Utah Vacation

As soon as we got home from Flagstaff we started packing for Utah. We left May 29th. Britton wanted to be in Utah for his real Birthday! So we loaded up the car, and headed out. We had to take Hilda our cat and Tayo and Hedwig the birds and the kids and I drove 11 hours to get there. The drive wasn't that bad. I'm sure we looked ridiculous with the cat kennel and bird cage. It made it very difficult to stop because we couldn't leave them in the car, it was way to hot. The first stop we did make was in Boulder City to visit Tyler. When we got there we got to watch the sky divers come in.

This is the Helicopter Tyler fly's now. It is so cool. I can't wait to go for a ride in it!!

After that stop we headed on to Cedar City for our next stop and then continued on to our destination! The kids and animals did so good. I was so proud of all of them!

WEDNESDAY MAY 30th.....DOUBLE DIGITS!! HaPpY BiRtHdAy BrItToN!!! I can't believe my boy is 10. He didn't get to be with friends and he didn't get to be with his Dad so I tried to make it special. We had ordered a gift and since we decided to go to Utah earlier then planned it didn't arrive in the mail in time so I ran to the store and got him the game he has been wanting.

 

        And Grandma and Grandpa gave him TONS of money!

Shane wanted to take Britton bowling. He goes every Wednesday with Jeremy. Jeremy is Shane's "helper". Shane works at the bowling alley so his boss made sure to make Britton's Birthday special. We had the bowling alley all to ourselves, she let us do glow in the dark bowling, the kids got candy and toys and she took a picture of Britton so that every time he bowled this picture would come up.

We had a ton of fun and Britton bowled really well! Oh, and it was all free. How cool is that?!? As soon as we got done bowling we were on our way to BOONDOCKS!

Britton had to have car number 10

Later that evening my Mom and Shane were able to meet up with us.

The kids finally let us leave at 9:30 that evening. And we still had to go home and have cake and ice cream. Grandma, Grandpa and Shane got Britton and ice cream cake!

 

Uncle Shane made Britton a bird house. He painted it all by himself!

I think it turned out to be a great Birthday. Happy Birthday Bud, you are very loved!!

We actually had to take the next two days to rest up. We were all exhausted after our trip to Flagstaff, driving to Utah and having a Birthday party that didn't end until 11:00pm.

Saturday June 2nd the kids got in touch with their friends from our old neighborhood. Britton played with Rylie and Shayna played with Ava and Leah. We also got to visit with our favorite neighbors Buzz and Jan.

Sunday June 3rd we all went to Bountiful Lake to feed the ducks. It was very nice that Dad was able to get out of the house for a bit and go with us.

Shayna didn't feed the birds. They were way too big and intimidating for her. I agreed. Britton loved every minute of it.

Monday June 4th I took the kids to the Rec center. Shayna's friend Ava had invited her to go so she was there with their family and Britton wanted to go so he invited his friend Alex and I took them.

 Britton and Alex didn't want their picture taken. Every time I would try they would go under water. So I snapped this picture as they came up for air.
Ava and Shayna were very good and let me take their picture. Aren't they beautiful!

Ava is such a sweet girl. I hated making Shayna move away from her and her family.
Later that evening we went to the Clark Planetarium to pick up some viewing glasses so we could watch Venus pass the Sun.

Tuesday June 5th Shayna went to Leah's to play and Britton's friend Alex came over to Grandma and Grandpa's to play. They played all day long! When friends got home we hopped in the car and drove up Eagle Wood so we could watch Venus pass the Sun. It was an amazing site. I'm so glad we took the time to do it. It is something I will never forget and I really hope the kids don't either.

Wednesday June 6th We went to Physical Therapy with my Dad. The Therapists were really cool with the kids. They let them be involved in everything going on and if the kids had questions about anything or any of the equipment they would answer everything.

After therapy I dropped Shayna off at Leahs and we took Britton to Rylies. When the kids got home I got them all prettied up and Charleen came out and took photo's of the kids. It was so cold and they were in summer clothes. I can't wait to see how they turned out!! The most exciting thing about this day is that Tyler passed his check ride. That means he gets the job in Nevada no matter what. YAY!! So we are definitely moving to Henderson. The search for homes is on!

Thursday June 7th I took Britton over to Julions house to play. Leah came over to my parents house to play with Shayna and they got chased by the neighbors dog. I have never seen Shayna so scared in all my life. They were both running across the street as fast as they could. I have never seen girls run so fast in flip flops. Shayna was bawling and Leah was laughing. It was sad and funny all at the same time. My Mom and Dad have decided that they want to live closer to their Grand kids so they have decided to move to Henderson as well. Today we got some boxes and started cleaning and packing.....so exciting!

Friday June 8th. The kids are playing with their Utah friends as much as they possibly can. They have missed them so much! Today Shayna went to the Rec center with her friend Ava's family then they invited her over for dinner. Afterwards Ava's Mom took them out for ice cream. I didn't see Shay all day and she was in HEAVEN. Britton went to his friend Alex's house and when he couldn't play any more he invited Julion to come over to play. They had a ton of fun building a fort in my Mom's basement.

While the kids were busy playing, Mom and I were busy cleaning and packing the play room.This was by far the hardest room to clean. I pretty much had to do it on my own. My Mom is so sentimental about everything she wouldn't have been able to throw anything away. It looked amazing after I got done with it though. Ha!

Saturday June 9th we all went to Julions soccer game. Britton wanted to go to see his old coach and some of his friends on the team. They ended up losing by one but it was fun to support them anyway.

Britton was invited to sit with the team during the game. He thought that was pretty cool!

Shayna had fun playing with all of the cut grass.

Shayna was invited to go to the zoo with her friend Ava. Ava's Mom did so much for Shayna this trip. They had so much fun! I really appreciate their friends parents doing so much for them and making them feel missed and special. Britton went over to Julions house to play. When I drove up to the house to pick Britton up Julion and another friend Prince came running up to the car and told me about a guy across street who was yelling at Britton. They told me the neighbors little boy came over and wanted to play soccer but all of the boys told him he couldn't play because they didn't want him to get hurt. The boy started kicking Britton, Britton put his hands out to block the kicks and the boy kicked his hand and then fell down. The boy ran over to his dad and told him Britton pushed him down so the dad came back over and got in Brittons face. All the boys tried to tell the dad what happened but it just made him yell more. I got out of the car to get Britton and the little boy came running back across the street he was screaming at Britton (this boy is 6 by the way) and grabbing his leg and jumping up and down. I asked him if he was ok and he YELLED at me saying NO! That boy kicked me and pushed me down. So I said well I have been told that you were kicking them and then you fell down. And he started YELLING and SCREAMING and he said shut your stupid face lady, just shut up your ugly stupid face. I was telling the boy not to talk to me like that and by this time the dad came walking across the street to get his boy but he was laughing at the way the boy was talking to me. I was FUMING MAD. I told the dad to teach his boy some respect and he said like wise lady. Oh Wow, that got me going. I said my Son has more respect in his little body then both you and your boy combined and then he told me my son was a bully. The fight went on and on until he got in his truck and drove away. I have never been so mad in all my life. I could hardly drive home I was shaking so bad. I felt so bad for Britton he was so upset. I had a pretty long conversation with him about the apple not falling very far from the tree and respect and sticking up for yourself. If nothing else it was a good learning experience. Sheesh, some people! And then the best part of the day, we got to go to the airport to pick Tyler up. He got to come to Utah to visit us for a few days. YAY! Believe me, it's a good thing I can talk some sense into Tyler and my Dad was not at his best.....other wise, that guy would be dead right now.

Sunday June 10th we did tons of packing while Tyler was in town to help. Dennis came out and made us all dinner then he helped carry the heavy items over to storage. Today we found out that we have to be out of our house by July 29th. Tyler works that week so we are actually going to have to move out during the weekend of the 20th. That doesnt give us much time to find a place to live. Wish us luck.

Monday June 11th we took my Dad's truck to get the oil changed for him then we took Ty's new work shirts to the tailor to have them brought in a bit then we took the kids to the Clark Planetarium. I was amazed at how much my kids loved the experience we had when we were watching Venus pass the sun. They were so interested in everything about it. Britton and I have been to the planetarium before with school and loved it so we decided it would be a neat experience for Shay as well. It was so much fun to be there with them and watch them want to learn everything. Tyler was able to answer all of their questions and tell them why (show off) and I learned a lot too! So cool.

My favorite part of the planetarium was the movie we went to in the dome. I learned so much while having fun. In parts of the movie you felt like you were on a roller coaster. AWESOME!! Did you know Pluto has moons and one of the moons is called Sharon. That made my Mom that much cooler to me. Ha! Also Saturn is a gas planet, it doesnt have a solid surface so you can't land on it. Its like flying through fog....WEIRD. In the movie we got to fly to all of the planets to see what it looks like and what the weather is like. It was so neat. I highly recommend it. Afterwards we dropped the kids off at my Mom and Dads and Tyler and I ran to the grocery store. When we got back Julions Mom was there. She wanted to talk about her neighbor and appologize for everything. I really appreciated that she came over to make sure Britton was ok. That night Britton helped Grandma make dinner. Something he NEVER does. He must love his Grandma. He would never do that for me.

I just had to get pictures. I'm not sure that I will ever see that again!

Tuesday June 12th we did a lot more packing and cleaning. We picked up Ty's shirts from the Tailor and took Ty to the airport. The kids cried so hard. I felt terrible. They miss their Dad so bad. I can't wait until we can all get settled in Henderson and be a family again. This is so hard on the kids. I HATE it. I dropped Britton off at Julions on our way home from the airport and Shayna and I went for a shake. While my Dad was at Therapy he learned he gets his drivers license back. He can only drive on back roads and under 40 miles an hour. He was so excited about it so he drove me to Julions to pick up Britton. I think he really wanted to go to make sure there wasn't any trouble with the neighbor. By the way the little boy went back over to the house to bug the boys again.....in his underwear. I'm thinking if you really think my son is a bully and he has it in him to hurt your little boy then why would you let him go back over. What kind of a parent does that make you. I'm still fuming. Haha!

Wednesday June 13th My Mom and I took the kids to the Natural History Museum. I can't believe we didn't do these things when we lived here. This was another really cool museum that the kids enjoyed.

On our way home we decided to stop at the Capital to let the kids see it. Britton has been wanting to see it forever. I wish I had a picture of his face when we walked in. He thought it was pretty amazing. He couldn't believe his great Grandpa used to work there.

We were all starving by this time and the cafeteria at the capital was closed so we headed off to Atlantis Burger. YUMMY! We dropped Britton off at Alex's to play and then went back to Mom's for more packing.

Thursday June 14th we went to Physical Therapy with Dad.

During outside play they gave the kids a soccer ball. It kept them very entertained. Dad started not feeling very well and had to sit down. His blood pressure dropped really low and he almost passed out so we had to end a little early. The Doctors are still trying to work with his meds to get him on the right dose of everything. I hope it happens soon. The meds have been making him feel pretty crappy. When we got home we started packing up their office. It's amazing how much stuff you have when you have lived in a home for 35 years.....CRAZY! You have no idea how many trips to the DI they have made. I actually have no idea. A lot. That's all I know.

Friday June 15th. Mom and Dad went to speech therapy. While Dad was there they told him this would be the last therapy session he would need for speech. As long as he keeps doing his excersizes he can be done going in. YAY! That was great news! While they were at therapy I took the kids to the rec center to swim. We had a fun day!

Saturday June 16th we packed some more and then went shopping for Fathers day. My Mom bought me a Sentsy for all of my help. I don't really think I did much but I LOVE my Sentsy....Thanks Mom! That night my parents kept the kids for me so I could go to dinner with my Friends. We have been in Utah nearly 3 weeks and this is the first chance I have had to see any of my friends. We had a ton of fun and sat and talked for hours. I didn't get home until midnight. Thank you Mom and Dad for keeping the kids!

Sunday June 17th. Happy Fathers Day! Dad was really sick all day long. His meds are really messing with him. He slept most of the day. I felt so bad for him. Since Dad was sick and Ty was working we didn't do anything for Fathers Day. Julions family called Britton to see if he wanted to go to a movie with them. It was so nice of them to let him join them on fathers day. After the movie Britton played at Julions for a few hours. Julions parents are some of the neatest people I have ever met. There is a little bit of a language barrier but we just get each other. I hate that we are so far away from them now. Mom and I took Shayna to the park to play for a bit. Being Father's day she didn't have anyone to play with so we tried to entertain her. For dinner Dad didnt feel like eating much. Nothing tastes good to him but he does well with pasta so I made some homemade fettuccini noodles. They were delicious. It was the best I have ever done!

Monday June 18th we hung out with my friends again. This time with the kids. We went to a splash pad and park but the splash pad was not working so we played at the park for a while and then ended up at Amy's house. Thank you Amy for letting all of us invade. I really enjoyed visiting with my friends while the kids played. They all got along so good. Here are all of the Lady's. Please ignore me. I look HIDEOUS!

This is all the girls. Minus Jills girls. They had to leave from the park for a ballet rehearsal.

 

And the boys. I am missing quite a few of them.

 Kim is not allowed to hang out with us unless she cuts our hair. Poor Kim. I have not had my hair cut since she did it in January. I was desperate for a trim and Shay wanted her hair cut too. Thanks Kim! Your the best!!

We brought Julion along with us. This is our last day in Utah and Britton wanted to be with him. It was so hard when we dropped Julion off at home. We didn't want to say good bye. I could tell Britton was fighting off tears. So sad.

Tuesday June 19th. Our three weeks are up. It went by so fast but now we have to go home and box up our house and start the hunt for houses in Nevada. We stopped in Henderson to pick up Ty and finished our drive to Arizona. We were all too tired to cook so we stopped for pizza. When we got home Britton's Birthday present was waiting for him.

Brittons Uncle Jordan is the coach for Iowa Western Reivers. Britton has been wanting a "real" ball bag forever so I called Jordan to see what he could do for us. He went through his vendor to have the logo and initials put on the bag for Britton. He thought it was the coolest gift ever. Britton thinks the world of his Uncle Jordan and he is so proud of his bag. Jordan wouldn't let us pay for the bag or the shipping so this gift is from Jordan and Kolay. Thank you so much guys. We love you!

We will be home for a couple of days before we head off to Henderson to look for homes. This has been a crazy busy summer so far, but we have loved every minute of it!