Utah Trip

Before I write about our Utah trip, I just want to say CONGRATULATIONS to Jon's sister, Darlene, and her husband Justin. Darlene gave birth to their handsome little 7 pounds, 5 ounces baby boy, James, on June 30th at 2:30 a.m. Darlene did an amazing job and I believe that it was truly a miracle that she was able to give birth naturally, and not via c-section. Darlene is TEENY (barely over 5 feet) and the doctors had mentioned on more than one occasion that she had very narrow hips. Additionally, she was 10 days OVERDUE!! Jon and I were able to be in the waiting room during the majority of the labor and delivery and it was wonderful (we weren't the ones feeling the pain...how could it NOT be wonderful?!).

For a while, I was certain that she was going to have a c-section because she was stuck at a 4 for hours. The nurse mentioned that some women simply don't dilate and, as a result, a c-section is deemed necessary. Jon's mom didn't dilate past a 6 and had to have both of her kids via c-section. Anyway, Justin and Jon gave Darlene a priesthood blessing and in it, she was promised that if she had enough faith, she would be able to deliver the baby naturally. And what do you know, she started to dilate almost immediately after the blessing. Truly a miracle. :)

Anyway, congratulations Tia and Tio!

About our vacation. We went to visit my family over the 4th of July weekend. We had a blast! We had to cut the trip a little short, however, because Lizzie developed a boil (I know, gross) right below her belly button. It started out pretty small, and then it kept increasing in size and redness. I kept bathing her and putting ointment on it, but it didn't improve any. We decided to go home a little bit early so that she could see her doctor. As it turned out, the doctor claimed that the boil developed from a clogged hair follicle as a result of bacteria on her skin. The doctor simply ended up squeezing some puss out of it and prescribing her antibiotics. And I simply stopped putting diapers on her. Yes, for the past week and a half she has not worn diapers (except at night and at church) and she has actually done pretty well! I really don't know why I didn't start the whole toilet-training thing earlier. I assumed that it would be so much harder than it actually was. Oh well, lesson learned. :)

We had anticipated leaving for Logan at 4 a.m. on July 1st. But as it turned out, we didn't end up leaving until nearly 8:00 in the morning. After making stops for lunch and dinner and being stuck in horrible traffic around St. George, we didn't end up arriving at my parents house until about 12:30 a.m. I have made the trip in 12 hours before (when I was single and not stopping for anything but gasoline). It's amazing how much LONGER the trip takes when you are hauling two young kids! But it was worth it, of course. :) Alyssa was with us on the way there, which made it a lot easier. And more enjoyable. :)

Here are about a zillion pictures of our trip...

On the way there, we stopped at Southpoint in Vegas for lunch. It was DELICIOUS. And very affordable, as far as Vegas buffets go.

Jon and I spent nearly 5 hours wandering around our favorite stores in Cache Valley (The Book Table, Deseret Book, The LDS Distribution Center, Old Gristmill, and the D.I.). They don't have any of those stores here and whenever we go to Utah we make a special effort to visit those places. Anyway, while we were "shopping", the kids had fun with Grandma and Grandpa.

Here are some random pictures:

Lizzie LOVED playing with their tiny little poodle, Max.

On July 2nd, we went to the fireworks show at USU. We used to go there every year when I was growing up and it was fun to see the fireworks again. My brother,Craig, and his wife, Amanda, were able to join us too. It was a lot of fun! Oh yeah, Amanda is expecting a baby and is due at the end of January. We are so excited for them!

Here are some random pictures of the fireworks show:

It was really weird. Lizzie was playing and then she suddenly got really tired and fell asleep on my Mom's lap.

I had to laugh when I saw this picture. Craig's face is hideous and Amanda's eyes are popping out of her head. Ha-Ha! :)

Bryce loved this little glow-stick!

On Monday, we spend nearly the entire day in Logan canyon in my parents awesome tent trailer. It was so nice being in the beautiful mountains! I have missed them SO much since I have been in CA. I used to go hiking or running in the mountains almost every day when I lived there. It has definitely been an adjustment for me to get used to the dry dessert life. The desert is beautiful in it's own special way, but nothing can truly beat the beauty of the mountains.

Here are some pictures:

Lizzie liked the pink squirt gun better than the green one, but she accidentally dropped the pink one in the fire and we had to watch is slowly burn. :( It was sad! Yet somehow funny at the same time...

Alysa and I were able to go on a mini-hike. It was beautiful!

Our plan was to sleep in the tent trailer and then head back to CA in the morning. However, after unsuccessfully trying to cajole our kids to sleep, we decided to put the kids in their car seats and drive all night. It took us about 13 hours to drive home, but we made it in one piece. The best part about the drive home was that the kids slept almost the entire way! I always love driving at night for that reason, but I really dislike being so tired and worn out.

Anyway, it was a very enjoyable trip and we were grateful that we were able to go!