When we arrived at Nana's house, Kendall was overwhelmed with all the family around. She kept her smiles to herself, and just mostly stared at people. She had a staring contest with Papa that lasted forever! Papa also let her watch some of a Tim McGraw concert on TV and she watched it for a long time. I think she has a crush on him! Kendall was pretty good on the trip - on many occasions it was just easier to hold her then let her crawl around, and she was mostly content to be held when I needed her to be (at home she likes to be left alone - she just crawls around and gets into everything). She woke up a lot in the early evening hours, and I didn't even know how to put her back to sleep because she sleeps through the night at home and hardly ever wakes up. So Brandon rocked and held her which worked for him, and I ended up just laying her on my chest over and over and scratching her back until she fell back asleep, and if I was extra tired then I'd make her a bottle to help soothe her back to sleep. Thankfully she went right back to her old routine once she got back in her own bed.
Because of the hour time difference, Rachel and Andrew got to stay up until at least 9p every night it seemed (late for us). There was so much to do and see, they were just so darn happy to be in Utah with family and cousins. And they were loving to play outside - it has been a long, hot summer for us!
We went to Jump On It, they hiked to Bridal Veil Falls, went to Liam's birthday party, saw "Monsters University", visited the dinosaur museum, went to Sundance to see "Annie Get Your Gun" (Brandon & Rachel), swam at Riverside, attended church with Chris & Kacie, and lots more I am sure I am missing!
Since it was Pioneer day/week in Utah, there were lots of fireworks in the evening hours! Mom got a big pack from Costco and Chad was the official lighter. Mom requested that Chad read the names of all the fireworks before lighting them, which was kind of funny actually. Brandon put himself in charge of the background music. We all sang along to "God Bless America" and "Baby, You're a Firework". I love hanging out in the front yard at my mom's house with family!
On Pioneer Day, my sister-in-law, Cindy and I ran the Deseret News Classic Half Marathon race in SLC. It was Cindy's first race, and I wanted to make sure that we stayed together. She was a trooper and was not feeling well during the run, but she did fantastically. I really pushed her the last few miles even though she wasn't feeling good. Our time was 2 hours, 38 minutes. Cindy has actually ran another one since then and was feeling much better - she loved it and even got a better time! Go Cindy! For me, it was a beautiful course that was mostly downhill, and the last couple miles are part of the route for the Days of '47 parade which made it kind of fun. As strangers cheered us on, I kept saying back, "Thanks! I think we're going to win!" :) My body felt good, and I didn't feel like puking my guts out at the end, so that was a bonus! My mom, Brandon and the kids were at the finish line, and Rachel and Andrew came out and gave me a hug and Andrew held my hand and ran with me for a few seconds. It was a precious moment! Afterwards, we went to the Original Pancake House (a Chicago favorite) and it was delicious as always.
On our way to the reunion at Bear Lake, we stopped by Primary Children's Hospital to see Ellie. I held her while she was taking a little snooze and then she woke up and was so happy to see her mama, and I loved being there watching Ellie and Rachel interact with each other. What a sweet, little fighter spirit that Ellie has, and we are so happy that she is in our family! I felt an overwhelming amount of love for her even though I have only spent a little bit of time with her.
The reunion was so much fun for the kids and adults! We went to the lake two of the days and Brandon's parents rented jet ski's and a boat, so everyone got spoiled with some fun lake time. Kendall was a little tricky at the lake because she wanted to crawl around and eat all the sand and rocks. Nancy & Val brought Rachel's kids since her and Scott were still at the hospital with Ellie, and everything went really well. Nancy and Val did so much to make the trip super fun! And Pookie and Papa are SO generous and paid for all the lodging for the whole family. We all stayed in a lodge together (60+ people) and we each had food assignments to feed the whole Allred clan.
The food was delicious, but I was not as good about monitoring what Rachel was / wasn't eating (I'm seriously wondering if she ate any fruit that weekend?!). On the last night, she threw up everywhere! She wasn't sick, just had too much junk food and was running around way too much. Because of this, she missed out on the big cousin sleepover the last night, and she was devastated! Then we left first thing the next morning, and the cousins were still asleep so Rachel couldn't say goodbye to them. As usual, she was heartbroken as we left Bear Lake and headed home to Arizona. She always recovers fairly quickly, but she gets so sad about goodbye's and leaving after a fun trip.
Such fun memories!! There was a talent show for all the great grandkids to perform - a big Allred tradition. Rachel bravely sang, "Reflection" from Mulan and she did fantastic! Later during Grandpa's devotional, Rachel was playing with her loose tooth and it fell out. Kennedy wanted in on the fun, so she went over to her dad, Chris, and asked him to pull out her already loose tooth. He did and so both girls lost a tooth at Bear Lake and the Tooth Fairy found them there! Good thing both their tooth fairies are on the same currency plan ($1 per tooth)! And good thing our cousin, Leslie, had some glittery makeup that the toothfairy borrowed (bad idea to make the money glittery from the get go). What a fun memory for those cute cousins to have lost a tooth the same day! There were so many girls Rachel's age there, which makes me SO happy - Kennedy (6), Allie (5), Brynn (4), Rachel (5), Lexie (4), Reagan (5). And Andrew and Chase became good friends also this trip.
On the way home (13+ hours from Bear Lake all in one day), I had a little melt down after feeling like white trash all day. First off, I didn't have on a bra because Brandon "accidentally" packed it away and I was too lazy to undo all the luggage in the back of the car, so I didn't wear one all day. Just a few other examples - at a gas station stop, I walked in the women's bathroom and there was a man using the bathroom with the door unlocked. Very awkward. Then we went to the grossest Wendy's in Las Vegas and it had a bathroom with two toilets - both of which did not have any doors, just two toilets out in the open. And one of them was absolutely disgusting. Sorry for the gross detail here, but it is needed for what happened next. While we were eating (I had taken just one bite), I was trying to hold Kendall at the same time, who seriously needed a diaper change, and she grabbed hold of my wrapper at lighting speed and knocked my sandwich open and face down onto the disgusting Wendy's floor. I was done. I stomped out of the place like a child and changed Kendall's diaper and got her in her pajamas while I debated whether or not I should eat the sandwich that had fallen on the floor. 5 second rule or no? Ask for a new one or no? Buy a new one or no? In true white trash fashion, about an hour later (after pouting about the crappy day) when I got hungry enough, I ate the sandwich! Sorry if you just threw up in your mouth!
2 comments:
I just realized I never commented on this post. Thanks for letting me steal some of your collages. They summed up the trip well.
Great job on your half marathon! I want to join you for your next one!!
You just make me laugh with your tell-it-like-it-is blogging flavor. By the way, there is no such thing as a "picture overload"--remember we are a family full of shutterbugs.
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