Denver for the first time!

Typically we travel to places where we have family frequently.  However, with flights always being full and schedules conflicting, we have never actually flown to Denver to spend time with my brother Ryan and MaryAnn's family (we drove through on our mini-van buying road trip).  We have 3 kids all the same ages and gender, so it is super fun times together.  When we planned to get together over conference weekend I thought we would have no problem since there are 10 flights a day from DFW-DEN.  But when it got right down to it, flights filled up and I was super disappointed.  I had packed and cleaned until I realized it wasn't going to happen and I took the rest of the day off.  At dinner time I checked again and there were 6 seats available.  Typically since we need 5 seats, we wouldn't even bother going to the airport because it isn't likely, but our hearts were set on going, so we made a run for it.  At the last minute they had only 3 seats so we decided to split up boys and girls and tried to quickly divide what I would need and I ran on the plane with the girls.   As I was getting buckled and situated I started panicking about picking up the rental car, not having jackets, wondering if I had the phone charger I needed etc, etc.  Right then, Dave and Jackson walked on and got seats right next to us.  12 passengers missed the connection!  I was so happy we were headed to Denver.  The flight was great.  Mariah fell asleep and then Hallie fell asleep at the end.  

It was snowing when we touched down and it was cold in shorts and flip flops.  

We stayed up late talking and talking.  We love discussing finances and life with them.  Unfortunately, the kids were up early and the day started with lots of energy.  

MaryAnn and I went to work out and then took Jackson to eat lunch at Dayton's school.  

We went shopping at costco where Dave brought pants.  Apparently, I was suppose to pack them... He also bought a 'go pro' camera for good measure.   and I bought things to stock the conference store with.  

Dave and I went to the temple while MaryAnn graciously offered to watch the kids.  Unfortunately, on the way there, I realized my recommend was expired, which means no entry.   I was sad, but it was a good reminder that frequently, the most important things are left out in my life.  I want to put God first and it takes more effort than I've been giving it.    I still enjoyed the peace just in the foyer and the grounds.  It truly is a place of rest and worship. 

We took the kids to Daytons soccer practice, but we were all freezing cold, so we sat in the car.  Then we all went out to eat at Sweet Tomatos which is our kids favorite place since they get to pick what and how much they eat.  

Saturday, we listened to conference (if the radio decided it wanted to work) and dyed easter eggs.  the boys and kids rode a long path with bikes, scooters and trikes.  I picked flowers with Mariah.  It was a gorgeous day outside.  

We continued with conference and the kids loved earning bucks and buying goodies at the store.  

We had another egg hunt with friends of Ryan and MaryAnns at the park.  The kids also had an egg joust.   

Due to the flight loads, we had to take off EARLY on Easter morning.  (If I had known I could've left the entire suitcase that was filled with easter baskets and goodies).  Everything took longer than usual and we ran full force to our flight and barely made it on.  (BTW:  don't pack sidewalk chalk... TSA thinks it is dynamite).  Mariah took a nap and Hallie watched a movie from her own seat TV (awesome new planes!) We were back in our house an hour before conference even started.  We ate breakfast, unpacked and started listening again.  the kids were great.  

 the talks were wonderful and inspiring as always.  The theme was definitely FAMILY, which is exactly what I needed.  I am engaged in vitally important work and love God's reminder to do it to the best of my ability.  

We did a little easter basket with swim wear/gear in it.  The kids tried it out in our bathtub.  Early bedtimes for everyone helped us to catch up on the weekend of fun.

We are thankful that through the Sacrifice of Jesus Christ our family can resurrected, purified and be sealed together forever.  I am thankful to a Heavenly Father that loved us enough to make a plan to get us back to Him.  The knowledge of a Savior is important to me.

St Patricks Day in Chicago

We were so disappointed that our plans for spring break all fell through and flights going anywhere were full, full, full.  We were going to go camping, but it rained and then the rest of the week we watched flights to Utah with nothing opening up.  Finally, we went camping on Thursday night with our new friends the Pittson's.  It was so much fun!  We loved the food, hiking, relaxing and just being in nature.  It is definitely different than Utah camping, but we enjoyed it.  We headed home late Friday night (after the Friday night flights filled up again) and really wanted to go somewhere fun.  Instead of looking at flights we were so tired we watched TV.  At midnight, we finally looked at flights and discovered that Chicago was open  AND was having their St. Patrick's day parade.  So we got packed and went to bed by 1, only to wake up 5 hours later to catch the flight.  We thought all our plans were for naught when my ID went missing on our shuttle bus.  Luckily, the bus came back around and I got it in time.  

We were on our way to Chicago for the first time.   We debated using transportation or getting a rental car.  In the end, having a place to stash our stuff was an important reason to have a car.  We headed straight down town and tried to find the parade.  

Dave told me it was 'unseasonably warm' in Chicago.   Since we were just wearing flip flops and camping outdoors, I packed us all a light jacket.  We were COLD!!  We pulled our extra clothes out and wore double layers and tried to stay out in the sun rather than between the sky scrapers.  We waded through huge crowds of partyers.  It was crazy with bright green everywhere.  Lots of teens, drugs and drinking, which made me nervous, but the kids didn't seem to notice and we didn't lose anyone.  

I  was so confused by what was happening.  In Utah , a parade starts, everyone SITS and watches for 30 mins and then it is over.  This was totally different.  Everyone was standing and watching (so the kids couldn't see at all) the parade route was only a 1/2 mile long, but the parade went on for 3 hours!!  So you could come and go at will (and I was afraid we were going to 'miss' it for hours before hand!).  After watching with the kids on our necks for 5 mins, we snuck a spot in the front for the kids and they watched for a while getting some prizes a long the way.  

We stopped in for some lunch (LATE).  I was surprised that we waited until 3 with really no meal, but the kids did great!   We enjoyed warming up before starting out to sight see more.  

We walked back to the 'bean' which was streaming with people.  It was so interesting!  

 We played in a little patch of snow... unseasonably warm in Chicago means COLD to me.

We walked over to the bridge to see the river turned green.  It was so awesome.  Jackson got pulled into a street show that was actually horrible (they collected $$ and then didn't do a show).  So Jackson was disappointed.  

We walked shivering and tired back to the car.  We stopped at McDonalds for a bathroom and the kids begged for food, but we talked them into waiting for a deep dish Chicago pizza.  We ordered it to go (the wait was insane) and then took a look at the pier while waiting.  

We picked up the pizza and headed to the Residence Inn to eat and relax.  The pizza  was good, but I like regular pizza better.  We went swimming, but were so tired that it didn't last long.  We crashed!I love the comfort of Residence Inn with a separate bedroom (not to mention awesome breakfasts!)

We enjoyed breakfast and then got ready for Church.  It is so awesome to find a church anywhere.  This ward had quite a few young families and they were friendly and happy with us.  We went to all our meetings andthen the temple president offered to let us into the grounds of the temple.  so we were able to show our kids the Chicago Temple.  

We went to the first McDonald's ever and killed some time before heading to the airport really early.  

We were a bit nervous because we were having a layover in Indianapolis.  If we missed the flight there was no way out of Chicago the rest of the night, but we made the flight without problems.  A kind woman handed my girls some princess coloring pads and that made their flight so much better.  We got home late, happy we were finally able to travel somewhere.  

Christmas 2014

We knew this year would be especially magical for our family this year with a 6,4 and nearly 2 year old, everyone can participate and enjoy and have a great time.  We did a lot of prep and planning to get the perfect things for our kids and for each other.  I let go of trying to get ALL the Christmas activities in and hopefully had time to enjoy the ones we did do more because I was a little less stressed than last year.

 On Christmas Eve, Dave worked from home which gave us a little more time to spend together.  We tried to invite a couple family's over for a dinner, but it didn't work out, so knowing we would be spending the meal with our little family, made me less motivated to cook a big meal that our kids wouldn't like.  So instead we had KFC and mashed potatoes and we all found something to like.  It turned out that it was a perfect Christmas Eve to just spend with our family and relax and enjoy being with our kids and giving them 100% of our attention and love.  Looking back, it was perfect, but at the time I was really missing my big family get-togethers.  We did the nativity, sang Christmas songs, opened Jammies and had white hot chocolate.

The kids wanted to sleep in the den in the tent downstairs, so we put them to bed and they fell asleep surprisingly fast.  We spent the first 2 hours packing for a trip to Utah.  It was going to have a layover and make Christmas morning a bit rushed, but I didn't want to feel lonely the entire break, so it was going to be worth it.  Then we spent and hour or 2 cleaning and finally Santa stopped by to drop off the most perfect gifts for the kids.  I was so excited!  However, Dave also heard a loud noise in the kitchen while he was cleaning and I was worrying about the foundation being cracked.  I couldn't sleep and had dreams of our house falling into a sink hole.  When we woke up, we discovered that the flight was completely oversold and  booked all day.  Part of me was excited to have a true Christmas day of slowly unwrapping and playing and relaxing and eating.  I was very disappointed to not be going home and wished that we could at least make it in the next few days, but it looked VERY full.

Santa's gifts were set up down stairs with stockings full of goodies too.  It was absolutely perfect except that Mariah wanted all of Hallie's things (and her own things too).   Jackson got a hot wheels race track and loved every second of watching his new cars race the track (he asked for a single loop and got a double loop so he was thrilled).  Hallie asked for a purple my little pony and was so shocked that Santa knew the EXACT one that she wanted and gave it to her (along with a pink pony that walks and another stuffed pony... enough to share with all).  Mariah got a new baby doll with the baby paraphernalia (but she really wanted the pony.)

 We made German pancakes and headed upstairs to eat them... on their new little table and chairs.  this was one of my favorite gifts and one I think they will like the most, but there was no reaction to getting this present.  After eating, the opening of the presents began.  Since we had no where to be, we took it slow and enjoyed the present as long as we wanted before moving on.  All clothes got tried on and toys were opened from their packages.  I was so happy about Dave's Christmas.  I got him running shoes, cologne (The same one I gave him 8 years ago for our wedding) and a Pebble Steel watch (gives him notifications from his phone and other apps).   Jackson got a few games and puzzles, a sweater, legos, a tablet,  backpack, .  Hallie got frozen dress ups, hair sylist doll, boots, winter accesories, tablet, and headphones.  Mariah got a rolling backpack, dress up shoes, dress.   Dave gave me a massage gift certificate, a sweater, a lunch tote and a running arm band.

It was a wonderful time to watch our kids happiness and excitement.  One of my best Christmas' ever.  I was just wishing we could have family for the rest of the winter break.  I checked flights and everything just looked worse and worse, so I went downstairs and threw some frozen food on a cookie sheet and turned on the oven.  a few minutes later Dave called me upstairs to say a flight ( I had JUST checked)  had 35 seats open up...but we had to leave the house in 10 minutes or less.  Knowing the rest of the week looked bad, I said lets do it!! and we threw off our pjs, loaded the car and kids (turned off the oven and threw lunch back in the freezer) the biggest stress was that it was 1:00 and we hadn't eaten lunch and didn't have time to get it.  But we left anyway (with breakfast dishes undone and the house a Christmas Chaotic mess.)  I forgot my coat and phone charger and a few of the kids toys, but besides that considering the quick getaway we were pretty well covered.    We called ahead so the shuttle was quick and we got to the airport with enough time to get a lunch.  The flight was horrible!!  Mariah cried for 90% of it because she didn't want to be in buckled in her seat and we didn't bring the carseat.  I sat in the bathroom with her for 45 mins!  It was horrible, but worth it because I knew I wanted to be with family.  The lady next to me wasn't really in the Christmas spirit I guess.

I spent the entire day on the 26th cuddling a feverish and sick little Mariah.  I was so thankful that I was with family who could care for my other kids so I could give 100% to Mariah and not feel bad for sitting around all day and watching TV, playing Wii or just talking.

BYU vs. Gonzaga with my lovely sisters and other family.  The Cougs gave a good exciting game, but in the end it wasn't enough.


  It was a Christmas miracle to have snow on the morning of Christmas.  The kids got to build a fort and play for a long time in it.

But it was worth it for Christmas dinner and time with family!  It was so great to have Melinda and Marcie there!

The rest of the week is a blur of relaxation.  We went to the Shields family reunion, I met up with Tiffany Covington, Mostly we played games with Shane and Kim, Melinda and Marcie.  Carly came for a late night one night.  It was so fun to be all together.  I love relaxed family time.

When we got home, this is what our house looked like...

Upstairs

Downstairs

 Kitchen ... uggh!  Clean up was not pretty, but worth it!

We went home the day before New Years eve just to ensure we made it home.  It was great timing for the trip.
We went to a party at our neighbor's house for New Years.  It is fun to get to know our neighbors, but we are definitely the 'new comers' and despite our neighbors being friendly, they all have 10 years of experience and friendship together and we aren't as comfortable.  I'm hopeful the years continue to help us get closer with them.