What do you do on a train for a day and a half?

One of the first things you do after you get a little shut eye on the train....... EAT, of course!! We decided to go and find the dining car!!!  Now, I must say when you are walking between cars on the train it is a little weird at first.  For some strange reason.... I always believed that a train would be a smooth ride because it is going along some tracks.

 I am here to inform you, that is not necessarily true.  :)  There is acutally quite a bit of rocking back and forth.  A note of caution to everyone......... hold onto the backs of the chairs as you walk.....or you may just end up in a strangers lap.  :0 

The food was really very good on the train.  Not a huge selection and it was expensive. However, it was super fun to be able to sit at the tables and look out the big windows. Of course, you must also humor mom with some more picture taking opportunities.

It was so very amazing to be able to see the fun things that we saw on the trip.  Jayson told me that this hotel looked like a castle hidden away in the forest. ( I just love sitting and listening to them and watching the excitement on their little faces as their imaginations are hard at work!) It was very interesting for me to be a passenger rather than the driver.  I was able to sit back, look out the windows and enjoy taking in all of the sights. It is amazing how much more fun a trip can be when you are not worried about potty breaks, getting gas, hotels along the way etc.... 

Besides having our own seats in coach, there is a viewing car that you can go and sit in.     It ,too, is a lot of fun.  Instead of sitting faced forward you get to sit side by side and really enjoy the scenery.  We saw rivers, mountains, lots of GREEN (which is very rare in Sunny So. Cal), deer, prairie dogs, horses,cows, and even a group of "mooners".  Now that is a sight and thankfully one I don't see everyday. 

The kids were so funny.  They would sit and look out the windows, go down to the snack cart and entertain the guy that worked there, play some DS/IPAD games, nap, and even crochet.  Bryan made me this amazing water bottle holder. ( I may have him market them to make some extra cash.  :)  ) We decided to take a walk down to the snack car and this man was counting the kids as we walked by.  He then asked them why they all had matching shirts.... surely, they must be some sort of a sports team traveling together.  The kids giggled and said, "No, mom just wants to be able to see us all."  I could see he was a little shocked.  I merely smiled nicely, and told him ," this way they can run but they cannot hide. "  Sometimes it is easier to come up with something funny to say instead of having to explain why all my children appear to be the same age. :)  

Today my wish for everyone..... take some time to slow down and look out the windows around you.... you have no idea what amazing things you are missing if you don't. 

Salt Lake City, Utah to Naperville, Illinois

How do you get from Salt Lake City to Naperville Illinois with six kids and a van that seems to spend more time broken than fixed?  You take a train of course!! 1:30 am we leave Grandma and Grandpa's house and head to the station.  Kids are all tuckered out from helping move boxes for three days, but for me it was better than Christmas morning.  I was so excited!!!  I have never ridden a train.... well besides the Disneyland train and a Polar Express train.  It was seriously exciting.

As we were sitting in the train station waiting, waiting, waiting for the train,(it actually was not that much for real but the kids sure thought it was) the kids actually thought they might die.  They kept telling me that they had never, ever, ever , in their entire lives been so tired in their entire lives.  Funny thing..... when I tried to get them to settle down and go to sleep earlier in the night they kept fiddling around.  :)  It was one of those glorious , "I told you ..... you should be quiet and go to sleep because the time was going to come fast that we had to get up."

Once we starting boarding the train, the kids FINALLY started to get as excited as me.  There were not very many people on the train, so we found some good seats and immediately took over a lot of space.   We got our luggage put away and started to settle in. It was not long before the train left the station. Which is when the adventure "really" began.  We looked out of the windows and wondered where we would be when the sun came up.

The kids were starting to get very, very sleepy. They were also starting to get sick of me taking pictures.  Hunter told me I was allowed 2 pictures a day and that was ALL!!!  Hmmmm... I don't think that is going to work for me.  Who put him in charge anyway? :)  I LOVE pictures!!

It did not take long before the little ones were out for the count!!!  Having worked so hard before getting on the train really worked well for me.  :)  I must say there is something very peaceful and serene about sleeping little ones and the quiet hum of the train as it moves along the track. Sleep well my friends, this may be a LONG journey.  

Moving Grandma and Grandpa Part 2

 What do you do when the moving company is coming to the house to move out furniture at Add to it, no access to bowls, milk, silverware, or cereal.  Well ...... of course ,you end up at the closest McDonald's for breakfast.  And guess what, we also got the chance to run around in the play thing, and play basketball. It was a super fun way to take a break and have some breakfast so that when we got back to the house we were once again ready to go back to work at full speed ahead. 

Basketball at the McDonald's, who knew you could play?  I actually had no idea.   To make this adventure more interesting there was also a boil warning on all the  water in Clinton the day we arrived so a lot of the restaurants were closed or not serving soda's because of the possible contamination of ecoli in the water.  We had been drinking bottled water at Mom's.  I am telling you this trip just keeps getting weirder and weirder as it goes on.  But truly and adventure. :) 

Jayson found a leaf and wanted to make me something.  This is the flower he made out of a leaf.  I thought it was really cool and super creative.  I am lucky to have such amazing kids. 

Another U-haul, another day.  I think mom and dad had no idea how much stuff they really had at their house that needed to be moved.  This was the third truck that we had to load and then unload.  But with all of us working together the load became light.

Helping mom and dad move was almost a bittersweet thing for me.  Although, I never spent time living in this house as a little kid growing up, there was a lot that happened in this house that makes it near and dear to my heart.  This is the house that my Grandmother ,(Great- Mom as she was called by the Grandkids) lived for a long time.  Bruce and Mary were able to live here for awhile with their Noah.  Elizabeth and her girls lived in the house after we lost Dan to suicide.  Then she was able to live there again with the twins while Mark was deployed. I was able to live here with Tanner and Hunter when I was pregnant with the quads until I was hospitalized.  This was the house I would come to each summer with the kids and we would hang out, camp, play with cousins, visit with loved ones and for me with the craziness and uncertainty of life this yard was a safe haven for me.  It represented peace, unconditional love and fun.  I am truly going to miss it.  I know I was surprised at how emotional it  all made me.  

So after another hard day at work and getting the truck loaded and the new house full of nothing more than boxes, Jayson, Nathan and I decided to sleep over in the house for one more night.  This allowed the dogs to stay there too.  I found it a little sad but also a nice thing.  It was fun to "camp" on the floor and remember the fun, sad and memorable times that we had spent there.  
I will never forget the night before Dad "died".  I walked into this very room, we made a joke and I told him that I loved him.  Next day he was gone and I had not idea if I would ever see him in this life again.  We were blessed to have more time.  So again, memories. And LOVE, that is what this house and yard were full of..... LOVE.   What a special thing that so many things have impacted us.  Mom and Dad have always opened their hearts and home to all and anyone to help us.  We are a lucky group of kids and grandkids.  I know that in the new house we will make new memories and that the same LOVE will be there.......... however, it is always hard to close a door. And this my friends was the glorious end of  Day # 2 of the big move.

Here is the "stuff" that we managed to fit into the garage.  Honestly, I am not sure how we did it.  But it is there and even though it might be a bit of a mess we found space for it all.

It is amazing what a little teamwork can do.  I was once again proud and impressed with the kids and their handwork.  They may have moaned a little but nothing too drastic. 

Last but not least ,this is the final picture of the garage.  I think even mom and dad were surprised that we were able to find a place for it all.  And in a bit of an organized way.  There are aisles for them to walk down and we were able to label the sides with different symbols so that they would be able to figure out where things needed to be.  It was a long day we started bright and early at 8:00 and did not finish until about 7:00 that night.  But that is Day # 3.  And impressively we were still moving at this point. :) Yea, another day down with a job well done.  Rest Well my weary friends!!!

Seriously, AGAIN?!?!?!?!

Oh YES indeed!!! It is true. How in the world would we ever have enough stuff to put on the blog if this kindof stuff did not happen? I mean seriously, you cannot make this stuff up.

Wednesday morning we get up and have breakfast. We decide we should hit the road because we are a day late due to van issues. Grandma and Grandpa need our help....off we go. Or so we think..... Van starts beautifully. We drive across the street to a gas station to get some gas, and of course a Diet Coke. I turn the van off and as the kids try to get out of the doors...... they will not open. Hmmmm... that seems a little odd but we get gas. Try to start and NOTHING!!! What the heck it was running 5 minutes ago and now nothing?!?!?!?!?

I ask a nice man to help us jump start the van. Now if the van started right away that would make this story really boring!!! So.... yup you guessed it, that does not to work either. We are looking at the battery and trying to figure out what in the heck is going on. I tighten the cables .... why?!?!?  Well because...... funny thing they are loose again.

Might that be what the tow guy said the first time we were in a pickle. I do believe so. I also believe that is the message I gave the Honda people. Let me think... think.... think, oh yes, the Honda people told me that they were completely fine but if I wanted "peace of mind" they could change them for me for $300.00 and two days later (they would have to order them). But they did not NEED to be done that they were functioning perfectly normal. GRRRRR ..... so finally after getting them as tight as I can we get the van started.

The kids were okay with the delay as there were a bunch of old cars parked close by that they went and checked out.  I think they all picked the "one " they hope to drive when they turn 16.  I guess they had better start working now!!!



By this point that Diet Coke is not longer just something I want it is a MUST!!!  We go back across the street to McDonald's and get not one but two and to my dismay.... as I am bringing it through the window..... I spill half of it where.... in my lap, of course. At this point I am laughing because there is nothing else to do!!!!! (and my precious children are laughing as well)  I am so glad they can see the humor in my suffering.  :)

So off we go. We hit some storms but nothing too bad. The smell of rain is amazing.!!!  We sure do miss that smell in Palmdale!!! We have the iTunes playlist up and we are singing at the top of our lungs and dancing... well dancing the best you can when driving in a packed mini van.

We are having a good time!!We realize we are going to need gas if we are going to make it the rest of the way. The first place we stop the power is out and all the gas stations are closing.  We have a new problem arising though, because by this point the water that the kids drank and the 1 1/2 Diet Cokes that I drank are making us realize we MUST stop soon. 

We drive to the next town and get lucky. However, I did not think this through very well.  It would be pretty unwise to turn the van off , since starting it up again never seemed to go well for us. Here we are......my bladder full , the kids bladders full, and a van we need to leave running.  We know that we cannot leave the van running without anyone in it, but I cannot leave a van full of kids with the keys in it......:0.  Again, we lucked out!!!  Thank heavens for bathrooms that are not in the gas station but rather, out back !!! All we had to do was rotate though. Leave the van running and locked with a few people in it at a time. I don't think I have ever emptied my bladder so quickly.

Finally we arrive at Mom and Dad's house. Stop the van and yes....... doors will not open again. Dead as a dead can be!!! (as a side note... maybe I should have left it running and unlocked at the gas station. ) Heaven help us!!!! For anyone who is interested.... I do not think I will ever buy a Honda van AGAIN!!!! Not my favorite, that is for sure!!!

But bring the moving on! I am so proud of my kiddos. They got right in and started packing, loading and unloading the moving truck right away. You would have thought they had spent two days sitting in a van or something. So much energy. :)

And that my friends, that is what we call a successful day one of helping Grandma and Grandpa move!!!  Rest well, I know we will!!!

Final School Awards!!!

I am so proud of my Six-Pack. They never fail to amaze me. And what a fun way to end the school year..... Great Job!!

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Let the Fun Begin!!!!

After being delayed because of van issues we are FINALLY on the road. I must, if the van is going to give us grief.... I am really glad that it happened in Palmdale and not while we were on the road.  It might have made for better story telling but not less stress. :) 
As it turns out, Hunter and I ran to Walmart on Saturday and when we went to get back into the van it failed to start. After having two unsuccessful experiences with jump starting it, the tow guy showed up. He was able to tweek a connector and get us going. Sunday morning it would not start again, but that afternoon it did. Weird...... Well took it to Honda Service first thing Monday morning. After many hours, they told me that there was nothing wrong with it.
 Hmmmm.... does that mean that I am just crazy and it is normal for a van to not start for any apparent reason?!?!? Drove it home and got busy making some jam and trying to get packed. When I went to run some errands...... oops 8:00pm ...... guess what. Yup.... van did not want to start , but with a little begging, (okay, maybe it was perhaps some bad words escaping my mouth. :0 ) it ran long enough to get Bryan and I to Auto Zone. Well a funny thing happened, when they did a battery test it was bad and had to be replaced immediately. Needless to say I was less than thrilled. But since we were now in business I only ranted and raved for a few more hours.

After a lovely drive in the wind and rain..... WE HAVE ARRIVED  in St. George. This is the first stop in our fun summer adventure. When I had to change the reservation, due to the van, the hotel did not have the room available that I needed. The poor guy felt sorry for us!!!  Guess what he did...... He upgraded us to the two room family suite with a jetted tub. You would have thought the kids had never seen one before. It was awesome!!! We ordered in some Dominos and now we are settling down for some lovely shut eye. Or at least that is what I keep telling the kiddos.... Good night friends!!! May your dreams be peaceful and happy!!!

Happy Birthday Shadow!!!

Today would have Shadow's birthday if she was still here.  Every year on her birthday Jay would make sure she got a hamburger to celebrate her special day!!!  So, of course, we could not let the day pass without taking a moment to celebrate. In your honor today....... hamburgers, cheese burgers, and hot dogs!!!Happy Birthday Girl!!!  Heaven sure is lucky to have you.... but we sure do miss you!!!