Tuesday, July 28, 2015

Road Trip Part Four: Aberdeen

Our last stop on our way home was Aberdeen. Aberdeen has always been a happy place in my memories, so I was happy to take the family along. We had a great time visiting with Grandma. As wee were driving there I told Ben, "I can't wait to eat Grandma's food. She'll have some good food waiting." Sure enough, we ate a ton of yummy food while we were there.

Russell loved playing with the little people and cars she has. Meghan loved closing all the doors and trying to make it up the stairs. I feel like not much has changed over the years.

Aunt Susan stopped by one afternoon for a quick visit. Unfortunately, Uncle Forrest was on his way to Utah.

We went to Storybook Land. It was just as great as I remembered from when I was younger. We shelled out the money for a ride on the train. Russell was in heaven! 


Peter, Peter Pumpkin Eater

Look at Russell!


They just added this little roller coaster, Humpty Dumpty's Great Fall. They were having opening celebration that evening, but were giving free rides on the coaster while we were there. Ben and I each took a turn with Russell. Meghan was really sad she couldn't go and would laugh when the cars came by then cry when they went past.


I've seen the video going around Facebook of a swing like this. It was really awesome! Meghan had such big laughs and smiles while we were swinging. She was crabby pretty much the whole rest of the time we were there.



We visited Mom's grave with Grandma and put some flowers there.


We look so tired!

Road Trip Part Three: Utah

After the sweltering heat of Arizona, we headed up to Sarah and Brian's for a few day rest on our journey towards home. The weather was perfect for us while we were there. The company was great, too. I still feel a little bad that we were there during all of Brian's days off of work and his birthday. I was surprised by all of the growth and changes in the Provo/Utah area.

We checked out the Bean Museum and the Broadcasting Building (with our own personal tour!) on Saturday for entertainment. The Bean Museum changed a bunch and the Broadcasting Building wasn't even there when I was there. We caught a show at the Bean Museum.


Ben's favorite show!

I'm in Studio C!!


We stopped at Temple Square on our way to the Summerhays'. It was nice to show Russell where Conference is. Maybe he'll remember in October....  




This tour group was from Italy getting a real western/cowboy experience. Ben talked to one lady.


We had lunch with the President and Sister Summerhays. I haven't seen them since the day I came home almost 6 years ago. They hadn't changed a bit, and were just as great as always. Ben was happy to meet them, and enjoyed playing basketball in their house.

Road Trip Part Two: Arizona

The majority of our trip was spent in Arizona. We had fun visiting with Ben's family, seeing his neighbor lady, seeing Arizona things, swimming. We did not enjoy the heat or the constant worry of scorpions and other desert bugs.



South Mountain
We ran into a guy for Minnesota on the top of South Mountain. We were the only people that were there. It had some good views of the Phoenix and Ahwatukee foot hills.





Lori turned 30 while we were there and Mike planned a whole huge surprise birthday bonanza for her which included a big party after an afternoon of scavenger hunting.


Pool Party! Becky has a pool and hosted a family pool party the Saturday we were there.

Ben's plate



Pima Air and Space Museum
Mike and Lori's family came along with us. It was really really hot walking around outside looking at all the planes and helicopters that just started looking the same to me after a while.


JFK's Air Force One



B-29 Bomber

We also visited Ben's old neighbor MaryAnne. She had some trouble with her care takers and isn't very happy with her situation, but was very happy to see Ben walk in the door of her new home.

Ben's nephew, Asher, had a swim meet while we were there. It was really hot sitting there watching the race and not being able to get in the pool.

Russell reading books with Grandma.

Sunday, July 26, 2015

Road Trip Part One: Texas

Because we are crazy, we headed out on our trip at 3:30 am. We thought the kids would sleep some, since we left so freakishly early in the morning. Nope! They were wide awake for almost two hours before they fella sleep for about 15 minutes. They ended up taking some naps throughout the day.



Driving to Texas was long, though we went through enough cities that it made the time go pretty quick. I got to go into Oklahoma. It was about the same as Kansas, Missouri, Iowa, and Minnesota. We both agreed that Oklahoma City might not be a bad place to live. Russell and Meghan did really well in the car. The first day we spent 15 1/2 ours in the car. We were happy to get to Joseph's, Ben's brother, house.

Saturday morning we toured the Kohler factory where Joseph works. We saw a lot of toilets. Then we smoked a pork roast and had corn and coleslaw for our 4th of July celebrations. We took Russel and Meghan to a close park so that they could run around. It wasn't too hot or humid, so we had high hopes for tolerable weather the rest of our trip.







We missed out on fireworks because we wanted Russell and Meghan to go to sleep. Instead, we played games with Joseph and Hannah. It was a fun evening.

We enjoyed going to church with them. Their church building was just like the one in Mt. Vernon, and the ward members were just like the people in Mt. Vernon, too. I felt very much at home. 

Russell loved both Joseph and Hannah, but Meghan only put up with Hannah and ran away from Joseph whenever possible.



Wednesday, July 1, 2015

Happy Birthday to you!

Well, today is the day we have been waiting for for a long, long time. I can't say that this year has been the easiest. Meghan was definitely not an easy baby. I didn't get a good night of sleep from about the time I was one month pregnant with Meghan up until about three months ago. She cried a lot, especially during the afternoon/early evening. She always had to be held (which was probably survival on her part), and I couldn't do anything. She didn't really like anyone beside me. It all made for a very long year.

One of her favorite things to do: eat.

Goofballs

She likes to show off her teeth.

Cake!

Friends to help celebrate


I am excited for her next year. Some of my favorite Russell memories are from when he was 12-24 months old. And, I'm hoping for some more hair to show up on her head. People who don't know still refer to her as he.... :(

Here are some Meghan stats:

Short: perhaps 27 inches, but we'll find out for sure tomorrow
Medium weight: I would guess right around 20 lbs maybe 21
Has 6 teeth
Walks all over
Climbs up stairs
Slides down the stairs on her tummy with help
Loves technology
Loves her daddy
Can say "Hi, Dada."
Asks "What's that?"
Eats everything except green peppers and mushrooms.
Favorite food is pancakes.
Been to two states (besides Minnesota), but we'll be adding a whole bunch more soon.
Sleeps all night long!!! 13-14 hours if Russell doesn't wake her up in the morning.
Takes two good naps when Russell wakes her up early.