California

We have been in California now for almost 7 weeks. We left Utah on Thursday the 12th of April. We got in late that night and the next morning we got up to drive to Grants Pass, OR where David's parents live. We hadn't seen David's dad since spring 04 and David's mom we saw in September of 05, when she came out for Carson's baptism and Lucy's blessing. It was really good to see them again. There is also David's brother, Tony and his three children. Two girls, Kristi and Koral, both now married and his son Garrick. David's brother Matt and his family was living in near Monterey, CA but is transitioning to go to Korea for the military these next few weeks. We are grateful that we were able to spend some time with them before they left.

We are renting a home from a couple who have gone on a mission in Arizona. It is a roomy "A " frame home on 2 1/2 acres in the woods. It is really nice to have the room for the kids. It already had a swing, slide, fort, two hammocks, and a garden spot. Along the back of the property is a creek that we can fish in. We haven't really tried it. There is a few lakes not far from us so we have gone there. David and the three older kids caught these two rainbow trouts a couple of weeks ago. We cooked them up that Sunday. We have seen lots of deer, blue jays, wood peckers, and squirrels. David saw the back side of a bear the other day as he was driving home. There was some trash in the road and as David came up on it the bear ran off. The kids and I saw a dead rattle snake on the side of the road about a 1/4 of a mile from our home. The picture is from my cell phone. Its hard for me to walk in tall grass now.
We had some more visitors this weekend. Carson left the outside door open after taking the garbage out. It was about 4 hours later till we realized it. David and I were just going to bed when David saw something scurry under the bed. He debated about worrying me with it. I jumped into bed and tried not to think about it. About three in the morning we both woke up hearing little noises. David grabbed the flashlight and could see them in the next room. The door to that room was closed so he went another way upstairs to go outside. The room they were in had a sliding glass door. David looked in and could see two mice. He opened the sliding glass door and one walked out. Whew! The other one went under the door to our bedroom. That was Sunday night. On Tuesday night we had been gone and came home where Carson found the little guy upstairs. We all cornered him behind the TV cabinet. Each of us got a bowl while Callie shewed it out. We all pounced on it and David caught it. It was a funny sight to see I'm sure.
I'm glad we were able to let the little thing outside without hurting it. We had put a mouse trap out for Monday and Tuesday but it didn't get the little guy. The cheese disappeared once but it didn't go off. Lucky! Most of all, I am glad it is out of the house!!

Our little Shirley Temple

She likes to get her hair done like her sisters.

Our stay in Utah

Picnicking in the park

We were excited to finally be in Utah. Some of the cousins were there which was an added bonus. We got there on Monday and Gina(my sister) and Duncan's wedding was on Thursday. The first few days were spent preparing for the blessed event. My brother Chad was making the cake so he was up late baking, testing, mixing, and creating. The rest of the family was arriving. Nick and his family came from North Carolina. Craig and his family came from Boise. Curtis and his family came from Missouri. Chad and his family were already there. My sister Nancy came from Price, UT, where she is going to school. My sister Diannah is serving a mission in Arkansas so we missed her dearly. And Gina lives in Provo. All together there were 14 adults and 18 grandchildren. The oldest grandchild is Kendall who is 12 and the youngest is Megan who is 6 months. There is another baby girl due in early fall.

This is the wedding cake while everyone was at the temple. Out of the children's reach. Chad made a sponge cake with a raspberry sauce and raspberry cream filling. The sauce soaked into the cake while the cream held it together. The icing was a white chocolate cream. Around the cake is a thin layer of melted white chocolate. It was yummy.

Here is what you do with 18 children waiting for everyone at the temple. You have them do races on the temple lawn. Mount Timpanogas temple has a good lawn for it.

Gina and Duncan just outside the temple. What a beautiful bride and groom!

Here is the cake finished. Gina and Duncan wanted things to be simple so they planned that after the sealing in the temple they would have a luncheon with family and a few friends. It was at The North Hampton House in American Fork. They set up, cater the meal, and take down. Very convenient and enjoyable. David went to the sealing but left right after to drive the U haul to California. He had to have the truck in Medford, OR that Saturday.

This is Gina on the stairs while Duncan sang to her and played the piano. Duncan is a piano tuner by profession. That is how they met. Gina bought a piano and Duncan came to tune it.

Nancy caught the bridal bouquet!


Here are all the cousins watching a movie. Its about the only way I could get them all together. The adults were all exhausted after a long day. We did start to make plans to take the children to the zoo the next day. Well the next day, Friday, was spent at the urgent care for some. We had 5 cases of strep through out the next few days. It was Carson and George from my family and three others from Curtis's family. We must have brought it from Missouri.


This little guy,Hudson, slipped in the bathroom and went to the ER. He had a mild concussion.


There are 4 girl cousins that are 7 and 8 years old. They had lots of fun together. Grammy got all the girls(2 more, AnnMarie(5) Ginger(4)) these Disney princess press on nails. Ginger wore them the longest. She went to church with three nails hanging on. She is so prissy.


Saturday we enjoyed watching the children have an easter egg hunt in the back yard.
It lots of fun.

This is Nancy and Chase. Chase was serving a mission in Switzerland(German speaking) and had an accident on an elevator. His leg was really damaged. He came back to the states and for some surgeries. He was released while waiting for his leg to heal. When he's healed to the point of going back out he will. You can tell by their smiles that they are happy to be together.


Papa and Lucy


Grammy, Callie, and Megan


We even had time to do some crafts.

We went to visit my grandmother, Gee Gee, in a nursing facility.
She just happened to be getting a perm that day.
Carson was in the car with David because he was still contagious with strep.

David wasn't suppose to come back from California but he decided to surprise us the night before. It was about 2am and I'm sleeping in my sister Nancy's room. I vaguely hear tapping on the window and my cell ringing. I thought my phone was the alarm clock and then I thought about the tapping. I thought my sisters friends were doing it. After I looked at my phone I realized it was David calling. Then it all started to click together. I went to the front door and there he was. Crazy guy, who loves his family!

We left a couple days later for California.

Spaghetti

Lucy's way of saying spaghetti!

Our jouney to Utah

Well its been a little while and so much to catch up on.

We left Independence, MO Saturday March 31st. We spent the morning, with lots of help from friends and ward members, loading up our U haul from the apartment and our storage unit. It was weird to drive away with everything we own in a truck. The last time we did that was when we moved from Baker City, OR to Dillon, MT. (five years ago) When we moved from MT to Lincoln, NE the company moved us with a big moving truck so I wasn't there to see it all. Then with our move from Lincoln to Independence, MO, which is three hours apart from each other, we made three different trips to get our stuff down there because we still had our house in Lincoln.

Just as we got onto Hwy 2 heading towards Lincoln we stopped at the gas station there. David hooked up the U haul and then went inside to get some snacks. When he came out we talked for a bit then got in the vehicles. I was facing David as he pulled away and saw some guy cutting him off and laughing. Then another car did the same. I see David get out and go to the other side of the truck. He then walks back to the pump station holding the gas pump that had disconnected from hose. I would have a pictures but he was a little upset to pose for me. Poor guy! To all our friends in Lincoln; we waved as we drove through town. So many friends, so little time! I drove the van with the girls in it so we did take one detour to drive by our old house that was just a few turns off of our route. I wanted to see if my rose bushes were still there that I had planted when I was 5 months pregnant with Lucy. They were there and they still had the purple curtains up in the girls room. Callie noticed that. That night we stayed in Sydney, NE.

We took the next day a little bit easier and stayed one more night in Rock Springs, WY. DO NOT stay at the EconoLodge there. We should have drove a little bit farther into town. It was very dirty and the management was very unprofessional. The manager fired a housekeeper in the front office where everyone was eating breakfast. I complained to the company after we got to Utah but only received a letter saying they would pass it on to the owner of that specific EconoLodge.

We all survived and made it to Utah on Monday. The kids were so excited to finally be off the road for a while.