Our Trip, Part 1: Utah

This year we took over a week off for our annual fair trip so we could spend some time up in Utah as well. Our plan was to attend General Conference (Peter, for the first time) and spend some time with family we don't see that often. We drove up to Logandale on Thursday night so we could stay at Grandma's and cut the trip in half, instead of pulling a 16-hour trip through the middle of Arizona and Utah during a snow storm that was projected for Friday. I'm really glad we did; we have never traveled that long in one day and even though our kids do great in the car, I don't know how I would have done!

The only problem with staying for a quick night's sleep at Grandma's and leaving the next morning was that we didn't hear anything for the next few days but "Are we going to Grandma's now?" Every time we got in the car the kids would ask us if we were going back to Grandma's.

Levi decided to take a nap on the way up, and "turned out the lights" so he could sleep.
We had a slight kink in the plans; on our way up, we got a call from Peter's brother (with whom we were going to be staying,) that their daughter was throwing up! We knew that we couldn't afford to chance getting sick, since we were heading back to Logandale for the next week and we'd get everyone there sick too. We thought about driving back to Logandale to drop the kids off and Peter and I would chance it by ourselves, but we were already in Cedar City. I called my mom to get some ideas. Thank goodness, my aunt Debbie was there on her way to California with her family for their spring break. She said that we could stay at their house if we wanted to. They live in Utah Valley, so we would be close enough to do everything we had planned. The only problem was that we weren't allowed to bring our kids to Conference. Debbie lined up a babysitter, one of her daughter's friends, to come over and watch the kids for us. I was thrilled that we didn't have to cancel everything!

We got to Orem and decided to get out of the car and kill some time at the mall. Our poor kids were not equipped with the right gear; they wear flip flops year round and I hadn't thought to bring their coats up. I mean, come on, people! It's April! Plus they had pretty much outgrown their sneakers, so we got them some shoes while we were at the mall. Then we headed up to Debbie's house. It was so nice to have a warm place to sleep. We had been freezing since we arrived in northern Utah. It was windy and cold and rainy practically the whole time we were up there.

It was beautiful being up near the mountain in Cedar Hills. The kids LOVED the snow, especially, Jonah, who, when he woke up the first morning we were there, looked outside, saw the snow, and exclaimed, "It's Christmas!"

So, General Conference... Long story short, we left on time, we drove fast, we couldn't find the parking garage, we missed the road because the road we were on turned into a bridge, we doubled back, we waited in traffic and construction, we passed the garage, we doubled back again, we parked, we walked really fast (one of us in 3.5-inch heels), we missed our door, we waited in the longest line ever for overflow, we almost made it in, but... we didn't. I cried, we walked around, and we went back to Debbie's to relieve the babysitter. I don't really want to relive it because I was really upset about it at the time. I had been planning a trip to take Peter to Conference for three years, and it just wasn't in the cards. Seriously, it felt as if the forces of nature were trying to sabotage our chance of getting in! Oh, well. I am okay with it now. Still disappointed, but over it. We had a great trip other than those few hours. I wish someone would have told us that we could have watched Conference from the Joseph Smith Memorial Building or something! They just told us it was full. I don't think we'll try this again soon, but good to know for the distant future!

On a happier note, our little niece stopped throwing up so we could go visit her and her sisters! We drove up to Alan and Glenna's house on Sunday morning so we could stay with them for that day and night. We had a lot of fun seeing them; their girls are adorable and Eden was in heaven playing with girls for a change! We were having such a good time, that I barely snapped any pictures. The Easter Bunny was kind enough to bring some treats to Alan's house for our kids.

We had a great time, but we had to head out on Monday. We stopped by to see my cousin, Camie, and her cute two little baby girls. It was so great to catch up. Her girls are so cute together. Sorry, no pictures! We spent the whole time talking!

Finally, we headed back to Logandale. We traveled all day through rough winds, rain and snow the entire way out of Utah! The downpour even kept us from stopping at the bank in St. George. We just kept plugging through and that storm didn't stop until we got out of the gorge, south of St. George. Phew! Thank goodness the sun was shining in Logandale.

The kids settled right into life at Grandma's: coloring, movies, playing out in the yard with Kit. They sure know how it's done. Eden was coloring with Marce while Sharrid was working on homework at the same table. She started singing "Paparazzi" by Lady GaGa and wouldn't quit. I swear, she sang for about a half hour. It was pretty funny. Sharrid was a good sport.

We also celebrated Peter's 34th birthday while we were there. We had already celebrated a little before leaving on our trip, but we made him a Peach Crisp and sang again. Marce had opened his present from Lexie that morning, but Peter had already opened all of his presents from me and the kids at home anyway!