00pm. David greeted us at the door and we were full of excitement and energy. Eli stared at David for a while, not quite sure about him.
We ate late that night, mistake number one. I woke up at 4 am and fed Eli. I got him back to sleep and jumped in the shower. Right when I got out of the shower, I heard a loud splashing sound and then crying. I ran around the corner from the bathroom to find Jackson throwing up all over the floor, wall, bed, himself. Are you kidding me???? More throwing up. I called next door and woke Shelle up and sent the two older kids to her room because of the nasty smell. I finally got the truck loaded up, Jackson cleaned up and started on cleaning the floor and wall. As I was pulling the bed skirt off to rinse it off the best I could, a large, scary bug with a million legs came flying out from between mattresses. I dropped everything and went straight to the front office to tell them what happened. Gross. I hate bugs, and I hate throw up and it just was a lovely beginning to another long day.
We drove to a Walmart, and bought saltine crackers, towels, a garbage can, Ginger Ale, and a new pillow for Jackson (because right after we got in the truck he threw up again all over his pillow. It went in the garbage.) When I came out from Walmart, Jacob was throwing up, too. And Abby looked like she was going to cry as she was holding it all in. She felt nasty, too.
Unfair, to me and Shelle and the poor kids. At this point, it's not fun anymore. We just wanted to get home.
August 8, 575 miles: We drove to Fishkill, NY where Shelle lives. The kids were doing a bit better, but still feeling yucky. No more throwing up, thank the stars. We crashed at Shelle's home for the night. It was raining and I couldn't go on another mile.
August 9, 177 miles: It poured rain all day. But we didn't care, we just wanted to get home. We arrived home around 1:00pm. David greeted us at the door and we were full of excitement and energy. Eli stared at David for a while, not quite sure about him.
Eli grew a lot while we were gone. He's daddy's good buddy now.
Jackson doing much better and happy to be in his own bed.
Abby happy to be home, too!
Jacob in his own bed. Yay!
Rhode Island-Utah-Arizona-New Mexico-Oklahoma-Missouri-Ohio-New York-Rhode Island =
6,326 miles. Some trials, and lots of hours in the truck, but a trip totally worth every mile it took. I'm so grateful to everyone who let us stay with them, who fed us great meals, who drove for me so I could get a break, and who visited with us.
It's always the best to plan for a trip and get excited about it and go on to take it. It's also bittersweet to say goodbye to family and friends. But it's the best to come home, get all the laundry done, get back into a groove and our own beds, and be together as a family. I'm so thankful for this summer!
Six Thousand Three Hundred Twenty Six Part 3
August 3, 84 miles: We left Clovis early in the morning on Saturday. Very hard to say goodbye. We drove to Tucumcari to pick up my good friend Shelle Napier. She lives in New York now, but we've known each other since we lived in Japan. She has a daughter in New Mexico and volunteered to drive back to the east coast with me and the kids so I wouldn't have to drive alone. Amazing friend award goes to her! So, we picked her up on our way east.
August 3, 370 miles: We drove to Oklahoma City the first day. It was a pretty easy drive and we stayed the night here. Jacob must have eaten something bad when we got dinner, and he ended throwing up most of the next day...again. :(
August 4, 354 miles: We stopped in Kansas City, MO. Three amazing coincidences came together to take us to Kansas City. A very close friend of mine that we knew in Virginia just moved there, so we thought it would be fun to stop and see them. Turns out, one of my step-sisters that I hadn't met yet, lives there, too. And, one of mine and Shelle's friends that we knew in Japan comes home to Kansas City every summer and would be there on the same days we were driving through. So, we stopped for a few days to visit all our friends. The Beeson's were amazing to give us a place to sleep and have some wonderful food and visiting. I just love them.
While in KC, we got to take the kids to Overland Park, KS, which has a mall that has a Lego store and an American Girl store. The kids saved all their trip money for this shopping stop! We also took them to the Lego Discovery Center where we met with my step-sister Heather and her three boys. We also met my friend Theresa and her kids there.
After we left the Lego Center, we drove back into Kansas City and then decided to take a quick stop over to Liberty, MO. Here we visited the Liberty Jail. (LDS church history site, for more information click here)
August 3, 370 miles: We drove to Oklahoma City the first day. It was a pretty easy drive and we stayed the night here. Jacob must have eaten something bad when we got dinner, and he ended throwing up most of the next day...again. :(
August 4, 354 miles: We stopped in Kansas City, MO. Three amazing coincidences came together to take us to Kansas City. A very close friend of mine that we knew in Virginia just moved there, so we thought it would be fun to stop and see them. Turns out, one of my step-sisters that I hadn't met yet, lives there, too. And, one of mine and Shelle's friends that we knew in Japan comes home to Kansas City every summer and would be there on the same days we were driving through. So, we stopped for a few days to visit all our friends. The Beeson's were amazing to give us a place to sleep and have some wonderful food and visiting. I just love them.
While in KC, we got to take the kids to Overland Park, KS, which has a mall that has a Lego store and an American Girl store. The kids saved all their trip money for this shopping stop! We also took them to the Lego Discovery Center where we met with my step-sister Heather and her three boys. We also met my friend Theresa and her kids there.
After we left the Lego Center, we drove back into Kansas City and then decided to take a quick stop over to Liberty, MO. Here we visited the Liberty Jail. (LDS church history site, for more information click here)
Abby was so excited for her first visit to the American Girl store in Kansas City. She said when we got there that her heart was beating really fast because she was so excited. It was super fun to watch her enjoy it so much. I'm so glad I have my girl!!
She saved her money so she could get a teeny tiny flute for her doll to play, since that's the instrument she's chosen to play in the school band. She also got her doll's ears pierced.
What a fun day.
Of course the boys' saved their trip money for the Lego store. We're swimming in Legos at our house. :)
How Legos are built.
What's your weight in Lego bricks?
Almost as tall as you are Lego guy.
In the Lego building pit...and it smelled like a pit, too. Ha ha.
My Lego building master. When we left, Jacob asked a girl standing next to him if she wanted to have the car he built. What a nice kid. :)
A Lego wizard ride. I even rode this one. Fun stuff.
Eli is cooked. He did great for most of the day though.
Theresa, Me, Shelle. We have a picture from 6 years ago in Japan where we are posing the same way. Love these two friends so much!
Heather and Roman, Me and Jackson. Heather is my step-mom's second daughter. I loved her from minute one, we have lots in common.
More Lego's...and three new cousins!
After the Lego Center, we went across the street and ate at this fun place where the food comes to your table via train on a track along the ceiling. Hamburgers and fries are delivered from a moving little train. It was fun, the kids enjoyed it! Then we had to stop at a candy place for a bag of candy...because the kids needed more energy. Ha ha ha.
At the train restaurant.
Six Thousand Three Hundred Twenty Six Part 2
July 16, 317 miles: After leaving Salt Lake City, we headed south to Arizona. Turns out one of my former mission companions just moved to Kanab, UT, so we planned to stop there for an evening to visit and break up a long driving day. Bonnie Bradley Haycock and her awesome husband Mason, were so kind to have us stay for a night. I love catching up with Bonnie, we're two peas in a pod sometimes and the mission and life experiences we've shared have given us one of those friendships that feel like no time has passed when you see each other again. I'm so thankful to Bon!
July 17, 295 miles: We finally reached my dad's home in Prescott Valley. I love the mountains of Northern Arizona. On our way to Prescott, we drove through Flagstaff, where I was born. Beautiful country. We had a great time visiting with Grandpa Bee and Grandma Judy. Grandma Judy had all sorts of fun things planned for the kids, especially a fun family home evening where we dressed up and had a play. Fun!
July 18, 117 miles: On Thursday we drove down to Phoenix to go to a resort and play at the pool, eat and have some fun. It was soooo hot in Phoenix! One of my sisters lives in Mesa and another sister from New Mexico flew over to visit her, so three of the 4 of us girls were there together. When we first got to Phoenix we went to one of our favorite places to eat, the Rainforest Café. We haven't been there in a while, and the kids had a fun time! Not to mention some yummy food!
We stayed at a resort in Tempe. While in the valley, we got to go and visit with my Grandmother Rais. She's 92 years old, but still very active. My grandfather passed away several months ago, so she just moved into her own little apartment. I haven't seen her in a while, so it was awesome to visit and spend some time with her. The kids were pretty amazed that they got to see their GREAT grandma.
July 17, 295 miles: We finally reached my dad's home in Prescott Valley. I love the mountains of Northern Arizona. On our way to Prescott, we drove through Flagstaff, where I was born. Beautiful country. We had a great time visiting with Grandpa Bee and Grandma Judy. Grandma Judy had all sorts of fun things planned for the kids, especially a fun family home evening where we dressed up and had a play. Fun!
July 18, 117 miles: On Thursday we drove down to Phoenix to go to a resort and play at the pool, eat and have some fun. It was soooo hot in Phoenix! One of my sisters lives in Mesa and another sister from New Mexico flew over to visit her, so three of the 4 of us girls were there together. When we first got to Phoenix we went to one of our favorite places to eat, the Rainforest Café. We haven't been there in a while, and the kids had a fun time! Not to mention some yummy food!
We stayed at a resort in Tempe. While in the valley, we got to go and visit with my Grandmother Rais. She's 92 years old, but still very active. My grandfather passed away several months ago, so she just moved into her own little apartment. I haven't seen her in a while, so it was awesome to visit and spend some time with her. The kids were pretty amazed that they got to see their GREAT grandma.
Jana, Grandma Rais, Me, Sara
Six of Grandma Rais' great-grandchildren
July 20, 117 miles: We drove back to Prescott Valley on Saturday. As soon as we got back, Jackson started throwing up. He didn't stop for almost two days. On Sunday night, I got sick. Monday night Abby started throwing up. And Jacob was just feeling cruddy the whole time. Really??? I think we all had a mixture of too much pool water, heat exhaustion, and altitude sickness. It was just mad. So, we didn't do much for the next few days. We watched movies together and tried to get everyone well. Being together was wonderful, I just wish there hadn't been so much ick.
Eli and Grandpa Bee
His new favorite toy: a bright yellow cup
Grandma Judy let Eli get wrapped up in a baby towel that she was wrapped in when she was a baby. What a fun tradition!
July 26, 635 miles: This was our longest day of the trip so far. I was worried that the kids would get sick again, no one was really feeling great. But I wanted to get there in one day so we didn't have to get a hotel again. So, my sister and her daughter drove home with us, and we set out on a twelve hour day. We felt really blessed because no one got sick, and we felt like the time really flew by.
Being "home" in Clovis is always fun for me. It's not the most beautiful or exciting place in the world, but it's home to me. I grew up there, graduated high school there and my mom, two sisters, and high school best friend still live there. I like to drive by my old house and show the kids where I went to school and church. It's so fun to walk into our church and get hugs from people who've known me for so long.
We had a great visit with Grandma Sandi and Papa Bill. My sister Marisa and her three kids live there, too, so it was just a party every day! The kids played outside, rode bikes and scooters, and we went to the zoo. Of course we ate out at our favorite Mexican food place, Leal's. We had yummy snow cones, and spent time together playing games. I loved being home with my mom and sisters. It's these times that make all the miles of travel totally worth it.
Watching the clouds and then stars on the front lawn with cousins.
Eli hanging out with Papa Bill and Grandma Sandi.
At the zoo.
Feeding the ducks at the zoo.
Eli and my mom playing with his new favorite toy, an empty water bottle.
My mom, sisters and niece playing with Eli.
We also got to have a cookout and swim party with my best friend from high school and her family, the Lindsey's. We always get together when we go to Clovis, and once they came to visit us when we lived in Japan! I love having a friend that knows my history and went through trials with me and we can now share our families and watch our kids grow up.
Leaving Clovis this time was hard for me. It's the most fun I've had with my sisters and their kids in a long time. I loved being home, but it was time for our next leg of the trip. See part 3!
Salt Lake City-Kanab, UT-Prescott Valley, AZ-Phoenix-Prescott Valley-Clovis, NM = 1,481 miles.
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