Surprise Visitors

Saturday morning we got an unexpected phone call from my Grandpa and Grandma asking if they could come visit us THAT afternoon! My Grandpa is a trucker and the route he was on came close enough to Dayton that they wanted to stop and visit. They were only here for about 24 hours (which is actually a long visit when he's working) and we enjoyed every minute of it! Saturday evening the kids had a ball rough housing with Grandpa Ed. Then Sunday it was nice to enjoy General Conference together.
While we were watching Conference I told Gabe that when it was President Monson's turn to speak he needed to sit still and listen. Well, he ended up being asleep for President Monson's talk on gratitude, but he was awake and listened to the closing remarks (you know the remarks that are only a couple minutes long where he tells everyone to drive home safely, etc). Anyway, Gabe's sitting on John's lap listening to the prophet when he says, "Man, the prophet has a lot to talk about!" It was pretty funny! I wonder what he would have thought if I'd made him listen to the long talk on gratitude?
Anyway, we had a great time with my grandparents. It was nice to have just one on one time with them. When we go home to Utah there's always so many people to see that we rarely get to spend any time with just them. So it was great that they were able to come see us, on our turf, and get to know our kids a little better.

My kids LOVED playing with Grandpa!I remember Grandpa flipping me over his head like this when I was little.
It's pretty cool he's still doing this to his great grand kids!
Checking out the BIG truck!

Grandpa showing John and Gabe what all the button do.

Look out, Porter's behind the wheel!

Fish On!

John took Gabe pond fishing on Saturday. I think they used hot dogs for bait. John may have overlooked the rule about the pond being catch and release, because I now have a bass in my fridge. And I have to mention that Gabe was scared of touching the fish, so we had to put it on the cutting board to get this picture.

Viva Wall Drug!

Driving across South Dakota we saw about a bizillion

of these billboards for Wall Drug.

Curiosity took hold and we had to make a stop.

Here's some of what we saw . . .

Cowboy stuff

Indian stuff

Gabe wasn't quite tall enough to make a good Indian Chief,

but he made a pretty darn cute Indian squaw!

A giant jackalope

More cowboy stuff

A giant gorilla playing the piano.

Not quite sure what Porter saw here . . .

Yes, it was a huge tourist trap,

but the kids loved it and it was quite the experience!

Road Map

Gabe and I made this "road map" of our trip the day before we left.

By looking at a map, we made a list of big cities, state lines, and other interesting landmarks we would pass along our route. We printed the list and taped the names onto a string which we hung in the car. Then using a little truck (taped to a paperclip) Gabe was able to track the progress we were making on our trip by moving the truck along the string as we reached each destination on our trip.

This was a great way to get him involved in our trip and I like to think it helped eliminate some of the, "Are we there yets?" We somehow lost the truck on the first day and ended up having to use the sticker off a fast food wrapper to track our progress, but it still worked and Gabe had fun with it! This is what it looked like hanging in the car. Happy trails!

Sheridan, Wyoming

On our journey west we stopped for a day in Sheridan, Wyoming to see John's grandparents. Our kids enjoyed some much needed outside play time at a park while John and I visited with his grandmas. That evening we went to dinner with his grandpa, but unfortunately I have no pictures of that event because I was too busy wrangling our kids in the restaurant.

The kids weren't the only ones happy to be out of the car.
John and I got some time in on the jungle gym too!

Just as we were about to leave the park, a firetruck pulled in.
The firemen had come to the park to exercise,
and were nice enough to let our kids checkout the firetruck first.

Mount Rushmore

Since we were heading to Wyoming via I-90 we stopped by the Black Hills for a little gander at Mount Rushmore. Pretty cool, even when you are car sick from all the windy roads. And yes, windy (as in curvy roads) is spelled the same way as windy (as in air that blows). I looked it up. Anyway, Mount Rushmore was different than what I had imagined. First of all, it was in the mountains. I know that sounds stupid, but I really imagined it being carved into a solitary big hill that was out in the middle of the vast plains of South Dakota. So the fact that it was actually nestled deep into the Black Hills took me by surprise. I know, not one of my brighter ideas. Moving on. Next thing that took me by surprise was that Mount Rushmore only accepts cash. It costs $10 to get in. We only had $7. Seriously, what National Monument doesn't take a credit card? Anyway, the toll booth guy with his mouth wired shut felt bad for us and let us in for only $5. Thanks. And finally, the last surprise was how close we could actually get to the mountain. We had heard that it was far away, so I imagined it being so far yonder we wouldn't be able to see any detail. But, it was close, big, and impressive. A cool stop on our trip.

far away . . .

not so far away . . .

The Trip West

We just got back from a trip to Utah which means there's going to be a lot of bloggage and pictures the next few days! Ready? Here we go!

I don't know why,

but I love seeing these windmills as we drive across the country.

I think they would have given Willa Cather a heart attack,

but to me they are soothing.

It was a 31 hour drive from Ohio to Wyoming then on to Utah.

My favorite part of the trip?

When the kids were asleep!

(We had to get innovative to keep the sun out of Porter's eyes.)

Gabe had no problem turning the hotels into playgrounds.

At the Zoo

Monday we took a much needed break from all the car craziness to enjoy Labor Day at the zoo with our kids.

A Car Story

We've had quite the week with our cars. Here's the long story short.

Let's start with the truck. Monday we took the truck to Toyota to have the frame inspected. Frame is beyond repair (rusting through) & covered by warranty, so Toyota is buying John's truck from us. John wanted a new truck, but after lots and lots of looking he decided to go a more practical route.

So we said goodbye to one of these . . .

and said hello to one of these . . .

In the midst of all that we were driving around in one of these with no A/C.

Took the van to Midas and paid $60 to have them tell us the wrong thing was broken! After special ordering the "Midas part" from Honda, John watched enough YouTube to figure out what was really broken and he fixed the A/C. Yeah for super awesome husbands! Thankfully Honda refunded our money for the special order part and life will soon be back to normal. We still have to return the rental car and pick up our check from Toyota. Hopefully now I can catch up on all the sleep I lost this week worrying about our cars!

Holy Moly Guacamole Cow

This is Gabe's latest saying. I love it! Makes me laugh every time. Here's just a few odds and ends from the past couple of weeks.

My kids love playing with laundry baskets!

Apparently, laundry baskets also make a great place to watch cartoons.

Gabe's first day of school

This is what happens when you think it's funny to run away from your mommy.

And yes, the faster mommy chases you, the faster you run, until you face plant in the street.

Porter and his friend Abby were born only 3 days apart.
Aren't they cute?!

I told you my kids love laundry baskets.

They love it even more when they have daddy and a laundry basket!