The last couple of weeks we were also anxiously preparing for a long surprise road trip to Idaho. My brother, Jacob and his wife, Jeanette, just had their first baby and the day or so after he was born it hit me like a light bulb that if I didn't go meet my new little nephew now, I had no idea when I'd see him, with school starting soon, and no upcoming plans for family get togethers. Wes's work season is really busy in the summer, so he wouldn't be able to get off of work, so even though I've never driven more than 3 hours with all of the kids on my own before, I decided to be brave and make the long 18 hour trip each way to go surprise my family. All of my siblings and parents would be there for Zayne's baby blessing, and so it was going to be so fun to surprise everyone and spend some time with them.
We listened to an audio book (our first time ever) on the trip, which really helped the time pass by quickly. It also made the drive less boring and monotonous for me. The kids did amazing on the drive there; I think the built up anticipation of surprising everyone really helped. We took 2 days to drive each way, and stayed for 5 days. My dear sister, Lindsey, was kind enough to let us stay with her and the boys had a fabulous time playing with their cousins!! Lindsey is such a wonderful host. She is a great cook and we had so much time having sister time together for a couple of days before the rest of my family arrived.
We had fun surprising Jacob and Jeanette. And everyone fought over holding this little cutie pie. Isn't he adorable?
We also spent lots of time cooling off at splash pads and went to Rexburg Rapids.
Another fun thing was getting to visit my old friend, Jamie and her family who live nearby. We were in the same ward in Oregon and were pregnant with our 3rd kids at the same time, they moved soon after we had those babies, about 7 years ago.
The kids have grown up lots since then!!
My parents were kind enough to treat us to a fun night at the rodeo. The late nights were starting to catch up with Kelston and Shelten though, and we had to miss out on the end so they could catch up on some sleep.
These two became little buddies for the first time ever, it melted my heart!
The last night we stayed at my cousin, Crystal's house, since Lindsey and her family were getting ready to leave on a trip. It was so fun to get to know Crystal's kids and catch up like old times. She was also a wonderful host.
I keep telling everyone that now it's their turn to come and visit us!!
The ride home was definitely much less enjoyable than the way there. I thought the kids would be so tired and sleep after the many late nights there, but that was not the case. The two older kids slept for maybe 15 min. each and Kelston and Shelten didn't sleep a wink in the car for all 36 hours in the car. What's up with that? I guess it was a good thing that they kept me wide awake while I was driving though. I was so glad that we went, although we'll see if I'm up for that long of an adventure without Wes ever again...I definitely have taken for granted that he does 99% of the driving on our road trips. He was very happy to have us back home safe and sound, and we were all excited to see him again!
7 comments:
That was definitely brave of you. I really admire that you did it. I did a similar trip only I only drove 7 hours from Kansas City to St. Louis to visit Jeff and Karen and I only had four kids in the car. One was Adam and he was only 6 months old. I still remember how nervous I was driving alone on strange roads that far. John was at a medical meeting in Kansas City. Just think, if that happened now, we WOULD come and see you. It looks like you had a great time and it's always so great for cousins to get better acquainted.
That was definitely a BIG surprise!! I'm SO happy you made the effort to be there with our family. Now you know you CAN do it!!
Glad you got some sister and cousin time in. We're happy all went well and you made it home safe and sound.
I can relate from ALL the times I drove you kids to Utah and back by myself. Love you tons:)
You are a brave mother. It is worth it when you get home but going that far is so hard with little ones.
For the first part of your post, I was all excited, like maybe I could drive to Utah without Hutch one summer. But that last bit made me cry. Nooooo!! So glad you got to make the trip though. What an awesome mom you are.
I am still amazed that you made the drive on your own! I don't think I could do that by myself. I am so glad that you stayed at my house one night. It was so fun watching our kids play together. Now that you've done it once, you can do it again... Haha!
Way to go Kristy!! You survived the drive and had a great time. I am so glad it went well. It shows you can do anything you set you mind to do.
It was so fun to have you guys come and stay with us!!! The boys still talk about how fun that was! You were definitely brave to make that long drive, I don't know if I could be so brave ha ha ha!
Post a Comment