We left Mesquite kind of late in the day last Thursdee. We had decided to pull the travel trailer because Ryan and I wanted to head for the hills. Any cool mountain top with refreshing breezes, and a fresh lake. That is what Ryan and I wanted. When we asked the kids, we got way too many opinions. None of them very feasible either. Chlo wanted to go to Lake Tahoe? Rooshkie was definitely leaning toward big city adventure. Wames was against the idea of camping altogether...Sags wanted to do some hiking. Anyhow, none of them could get on the same page about what they wanted to do. We finally decided we would just drift around with the travel trailer. We had a blast too. I am so glad we went.
We had a few stops to make. I needed to stop at Costco, and Ryan needed some stuff at Cal Ranch. We stopped and split directions...we then headed over the mountain to Hatch. We arrived pretty late, but my Dad was still up. The kids of course, began raiding all of the food he offered. They were eating ham, and chips, and fresh salsa. Dilly was excited and I had a hard time getting her to settle back down to sleep. Mo was out when we arrived, and he woke up in the night, and didn't know where he was. When he woke up, and realized he was at Grandma's he got quite excited. Needless to say, it was hard to get much sleep. I also got up and decided to run the 2 and 1/2 K that they have every year in Hatch. I was late, but it was fun and I got a shirt....I definitely didn't finish first, but I was fifteen minutes late, and I didn't finish last. All the time, I couldn't get over how cool and fresh everything was. It was green, and cool, and fresh. I was loving the change of feeling kinda cold. Hatch is breathtaking in the summer. I seriously took Utah and all of it's beauty for granted when I lived there. After the run, we got ready, and a few of us walked in the parade. Mo, Sags, Oak, and I walked around the parade picking up forgotten candy. Saggers looked authentic, but the rest of us...not so much. The kids then had a ball at the festivities at the park. Once again, we purchased way too many tickets, and I hollered at the kids to use them up. I think I told them to fill another jar of colored sand about fifty times. We still ended up leaving with a handful of tickets. My brothers and I went to lunch at Homers and then we had a delightful evening watching their wonderful fireworks display, and laughing....seriously the fireworks went on and on. I think they were eating sandweeches in between launches. Once again, all of the cows were mooing and scared. Seriously, one of my favorite things about the Hatch firework show....the cows and their scared little hearts.
The next day was crazy busy. We had Oak's baptism, and Jazzerz birthday, and I wanted to make the day memorable for both of my special little people. We began by getting a bunch of the food lined out for the dinner, and we wrapped little Jazzerz some gifts. OK....so maybe Jazz is getting bigger. Anyhow, we had Gary and his girls there, Barry and all of his family, plus we had some wonderful people from the Bundy side show up. Davey and his family came, and Duke and Shiree brought their kids. Carol and Cliven were only an hour and a half late, because they tried to go through Zion's on a busy weekend. But hey, Oak wanted his Grandpa to baptize him, and everyone was chill about it. I love my family, on both sides. Each cute little member, I love them all! Anyhow, before the baptism Mo realized finally that the day was not really about him. This bugged him to no end. He begged and begged to get baptized too. I explained to him over and over that he had to wait until he was eight. He just didn't seem to understand. He finally bawled trying to get his way. He then got in the building and threw himself on the floor because his feet were hot. Yep, hot feet had him all unable to function. I left him throwing his fit, and went in and enjoyed the family and some singing time. I did send Sags out to help Mo out with his hot feet after awhile. I just think he sometimes needs to realize that just because we don't always center all of our attention on him, life is fine, and it goes on.
There was an awesome spirit at the baptism...Cliven baptized him, after a few minor difficulties. ( He kept wanting to call him Oak Wiley Cox) and Ryan gave him a beautiful blessing as he blessed Oak with the Holy Ghost. It seriously was a nice blessing. He blessed Oak with courage to stand alone for what is right, which is something the Bundy family did not too long ago. Luckily, we didn't stand alone for long. I will forever love all those who stood with us and for us. It just reminded me that Satan's war for our agency is not over. We may have stand as a family again. I only hope that this time, I will not be scared, I hope and pray for more faith. I was so afraid when they arrested Dave. I really thought that they were going to shoot the rest of us too. I hope to be like Aaron with Moses...in the Prince of Egypt movie. I never want to doubt my Heavenly Father again. Anyhow, he gave Oak a lovely blessing filled with the spirit, and courage to stand alone. He also talked about his name and why we chose it. Oak's do not waver...they are strong and immovable, and beautiful. And that is my boy. After he was baptized, the first thing he did was come in and pick up his baby sister. He loves her, and his whole purpose most days is to make her happy. Sometimes his sound effects and attempts to make her laugh get loud and annoying to the rest of us, but I am so grateful that he loves his little siblings. He has always been the best big brother. I love my Oak....I am so grateful that the Lord sent him to me. He works hard side by side with his Dad and Grandpa most days. He is turning out to be such a wonderful little man. After the fourth girl, I thought I would never get a boy. It has been such a blessing to be a mom to a few boys. They are loving and loyal to me. I never have experienced the adoration before that a little boy bestows upon his mom. My little boys love me, and I am crazy about them.
We went to the cabin and had a nice dutch oven dinner. I am always so grateful for my husband in this regard. He can cook a great dinner with a fire, a few ingredients, and a dutch oven. We had such a lovely time with all that attended. I am so grateful for all who attended. Some of the family hung out while we threw a party for Jazz too. She opened gifts, and then a group went to the movie. Gary is so great in this regard....I told him that we had to make a big deal out of Jazzerz...he bought her some nice gifts, and took his girls to the movies with her. He is great on any party and fun committee.
The next morning, we headed north. Ryan wanted to attend shrsh with our friends in Mount Pleasant....Lane and Rose Talbot are where its at....I seriously love them so much. They always make us feel welcome, and accomodating. The problem was, we ended up at the wrong building initially. Mo was not seeing to his reverent side. He came in the hall and bawled and bawled that his feet were hot....again. He finally removed his boots. I didn't realize it, but he didn't have any socks on. No wonder his feet were bothering him. I wandered out to the trailer to grab him a pair of socks. I grabbed some, as he was throwing a fit on the sidewalk making fireworks noises. We went in the building, and I started putting his socks on his feet. He was way upset because the socks didn't have red hots on them???? I think Ryan had purchased him some socks in Cedar that had some red marks on them maybe???? I really must say that Mo can throw a fit over nothing. We were able to spend a great Sabbath with Lane and Rose once we found the right building. I loved their Sunday school, and their building was old and interesting. We invited Shad and Mindy Hardy over after shrsh...Shad is Ryan's first cousin, and we grilled some awesome hamburgers, and had a great time. Lane has a popcorn maker in his kitchen. I am not talking about a popcorn popper, I am talking about a movie theater popcorn maker. The kids ate bag after bag of the stuff. Lane also brought out a bag of tootsie rolls that was bigger than anything I had ever seen. Those got munched on all afternoon. The kids played goofy games, and had a ball. Shad and Mindy have a boy getting ready to leave on a mission in a month or so. He is going to Hawaii, and I am glad that they got to know him before he leaves. I will expect them to write him on his mission.
The next day, we went to the store and got a few supplies, and headed for the hills. We really did not know where to go, but we had gotten a few suggestions from Lane and Rose. We decided to go up Ephraim canyon. The truck began to act up immediately. Our truck is not really excited about pulling a load uphill anywhere. It has a tendency to overheat. A kind man stopped by to see if he could help us in some way. He suggested to Ryan that he put the truck in 4wdrive, and that this would take some pressure off of the engine. It actually worked like a charm. We also turned the heater on, and made a slow climb up the hill. We stopped at one point and Mo told me that he needed to go to the bathroom. Ryan was chatting with some folks who had stopped to see if we needed anything (seriously...I love Utah for this reason....people trying to live the like the Savior are always willing to help). In my opinion, Ryan should be dealing with Mo and his bathroom needs...I have helped all of the girls along, if he is around he should assist the boys. I mean really, we are 2 to 6 here. Anyhow, Ryan was occupied, and so I started talking him off of the road a little ways so that I could help him. He instructed me to climb a tree, and help him go to the bathroom in the top of a tree???? Whatever....if that is what it is going to take, I will definitely let Ryan assist the Mo boy.
The two men that Ryan had chatted with, told him about a lake just around the last bend in the road. We went back and found a beautiful little pond surrounded by quakies, and pines....absolutely gorgeous, and just what we were looking for. The trailer was really nice to have. Beds were easy to make, and we still cooked over a fire. The kids headed out with their poles, and Wams jumped right in the pond. Ryan had purchased Chloee a barbie pole, and he had bought Mo a cars pole. They had little rubber fish on the end, and those dum fish were played with for hours and hours. They also spent all kinds of time casting the poles over and over until Moroni's just ended up in a tree. There was a gentleman from the Sherrif's department who was there at the pond fishing with his son. They had figured out what the fish were biting on, and were catching fish on almost every cast. He was a really nice man, with a southern accent. He let each of my kids take turns reeling in the fish that he was catching, and he also shared some of his bait with Ryan. On this whole trip, I found good, Christlike people who just enhanced our experiences a ton. This guy was one of those kind angels, who just made our trip so much better. He gave us all of the fish that they had caught, and the kids were all kinds of eager to cook their fish over the fire. Jazzerz even came up with some kind of a lemon, and spice rub concoction that Ryan loved. I cannot say that I enjoy fish a whole lot, but the taters were delish.
The next day the kids fished, and swam, and played. It was fresh, and clean, and cool up on that mountain. I went out for a nice morning run, and just really enjoyed our time. Rooshkie had decided that for her ultimate relaxation and enjoyment, she needed a float tube. She began digging in the trailer bins and cupboards looking for one. She did find one, but it had multiple holes, that they attempted to patch with duct tape. It slowly would leak though, and this just wasn't helping Rooshkie with her floating needs. Finally she took the spare tire off of the tire and rolled it over to the pond. I can honestly say, that because of the rim and all, it didn't look all that relaxing for Rooshkie, but hey, it did float. The kids all took turns floating on the spare tire. All of the kids, aside from Mo, who got his pole stuck in the tree caught fish that day too...including Chlo. Once again, they smoked their fish over the fire, and had a great time roasting fish and marshmallows over the fire.
We got up the next morning, and went back to Lane and Rose's. They weren't there, but offered their home, and so we showered and headed up to Salt Lake to meet Ammon and Lisa at the Hogle Zoo. Luckily, Lane had suggested that we leave the trailer at his mother's home. This turned out to be a huge blessing because she offered her stroller and wagon to use at the zoo. Just that morning, I was wishing that I had both of those items if I was going to drag the kids all over the zoo. The little ones usually get tired, and want to be carried, and that gets kinda tiring after awhile. I just found that kind people saw to our needs the whole trip. I witnessed people blessing us every day.
The zoo was awesome. I have always loved the zoo. Ryan actually bought a year membership because the guy at the counter suggested it after seeing what the bill was going to be. It was only like ten dollars more. Mo wanted to see an elephant, and Jazzerz wanted to see an alligator, and Oak wanted to see a giraffe. Saggers wanted a selfie with a giraffe, which did not happen really. The giraffes were not excited about getting close enough to pose for a selfie with Sags. Mo's wishes were fulfilled and Jazzerz saw a crocodile which was close enough for her desires. Ammon and Lisa were a lot of fun to hang out with too. Little Emrie is as cute as the come. And their baby is really satisfying. Anyhow, the seals were probably my favorite. They were swimming and swirling and putting on a real nice show.
After the zoo we stopped at a Red Robin for dinner. I had never eaten at such a place, and taking all of the kids to dinner is chaotic and expensive at best. But, this place had bottomless fry baskets, which was great, and Oak purchased a ball on the way in, which wasn't so great. Dilly was a little excited crazy girl the whole time. She was eager to be on the table, and made attempts to kick over drinks, and slosh in the food until I was ready to scream a little bit. I finally took her, and a bunch of the kids outside because I had seen a nice grassy area when we had gotten out of the car. Well, when I got over to the grassy area, I hadn't realized that it was a cemetary. For whatever reason, all of the headstones were the kind that lay down instead of headstones popping out of the grass. I tried to keep the kids respectful, but yeah, we might have aroused a few ghosts at that location. We stopped and grabbed ice cream and cones before we got to Lane's mothers house, and we had ice cream with one of Lane's sisters that lived nearby. It was nice to get to meet her, and her grandson.
The next morning, Jams and Sags woke up with fevers. They just didn't feel good, but that didn't stop Ryan from taking the scenic route. We also spent a few hours at the Delta park letting the kids unwind. I could tell that Jamie and Sage wanted nothing more than their beds. It was a woozy time at best...we inched through Milford and Minersville...then we got to Cedar. Ryan had a few things that he needed to do in Cedar. This didn't excite Jams and Sags at all. Yeah, their situation was pretty crappy.
We spent one night in Cedar. I miss a few people from Cedar, and I miss the summer weather, but it just isn't home to me anymore. Jams and Sags got blessings from Ryan, and we headed home. Seriously...it has been great to be back. We went to shrsh in our own ward today, which was all sorts of great. I love our ward. The biggest problem arose when Oak made Mo a nice paper airplane to fly right during sacrament meeting. Not the best of all ideas that is for sure.
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