August 2011 - Part 1

We spent the entire month (almost) of August in Utah. It was fantastic. For the first time in my life I was NOT working/teaching, and had the freedom to say "I wanna go hang out in Utah with my family for a month", so we did it. Sam, sadly was not able to join us for the whole time. He drove out with us, stayed long enough to see our good friend Libby at her wedding dinner, then flew home to work for 2 weeks, before he flew back out to Utah to play with us for 10 days before we drove home. Thanks to business trips and getting bumped, we didn't have to pay a penny of his plane ticket:)

So, we had another awesome 10-hour drive to Utah....it wasn't actually that bad because we were able to leave at 4:00 in the morning, which gets us 1/2-way by the time the kids are really waking up and getting needy. Then we arrive in Utah by 2:30 and we are happy campers! We got to the Evans' house, unpacked, hung out for a bit, and then I drove up to SLC to have our mini-shower with my dear friends Ashleigh and Libby (the bride-to-be). It was so good to see these girls again. And so good to see how happy and excited Libby was for her awesome day the next day.

We had fun hanging out and relaxing at the Evans' the next day. The girls were in heaven with all the fun things to do, new toys, Benson (the dog), swings, and people to love them!

Then we headed up to SLC to see this beautiful lady get married and attend her beautiful wedding dinner. Libby you made one gorgeous bride. It was so fun to see you so happy.

Then Sam had to take-off....his brother picked him up from the JSMB to take him to the airport and I began the 2-week stretch of solo-parenting while on vacation....I would definitely prefer to have Sam with me! That same night was the wedding reception of one of Sam's cousins, who my sister's good friend. It was just one big family reunion! So we danced the night away for a little while. It was fun to see so many of Sam's family - too bad he didn't get to see them since he was on the plane home...:(

Then we decided to head home. Samantha thought this little "tunnel" was ultra-cool as we were walking past the Conference Center to our car.

I spent a couple days hanging out with my good friends Laura and Andrea. Laura was nice enough to let us stay with her for a couple nights. It was so good to have so much time to chat and catch up. I sure do miss my girls! And it was fun for our kids to play together. And to top off the fun, Andrea and Abe took us all boating at Utah Lake. It was a pretty rough day on the water, so we spent most of the time tubing....well they did....I spent most of the time cleaning up throw-up from Samantha. At the time I thought "great....Sam passed on his weak stomach to another child!" But as it turns out, I think she was actually sick....who knows? LucyMae spent the night/day with the Evans' by herself, so I only had Samantha and Ben with me on the boat, and managing the two of them by myself was not easy. Nothing like a trip without your husband to make you REALLY appreciate him eh?

Doesn't she look so happy to be on the boat? This was before the throw-up....I should have known it was coming huh?

Oh wait!.....I did take her on the tube for a second....maybe that's what sent her throwing-up....hmmmm.!

LucyMae was the little queen bee at the Evans' house by the time I got there with Samantha and Ben. She LOVED her "one-on-one" time with Grandpop, Grandma Clair, and Hannah! And they spoiled her....letting her paint pudding all over the sliding glass doors, and all sorts of other great activities.

Then we all spent a few days hanging out and having a good time with the Evans' before I headed to Logan to see my dad and grandma.

I'd say dress-ups were among the favorite activities at grandma's house. Doesn't LucyMae make a beautiful bride? I am not ready for that day......stay little you little munchkin! 

We also had some fun with our friends from South Dakota who now live in Orem. This bouncy-castle warehouse was their dream-come-true (although I'd say horribly over-priced).

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Eventually we had to say goodbye to the Evans' for a bit, and headed up to Logan to visit PAPA and gramma great! The drive with all 3 kids went phenomenally well - they all just slept the whole drive! We had fun going to the park across the street, visiting the little zoo they have, and just visiting!

I did however cut our time in Logan short when I realized that I had been bitten by bed-bugs that night! I COULD NOT BELIEVE I HAD GOTTEN BED-BUGS AGAIN!!!!! I had them on my mission (when I first learned that "don't let the bed-bugs bite" is not just a saying) and have had an unnatural squirminess about bugs crawling on me ever since. Sam always laughs at me when I freak out about the thought of a bug crawling all over me. I didn't used to be that way. I thought it was silly and ditzy to be squirmy about bugs. But after having bed-bugs there is something in me that just freaks out by the thought of it. And then, I actually got bed-bugs AGAIN!!!! Worst experience ever! We had a great time with my dad and visiting my grandma, but I had to get out of there!

So we headed to Bear Lake. Luckily my mom was arriving at her cabin that night, so she let us come over (which is where we were headed the next day anyway). But she wouldn't let us in her cabin until we had taken all the necessary precautions to prevent transferring the bed-bugs to her cabin. We all had to strip down outside, and then run into the bath-tub, and get all washed off. That was a fun scene....me and all 3 of my kids in the bath-tub....:) then we borrowed clothes from my mom. And then we had to bag up ALL of our belongings from the car and put them in plastic bags to transfer them to the washer/dryer. Apparently bed-bugs can survive temps up to 130 degrees or down to -20 I think. They are the bug from HELL!!! That took me ALL night - literally. And then I had to leave anything that couldn't go in the dryer out in the sun to bake all day long....it was RIDICULOUS!!!! But, the good news is that we did not transfer them! Here are some pictures as evidence of the misery I suffered:)

And then just as my bites were peaking in their discomfort and burn and itch and annoyingness and ugliness.....I got sick....with the flu! So now I feel like throwing up all the time, I can't eat anything, I'm achy all over, I can't take care of my own children, and I have bed-bug bites. Then Samantha and Ben and LucyMae all got sick in turn as well. And since my sisters were helping me take care of them, they got sick too. So our dreamy, wonderful 10 days at Bear Lake turned into a "pass-the-sickness" party. It wasn't fun while you were sick, but luckily it was a 24-hour thing for everybody, so it passed quickly. 

Besides all that nastiness going on, we had a FANTASTIC time at Bear Lake. It was soooooo nice to spend so much time with my sisters and brother and my mom and Don and Paul and the cousins. We had ourselves a great time just about every second of every day. And Rennie, who just returned from Germany, brought fun little gifts for everyone. Here's Samantha sporting her spoils.

This is the beloved cabin that we are so lucky to be able to enjoy! Thanks Mom and Don!

We tubed our little hearts out....and got all the kids to love it, even after they all fell off due to some questionable driving. Uncle Howie saved the day on that one though. He was grabbing and comforting screaming LucyMae and Clark and then we got them back on the horse and did it again:)

Everybody, but me, had a good time at the Demolition Derby in Laketown....that was the night I was super sick, so I stayed home. Sad I missed that one....

And below, in no particular order, are all my pictures thrown in with the ones I stole from my mom and sister of our time at Bear Lake. We had fun hiking to Bloomington Lake and going off the rope-swing, water-skiing our little hearts out (due to a picture-competition my mom set up, even my brother was all over the water-skiing this time), eating our little hearts out...etc., etc.

 

 

 

 

OH yea....and we celebrated this little sister of mine's 21st birthday! My little insanity is a big girl now!

 

And then we had to say goodbye to Bear Lake for at least another year......my favorite place in the whole world.....I LOVE YOU AND MISS YOU!!!! Thank you SOOOO MUCH Grandma Michelle and Grandpa Don for letting us come stay with you for 10 days and sharing your fun toys with us. WE LOVE YOU!!!!