Our Lovely Neighborhood

I know in the past I have complained about how we are unsatisfied with our current place of residence. I've complained about the lack of landscaping, the empty club house and the construction workers. But now they are finished! There are no more construction trucks backing up and beep beep beeping early in the mornings, no men wandering all over the neighborhood, I don't have to fight my way out of my driveway, trying to avoid all the cars and porta potties and workers on our narrow road. They are gone. All packed up, probably never to return. Oh yes, we are very pleased. I shall post some pictures of the finished product.

Here is the lovely view from our driveway. Our beautiful lawn and future neighbors homes.

Also from our driveway, though the other direction. See how nicely they have landscaped the yards? So green!

Here is the back of our house and side yard. I especially appreciate that they left a big pile of broken concrete by our back porch. When it's been raining and I want to get the mail I can use the nicely placed stepping stones to get to the sidewalk. So thoughtful of them!

This is the view from our back porch. We know that if we were to ever run out of room in our outside garbage can we would have these other dumpsters so close and convenient. Or we could just throw the trash on the ground, as that is also acceptable in this neighborhood.

Aw, the clubhouse. See how beautiful they have made the outside? Who doesn't love sunflowers? While there is STILL nothing inside, we have complete faith in the builders to remedy that very soon. Probably today, really. They aren't the type to go back on their word.

They've even left some fun things like this around. This particular gift is on the sidewalk that leads to the playground. Think of all the fun you could have with this with just a little imagination! Oh yes, we are very pleased.

Splurge!

Aaron and I were in need of pants, so we went to Ross. Yay Ross! While Aaron was digging through the mens pants section I perused the toddler clothes. I hadn't planned on getting anything for Morgan, but there were some seriously cute outfits at great prices! Plus, we are at the tail end of the hand-me-downs and come colder weather Morgan won't have much to wear. So, I loaded the cart with everything that was cute. Then I sheepishly showed Aaron. I thought maybe we'd get one outfit. He helped me eliminate some, I eliminated some more, then we were left with 4. All of them super cute, and the most expensive of the 3 piece outfits was $13.99. How to eliminate? Aaron was willing to let go of the outfit with the levi jacket, but I wasn't. I liked it more than him. And he'd need a Sunday outfit. And the brown leather and fur lined jacket outfit couldn't go because the jacket was so cute and practical. It would work great for the days not quite cold enough for a full on coat. And Aaron loved the outfit with the light brown jacket. So, with the rationalization that we would save 2 outfits for his birthday and put them toward the birthday budget, we bought all four. I never do this. I really don't like spending money, (call me frugal, a spend thrift or penny pincher or whatever, you will probably be right) so this was not normal for me. In fact, besides maternity pants, the pair I got that day was only the 3 pair purchased since we were married. And that's only because my other two pairs of jeans recently became not very usable. (A hole in the crotch of one and compound-W spilled all over the other, making them look like painting pants.)

Elitch Gardens

So, Friday would be another big driving day. Oh, but first, the last night we were camping another huge thunderstorm hit. It was even worse than the first. We had our kids asleep in the trailer and were outside playing cards. We could see the lightening a distance away, and hear the thunder occasionally, and the storm kept creeping forward. At around 9:30 we had to take our card game inside due to the rain starting. We were able to leave a couple of the windows down for awhile to watch the storm. It was the constant lightening again and the rumbling thunder that never ended. But soon the rain picked up and we had to close all the windows. It's a good thing that tent trailer is water proof!
We decided to try to sleep around 11:00. Try is the key word here. The storm was right on top of us and extremely loud. The rain hitting the top of the trailer was deafening, yet we could still hear the thunder crashes over it. The children stirred occasionally, making sleep even more difficult. And my bladder was so full! But there was no way I was going out into the torrential rain to walk to the latrine. Finally, at 2:30 or so the rain abated and the lightening and thunder were more distant, so I went to the bathroom and we finally got to sleep.
So, on the road again! We left as early as we could manage and planned to drive the 12 hours to Denver. But I guess that was too dull a plan for us. We were destined to more excitement than that. We stopped for gas around 2:00, (by the way, the farther east we went the cheaper the gas got. The cheapest we saw was $3.29 a gallon, and that was for super, or whatever, and grade 85 wasn't available there, I think it was 89!) and while filling up Chris noticed that the new trailer tire was falling apart! There were patches of tire missing and more ready to come off. Great! We were in a tiny town about 40 minutes out of Topeka Kansas. We were advised by gas station attendants to go to Mapleton, another tiny town a couple miles away and we needn't use the freeway. They had some sort of automotive place there. We called them and learned that they didn't carry the trialer sized tires, but the lady we called was in Topeka and on her way to Mapleton and could pick up some tires for us. Yay! So we parked the car at the shop and walked to the tiny, over-priced grocery store that must have been this towns pride and glory, got a loaf of bread and some lunch meat and took it to a park. All of this in easy walking distance. Anywhere in this town was easy walking distance. The park was actually really cool too.
It wasn't until 5:00 that we got on the road again. Now our plans had changed. We didn't want to drive the rest of the way to Denver and have to set up the trailer and stuff, so we found a cheapish motel in Liman CO and stayed there. The next morning we got up, showered in the nicest shower we'd seen for awhile and drove to Denver. It was about 1 1/2 hours away.
We were so excited to go to this amusement park. I felt like a little kid. It was right in the middle of down town Denver. So we pulled in, paid ten bucks to park and impatiently got out the stollers and sunscreen and cameras and all that stuff. We got in line to buy tickets. It would be $30 per adult and the kids would be free. We only had one couple in line in front of us when we were approached by a man with his two kids. He said he had an extra ticket that we could have if we wanted. Well, yeah! We thanked him and considered our good fortune. Not a minute later another man makes his way up to us and offers us 3 more tickets for free! What luck! Thank-you, Thank-you! So now it's our turn to buy tickets, but we just march on past the booth on the way to the entrance. We had to go through metal detectors and have bags checked before we can proceed.
Our first ride was the Ferris Wheel. It took forever! The kids quickly got impatient of waiting in line and when it was finally our turn Morgan was still grumpy! He was supposed to be enjoying this! 45 minutes later we got off the ride. Not a good start.
Now the plan would be that one couple would go off and go on two rides while the other took the kids on some. Then we would switch. Aaron and I rode first. We went on two pretty awesome roller coasters. Then it was lunch time. For an unimpressive hamburger and a few french fries we paid nearly $10. Ouch! And the food lines were as bad as the ride lines!
When Chris and Tine went on rides we took the kids to the kid area.

I don't know if you can see it, but Morgan is in there grinning his cheesiness.

Then had these huge play areas. Glorified playgrounds, (except one was filled with soft balls that you could shoot out of air guns or put in suctiony pipes that would pop the balls out in funny places.) After a few rides we let the kids play in these. Morgan and Emmy were in the one with slides and playground stuff and Kaien went to the other. I was watching the little ones and Aaron was with Kaien. After awhile Aaron came to where I was. Without Kaien. Apparently Kaien was mad at Aaron because he got in trouble for hitting another kid and when Aaron turned his back for a minute to find a bench Kaien took off. Aaron looked around the big enclosed room for him and when he knew he wasn't inside he came and told me. Uh-oh. I searched for him around the kiddie ride area but didn't see him. So it was time to call his parents. Telling a parent that you lost their toddler in a huge and crowded amusement park isn't something to look forward to. Aaron called them on his way to guest relations while I tried to push Morgan and Emmy in their individual umbrella strollers. No easy task. But then Aaron was there. When he called Chris he learned that they had Kaien and were on their way to us. Apparently Chris and Tine were running from their ride to where we were waiting because they felt bad about how long it took them to get through the line of the second ride. While running a man stopped them and said that he saw their son with a security guard heading a certain direction. (We all wore our reunion shirts so the man recognized the shirt.) They were of course surprised, and went on to get their child. And they didn't even act like they hated us or anything.
We only went on a couple more rides before we realized that the kids were too cranky and stressful for us to want to stay longer. We were SO happy we didn't have to pay because it definitely wasn't worth $30 to us. We learned that having kids in an amusement park isn't fun and not something we want to repeat in the near future.
We didn't think we would be leaving until around 9:00 when the park closed, but it was like, 5:00. So we went and got dinner and then just drove the 8 hours to home. We arrived at our house around 5:00 in the morning and tried to get some better sleep. But of course the kids were awake at 8:00.
We unloaded and loaded and then Chris and Christine were on their way back up to Caldwell Idaho. The End.

Lake of the Ozarks

After Carthage we drove another 4 hours or so back to Missouri and to the Lake of the Ozarks state park campground. We stayed there 3 nights, which was very nice. It was so pretty! But with the prettiness came the humidity. This picture doesn't do it justice.

Both full days we were there we went swimming in the lake. The first day we were so hot and looking forward to a refreshing dip in the water. But, the water ended up being as warm as a bathtub! The farther out you went though, it cooled a bit, and you could find cold pockets. It was fun.

We also celebrated Aaron's birthday there! His birthday was on the day we went to Nauvoo, but we celebrated it at the campsite. In the pic, notice Aaron's little pincers. He's preparing to snuff out the candles with his wet fingers since they would just re-ignite when he blew them! :)

Carthage Jail

Our next stop was at Carthage Jail. My parents were there with us, so while we watched a film preceding the tour they watched the kids. But when the film was over it was their turn to watch it, so we got our kids back. Then we went into the jail/house. A sister missionary was giving the history and account of it while we tried to keep our kids quiet and reverent. They weren't having it. There was another couple with us too, so we didn't want to disturb them. So, Aaron and Chris took the kids out while Christine and I went through the tour. When we were done, I went out with the kids, (Christine went again because she couldn't leave the sister missionary alone with the men. :) ) It was really neat though. The Spirit was strong. Just being in the building felt like being in the temple.

Morgan checking out the statue of Joseph and Hyrum Smith.

The room where Joseph and Hyrum were martyred and the window that Joseph Smith fell out of.

The building from the outside. The window he fell from again.

Nauvoo and such

The last night of the reunion was a long one. Chris's boy, Kaien, was suddenly having a really hard time breathing and was throwing up some and pretty much was up all night. So most of the occupants of the cabin were up all night as well. He still wasn't better in the morning and wouldn't eat anything either. I had my inhaler there and they tried giving him that and it may have helped a little but he didn't want to take it. So when we left the reunion (after seeing Adam-Ondi-Ahmen) (Oh, and lots of Amish people!) we stopped in a town called Galletin to look for a quick care place for Kaien. They didn't have one. But they did have a big pot hole. We had been pulling a tent trailer that we borrowed from my parents and the tent trailer wheel found the pot hole and blew out. So now we had a sick child and a popped tire to fix. The men changed the tire and put on the spare. The spare was a regular tire too, so we didn't worry about using it.
Kaien was finally sleeping so we decided to continue on our way to see if he got better. (He did!)
We arrived in Nauvoo, a town rich with church history, and met some family there who live near by and they brought us dinner. My parents and younger brothers met us there as well. Then we camped across the street from old Nauvoo.
The next morning we went to see the sites.

The Nauvoo temple.

We went on a horse drawn carriage ride thing through the woodsy part of Nauvoo and heard some history of the place. Before we left some went to pet the horses. I kept my distance, knowing that there is no greater catalyst for an asthma attack than contact with horses.

All loaded up and ready to go. Notice we are in the back, as far away from the horses as possible.

A view of the Mississippi river. it's huge!

And, he conked out.

One of the stops we made was at The Childrens place or something. It had lots of fun stuff that pioneer era children might have done to entertain. It really was entertaining.

I love this picture! Morgan looks great in that hat and vest and cried when I took them off of him.

My brothers, Chris and Cameron, doing the stick pull game. Chris won.

I dressed up too! Tons of fun. Though all of the dresses were for very skinny people, so I couldn't zip it up.

Yay, the pioneer versions of us.

Road Trip!

My Mom's family has been planning a huge family reunion for years and it finally came. I was all sorts of excited. It was just my mom's parents and their progeny, but since they have 13 kids, 66 grandkids, and 14 great-grandkids plus spouses of many, it was a huge family reunion. There were 106 of 121 possible in attendance, I believe. It was awesome! I love that family.
The reunion was in Missouri. Before last month the farthest East I'd been was the very western edge of Wyoming. I'd been in 9 different states. Now I've been as far East as Illinois and have seen 15 states. Woo me!
So, my bro Chris, his wife Christine and their two toddlers, Kaien, (almost 3) and Emmy (1 1/2) met us at our house Wednesday night. Thursday Aaron had to work a half day, but we all piled into our Durango and picked him up at noon and started toward Missouri, every seatbelt taken. It was pretty crowded. I tried to get a pic of everyone, but this was the best I could do.

Originally we planned to stop halfway to our destination and camp, but we ended up driving straight through to MO. It was about 20 hours. We took turns driving and tried to sleep in the car, but we were all pretty spent when we arrived at my grandparents house in the morning.
Wyoming is kinda ugly. It was dark for the whole drive through Nebraska, which is too bad, because it looked like it might have been pretty. Missouri is beautiful! Trees on both sides of freeway that go on forever, it seems. Not pine, but leafy trees. There were tiny towns all over the place, very quaint looking and all so green and pretty. And we wondered what on earth we are doing living in the middle of the desert when there is such a place as Missouri to live in. Then we arrived at our destination and got out of the car and were drenched in the heavy humidity. Oh. I failed to get any pictures, really, of the landscape in Mo. :(

The reunion was from Friday to Monday. We had a blast. There were several cabins with bunk beds that even had mattresses. My immediate family shared one.

Here we are in the lodge waiting for breakfast. We our wearing our family shirts that Aaron designed. This was Saturday morning. Friday we couldn't really get Morgan to eat anything. Friday night he slept long and hard. There was even a HUGE thunder storm that woke up all the adults and kept us awake for a long time, long before we wanted to get up. I didn't know storms like this happened. The thunder was constant. The lightening flashes were constant. The rain was drenching. And it lasted FOREVER. It would have been pretty awesome if we weren't trying to sleep.
Anyway, Morgan wasn't waking up. Our family had all gone up to the lodge for breakfast but Morgan was still sleeping. He would stir a bit, open his eyes, but it was too much for him to keep them open. So I dressed him while he wasn't fully coherent. We tried waking him, but it wouldn't last. Then we said something about getting up to have breakfast and that perked him up and he tried to get out of bed but didn't even have the strength to stand, so he fell to the concrete floor. I put him back on the bed and he was falling asleep again. "Let's go eat, Morgan." "Eat!" And he's awake. We carried him to the lodge but breakfast wasn't ready yet. So we sat down to wait.

Poor sleepy Morgan waiting for food.

When we did get some food for the boy he was kinda like a maniac. His hands shook as he violently stuffed pancakes and eggs and potatoes into his mouth. It took him a while to realize he was eating eggs and that he didn't like eggs.

After breakfast Morgan is feeling much better. He's playing the piano with his Uncle Casey.