Since our kids had the whole week off for Thanksgiving break, we decided to be super crazy and drive all the way out to Utah in order to have the whole family together for the holiday. Leaving early on the Saturday before, we drove straight through the 20+ hours it took to get out there, and then exactly one week later we made that same drive all the way back -- in one fell swoop once again. And by we, of course, I mean Scott -- he's the hero of the hour who drove every single mile of our trek. Obviously, he deserves a medal. Hahaha. (But seriously.)
These two crack me up.
Kate and Isaac are two peas in a pod.
In all honesty, the drive wasn't terrible -- LONG, yes. But other than Isaac starting early on and asking regularly if we were almost there yet, the kids mostly handled things okay. Were there a few fights over seating arrangements and whose turn it was on various electronic devices? Yes. But all in all, everyone was a super trooper!
That first night, we made it to Freddie's house a little after 1 in the morning and everyone crashed and went to sleep without any problems. Unfortunately, the next two nights proved to be a little more traumatic and dramatic. You see, while staying at my brother's, we essentially took over the whole basement. Scott and I had one bedroom, the girls had the other bedroom, and the boys had sleeping pallets on the floor in the main room. On our second night there, Scott and I came up with the brilliant idea of moving Alex and Isaac's pallets into the giant walk-in closet of the room we were staying in, since the two of them invariably end up in our room/bed every night. Unfortunately, we failed to give them a heads up about that situation, and after the boys had fallen asleep on the couch that night we moved them into the closet and foolishly thought that all was well. All was NOT well, however, when Alex woke up in the pitch black darkness of the night and had no idea where he was and didn't know where the door was to get out. We woke up to him banging on the closet wall, crying, and after rescuing him and letting him sleep the rest of the night at the foot of our bed, we foolishly thought -- once again -- that all was well. All was NOT well, however, and for the rest of the trip Alex was having panic attacks multiple times a day, where he was reliving the terror of being trapped in the dark and the what-ifs of not being able to find his way out. To say the experience was traumatizing would be an understatement.
In happier times, Alex had fun with his cousin Henry.
The very next night, we had more drama as we were awoken around 3 in the morning with Sophie rushing in to tell us that Jane couldn't breathe and couldn't find her inhaler. {Her asthma always seems to be worse in Utah in the winter.} I knew exactly where the inhaler was, so I was able to get it to her quickly, but even with the maximum number of puffs she could take, she was still wheezing and struggling to breathe. I was worried we would end up with an ER trip before morning, but thankfully, her breathing calmed down and she was eventually able to fall back asleep. When she woke the next day, we discovered that a closet was again the source of panic, when Jane explained that she mistook the closet door for the exit out of the room and couldn't figure out where to go in the dark. In Jane's case, at least, there was no lasting damage -- other than her asthma persistently rearing it's ugly head -- and she made it through the trip without needing to go to urgent care or the ER.
Ping pong was a big hit with my crew. I think they especially got a kick out of granny joining in on the fun.
Despite those two blips on the radar, the majority of our mini-vacation was a source of joy and excitement for all! The kids got to check out Ethan's dorm room, eat at the Cannon Center on his dime, and pick out some BYU merch at the store on campus. Additionally, they were able to spend the first half of the week with my side of the family (Freddie, Amy, and Emily live in the same neighborhood, and my mom flew up for the gathering) and the second half with Scott's (everyone was in town to celebrate his dad's 80th birthday). An added bonus was everyone being there for Ethan when he went through the Timpanogas temple the day after Thanksgiving. All-in-all, it was a packed week and we loved every second of it. With Christmas vacation almost upon us, we're equally looking forward to loving every second of having Ethan back home!
My personal opinion aside, the overall consensus was that the Cannon Center was amazing. Hahaha.
Everyone had a blast joining in for jackbox games at Freddie's house.
Just Dance held the kids' attention for a bit at grandma and grandpa's house on Thanksgiving.
Other than Ben and Joseph (who are on their mission), all of Scott's family was able to make it for Gordon's birthday celebration. It's been so long since we've seen the Las Vegas cousins, and it was so fun to have everyone all together.
Ethan is the best firstborn guinea pig of a child that anyone could ever ask for. In all honesty, I think the fact that he has turned out so well is more a factor of him being innately great than anything our parenting may have wrought.
My family after the temple...
Scott's family...
And the whole gang.
He's a good egg.
1 comment:
y'all definitely brightened our thanksgiving week!!!
would love for this to be your new tradition as long as you have byu kids!!!!!
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