Summer Vacation - Part One (May 22-June 15)

Wow, I can hardly believe that the summer vacation that was supposed to be laid back, which turned hectic, is over!

Here is what has happened:

May 22, school got out. The boys had some friends over for a get together before they left for Maryland.
May 25, Memorial Day. We went to my aunt's house and rode on 4-wheelers and pretty much had a blast!
May 27, the boys left. I could be wrong about the date... But Bill drove the boys to the Vegas airport and sent them on their way to spend the summer with their mom. They have been having a blast there.
May 31, my grandpa died. My parents drove up and got the girls and I drove up later. Bill was able to get a load to SLC so I could pick him up and he could go with us to the funeral on June 4. But while I was up there, we had lots of fun hanging out with family and reminiscing about grandpa.
June 1, the futile planning day. Steven, myself and Lucretia were working for a couple hours trying to straighten everything out so we could get the family together at a restaurant for the following night. We didn't want to have it at someone's house because our extended family is HUGE and we didn't want to thrash anyone's house. After much phone calling and other opinions, we decided that a dessert potluck was best at the pavilion by Becky's house. And so, us cousins who really wanted to eat at a restaurant got together that night and ate at Johnny Carino's. There were a lot of us cousins and we had a blast reminiscing.
June 2, Rain. There was too much rain to have the get together at the pavilion so we went to Aunt Becky's house. Almost ALL of the family was there, it was beyond awesome. I took a lot of pictures that are on my Facebook account. There were so many desserts there that it was a sugar fest; from store bought cookies to homemade pies. I was able to see some cousins I have not seen in almost 20 years!
Grandma wanted the family to sing a song at the funeral and wanted everyone to practice. I don't sing well, or even semi-well but Bill does. I told everyone that Bill had an amazing singing voice and he could sing in my place. He doesn't like to be in the lime light, so when I told everyone to ask him, he kept saying now. Well, someone (not me) went and told my grandma that he can sing well. So she shuffled in the room and asked him if he would sing at her husband's funeral. Well, it is hard to say no to an old lady, especially my grandma, so he consented.
June 3, Viewing. This was grandpa's viewing. I picked Bill up earlier in the day and that night we went to the viewing together. We stayed for the whole thing. More cousins I haven't seen in a while were there. Grandpa looked so peaceful.
After the viewing, my uncle Chris thought it would be nice if we went to a local restaurant to eat. Which, oddly enough a lot of people went who protested about the restaurant idea to begin with. I figure that from now on, all big things like that have to be impromptu.
June 4, the Funeral. This day we had grandpa's funeral. It was a beautiful ceremony. I especially loved hearing the family sing. I am so thankful that Bill, grudgingly, sang. It was like melodious angels were singing to us. All the while, Grandma conducted.
After the funeral, we drove to the cemetery. There he had a military service with veterans conduction the graveside, in conjunction with the bishop. My favorite part was when one of the particularly older men played "Taps" on his trumpet. The kids liked the gun part.
After my uncle (I think it was Jeff) dedicated his grave, we drove back to the church and ate and ate and ate. We were starving and the Relief Society had a wonderful spread - got to love those Utahn Funeral Potatoes. Bill and I sat with the girls, Makailah (Sarah's little girl) and Jade (Hope's little girl). Jade is such a well mannered little girl!
That night we got together and played games. Or maybe that was the next night. I don't remember. Or maybe we played games that night and the next night. Either way, it was nice to have that much needed time with my brother, his sons, and my cousins that I rarely get to see.
Oh, and if anyone wants to tease Steven, ask him about his 'incident' that night.
June 11, the Arizona trip. My cousin Sarah, and her two kids, and myself and my two girls took a road trip to Arizona. Our cousin, Kathryn, was getting sealed to her husband and two kids. We got a hotel in Mesa for a killer deal. We had a nice, leisurely drive there and took in some awesome scenery. We did get lost once in the way there but that added to the fun. (Yes, going up to a barred gas station window to ask the attendant how to get to the So-and-So freeway was quite fun... once I realized it wasn't a scary man but a nice lady.) Oh, and I feel I should mention that at one point, all the kids were screaming. So, what else could Sarah and I do? We joined in. At one point, everyone in that car were screaming, "Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!"
June 12, Busy day. we had a nice breakfast at IHOP or Denny's. The kids were crazy, but because of that, I started singing them kid songs which caused another waiter to come up to us and ask us, "Are you both just extremely lucky or awesome moms?" To which we answered, "Awesome moms." :-)
We drove to the Farmer's Market and I got some raw honey, hot salsa, some jewelry, and not one piece of produce. Then we got back to the hotel, let the kids swim. Partway throughout all the fun, Makailah gave us a scare. She was fine one second, the next, she was under and couldn't get her face above the water. It was scary. I ran from my chair over to where she was, yanked her out and started beating her on her back to get any water out. Mind you, the whole time I was smacking her back to get water out, she was screaming; mainly from fear, but my thumps had to have hurt! It wasn't until her mom made it to me that I realized she was breathing because she was screaming. She was a trooper though. Sarah took her back to our room to calm her down and to let her use the bathroom (just in case she didn't already go in the pool from shock). She came back and said to me, "Thank you for saving my life." Then, unlike most little girls who have scares like that, she got back into the water. She is so brave.
We all took a long needed nap after the pool. Then we got ourselves ready and went to dinner with Sherryl and her family. Again, more cousins I haven't seen in a while. (You need to realize that I have 39 first cousins alone on the Anderson side.) Uncle Tim saw a local hole-in-the-wall Mexican restaurant near their hotel so we jaywalked across the street and had a taste bud watering experience. The food there was absolutely delicious. And not too expensive either.
June 13, the sealing. We got the kids up, got them some lunch, then ran them over to the hotel where the other kids were being watched. (Thanks again Philip, Charlie, and Richard for helping!!) We did an endowment session first and then got to go to the sealing. While I was in the dressing room, waiting outside the bathroom for Sarah, I saw a lady that looked like a lady I saw that morning in our hotel parking lot. I walked up to her and asked her if she was at the such-and-such hotel that morning. She said she was and gave me a questioning look. I explained that I saw her getting into her car that morning and that we were staying there too. She asked me where I was from and why I was there. I told her. Her face was shocked. She looked at the lady next to her and introduced her daughter as one of the sister missionaries that taught David the gospel that year before. They explained that they were down for the sealing as well and that their presence was a surprise. I was so excited to hear that! Plus, the lady was also from Cedar City! Her daughter was living up in the SL area, but she lives in Cedar. I was flaberghasted by the "Small World" idea of it all and asked what ward she was in. Come to find out, we are in the same stake!
The session was nice and it felt great to be sitting next to Sarah. After the Celestial Room, we went to the sealing room and waiting for David and Kathryn while the sealer spoke to them in private. The sealing was a very spiritual experience. Especially when the temple workers brought in the two little ones. Cadence looked more adorable than she always looks. And Truman was sleeping. He stayed asleep the whole time. It was peaceful, serene, and wonderful. I cried when my uncle Tim cried. Something about a grown man weeping for joy is cause for my tear ducts to overflow.
When we got out of the temple, the kids were waiting for us on the temple grounds. The girls, myself, Sarah, and her kids walked around in the Visitor Center. We listened the the Christus statue recording. It was fun watching Makailah and Christian crane their heads back to look up at the Savior's face. Makailah asked why his mouth wasn't moving. So cute.
After that, we went back to the hotel where my uncle and aunt were staying and changed into more comfortable clothes. It was off to this restaurant for celebrating. I can't remember the name of the place we went to, I want to say, "The Gardens," but I could be wrong. It was a nice place that had a buffet and a menu. I chose from their buffet because there were some exquisite things there to chose from. I tried three new things that day: Pickled herring, spiced tofu, and quail eggs. I did not care for any of them, but surprisingly enough, the tofu tasted pretty good, for tofu, that is. It almost tasted like a hunk of cheese.
June 14, the drive home. We left in the mid-morning to head back to Utah. We stopped at a Jack-in-the-Box for some grub. We decided to take a different way back for a couple of reasons: Tim suggested it was a faster route (which it would had been had I not got lost and stuck in horrid traffic) and because if I took the same way we came, I would have been driving in windy mountain roads in the dark and I do not have good night vision.
As I mentioned, I got lost. Even armed with Mapquest directions, the best of us can get lost. Funnily enough, we weren't really lost, we were just a few miles away from where the junction was that I thought I passed. Good thing for rest stops! We had to pee anyway, and I had to call Bill and have him check online to see where we were and look at a map. That was an adventure in and of itself. We were in a bad cell service area and had no real map. But we made it just fine.
Now about that traffic. Wow, it was the worst traffic I have ever been in, and I grew up in Southern California. It was going through the Hoover Dam area. It was back up from miles, of nothing but stop for a couple minutes, drive a few inches, stop again for a couple more minutes, repeated over and over. Thankfully it only lasted an hour or two. I lost track. Time begins to lose meaning when ants on the side of the road are scurrying faster than you can drive.
June 15, Fillmore, UT. I met Gabe in Fillmore, UT, so Sarah and the kids could get home. It is hard to drive all the way and then back.