Our Utah/Idaho Trip

Last week Mom, Rachel, Riley, Carter and I went on a ROAD TRIP! As most of you know already, we had a surprise birthday party for Grandpa where we had Taco Salad and watched Cars 2. Almost everyone was able to make it, except for Ruben and Mariann (baby due any day now!) and Heidi and Johnathan (who are struggling to make ends meet – and we needed someone to stay behind and tend to the animals! *wink, grin*)

After this, we said goodbye and took off to see Jon and Grace! They were so nice to have three grownups and two babies crash at their place while they were giving lessons in Church, doing emergency service for ward members, going to school, and working all hours of the night. Needless to say, we didn’t see much of them.  Riley absolutely loved it there! Especially their cats! One of them would jump inside a box and Riley would push him around – and the cat liked it! Riley also made sure to give the cats proper hugs and kisses before bed each night.

We also visited Trina during this time and her boyfriend – who is very nice by the way. We gave her a perm and got to go shopping at the DI. I was also granted some time to walk (by myself) around Temple Square and see all the Christmas decorations. I’ve never done that before. It was incredible to see the life-like manger scene.

After this, we took off to see Grandma Miller in Logan, and stopped by to see Tina and her family on our way. It was nice to see them again, but it was too short of a visit. At Grandma Miller’s we were served awesome meals, had the warmest (King Size) beds, and a bathroom big enough to bathe the boys. We did some more shopping while there and heard some wonderful life stories from Grandma Great.

Then we left to see Ruben and Mariann. We got lost on our way and doubled our driving time to their place. It was a bit stressful, but we go through it. We had a warm meal of lasagna and homemade French loaves! (Mariann is taking a baking class. Boy, is Ruben lucky! She is an awesome baker!) We went on walks during the day and visited. And in the evening we played the game “Ticket to Ride”. I really enjoyed that one. I wouldn’t mind getting it for Christmas (hint, hint).

Our drive home ended up being 12 hours total while getting stranded in Rawlins after 9 hours. The roads were icy and the truck drivers were maniacs! There were actually about 10 or more trucks that had slipped off the road and tipped over.  But, as you can tell, we made it home safely!

A side story – the night we got stranded in Rawlins we stayed the night at a hotel. Riley needed a bath because we didn’t get the chance to change his diaper earlier in the day and it leaked all over him and the car seat. Poor kid was so cold when I took him out of the car. We stripped him and put him in the bathtub right away. He is so cute when he curls down and sinks into the water. After he got his pajamas on, we gave him a bottle and put him to bed. That night (when Carter wanted to nurse) Riley spoke him his sleep in a sweet, sad voice. “Home? Home…” He was so homesick by the end of the trip. I think he just said what I was feeling by this time too.   

We were so happy to see everyone in Utah and Idaho, but it was time to go home!